Fantasy Football Week 16 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: Matthew Stafford vs. Jordan Love

Evaluating who to play in fantasy football in week 16 between Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford and Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love.

Dec 14, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) walks off the field after the game against the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Both QBs Matthew Sattford of the Los Angeles Rams and Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers will be in action this week before Sunday. With that, fantasy managers will have to make decisions on what to do with them this week sooner rather than later. Here is a breakdown of who to start between the two in week 16 in fantasy football.

Jordan Love

Dec 14, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) throws downfield during the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Last week, Jordan Love had a low in fantasy production against one of the better secondaries and overall defenses in the NFL, the Denver Broncos. Against them, he went 24-40 passing for 276 yards and threw one touchdown and two interceptions. This had him slotted as QB19 for the week. Luckily, for Love, he has the benefit of playing a team he did great against just two games ago, the Chicago Bears, who he will play this Saturday.

Overall, in 2025, the Bears are a slightly below average team in defending the pass, allowing the 18th fewest passing yards per game, 218.9 yards per game. This average has ticked down in their last three games, where they have allowed just 197.3 passing yards per game. The opposing QB who performed the best in that stretch of bouts was Love in week 14. In the contest, Love threw for 234 yards, three TDs, and one INT.

Matthew Stafford

Dec 14, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) calls a play during the third quarter against the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Rams QB Matthew Stafford has played at an MVP caliber level all season, and that play from him by no means wavered in his latest game in week 15 against the Detroit Lions. Against them, he went 24-38 passing for 368 yards and threw two touchdowns and one interception. This led him to be ranked as QB11 in fantasy football for the week. Also, with this performance, it extends a streak of eight games where he has thrown two or more TD passes. Stafford will look to keep this going against a team that is part of this streak, the Seattle Seahawks, whom he will play on Thursday night.

The Rams and the Seahawks met back in week 11, and in the contest, statistically, it was one of Stafford’s more underwhelming games of the season. He went 15-28 passing for 130 yards and threw for TDs and no picks. In the year Seattle has a lethal complementary defense with both their rushing and passing defense ranking inside the top 10 in the NFL for fewest passing and rushing yards allowed per game. In passing, they are allowing the seventh fewest–191.4 yards–and as of late, they are allowing the second fewest yards per game in the league, giving up just 122.7. 

Over these last three games, opposing QBs have combined for a TD-INT ratio of 1-7. It should be mentioned that the three QBs Seattle faced are more of the bottom of the barrel QBs to have started a game this season—Minnesota Vikings QB Max Brossmer, Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins, and Indianapolis Colts QB Philip Rivers

Final Verdict

When it comes to who should start and who should sit in fantasy football between Stafford and Love in week 16, Stafford should sit, and Love should start. It is hard to look at an MVP candidate and give him the sit in a debate, but in this,  Love has the more favorable matchup and has proof that he can be successful against the team he is playing in week 16. Stafford, on the other hand, struggled in his game earlier this year against his week 16 opponent, which also goes into making Love the better play this week in fantasy.