The Minnesota Vikings will face the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Sam Darnold.
Is Sam Darnold Playing in Week 9?
Darnold is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Vikings’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Sam Darnold in Week 9?
Remember when Derek Carr looked like the league MVP and the Saints were on a historic pace? I don’t want to say that Minnesota’s house of cards could face a similar fate, but …
First quarter, Week 8:
- 100% completion percentage
- 12.1 yards per pass
- 12.6 fantasy points
Most recent 11 quarters otherwise:
- 61.3% completion percentage
- 7.7 yards per pass
- 2.4 fantasy points per quarter
Weeks 1-4:
- 68.9% completion percentage
- 8.8 yards per pass
- 4.9 fantasy points per quarter
Darnold’s status as a viable option in one-QB formats appears to be on thin ice. However, if you have to go back to him, you could do worse than this matchup, at home, on extended rest.
Minnesota heads to Jacksonville in Week 10, making this a good bounce-back spot, but Darnold is outranked outside of my starting tier this week. I need to see him rekindle the magic before betting on it.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 9 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Sam Darnold’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 9
Darnold is projected to score 18.4 fantasy points in Week 9. This includes 235.9 passing yards, 1.6 passing touchdowns, and 0.9 interceptions. It also includes 5.2 rushing attempts for 18 yards and 0.3 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insights: Indianapolis Colts Defense
It appears as though we may have an improving unit on our hands in the Indianapolis Colts’ defense. After finishing in the bottom half in three of the first five weeks, they have now ranked 16th or above in each of the last three weeks. Doing that against the Titans and Dolphins was not all that impressive, but their most recent outing against the Texans was a promising sign.
Indianapolis is still struggling to get pressure, and that has been showing up in terms of their sack rate, their ability to prevent third-down conversions, and their EPA on dropbacks. A big part of their recent improvement has been performing better on third downs and in the red zone, so hopefully, they can maintain their momentum in those areas.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Sam Darnold’s Week 9 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:45 PM ET on Saturday, January 25.
Conference Championship QB PPR Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF (at KC)
2) Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. WAS)
3) Jayden Daniels | WAS (at PHI)
4) Patrick Mahomes | KC (vs. BUF)
Indianapolis Colts at Minnesota Vikings Insights
Indianapolis Colts
Team: The Colts are 4-4 this season, with five games decided by a field goal or less (2-3 in those games).
QB: Pressure is one thing; seeing ghosts is another – Richardson went 6-of-20 for 78 yards and an interception against the Texans when not pressured.
Offense: The Colts gained 21.2 yards per drive in the Week 7 win against the Dolphins, their lowest rate of the season. In the loss to the Texans on Sunday, that number was 21.0.
Defense: In Weeks 1-5, the Colts forced a punt on 23.6% of drives, a rate that has spiked to 48.6% since.
Fantasy: Anthony Richardson hit Josh Downs for a 69-yard touchdown pass of the season – his third of 50-plus yards.
Betting: Indianapolis has covered eight of their past 10 road primetime games (this is their first game since Week 13, 2022).
Minnesota Vikings
Team: The Vikings have played just three true road games this season – after this week, they go on the road for three straight (Jaguars, Titans, and Bears).
QB: Sam Darnold posted his highest in-pocket passer rating of the season on Thursday night (134.0, he’s been over 106.0 in six of seven games.
Offense: In Weeks 1-4, Minnesota averaged 6.5 yards per play on first down, a rate that is down to 4.8 since.
Defense: The Vikings posted their highest pressure rate of the season in Week 7 against the Lions (58.6%) but couldn’t make Matthew Stafford uncomfortable in Week 8 (11.8%, 18 percentage points below their previous season low).
Fantasy: Against the Rams on Thursday night, Sam Darnold started hot and then struggled – 67.5% of his fantasy points as a passer were scored on Minnesota’s first two drives.
Betting: Since 2020, 74.4% of Vikings games played after Halloween have gone over the total (29-10-1, league average: 48.4%).
Betting: The Vikings are 1-5-1 ATS in their past seven games played on extended rest.
