Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
I am going to do this a little different this week...just want to change it up and get you folks thinking a little bit. I might switch back next week but I can use this as a template for the rest of the season as we progress along. I am going to cover all 32 teams week by week with the Qb that played agianst them. Let’s breakdown the passing defenses before we jump into who is a good start and who isn’t.
AFC East:
New England:
Week 1: Chad Pennington 16/21, 167, 2TD…game was a blowout but this was a decent week for owners.
Week 2: Phillip Rivers 19/30, 179, 2 TD and 2 INT…seems like they were just giving up short passes early in the season, however QBs posting 2 TD a week is good news for owners.
Week 3: Trent Edwards 10/20, 97, 0TD…rookie but you can see he was very limited.
Week 4: Carson Palmer 21/35, 234, 1TD and 2 INT…a stud QB and they pretty much limited him most of the night. Great pair of WR to throw to, and he really had a sub par night for Carson Palmer.
Week 5: Derek Anderson 22/43 287, 2TD, 3INT…In terms of FF, any owner who was forced to start Anderson had to be at least satisfied. The 3 INT maybe erase 1 of the TD but he still racked up close to 300 yds.
Overall the Pats are far from a pushover in the passing game. However, they have allowed 2 TD in 3 different games and that could give FF owners some reason for optimism. I am sure Romo owners are looking this over very closely this week.
Buffalo:
Week 1: Jay Cutler 22/39, 304 TD/INT
Week 2: Big Ben 21/34, 242, TD/INT
Week 3: Tom Brady 23/29, 311, 4TD
Week 4: Pennington 32/39, 290, TD/2INT
Week 5: Tony Romo 29/50 309, 2TD/5INT
What does all of this mean? They have faced a lot of quality NFL Qbs…Penny and Cutler are middle of the road right now. They are playing tough even though they are giving up a lot of yds. The Interceptions seem meaningless as they are allowing about 300 yds a game. However they have only 2 games where the Qb threw for 2+TD.
New York Jets:
Week 1: Tom Brady 22/28, 297, 3TD…can’t fault them against the Pats.
Week2: Kyle Boller 23/35, 185, 2TD…a lot of FF owners will take that and run almost every week.
Week 3: Trent Green 23/36, 318, TD/INT…Miami was down 31-13 in the 4th…lot of garbage time stats here.
Week 4: Trent Edwards 22/28, 234, TD/INT…rookie QB has success on your secondary?
Week 5: Eli Manning 13/25, 186, 2TD/INT…they had him contained for most of the day. Penny really did lose them this game.
3 games of 2+ TD, Brady has the most impressive yds, Green was in garbage time really, the other 3 outings are a mixed bag. Pretty soft secondary but they are not exactly stiff on the run either so offense are doing whatever they like right now. I have a feeling most Qbs can expose this secondary when they want to.
Miami:
Week 1: Jason Campbell 12/21, 222, 2 INT
Week 2: Tony Romo 14/29, 186, 2TD
Week 3: Pennington 15/22, 124, 2 TD
Week 4: CulPepper 5/12, 75, 2TD…3 rushing TD just for S&G.
Week 5: Matt Schaub 20/34, 294, INT
You look at Miami and you see that they have not been beaten for a lot of yards most weeks. But they also are allowing an atrocious amount of rushing yards typically. They are at #4 on the depth charts at Free Safety…the kid looked lost out there against Houston and Schaub should have had a couple of TD in that game, ended up with a couple of PI calls. The Dolphins are terrible on defense right now in almost every aspect of the game, I expect if they do stiffen up on the ground that most teams will just take to the air and go bombs away on them. They are giving up 1 TD per 19-20 attempts…and that is without CPepp’s 3 rushing TD factored in.
AFC North
Pittsburgh:
Week 1: Anderson/Frye 17/38, 218, TD, 2 INT…sent Frye to QB3 for Seattle…ouch!
Week 2: J.P.Losman 15/25, 154…Buffalo was awful with Losman under center.
Week 3: Alex Smith 17/35, 209, TD/INT…they look good against the inferiors for sure.
Week 4: Warner/Leinart 21/35, 225, TD…their pass defense was not the problem in this game really.
Week 5: Matt Hasselbeck 13/27, 116, INT…just destroyed the Seahawks passing game…really the run as well in this one.
There is no doubt they are a tough tough tough pass defense. And when you factor in they were short handed in the secondary last week…this group is awesome. They have not faced the upper tier QBs so I would question that a bit but compared to what other teams are doing, they look great.
Baltimore:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 20/32, 194, 2TD…considering the Qb, I don’t think this was that bad.
