After coming off of their fourth straight win the Patriots are at the Falcons for this weeks Thursday Night showdown. The Falcons are coming off of a beatdown at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys and I do not see them rebounding with a win this week. The chips are stacked against them with injuries and lack of talent compared to this Patriots team that is playing its best football. For fantasy football purposes, the Falcons have little to offer us this week. I really hope Calvin Ridley can return in a couple of weeks to help out this team for the home stretch of this football season and our fantasy playoff brackets.

Locked in Starter of the Week:

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Patriots Defense

This unit started slow in the beginning of the year and was dropped in a lot of leagues. I managed to scoop them up where I could and they have rounded into the normal Patriot form we are used to. They only have to worry about rookie tight end Kyle Pitts since swiss army knife Cordarelle Patterson is unlikely to play with an ankle sprain.

Flex Starters:

Damien Harris/Rhamondre Stevenson

It has recently been reported that Harris has cleared concussion protocol and is good to play in this game. This team is always hard to project running back usage. The most logical option is to use both of these players equally against the bottom ranked run defense in football. Harris has proved to be a good runner up the middle and a tough tackle for defenders. He deserves to resume his role as one of the focal points of this offense.

Stevenson showed out last week with a line of 20/100/2. This is the perfect defense to play against to try and repeat that production, even with Harris back in the fold. He is as dynamic as they come and a constant risk to turn the corner for six. After last week’s showing against the (sort of) better Browns defense, he is primed to have another stellar showing, but this one in prime time.

Hunter Henry

I was wrong about Hunter Henry. I thought his peak for the season had passed after posting five touchdowns in sigames before going for two scores against the Browns. He is now TE3 on the year because of his nose for the endzone. It seems Mac Jones always looks for his big bodied tight end in the red zone and its happened enough times for it to be deemed consistent. I still see it as a risky start because of the low amount of yardage, but the recent success can’t be denied.

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Kyle Pitts

A consensus top tight end coming out of the draft, he has met and even exceeded some expectations. He has done a fine job of being the pass catcher of this offense. The only downside is he is the only notable pass catcher on this offense which allows Bill Belichick to focus on Pitts as the number one guy. They are most likely to put the exceptional J.C. Jackson on him as much as possible, especially when he is split out wide. My prediction is that if he gets yards, they are garbage time yards.

Honorable Mentions

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Kendrick Bourne

Bourne has played pretty well the last few weeks. He even passed 100 yards from scrimmage this past week against the Browns. There isn’t quite enough volume to justify a start just yet. If you are in a bind and need someone from the waiver wire, this is one of your best shots at a solid pickup. Last week’s game could be a sign of more to come with him being involved in the rushing attack. He has been the big play receiver so far in this offense. Let’s check back on him in a few weeks.

Jakobi Meyers

Meyers finally (finally!!) found the end zone after two and a half seasons into his young career. He is a steady presence in this offense, but for now he is better for real football catching first downs and crunch time passes instead of the chunk plays we fantasy managers want. Maybe this first score is one of many, but we will see.

Matt Ryan

Matt Ryan will get his yards, but he has been too up and down for me this season. He is without two of his top three weapons and facing a very good defense that is likely to force some turnovers out of him. Sit.