FANTASY FOOTBALL NEWS

Zack Moss Leads Quiet Bengals Week 1 Backfield

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Sun, Sep 8 2024 9:10 PM UTC

RB Zack Moss led the Bengals in carries, rushing yards, and backfield targets in Sunday's loss to the Patriots. His 9 carries tripled Chase Brown's total, accounting for 75% of the team's RB rushes in a quiet offensive performance. Moss ran well on that light work, with his 44 yards coming out to 4.9 per rush. Brown tallied just 11 yards on his three rushes. Brown caught all three of his targets for 12 yards, while Moss tallied 2 receptions for 17 yards on 4 targets. He also ran for the team's lone TD from 5 yards out in the third quarter.

2024 Fantasy Football Impact

Moss wound up playing 31 snaps to Brown's 16 for the game. They each opened two of the team's four first-half drives, but Moss appeared to be the favored option in the second half.

Sunday presented odd offensive game flow for Cincinnati, with just seven first-half rushes amid 22 total offensive snaps. The Bengals sat within 7 points until the final play of the first half and trailed by just 6 to open the fourth quarter.

The Bengals should see many better offensive days than this, which will help us get a better look at normal backfield procedure.

For now, though, it looks like Moss is the better bet for touches and thus the (at least slightly) better fantasy option.

A Week 2 visit to Kansas City threatens to find Cincinnati again playing from behind. Matchups with Washington and Carolina after that should be more favorable to Bengals RBs, though.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.