Week 2: Kellen Clemens 19/37, 260, TD/2INT…got the job done, but not the best.
Week 3: Warner/Leinart 24/40, 311, 2 TD…They were ahead by about 20 at one point…then they started to get soft. Had a hammer lock on Leinart though.
Week 4: Derek Anderson 10/18 204, 2 TD/INT…3rd game of 2+ TD for the season.
Week 5: Trent Dilfer 12/19, 126, TD/INT…look at the Qb here before you give them any kudos.
I don’t think they are studs but you have to take into account they are stiff stiff stiff against the run. Teams would rather take their chances thru the air really. In fact I think they still do have a pretty solid secondary. I wouldn’t just wheel out my Qb against them and expect great numbers against them.
Cleveland:
Week 1: Big Ben 12/23, 161, 4TD
Week 2: Palmer 33/50, 401, 6TD/2INT
Week 3: McPepp 14/26, 226, TD
Week 4: McNair 34/53, 307, TD/INT
Week 5: Brady 22/38, 265, 3 TD
The fact is they have given up 15 TD this season. Can a guy like Cleo Lemon exploit them this week? I am sure he will get “Good/Great Match up” this week but it’s CLEO LEMON!!! This secondary has faced Palmer and Brady so it’s understandable to get lit up by them, they also have made McNair and Big Ben look like Brady and Palmer in terms of FF production.
Cincinnati:
Week 1: Steve McNair 20 - 34 - 203 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Derek Anderson, Pass: 20 - 33 - 328 - 5 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 24 - 37 - 248 - 3 TD / 2 INT
Week 4: Tom Brady, Pass: 25 - 32 - 231 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Bye
The Bengals have just been rocked on many weeks. They were OK against McNair week 1 but then they allowed 11 TD over the next 3 weeks. Can the injured Damon Huard do anything against this secondary? I am more inclined to bet on Dwayne Bowe at WR as Joseph is OUT/Suspended.
AFC South:
Indianapolis:
Week 1: Drew Brees, Pass: 28 - 41 - 192 - 0 TD / 2 INT…everyone is keeping Brees and crew down, not sure this was any great achievement looking back.
Week 2: Vince Young, Pass: 17 - 27 - 184 - 1 TD / 0 INT…VY had another 50+ on the ground but they pretty much held him in check. In NFL terms though, VY had a solid game, no mistakes really till the last play and even then you can’t fault the guy.
Week 3: Matt Schaub, Pass: 27 - 33 - 236 - 1 TD / 2 INT…considering Schaub didn’t have Andre Johnson in this game I think he did pretty well.
Week 4: Jay Cutler, Pass: 13 - 21 - 131 - 1 TD / 1 INT…pretty pedestrian numbers.
Week 5: Jeff Garcia, Pass: 18 - 23 - 143 - 2 TD / 0 INT
What I see and take form this are several things. 1st, even in games where the Qbs are having success, they want to try and keep Manning off the field so they run even more than they usually do. Not many teams are going to try and defeat the Colts by airing it out as Indy can match them score for score all day if they want to. They are really only allowing about 150-175 yds a week thru the air and only 1 TD. Besides Brees, most of the other game the Qbs are only throwing it around 25-27 times a game, that’s not much in the NFL…and these teams are LOSING!!! It’s not like the recipe is working or anything but they still are doing it. So I think most weeks you are going to be fairly disappointed when your Qb faces Indy.
Jacksonville:
Week 1: Vince Young, Pass: 11 - 18 - 78 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Joey Harrington, Pass: 12 - 20 - 200 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Jay Cutler, Pass: 16 - 23 - 222 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: Huard/Croyle, 25 - 43 - 279 - TD / 1 INT
The Jags have not exactly been beating down the best of the NFL Qbs, however they are a mighty stiff defense as of late. They are not giving anything away on defense anywhere right now. They had KC pretty much shutout till the very end of that game. I want to see them face someone with a real Qb…Schaub would be a great test but he is missing his WR1/WR2…but it still will be worth monitoring.
Tennessee:
Week 1: David Garrard, Pass: 17 - 30 - 204 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Peyton Manning, Pass: 28 - 42 - 312 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Drew Brees, Pass: 29 - 45 - 225 - 0 TD / 4 INT
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: Joey Harrington, Pass: 16 - 31 - 87 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Byron Leftwich, Pass: 2 - 8 - 28 - 0 TD / 1 INT
They are playing at a very high level as well. Manning had 300+ and a TD but 42 attempts to get there, really not that bad an effort. Mixed bag of Qbs other than manning but they are really playing hard right now. This week they travel into hostile Tampa Bay but I see them able to shut down the Bucs as they will have a hard time running it and also do not possess anyone outside of Joey Galloway who will likely be blanketed this week.
