The Cincinnati Bengals will face the Denver Broncos in Week 17. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Joe Burrow.
Is Joe Burrow Playing in Week 17?
Week 17 Status: PLAYING
The Bengals QB has been playing through a knee injury for a couple of weeks. Joe Burrow was limited all three days at practice this week, as the team manages his reps. Burrow was also listed with his weekly right wrist issue, which is a non-issue. Either way, Burrow is playing on Saturday.
We’ll continue to monitor the Bengals’ 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 Joe Burrow in Week 17?
You know that Joe Burrow is the first ever with 250 passing yards and three passing TDs in seven straight. Extend his numbers from those games for a full season, and he’s posting a 5,430-yard, 58-TD season (for reference, 2007 Tom Brady’s 17-game pace: 5,106 yards and 53 TDs).
It’s hard to overstate just how good Burrow has been. The passing floor has been special and should continue to be for the remainder of this season, but the trick is not to get too excited about 2025.
Burrow is as good as advertised; we know that. But he’s run hot this season, and if regression kicks in and Tee Higgins is out, there’s a world in which he’s an overdrafted commodity this summer.
Rates on short passes:
- 2024: 6.6% TD rate and a 0.8% INT rate
- 2020-23: 4.2% TD rate and a 1.1% INT rate
Without much projectable rushing in his profile, injury risks are still in the mix, and potentially, there is less firepower—consider me a skeptic based on early ADP projections.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 17 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Joe Burrow’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 17
As of Saturday, Burrow is projected to score 22.8 fantasy points in Week 17. This includes 301 passing yards, 2.3 passing touchdowns, and 0.8 interceptions. It also includes 3.8 rushing attempts for 13 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.
PFN Insight on the Broncos' Defense
The Denver Broncos continue to lead the way in the season-long rankings, but their defense delivered one of its worst performances in the Thursday night collapse against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Denver's Defense+ grade of 69.6 (D+) was its second-worst in a game all season, trailing only the Week 9 debacle against the Baltimore Ravens. The pass defense was particularly rough, posting its second-worst success rate (37.8%) and EPA per dropback (-0.54) of the season, largely due to a rough second half.
Even with that rough outing, Denver still ranks first in defensive EPA per dropback, the most valuable area where a defense can excel. Last year's unit ranked 25th in the same category, which is the primary reason why this unit continues to lead the defensive rankings for the season.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head over to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Joe Burrow’s Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 3:45 PM ET on Saturday, December 28. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 17 QB PPR Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF (vs. NYJ)
2) Lamar Jackson | BAL (at HOU)
3) Joe Burrow | CIN (vs. DEN)
4) Jayden Daniels | WAS (vs. ATL)
5) Baker Mayfield | TB (vs. CAR)
6) Sam Darnold | MIN (vs. GB)
7) Kyler Murray | ARI (at LAR)
8) Jordan Love | GB (at MIN)
9) Bo Nix | DEN (at CIN)
10) Jared Goff | DET (at SF)
11) Brock Purdy | SF (vs. DET)
12) Tua Tagovailoa | MIA (at CLE)
13) Matthew Stafford | LAR (vs. ARI)
14) C.J. Stroud | HOU (vs. BAL)
15) Justin Herbert | LAC (at NE)
16) Patrick Mahomes | KC (at PIT)
17) Caleb Williams | CHI (vs. SEA)
18) Aaron Rodgers | NYJ (at BUF)
19) Geno Smith | SEA (at CHI)
20) Bryce Young | CAR (at TB)
21) Cooper Rush | DAL (at PHI)
22) Joe Flacco | IND (at NYG)
23) Russell Wilson | PIT (vs. KC)
24) Michael Penix Jr. | ATL (at WAS)
25) Drake Maye | NE (vs. LAC)
26) Aidan O'Connell | LV (at NO)
27) Tyler Huntley | MIA (at CLE)
28) Mac Jones | JAX (vs. TEN)
29) Kenny Pickett | PHI (vs. DAL)
30) Mason Rudolph | TEN (at JAX)
31) Drew Lock | NYG (vs. IND)
32) Spencer Rattler | NO (vs. LV)
33) Dorian Thompson-Robinson | CLE (vs. MIA)
Broncos at Bengals Trends and Insights
Denver Broncos
Team: Christmas Eve marks 100 days since a QB not named Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, or Justin Herbert defeated the Broncos.
Offense: In Weeks 8-13, Denver recorded 50.6% of its third downs, a rate that has plummeted to 36.7% over the past two weeks (11-of-30).
Defense: The Broncos have posted a sub-28% blitz rate six times this season – they’ve done in five of their past six games.
Fantasy: Marvin Mims has a catch of more than 35 yards in four of his past five games – if you’re swinging for the fences, a matchup with a bottom-10 defense in terms of completions and touchdown rate on balls thrown 10+ yards downfield is a decent place to look.
Betting: The Broncos have covered five of six games on extended rest since the beginning of last season. The only one of those games that came on the road was in Buffalo in Week 10 last season, a 24-22 outright win as a seven-point underdog.
Cincinnati Bengals
Team: The Bengals have a 3+ game win streak in December (or later) in four straight seasons.
QB: You know that Joe Burrow is the first ever with 250 passing yards and three passing TDs in seven straight – extend his numbers from those games for a full season, and he’s posting a 5,430-yard 58-TD season (for reference, 2007 Tom Brady’s 17-game pace: 5,106 yards and 53 TDs.
Offense: Cincinnati scored on “just” 36.4% of their drives over the weekend, their lowest rate since Week 8.
Defense: Cincinnati has allowed under 1.5 points per possession three times this season – two of which have come against the Browns.
Fantasy: Ja’Marr Chase is seeking a seventh straight game with 18+ PPR points. Since 2013, only twice (Cooper Kupp in 2021 and Davante Adams in 2020) has a receiver had a longer such streak in a single season.
Betting: The Bengals are one of two teams (Patriots) playing a home game on short rest against a team on an extended week. The ATS results for teams in such spots are pretty flat, but overs have cashed in seven of the past 10.