We already knew we'd be without Ben Roethlisberger and Ryan Tannehill in Week 4 after the Titans-Steelers game was postponed, and we learned Saturday morning Cam Newton has tested positive for COVID-19 and would also be out. That news also spurred the NFL to postpone the Patriots and Chiefs games to Monday at the earliest. The takeaway here? You need to prepare to be without Patrick Mahomes in addition to Tannehill, Roethlisberger, and Newton.

Mahomes is obviously the most difficult to bench. As of Sunday morning, the Patriots are expected to fly to Kansas City on Monday and play the Chiefs at 7 ET Monday night, although further testing could nix that entirely. If you want to eliminate the risk on Mahomes, add Nick Mullens and start him Sunday night against the Eagles if we don't have any more news on Chiefs-Patriots. 

My top priority if you don't want to risk it is someone you won't see listed in the waiver wire adds below: Gardner Minshew. Minshew is available in 23% of leagues, so probably not in yours, but if he's out there he has a very good matchup against a very bad Bengals defense. Even after his terrible performance in Week 3 against the Dolphins, Minshew ranks 14th among quarterbacks in Fantasy points this season. He's completed 73.8% of his passes and he's run for 20 yards per game. 

Assuming Minshew is rostered in your league, the next best options will be Teddy Bridgewater and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick won't likely surprise anyone, but Bridgewater may. That's because he's somehow only thrown two touchdown passes all season. But he's thrown for nearly 200 more yards than Fitzpatrick this season and he's been far more impressive on a per-attempt basis. Either is a good streamer this week, but I'd choose Fitzpatrick if I got to choose between the two. 

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More Week 4 Previews: QB | RB | WR | TE

Week 4 QB Preview

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Numbers to know
  • 7.7 -- Dak Prescott's air yards per attempt have fallen considerably from 2019, when it was 9.3.
  • 41.7% -- Daniel Jones has been pressured on more than 40% of his drop backs. Hopefully when the schedule gets easier he can get a little more time and turn into a streamer again.
  • 30% -- Nearly a third of Jared Goff's pass attempts have been at or behind the line of scrimmage. Yet he still leads the league in yards per attempt.
  • 56.4% -- Dwayne Haskins completion percentage. It's time to make sure Alex Smith is rostered in your two-QB or SuperFlex league.
  • 20.8% -- A fifth of Aaron Rodger's pass attempts have traveled at least 20 yards. Kirk Cousins is the only other starting quarterback above 15%.
  • 0 -- Despite 32 rush attempts, Lamar Jackson has still not found the end zone on the ground. Better days are ahead.
  • 6 -- Carson Wentz' six interceptions are tied with Kirk Cousins for the league lead. Wentz has a terribly difficult schedule coming up and can be dropped. 
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Matchups that matter

We're going through every matchup on the schedule for Week 4 on the Fantasy Football Today podcast. Subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts: 

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Matchups that Matter
Projections powered by Sportsline
Gardner Minshew QB
LV Las Vegas • #15
Age: 28 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ CIN CIN -3 O/U 48

OPP VS QB

9th

PROJ PTS

20.8

QB RNK

9th
Joe Burrow QB
CIN Cincinnati • #9
Age: 27 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs JAC CIN -3 O/U 48

OPP VS QB

28th

PROJ PTS

24.2

QB RNK

17th
Ryan Fitzpatrick QB
WAS Washington • #14
Age: 41 • Experience: 18 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs SEA SEA -6.5 O/U 54.5

OPP VS QB

31st

PROJ PTS

18.2

QB RNK

15th
Tom Brady QB
TB Tampa Bay • #12
Age: 46 • Experience: 23 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs LAC TB -7.5 O/U 45

OPP VS QB

14th

PROJ PTS

21.6

QB RNK

14th
Jared Goff QB
DET Detroit • #16
Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs NYG LAR -13 O/U 47

OPP VS QB

15th

PROJ PTS

23.4

QB RNK

19th
Carson Wentz QB
KC Kansas City • #11
Age: 31 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ SF SF -6.5 O/U 45

OPP VS QB

7th

PROJ PTS

15.4

QB RNK

18th
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Waiver Wire Targets
Waiver Wire/Streamers
Teddy Bridgewater QB
DET Detroit • #10
Age: 31 • Experience: 10 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs ARI ARI -3.5 O/U 52

OPP VS QB

10th

QB RNK

16th

ROSTERED

38%
Teddy Bridgewater's start to the season has been very interesting. He's seventh in the NFL in passing yards (872) and yards per attempt (8.38) but he's only thrown two touchdown passes so he currently ranks 23rd in Fantasy points. Bridgewater's 1.9% touchdown rate would be the lowest since 2000 for a starting quarterback. In other words, the touchdowns should come. Chasing the score against the Cardinals should be an excellent place to start.
Ryan Fitzpatrick QB
WAS Washington • #14
Age: 41 • Experience: 18 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs SEA SEA -6.5 O/U 53.5

OPP VS QB

31st

QB RNK

17th

ROSTERED

34%
Only the Falcons have allowed more Fantasy points to quarterbacks this year than Seattle. Fitzpatrick will be at home against a defense making the longest trip possible in today's NFL. And they may be without Jamal Adams as well. Start Fitzpatrick over Tom Brady and Carson Wentz.
One To Stash
Jimmy Garoppolo QB
LAR L.A. Rams
Age: 32 • Experience: 11 year

Weekly Breakdown

vs PHI SF -6.5 O/U 45

OPP VS QB

17th

QB RNK

NR

ROSTERED

43%
It's possible Garoppolo could return in Week 4, but even if he doesn't he should be rostered. He has a very good schedule upcoming and the 49ers expect to get Deebo Samuel and George Kittle back very soon. If everyone is healthy this could be the best set of weapons Garoppolo has had in San Francisco.
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DFS Plays
Top Play
Projections powered by Sportsline
Dak Prescott QB
DAL Dallas • #4
Age: 30 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs CLE DAL -4.5 O/U 55.5

OPP VS QB

25th

PROJ PTS

29

QB RNK

7th

FANDUEL

$8,200

DRAFTKINGS

$7,200
Prescott is my top projected quarterback this week and he's $1,400 cheaper than Jackson on FanDuel. The Browns secondary is a mess and the Cowboys can't stop anyone right now. This should be a shootout, with the Cowboys continuing to be amongst the league leaders in pass rate. Now you just have to figure out which receivers to stack with Prescott.
Top Contrarian Play
Projections powered by Sportsline
Joe Burrow QB
CIN Cincinnati • #9
Age: 27 • Experience: 5 yrs.
Burrow has thrown for 628 yards and five scores in his last two games. Now he faces a Jaguars defense that allows the sixth most Fantasy points to quarterbacks. I don't expect the Bengals to stop the Jaguars either, so this game has the potential to turn into the contrarian stack of the week.
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Heath's projections

So who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 4 rankings for every position, plus see which QB is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big-time last season.