Houston:
Week 1: Damon Huard, Pass: 22 - 33 - 168 - 0 TD / 2 INT
Week 2: Jake Delhomme, Pass: 27 - 41 - 307 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Peyton Manning, Pass: 20 - 29 - 273 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Joey Harrington, Pass: 23 - 29 - 223 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Cleo Lemon, Pass: 15 - 27 - 151 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Trent Green…KO!!!
The Texans really only have 1 poor showing and a lot of that was done by the incredible play of Steve Smith helping Jake Delhomme out. The improvement of their DL has made them much improved with a better overall pass rush and also they have been good against the run minus Ronnie Brown last week. I can’t see where David Garrard would be a great play this week really.
AFC West:
Oakland:
Week 1: Jon Kitna, Pass: 27 - 36 - 289 - 3 TD / 2 INT
Week 2: Jay Cutler, Pass: 23 - 33 - 269 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 3: Derek Anderson, Pass: 18 - 37 - 248 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 4: Trent Green, Pass: 14 - 25 - 158 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 5: Bye
Since week 1, they have been a lot better against the pass. Detroit has a lot of weapons so I wouldn’t fault them too much in week 1. 3 TD vs 6 INT the next 3 weeks…I know many people laugh that they are in 1st place but this defense is not as bad as some imagine it to be. Anderson and Green had trouble completing passes. Rivers might have his hands full on Sunday. This is going to be a big game for a young team, Oakland, on Sunday. The Chargers need this one badly as well but I wouldn’t think Rivers has an explosion or anything.
San Diego:
Week 1: Rex Grossman, Pass: 12 - 23 - 145 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Tom Brady, Pass: 25 - 31 - 279 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Brett Favre, Pass: 28 - 45 - 369 - 3 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Damon Huard, Pass: 17 - 29 - 284 - 2 TD / 2 INT
Week 5: Jay Cutler, Pass: 23 - 36 - 232 - 0 TD / 1 INT
People are going to point to last week’s game and think SD is back, they really are not and here is why. I don’t consider Cutler an upper tier QB and in fact I don’t like anything Denver is doing right now on offense. Has Henry scored yet??? 1 TD, that’s right. All that said, they were lit up by Tom Brady, Brett Favre…you can live with those but Damon Huard? Almost 300 yds and 2 TD in a game they lost. Culpepper is not a guy I pin my dreams on every week but he is coming off a skewed 5 TD performance, but the match up IMO is great. If Curry is healthy and Porter can be effective…might not be a bad match up, would prefer a healthy Jordan though to catch balls o.o.t.b. though.
Denver:
Week 1: J.P. Losman, Pass: 14 - 21 - 97 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Josh McCown, Pass: 8 - 16 - 73 - 1 TD / 3 INT
Week 3: David Garrard, Pass: 14 - 20 - 154 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Peyton Manning, Pass: 20 - 27 - 193 - 3 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Philip Rivers, Pass: 13 - 18 - 270 - 2 TD / 0 INT
While the 1st 3 weeks were really impressive, they did it against very average to poor Qbs. When they faced Manning and Rivers they got smoked pretty good to the tune of 5 TD vs 0 INT. They get a bye this week but they could easily be 0-5 right now. I think if you have a solid QB option you plug him in. It is possible the Travis Henry issue was a distraction to the team this week. He went form a possible season ending knee injury that wa mostly smoked up on the internet, to a season ending suspension that he has managed to stave off for a few weeks it appears.
Kansas City:
Week 1: Matt Schaub, Pass: 16 - 22 - 225 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Rex Grossman, Pass: 20 - 34 - 160 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 3: Kelly Holcomb, Pass: 14 - 28 - 165 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Philip Rivers, Pass: 21 - 42 - 211 - 0 TD / 2 INT
Week 5: David Garrard, Pass: 20 - 27 - 218 - 1 TD / 0 INT
KC is a hard team to gauge and here is why. Despite what they did against Jax on Sunday…and really it was 1 big run by MJD that made those stats looks that good…Fred Taylor did not tear it up…but KC is pretty good at stopping the run. They don’t get gashed every other play as some others in the league. You would think that more teams would try to pass it more on them yet they don’t. SD tried but Rivers simply failed. When you look at this body of work they have done well against Grossman, Holcomb, and Rivers…2 of them are not real starters in this league. Schaub did alright but it was his 1st start so it was actually really solid and they won 20-3 so he wasn’t asked to do a lot. Garrard was effective but didn’t bury them or anything. We’ll see what they are made of at home this week against Carson Palmer.
