The Las Vegas Raiders will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding RB Alexander Mattison.
Is Alexander Mattison Playing in Week 8?
Mattison is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any unexpected setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Raiders’ 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 Alexander Mattison in Week 8?
Mattison played 69.3% of the snaps last week, and with multiple receptions in three straight games gives him a little boost, but you’re swimming upstream if you’re banking on this offense in any capacity outside of tight end.
Efficiency has never been a strength of Mattison’s, and that puts him in a position to need a touchdown to earn your trust. That’s not an ideal profile to begin with, let alone for an offense that hasn’t cleared 20 points in over a month.
The Chiefs are winning with defense these days, and they’ve succeeded in shutting down the run in a big way. They’ve faced Jordan Mason, J.K. Dobbins, Derrick Henry, Alvin Kamara, and Bijan Robinson this season and have yet to allow an RB to reach 13.5 PPR points.
Mattison is barely on the Flex radar for deep leagues, and that’s saying something for a back I expect to lead his team in carries comfortably.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 8 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Alexander Mattison’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 8
Mattison is projected to score 11.5 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 11.1 rushing attempts for 41 yards and 0.3 touchdowns. It also includes 2.5 receptions for 18.9 yards and 0.2 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
Alexander Mattison’s Week 8 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 RB PPR Rankings
1) Saquon Barkley | PHI (vs. WAS)
2) James Cook | BUF (at KC)
3) Brian Robinson Jr. | WAS (at PHI)
4) Isiah Pacheco | KC (vs. BUF)
5) Kareem Hunt | KC (vs. BUF)
6) Austin Ekeler | WAS (at PHI)
7) Ray Davis | BUF (at KC)
8) Ty Johnson | BUF (at KC)
9) Samaje Perine | KC (vs. BUF)
10) Kenneth Gainwell | PHI (vs. WAS)
11) Jeremy McNichols | WAS (at PHI)
12) Will Shipley | PHI (vs. WAS)
13) Carson Steele | KC (vs. BUF)
14) Reggie Gilliam | BUF (at KC)
15) Chris Rodriguez Jr. | WAS (at PHI)
Kansas City Chiefs at Las Vegas Raiders Insights
Kansas City Chiefs
Team: The Chiefs haven’t lost consecutive games vs. the Raiders since 2011-12 (three straight). Kansas City’s last loss before its current 12-game win streak (including playoffs) was at home to the Raiders on Christmas Day 2023.
QB:23 quarterbacks have started all their team’s games this season. Patrick Mahomes’ TD-Int ratio (6-8) is tied for the worst out of that whole group (Matthew Stafford has thrown 3 TD to 4 Int for the Rams).
Offense: Are the Chiefs a smashmouth offense now? Kansas City has run by design on 48.8% of its plays, far and away its highest in any season since Patrick Mahomes became the starting QB (the prior high was 38.9% in 2018). That includes a 57.9% run rate on the first down, and in the first season with Mahomes, they’ve been above 50% on the first down.
Defense: The Chiefs have allowed a touchdown on just 47.4% of red zone trips, pacing them for their best rate since the 2014 team (38.9%).
Fantasy: This is a conservative offense, but as Xavier Worthy’s role increases, there is hope – Patrick Mahomes is completing a career-high 53.6% of his passes thrown 15-plus yards down the field.
Betting: Seven of Kansas City’s past eight road divisional games have come in under the projected point total, though the one exception was Week 12, 2023 … at Vegas (31-17 win with a total of 42.5 points).
Las Vegas Raiders
Team: The Raiders own the worst per-game turnover differential in the league this season (-1.9).
QB: Gardner Minshew has two more games with multiple interceptions than multiple touchdown passes this season and misfired on 19 of 34 passes last week against a vulnerable Rams defense.
Offense: Brock Bowers has received 25.1% of the Raiders’ targets this season. That’s on track to be the highest target share by any rookie tight end since at least 2000 and the highest by a TE period since Mark Andrews for the 2021 Ravens (25.9%).
Defense: The Raiders own the fifth-highest sack rate on play-action attempts this season (8.9%).
Fantasy: Brock Bowers has five top-five finishes at the position this season, and after not seeing a red zone target in any of his first three games, he’s had a red zone in scoring position in every game since.
Betting: Over tickets have cashed in four of Vegas’ past five home games (2-1 through seven weeks this season).
