Week 8 NFL + IDP Defensive Line Matchup Rankings

The best DL vs OL matchups to target to generate sacks in IDP fantasy football in Week 8.

Last week, the Washington Commanders allowed six sacks, the most of any team. Commanders QB Sam Howell is on pace to set the record for the most sacks suffered in a single season. This week, he projects to continue that trend.

In Week 8, the Commanders face another strong pass rush. The Philadelphia Eagles led the league in sacks last season, and this season they rank fifth in sacks per game. After a slow start, Hassan Reddick has made 5.5 sacks in the past four games. So the Eagles defensive line is the No. 1-ranked pass rush matchup in Mitch’s Week 8 IDP defensive line matchup rankings.

I am incorporating more statistics into this week’s matchup rankings. I included each defensive line’s sack % and each offensive line’s sack % allowed, as well as Vegas’s betting prop numbers for expected points scored. Expected points scored has a strong correlation with total pass dropbacks in a game, which means there should be more total sacks in high-scoring/pass-heavy games.

The Eagles DL vs. Commanders OL matchup has the highest combined sack rate between the Eagles’ defensive line and the Commanders’ O-line. It also has the seventh-highest expected point total of any Week 8 matchup. The Commanders are expected to be trailing, so they will have to pass in order to play catchup, giving the Eagles opportunities to tee off on Howell.

The Chargers DL vs. Bears OL matchup is the second-best matchup for IDP defensive linemen to pursue sacks, according to the numbers. However, it may not yield as many sacks with Justin Fields missing Week 8, too. Fields is one of the most sack-prone quarterbacks in the league because of his own poor ability to avoid sacks. Bears Week 7 (and 8) starter Tyler Bagent, however, was only sacked once last week and has only been sacked twice (on 4.4% of his passing plays)—a rate less than half of what Fields experienced.

Next, the Chiefs DL vs. Broncos OL matchup is the No. 3 best matchup of. the week for the defense. The Chiefs have the ninth-highest sack rate, and the Broncos are allowing the seventh-highest sack rate, and it is supposed to be the third-highest scoring game of the week. These two

teams faced each other in Week 6, and, while it was not a high-scoring game (the Broncos lost 8-19), Broncos QB Russell Wilson was sacked four times.

Now I present the full matchup rankings for all 32 DL vs. OL matchups of Week 8 to premium subscribers. (There are no byes this week.)