NFC East:
Dallas:
Week 1: Eli Manning, Pass: 28 - 41 - 312 - 4 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Trent Green, Pass: 23 - 40 - 287 - 2 TD / 4 INT
Week 3: Rex Grossman, Pass: 15 - 32 - 195 - 0 TD / 3 INT
Week 4: Marc Bulger, Pass: 11 - 24 - 114 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Trent Edwards, Pass: 23 - 31 - 176 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Very mixed reviews I think. They have had some injuries in their secondary but shutting down Rex Grossman, Bulger and the rib injury, and Trent Edwards does not impress me. What does New England do best? Throw the ball although they can run it too, but Brady and crew should have a good time in Dallas on Sunday even if the game is a little tougher. They walked right thru that trap game against Cleveland and manage to win handily, the same could not be said of Dallas. The defense is opportunistic though and they have 10 INT on the season…they will need them this week if they have any hope of winning against the Pats.
Washington:
Week 1: Trent Green, Pass: 24 - 38 - 219 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Donovan McNabb, Pass: 28 - 46 - 240 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Eli Manning, Pass: 21 - 36 - 232 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: Jon Kitna, Pass: 16 - 29 - 106 - 0 TD / 2 INT
This is somewhat impressive. They have a very solid secondary. My question and I hope Skins fans will take the time to educate us on their DL…where is the pressure coming form because without getting heat on the Qb, no secondary can survive. They shut down McNabb, Manning was meh, and what they did to Kitna was criminal. Now they will have their hands full with Brett Favre this weekend but I am thinking they are up to the challenge. Imagine the Skins at 4-1…are they really that good? I don’t think Green bay is all that great so they certainly are beatable.
NY Giants:
Week 1: Tony Romo, Pass: 15 - 24 - 345 - 4 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Brett Favre, Pass: 29 - 38 - 286 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Jason Campbell, Pass: 16 - 34 - 190 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Donovan McNabb, Pass: 15 - 31 - 138 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Chad Pennington, Pass: 21 - 36 - 229 - 1 TD / 3 INT
They have gone from the outhouse to the penthouse the last few weeks. After having Romo and Favre take a blowtorch to that secondary in weeks 1 and 2, they have bounced back hard. OK, Campbell doesn’t count, but McNabb and shut down Penny for most of the day. Those guys do have weapons at their disposal and they couldn’t get it done…I know McNabb was missing Westbrook but he did nothing against the Giants. They travel to Atlanta on MNF, might be seriously going 4-2 after this week…crazy talk after the way they started the season. I’m not totally sold on them being a good pass defense but they should be able to handle Joey and Lord Byron.
Philadelphia:
Week 1: Brett Favre, Pass: 23 - 42 - 206 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Jason Campbell, Pass: 16 - 29 - 209 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Jon Kitna, Pass: 29 - 46 - 446 - 2 TD / 1 INT
Week 4: Eli Manning, Pass: 14 - 26 - 135 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Bye
When all is said and considering the injuries that they have sustained, they actually have held up pretty well. 206 yds on 42 attempts is really good against Favre. Kitna had a lot of yards but didn’t really do the damage those numbers would first indicate. They have a good chance to help the Jets usher in the Kelly Clemens era this weekend. I don’t see where Pennington will light them up short of being able to exploit some injuries, but other teams have not really done that.
NFC North:
Green Bay:
Week 1: Donovan McNabb, Pass: 15 - 33 - 184 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Eli Manning, Pass: 16 - 29 - 211 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Philip Rivers, Pass: 27 - 36 - 306 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 4: Kelly Holcomb, Pass: 21 - 39 - 258 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Brian Griese, Pass: 15 - 25 - 214 - 2 TD / 1 INT
Other than Rivers, they haven’t really been bad. Griese had his moments but that should not have lost Green bay the game when you look at the stats…Favre really hurt them in that loss. Manning had a bum shoulder, McNabb was in his 1st game back from his ACL tear…I could try and find excuses for why they are just average but really they have played pretty solid.
