Jacksonville Jaguars - Fantasy News

Who to Start: Blake Bortles or Ben Roethlisberger?

by Mike Rose

1/12/18

NFL

Jacksonville Jaguars

Blake Bortles

A huge AFC divisional round playoff matchup is set to take place on Sunday afternoon when the Pittsburgh Steelers welcome the Jacksonville Jaguars into Heinz Field for the second time this season. Only this time it will be with much bigger implications.

Back in Week 5, Ben Roethlisberger had what was arguably the worst game of his career as he was picked off five times by the No. 1 rated defense in the league. Both teams have to have that on their minds as they get ready to square off again with a trip to the AFC Championship Game on the line.

Meanwhile, Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles struggled in the Wild Card matchup against the Bills last week but got the job done to set up this revenge bout with the black and yellow.

Fantasy Matchup: Blake Bortles (15.0 PFP) vs. Ben Roethlisberger (17.5 PFP)

Bortles averaged 15.86 Dober Fantasy Points per game during the regular season. He enters this matchup against Roethlisberger as a 2.5-point underdog. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise as the Pittsburgh veteran will be getting his No. 1 receiver back in Antonio Brown after the explosive playmaker missed the last few weeks of the regular season due to injury. Having a bye also gave him an extra week to heal.

The UCF product threw for 3,687 yards with a 21-to-13 touchdown-to-interception ratio while completing 60 percent of his passes in the regular season. He managed to play to a quarterback rating over 100 five times, but he had trouble holding onto the ball (nine fumbles). He helped lead Jacksonville’s offense to the No. 6 ranking in total yards (365.9) and No. 17 ranking in passing yards (224.6). The team also had a top-five scoring offense as it finished the regular season No. 5 in points scored (26.1).

In the Wild Card tilt with the Bills, he struggled horribly as he completed only 12-of-23 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. The bright spot was that he ran for 88 yards on 10 carries and was the team’s No. 1 rusher. The Jaguars are going to need his legs plus the rest of the No. 1 rushing attack in the NFL to show up on Sunday, because the defense can’t do it all two weeks in a row, especially as Bortles faces a Pittsburgh defense ranked No. 5 in passing yards allowed per game (201.1) and No. 7 in points allowed (19.2).

Meanwhile, will Roethlisberger throw five interceptions two games in a row against Jacksonville? It’s highly doubtful that’ll happen for the elite quarterback that passed for 4,251 yards with a 28-to-14 touchdown-to-interception ratio during the regular season. Take the game against Jacksonville out of the equation and he only threw a much more respectable nine picks. But things happen, and you move on. And that’s what Roethlisberger is going to do.

Getting Brown back is going to be huge for Big Ben and the No. 3 passing attack that averaged 273.8 yards per game through the air. The Steelers also scored 25.4 points per game (No. 8). Let’s see how Big Ben does this time around against the No. 2 defense in points allowed (16.8) and No. 1 defense in passing yards (169.9).

Roethlisberger will make adjustments from his Week 5 performance as he’s done all season, so the Steelers should win this game. If Bortles struggled against the Bills, he’ll have fits against Pittsburgh. Go with Big Ben on your Dober Play Cards.

AFC Divisional Round Fantasy Matchup: Ben Roethlisberger (-2.5) vs. Blake Bortles