NFL Week 9 Fantasy Matchups: Darnold Continues To Roll

Dylan Wilkerson Sports Betting Expert

10 minute read

_{Image Credit: Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images}

NFL Week 9 is among us, and we have some great matchups lined up! Whether you are locked in to the Vikings vs. the Lions or the Steelers vs. the Colts, there are plenty of marquee matchups for you to keep your eye on.

Week 9 also means it is go time for fantasy football. If you have gotten off to a slow start, now is the time to make a push for the playoffs. In this article, I will visualize some matchups and highlight a few players I will have my eye on for this week as well as some players I am passing on. The latest NFL odds also add some context to these matchups.

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Updated on 10/31/25

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Teams With The Best Rushing Matchups

Rushing itself is a losing proposition, seeing as it's upside usually just sets a team up for a successful passing game. However, there are still a few teams that have had success rushing the ball and have some easy matchups. Here are the teams with the best rushing matchups:

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs are currently 7th in rushing EPA, and they have a 3-headed beast in the running back room. They face the Buffalo Bills who boast the 4th worst rush defense in football. There is no doubt that there is a path success for the Kansas City Chiefs running backs, but which one should we be playing?

Pacheco has been getting this lion's share of volume, but Kareem Hunt has done much more with the opportunities he has been given. Hunt also leads this running back room in red zone touches, receiving 39.4% of red zone touches. This is 3% more that Isiah Pacheco. I would take Kareem Hunt in this backfield, although you would need to assess the cost of each player. This whole room will have success against Buffalo.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals have not had much success on the ground (or in general) since James Conner went down for the year. However, this Dallas Cowboys have the 3rd worst rush defense in the NFL. Bam Knight looks to be the main benefactor of this mismatch, so I would be eyeing him in week 9.

Other Running Backs To Take

• Josh Jacobs (Green Bay Packers)
• Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco 49ers)
• Kimani Vidal (Los Angeles Chargers)
• James Cook (Buffalo Bills)

I know this list is not groundbreaking, but these players have great matchups this week. I want to highlight Kimani Vidal after Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh made these comments:

Teams With The Best Passing Matchups

This is where we can have some fun. There are tons of great passing matchups this week so let's take a look at the quarterbacks that will help us win our leagues this week.

Sam Darnold

This attached post is more of a statement for Drake Maye, but this is also very sneakily a Sam Darnold chart.

Washington's dropback EPA allowed is 25th in the NFL, and I expect the Seahawks to capitalize on this off of their bye.

Kyler Murray

This Dallas Cowboys defense is one of the worst in the NFL, and they allow the most dropback EPA in the NFL. Kyler is going to be fresh coming off of a bye, and I expect him to capitalize against one of the worst defenses in football. The Cowboys are also T2 with the most rushing touchdowns allowed to quarterbacks, so I expect Murray to find the endzone with his feet at least once this week.

I actually like the Cardinals to beat the Cowboys this week, a Monday Night Football matchup I highlight in my NFL Week 9 best bets.

Other Quarterbacks I Like For Week 9

• Daniel Jones (Indianapolis Colts)
• Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers)
• Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams)
• Jaxson Dart (New York Giants)

Thank you for reading! I would love to hear from you all. You can interact with me on Threads and best of luck this week.

Dylan Wilkerson

Dylan Wilkerson has over 5 years of experience reporting and analyzing the sports betting industry for various sites. His portfolio includes work for SportsHandle and Action Network, in addition to VegasInsider. His favorite sports are the NFL, College Football, The PGA Tour, the LIV Tour, and Cricket. Dylan has a broad and deep understanding of various sports-related topics. More from Dylan Wilkerson