Detroit:
Week 1: Josh McCown, Pass: 30 - 40 - 313 - 2 TD / 2 INT
Week 2: Tarvaris Jackson, Pass: 17 - 33 - 166 - 0 TD / 4 INT
Week 3: Donovan McNabb, Pass: 21 - 26 - 381 - 4 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Brian Griese, Pass: 34 - 52 - 286 - 2 TD / 3 INT
Week 5: Jason Campbell, Pass: 23 - 29 - 248 - 2 TD / 0 INT
We all know they are bad. McCown had his best day, McNabb his best day, Griese had almost 300 yds and 2 TD, Campbell had his best day of the season…they are not good, far from it.
Chicago:
Week 1: Philip Rivers, Pass: 22 - 31 - 190 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Damon Huard, Pass: 19 - 28 - 175 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Tony Romo, Pass: 22 - 35 - 329 - 2 TD / 1 INT
Week 4: Jon Kitna, Pass: 20 - 24 - 247 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Brett Favre, Pass: 29 - 40 - 322 - 1 TD / 2 INT
The Bears are another team that is tough to gauge because of all the injuries. They shut down Rivers mostly week 1, Huard week 2, Romo lights them up in week 3, Kitna was bottled up till late in that game, and Favre was doing fine against them till he started to throw interceptions. 2 games of over 300 yds, another for about 250 over the past 3 weeks but both of their CB have had injuries…although Tillman was in the line up and very productive against Brett Favre on Sunday. I doubt TJax lights them up this week or Holcomb for that matter.
Minnesota:
Week 1: Joey Harrington, Pass: 23 - 32 - 199 - 0 TD / 2 INT
Week 2: Jon Kitna, Pass: 22 - 33 - 245 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Damon Huard, Pass: 20 - 29 - 206 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Brett Favre, Pass: 32 - 45 - 344 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Bye
Favre has a sensational game but that was special moment where he broke Marino’s record. The Vikes dropped the hammer down pretty good on the lesser Qbs although they did fare well against Kitna too. When you consider how great they are at stopping the run, its hard to imagine why they aren’t giving up more yards thru the air. Griese will have his moments this weekend but I don’t see him posting 20 points like he did last week.
NFC South:
Tampa Bay:
Week 1: Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 17 - 24 - 222 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Drew Brees, Pass: 26 - 44 - 260 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Marc Bulger, Pass: 17 - 26 - 116 - 0 TD / 3 INT
Week 4: David Carr, Pass: 19 - 41 - 155 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Peyton Manning, Pass: 29 - 37 - 253 - 2 TD / 1 INT
The Bucs are better than people think. Manning had a good day without Harrison by his side but the overall picture for the Bucs has been pretty good. Now granted when you shut Brees down right now, it doesn’t seem to carry as much weight as all the other teams are doing it too, but they have not been torched for 300 yds yet, and they also have only 1 game with over 2 TD and that was against Manning. This is not a pushover for opposing Qbs for sure. While I do think the Titans are going to march into TB and win the game, I don’t expect superstar numbers form Vince Young this weekend.
Carolina:
Week 1: Marc Bulger, Pass: 22 - 42 - 167 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Matt Schaub, Pass: 20 - 28 - 227 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Joey Harrington, Pass: 31 - 44 - 361 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Jeff Garcia, Pass: 15 - 25 - 176 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Drew Brees, Pass: 29 - 47 - 252 - 0 TD / 2 INT
Harrington of all people has had the most success of anyone right now. They are not a super easy team to put points on. They are going to travel this week to AZ who now have Warner starting…not sure if that is good or bad. Warner does well off the bench, will be different when he is actually out there from the 1st snap.
Atlanta:
Week 1: Tarvaris Jackson, Pass: 13 - 23 - 163 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: David Garrard, Pass: 17 - 25 - 272 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Jake Delhomme, Pass: 10 - 18 - 109 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Matt Schaub, Pass: 28 - 40 - 317 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Vince Young, Pass: 20 - 33 - 157 - 0 TD / 3 INT
Schaub and Garrard found success, but they have held their own on other weeks. Part of it is teams know they can run the ball on Atlanta, but they are not swiss cheese in the secondary as some believe. They did a number on Vince Young last week but Young is still learning the ropes in the NFL and he is going to have some bad games. Not the best, not the absolute worst you could be facing either.
New Orleans:
Week 1: Peyton Manning, Pass: 18 - 30 - 288 - 3 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Jeff Garcia, Pass: 10 - 16 - 243 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Vince Young, Pass: 14 - 22 - 164 - 2 TD / 1 INT
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: David Carr, Pass: 10 - 17 - 119 - 1 TD / 1 INT
The Saints can be passed on. Carr was not a good test, and they still managed to lose that game. Why Hasselbeck is so far down on the cheat sheets this week is beyond explanation. I understand he has Branch and Hackett out, but DJ Hackett hasn’t been a part of the offense yet this season. Still ahs Engram in the slot, Burleson lined up wide, and likely Seneca Wallace or Obunwhatever on the other side. I think Hass will be fine, and the game is in Seattle for crying out loud.
