Fine or Pine, Week 4

By Adam Filadelfo (@FNTSYArchitect)

Week four is upon us and that can only mean one thing for fantasy football owners. Time to get those lineups in. With six teams on bye this week, setting your lineup will be more challenging than it has been the last three weeks but fear not. The Fantasy Sports Brain has you covered this week and every week.

Quarterback

Fine- Philip Rivers- San Diego Chargers- Between Philip Rivers sporting a six to one touchdown to interception ratio and the Jacksonville Jaguars passing defense allowing almost 25 fantasy points per game to the opposing quarterback, Philip Rivers should be more than capable of giving your fantasy team a boost in week four. Rivers is also averaging over 22 fantasy points per week himself so you can start him with confidence.

Pine- Alex Smith- Kansas City Chiefs- Alex Smith is not an option at the quarterback position usually but since so many teams are on bye weeks, some fantasy owners may be thinking of starting him. I'm here to tell you don't start Alex Smith unless he's one of a few quarterbacks left to start for you. He's averaging under 20 fantasy points per game and the defense he faces on Monday night isn't going to do him any favors. The Patriots pass defense is allowing under 10 fantasy points per game to the quarterback position and Alex Smith's four to three touchdown to interception ratio doesn't bode well for him against a defense that has a knack for causing turnovers.

Wide Receiver

Fine- Antonio Brown- Pittsburgh Steelers- Of course you'd start Antonio Brown this week and every week that the Steelers aren't on a bye. But the fact that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense is allowing a whopping 34.3 fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers is even more reason to get Brown into your starting lineups. In the first three games of the season, Antonio Brown is averaging over 16 fantasy points per game and has almost 300 yards receiving to go with three touchdowns.

Pine- Dwayne Bowe- Kansas City Chiefs- I realize bye weeks may cause you to have to play Dwayne Bowe, but like his quarterback, Bowe has a tough matchup this week versus the Patriots. The New England defense is allowing a league best 12.3 fantasy points per game to the wide receiver and is also best in the NFL at allowing 20 yard plays as well. The pass defense just doesn't allow big plays downfield. To make matters a little worse, Bowe has only 11 targets on the season in two games (he was suspended the first game of the season) and of those 11 targets has six catches for 72 yards. He's averaging under four fantasy points per game and with a shaky run defense in the Patriots, the air game could be a problem for the Chiefs on Monday night.

Running Back

Fine- Donald Brown- San Diego Chargers- With Donald Brown expected to get a boat load of the carries with Ryan Matthews and Danny Woodhead out, fantasy owners can start Donald Brown with confidence knowing the Jaguars run defense is allowing a league worst 30 plus fantasy points per game to the opposing running back. Brown had over 30 touches combined last week and against the worst run defense in fantasy football should have another big workload in week four yet again.

Pine- Reggie Bush- Detroit Lions- Bush faces the best run defense in fantasy football in week four in the New York Jets. The Jets defense have shut down PPR backs the last couple of games in Eddie Lacy and Matt Forte so fantasy owners shouldn't expect too much production from Reggie Bush this week. The Lions will look to establish more of a passing game against a Jets team that ranks fourth versus the pass.

Tight End

Fine- Jimmy Graham- New Orleans Saints- With a matchup versus the Cowboys on tap this week, Graham will look to post big numbers against a team that is ranked next to last as far as allowing tight end points at 18.2 fantasy points per game. Jimmy Graham himself is averaging 12.5 fantasy points per contest and should have a big night for his fantasy owners.

Pine- Greg Olsen- Carolina Panthers- While I like Greg Olsen every week, I'm not a fan of the matchup in week four. The Baltimore Ravens are second best in fantasy football at allowing tight end points per game with four fantasy points per game. It's always possible Greg Olsen has a big game but based on his matchup this week, could just as easily have a dud.

Defense

Fine- Detroit- Even though the Lions are on the road versus the Jets this week, their defense is still allowing the second least amount of fantasy points to the opposing quarterback at 12 fantasy points per game. Couple that with the fact that Geno Smith already has four interceptions in three games and the Lions defense looks like a defense that fantasy owners may want to stream this week.

Pine- San Francisco- The 49ers defense is allowing 19 fantasy points per game to the opposing signal caller and Foles is completing over 61 percent of his passes as well as over 25 fantasy points per game. That combination does not make the 49ers defense a must start in week four.