It's the fantasy playoffs in many leagues, and it can be nerve-wracking to consider starting a rookie passer. But Baker Mayfield is at home against Carolina's 22nd-ranked pass defense, and there's a good chance he'll come through with solid numbers in this matchup.
Carolina is ranked just 22nd in pass defense this year; they tend to play the run a lot better. Preference is to force opponents to pass. That approach hasn't been ideal (the team has lost four straight and just fired a couple of defensive coaches). But that's probably how they'll approach this one, too.
Mayfield has played five other games this season against defenses ranked 20th or worse against the pass. He's put up good numbers in all of them.
| MAYFIELD VS. WEAK PASS DEFENSES (20TH OR WORSE) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Pass | Run | TD |
| at T.B. | 215 | 43 | 2 |
| K.C. | 297 | 0 | 2 |
| Atl. | 216 | 20 | 3 |
| at Cin. | 258 | -4 | 4 |
| at Hou. | 397 | 0 | 1 |
Not that you should consider Mayfield over somebody great like Patrick Mahomes (who has a tough matchup with Baltimore). But if you need to use him, he should be OK this week.
--Andy Richardson