NFC West:
Seattle:
Week 1: Jeff Garcia, Pass: 19 - 27 - 201 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Matt Leinart, Pass: 23 - 37 - 299 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Carson Palmer, Pass: 27 - 43 - 342 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 4: Trent Dilfer, Pass: 12 - 33 - 128 - 0 TD / 2 INT
Week 5: Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 18 - 22 - 206 - 1 TD / 0 INT
They have only given up 3 passing TD on the season, not much at all really. A couple of 300 yd games here and there as well. Factor in Drew brees has been awful this season and I don’t see how most owners can start Drew Brees this week. He should remain kind of quiet, especially in that hell hole up in Seattle. The Nest is not a fun place to play football for the opposition.
Arizona:
Week 1: Alex Smith, Pass: 15 - 31 - 126 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 22 - 36 - 281 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Steve McNair, Pass: 20 - 27 - 198 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Kyle Boller, Pass: 8 - 10 - 83 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 17 - 32 - 244 - 2 TD / 2 INT
Week 5: Gus Frerotte, Pass: 24 - 43 - 262 - 3 TD / 3 INT
The Cardinals have given up 5 TD the past 2 weeks. They do get David Carr however so I don’t anticipate large FF points for him this week. Big Ben’s numbers a little deceptive as the Steelers were playing form behind and FWP was doing nothing on the ground that day. Frerotte’s numbers a mixed bag…a pick for every TD is not good. 43 attempts for 262 yd is not that impressive either.
San Fran:
Week 1: Matt Leinart, Pass: 14 - 28 - 102 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 2: Marc Bulger, Pass: 24 - 41 - 368 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 13 - 20 - 160 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 23 - 31 - 281 - 2 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Steve McNair, Pass: 29 - 43 - 214 - 0 TD / 0 INT,
Pretty solid outside of allowing Bulger to throw for 368 yds. Just 1 game of 2 TD. Looks like they have a bye this week.
St Louis:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme, Pass: 18 - 27 - 201 - 3 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Alex Smith, Pass: 11 - 17 - 126 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Jeff Garcia, Pass: 14 - 22 - 151 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Tony Romo, Pass: 21 - 33 - 339 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Kurt Warner, Pass: 14 - 28 - 190 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Matt Leinart, Pass: 7 - 13 - 100 - 0 TD / 1 INT
The Rams are all over the place but understand one thing…teams can run almost at will so they tend to not have to pass the ball that much. I imagine most teams could as Dallas showed but at the same time there is no reason to press the issue. They are on the road at Baltimore this week. McNair has been pretty stale most weeks but if they want to light up St. Louis I believe they can.
Top 10 Qbs that I think are overrated this week:
Kurt Warner: Carolina is not soft serve on defense, Warner has shown over the past few seasons a knack to under perform when given the reigns. I understand people want to get behind him and I am picking him up in many of my redraft leagues, however I have some very tempered enthusiasm for him. I would not rank him as high as he is right now.
Jason Campbell: The Pack are middle of the road but I don’t think Campbell should be ranked ahead of guys like…wow this is a crappy week for Qbs…still top10 for this guy is too much for me right now. Way too inconsistent.
David Garrard: Are you kidding me? No way do I rank him in the top10 this week. I don’t think Garrard will ever be called upon to throw more than 25 times in a game. He has a ceiling of about 200 yds and a TD per week.
Guys towards the bottom this week that should do well:
Matt Hasselbeck: He should be much higher. Even with Nate as his only real weapon on the outside, he will find a way to exploit that secondary of New Orleans. I like him this week, and I told you he was going to do crap last week. I have had a good beat on Matt most of the season, and I give him the green light to start this week. Branch is out, plug in someone else. Look what other Qbs like Matt Schaub are doing with even less really.
Daunte Culpepper: So many bad plays this week, he might actually be decent against the Bolts. This is a big game for the Raiders…I mean B-I-G, BIG!!! They can keep sole possession of 1st place this week and they have like 2,000 new RB in the mix there to keep everyone fresh.
Must starts:
Tom Brady
Tony Romo…YES!!!
Carson Palmer
Donovon McNabb…if you got him, play him this week against the Jets.
Eli Manning…against the Falcons on MNF, he should be top10 this week really.
