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After hauling in just two passes for 17 yards in Week 7 against the Seattle Seahawks, many fantasy football owners were obviously frustrated with the performance of Arizona Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald. It was yet another worthless fantasy performance from the star receiver and it has left many owners skeptical about his value heading into Week 8.
Fitzgerald was visibly not healthy last Thursday night, though. He was limping around the field and even said after the game that he was around 80% healthy. It also didn’t help that he was matched up against CB Richard Sherman in the primetime game. Sherman’s physical style of play seemed to be too much for the injured wideout and Fitz had problems gaining separation all game from the shutdown corner.
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Luckily, the team will get a 10-day break before their game this weekend, which will give Fitz plenty of time to rest his ailing hammy. An extra couple days off is exactly what the seven-time Pro Bowler needed and it should do wonders for his numbers over the second half of the season.
Even more promising is that Fitzgerald has an extremely favorable matchup this Sunday. The team faces an Atlanta Falcons’ secondary that is ranked 23rd in the league against the pass and has had problems defending the deep ball all season. Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Vincent Jackson abused the team for 138 yards and two touchdowns last week and this could be the game that Fitz breaks out of his mid-season slump.
Fitzgerald may be coming off a bad performance and may still be nursing a hamstring injury, but his potential to have a huge game is simply too much to ignore. If you own Fitz in any format, make sure he is in your lineup for the Battle of the Birds in Week 8.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
