Cincinnati

Bengals

When asked why Burrow will remain the starter, Taylor, whose Bengals sit at 4-10, said, “Because we want to win.” Big if true. Burrow didn’t look too interested in winning during parts of Sunday’s shutout loss at home to the Ravens, but fantasy managers hoping the Bengals show some fight for at least two more weeks will be happy to hear this news. Burrow and the Bengals draw the Dolphins in Week 16.

Perine saw one more carry than Chase Brown, but averaged just three yards per carry on the day with his longest gain coming on an eight-yard pickup. Perine briefly left the game in the fourth quarter due to a knee injury, and was carted to the locker room at one point. Despite all of this, he returned to finish out the day and should be good to go for Week 16 against the Dolphins. Even if he is active, fantasy managers can avoid him next week.

Brown PPR-scammed his way to a decent fantasy day, as his seven targets were second only to Ja’Marr Chase. Brown found himself in a near 50/50 rush split with Samaje Perine in this one, as Perine wound up handling 14 carries, but saw only one target. Brown remains the only fantasy viable running back in the Bengals’ backfield and will be on the RB2 range next week against the Dolphins.

Tinsley saw a season-high nine targets in Week 12 when playing in place of Tee Higgins. With Higgins sidelined again due to another brain injury this week, Tinsley was unable to replicate his target volume, with only two looks coming his way in the shutout loss. Tinsley hauled in a 16-yard reception in the fourth quarter, and just missed hauling in a pass in the end zone on that same drive a few plays later. Assuming Higgins is able to return in Week 16 against the Dolphins, Tinsley will go back into his backup role.

Chase saw a whopping 41 percent target share in this one, and was aided by a negative game script in the Bengals’ shutout loss. Chase played a role in Joe Burrow’s first interception of the afternoon when a high-thrown ball tipped off his hands and landed in the arms of Marlon Humphrey, but he returned on the following drive and immediately made a 34-yard reception. He was pivotal late in the game, hauling in three passes on an 80-yard drive that stalled with a pick-six near the Ravens end zone. Chase did about all he could for the Bengals and his fantasy managers. Now sitting on a 101-1,147-5 line, Chase will look to continue his WR1 ways next week against the Dolphins.

Burrow and the Bengals’ offense showed little fight in a must-win game and are now eliminated from playoff contention. Burrow lost 15 yards on a sack on the Bengals’ opening drive to knock them out of field goal range, only to throw an interception on his next drive. On the Bengals’ best offensive drive of the day, Burrow drove the team 80 yards on 15 plays only to toss an easy pick to Kyle Van Noy while facing pressure, which was handed off to safety Alohi Gilman and returned for an 85-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach. It was about as bad a day as Burrow and the Bengals could have had, as they will now look to play out the final three games of their season before calling it a year. Burrow will be a fringe QB1 in Week 16 when the Bengals travel to Miami to play the Dolphins.

It’s not often we see a player carted to the locker room only to return later in the game. That said, Perine did exactly that in the fourth quarter after exiting earlier with a knee injury. Perine didn’t even miss a drive despite the injury, and returned to take more carries from Chase Brown.

Perine remained down on the field after a third down carry and appeared to be grabbing at his knee. He was eventually helped off by trainers, but later carted from the field. This will spell the end of the day for Perine, who was splitting work with Chase Brown all afternoon and exits with a rushing line of 9-31-0. He also caught one pass for one yard.

Higgins was ruled out on Friday due to the concussion he suffered in Week 14’s loss to the Bills. His absence will create a bigger role for WR Mitchell Tinsley, who saw a season-high nine targets in Week 13 against the Ravens when Higgins was sidelined.

Higgins has been concussed twice over the last three weeks and will now miss a second game due to his brain injury. Despite being limited in both Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practice, the star receiver felt like a long shot to play after landing in protocol following Week 14’s game against the Bills. When Higgins missed Week 13’s game against the Ravens, backup Mitchell Tinsley stepped up to run a season-high 31 routes while also drawing a season-high eight targets. He could have some upside as a dart-throw WR4 in deeper leagues.