Games that could end in a 0-0 tie include…
Tennessee at Tampa Bay…both teams will be challenged to put up any points
Minnesota at Chicago…the Vikes do not have the personnel to exploit the Bears secondary, and Chicago does not fare well when they cannot run the ball, I don’t see how they can against the Vikes…low scoring affair I imagine.
Games that could see the doors blown off include…
New England at Dallas…duh
Miami at Cleveland…neither defense especially good at much, Qbs are shaky though.
Oakland at San Diego…the Raiders are avg about 50 points total a game…the Chargers 43…we likely will see something like 24-21 one way or the other, could be a lot of points in this game.
Anyone that has an opinion on what they are looking at, please post your thoughts. It's not about being right or wrong, or trying to twist the stats in any one direction. I think a lot of you guys have some great takes so fire away. That’s all I got right now...sound off folks, cause I’m exhausted.
AFC East:
New England:
Week 1: Chad Pennington 16/21, 167, 2TD…game was a blowout but this was a decent week for owners.
Week 2: Phillip Rivers 19/30, 179, 2 TD and 2 INT…seems like they were just giving up short passes early in the season, however QBs posting 2 TD a week is good news for owners.
Week 3: Trent Edwards 10/20, 97, 0TD…rookie but you can see he was very limited.
Week 4: Carson Palmer 21/35, 234, 1TD and 2 INT…a stud QB and they pretty much limited him most of the night. Great pair of WR to throw to, and he really had a sub par night for Carson Palmer.
Week 5: Derek Anderson 22/43 287, 2TD, 3INT…In terms of FF, any owner who was forced to start Anderson had to be at least satisfied. The 3 INT maybe erase 1 of the TD but he still racked up close to 300 yds.
Overall the Pats are far from a pushover in the passing game. However, they have allowed 2 TD in 3 different games and that could give FF owners some reason for optimism. I am sure Romo owners are looking this over very closely this week.
Buffalo:
Week 1: Jay Cutler 22/39, 304 TD/INT
Week 2: Big Ben 21/34, 242, TD/INT
Week 3: Tom Brady 23/29, 311, 4TD
Week 4: Pennington 32/39, 290, TD/2INT
Week 5: Tony Romo 29/50 309, 2TD/5INT
What does all of this mean? They have faced a lot of quality NFL Qbs…Penny and Cutler are middle of the road right now. They are playing tough even though they are giving up a lot of yds. The Interceptions seem meaningless as they are allowing about 300 yds a game. However they have only 2 games where the Qb threw for 2+TD.
New York Jets:
Week 1: Tom Brady 22/28, 297, 3TD…can’t fault them against the Pats.
Week2: Kyle Boller 23/35, 185, 2TD…a lot of FF owners will take that and run almost every week.
Week 3: Trent Green 23/36, 318, TD/INT…Miami was down 31-13 in the 4th…lot of garbage time stats here.
Week 4: Trent Edwards 22/28, 234, TD/INT…rookie QB has success on your secondary?
Week 5: Eli Manning 13/25, 186, 2TD/INT…they had him contained for most of the day. Penny really did lose them this game.
3 games of 2+ TD, Brady has the most impressive yds, Green was in garbage time really, the other 3 outings are a mixed bag. Pretty soft secondary but they are not exactly stiff on the run either so offense are doing whatever they like right now. I have a feeling most Qbs can expose this secondary when they want to.
Miami:
Week 1: Jason Campbell 12/21, 222, 2 INT
Week 2: Tony Romo 14/29, 186, 2TD
Week 3: Pennington 15/22, 124, 2 TD
Week 4: CulPepper 5/12, 75, 2TD…3 rushing TD just for S&G.
Week 5: Matt Schaub 20/34, 294, INT
You look at Miami and you see that they have not been beaten for a lot of yards most weeks. But they also are allowing an atrocious amount of rushing yards typically. They are at #4 on the depth charts at Free Safety…the kid looked lost out there against Houston and Schaub should have had a couple of TD in that game, ended up with a couple of PI calls. The Dolphins are terrible on defense right now in almost every aspect of the game, I expect if they do stiffen up on the ground that most teams will just take to the air and go bombs away on them. They are giving up 1 TD per 19-20 attempts…and that is without CPepp’s 3 rushing TD factored in.
AFC North
Pittsburgh:
Week 1: Anderson/Frye 17/38, 218, TD, 2 INT…sent Frye to QB3 for Seattle…ouch!
Week 2: J.P.Losman 15/25, 154…Buffalo was awful with Losman under center.
Week 3: Alex Smith 17/35, 209, TD/INT…they look good against the inferiors for sure.
