Courtesy of NFL Fantasy, the Gridiron Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is your weekly guide to how real-life match-ups influence your fantasy football squads.

Players like Antonio Brown, Todd Gurley, and Rob Gronkowski will never be featured in this article because they should be in your lineup every week, regardless of matchup. Instead, we’ll touch on some borderline fantasy start-sit decisions in this column.

(All fantasy data is based on point-per-reception (PPR) scoring)

Quarterback

Start: Baker Mayfield (vs. Buccaneers)

Mayfield gets the dream match-up this week. Tampa just fired defensive coordinator Mike Smith after his team allowed legitimately historical production to enemy passers. On the year, Tampa is last in Passer Rating (123.9), last in Pass YPA (9.2), last in Success Rate (56%), last in Pass TD rate (8.1 percent), and last in fantasy points allowed per dropback (0.66). Nick Foles is the only quarterback who has failed to finish as a top-ten fantasy passer against the Bucs’ so far.

Running Back

Sit: Jordan Howard (vs. Patriots)

Howard’s snap rate (73% > 62% > 54% > 51%) has been on a downward trajectory for a month, and now the Pats’ are coming to town. New England is allowing a healthy 4.67 YPC (ninth-most), but Howard’s decreasing snap rate and lack of targets make him an entirely volatile fantasy commodity. It appears the bruising back is being phased out of the offense, and he’s finished outside of the top-40 weekly scorers in back-to-back weeks. The Pats are not a scary match-up on paper, but Howard has only seen two targets over the last two weeks. If Chicago gets down to New England — which is entirely possible — Tarik Cohen will see the field as the primary passing-down back.

Wide Receiver

Start: Jarvis Landry (vs. Buccaneers)

It’s been a quiet three-week stretch for Landry (4/34/1, 5/69, 2/11 receiving), but the Browns slot-man is in a dream Week 7 match-up. Per Next Gen Stats, no team has allowed more catches, yards, and PPR points to enemy slot receivers than the Bucs. Landry has seen 29 targets in Baker Mayfield’s three starts and now gets a chance to go off against the stone worst secondary in the NFL. Don’t be afraid to go back to Landry this week.

Tight End

Start: C.J. Uzomah (vs. Chiefs)

With Tyler Eifert (ankle) done for the year and Tyler Kroft (foot) facing possible season-ending surgery, Uzomah has a bankable, every-down role in the Bengals suddenly solid attack. In Week 6, without both Eifert and Kroft in the lineup, Uzomah set season highs in snaps (92 percent), routes run (39), and targets (7). Uzomah is seriously on the low-end TE1 radar in Week 7 against the Chiefs shaky secondary — especially with Jimmy Graham, Jared Cook, and Vance McDonald all out on their bye. Kansas City has allowed 70 or more yards to tight ends in five-straight games (Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Denver, Jacksonville, and New England).