Week 4: Warner/Leinart 21/35, 225, TD…their pass defense was not the problem in this game really.
Week 5: Matt Hasselbeck 13/27, 116, INT…just destroyed the Seahawks passing game…really the run as well in this one.
There is no doubt they are a tough tough tough pass defense. And when you factor in they were short handed in the secondary last week…this group is awesome. They have not faced the upper tier QBs so I would question that a bit but compared to what other teams are doing, they look great.
Baltimore:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 20/32, 194, 2TD…considering the Qb, I don’t think this was that bad.
Week 2: Kellen Clemens 19/37, 260, TD/2INT…got the job done, but not the best.
Week 3: Warner/Leinart 24/40, 311, 2 TD…They were ahead by about 20 at one point…then they started to get soft. Had a hammer lock on Leinart though.
Week 4: Derek Anderson 10/18 204, 2 TD/INT…3rd game of 2+ TD for the season.
Week 5: Trent Dilfer 12/19, 126, TD/INT…look at the Qb here before you give them any kudos.
I don’t think they are studs but you have to take into account they are stiff stiff stiff against the run. Teams would rather take their chances thru the air really. In fact I think they still do have a pretty solid secondary. I wouldn’t just wheel out my Qb against them and expect great numbers against them.
Cleveland:
Week 1: Big Ben 12/23, 161, 4TD
Week 2: Palmer 33/50, 401, 6TD/2INT
Week 3: McPepp 14/26, 226, TD
Week 4: McNair 34/53, 307, TD/INT
Week 5: Brady 22/38, 265, 3 TD
The fact is they have given up 15 TD this season. Can a guy like Cleo Lemon exploit them this week? I am sure he will get “Good/Great Match up” this week but it’s CLEO LEMON!!! This secondary has faced Palmer and Brady so it’s understandable to get lit up by them, they also have made McNair and Big Ben look like Brady and Palmer in terms of FF production.
Cincinnati:
Week 1: Steve McNair 20 - 34 - 203 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Derek Anderson, Pass: 20 - 33 - 328 - 5 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 24 - 37 - 248 - 3 TD / 2 INT
Week 4: Tom Brady, Pass: 25 - 32 - 231 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Bye
The Bengals have just been rocked on many weeks. They were OK against McNair week 1 but then they allowed 11 TD over the next 3 weeks. Can the injured Damon Huard do anything against this secondary? I am more inclined to bet on Dwayne Bowe at WR as Joseph is OUT/Suspended.
AFC South:
Indianapolis:
Week 1: Drew Brees, Pass: 28 - 41 - 192 - 0 TD / 2 INT…everyone is keeping Brees and crew down, not sure this was any great achievement looking back.
Week 2: Vince Young, Pass: 17 - 27 - 184 - 1 TD / 0 INT…VY had another 50+ on the ground but they pretty much held him in check. In NFL terms though, VY had a solid game, no mistakes really till the last play and even then you can’t fault the guy.
Week 3: Matt Schaub, Pass: 27 - 33 - 236 - 1 TD / 2 INT…considering Schaub didn’t have Andre Johnson in this game I think he did pretty well.
Week 4: Jay Cutler, Pass: 13 - 21 - 131 - 1 TD / 1 INT…pretty pedestrian numbers.
Week 5: Jeff Garcia, Pass: 18 - 23 - 143 - 2 TD / 0 INT
What I see and take form this are several things. 1st, even in games where the Qbs are having success, they want to try and keep Manning off the field so they run even more than they usually do. Not many teams are going to try and defeat the Colts by airing it out as Indy can match them score for score all day if they want to. They are really only allowing about 150-175 yds a week thru the air and only 1 TD. Besides Brees, most of the other game the Qbs are only throwing it around 25-27 times a game, that’s not much in the NFL…and these teams are LOSING!!! It’s not like the recipe is working or anything but they still are doing it. So I think most weeks you are going to be fairly disappointed when your Qb faces Indy.
Jacksonville:
Week 1: Vince Young, Pass: 11 - 18 - 78 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Joey Harrington, Pass: 12 - 20 - 200 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Jay Cutler, Pass: 16 - 23 - 222 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: Huard/Croyle, 25 - 43 - 279 - TD / 1 INT
The Jags have not exactly been beating down the best of the NFL Qbs, however they are a mighty stiff defense as of late. They are not giving anything away on defense anywhere right now. They had KC pretty much shutout till the very end of that game. I want to see them face someone with a real Qb…Schaub would be a great test but he is missing his WR1/WR2…but it still will be worth monitoring.
Tennessee:
Week 1: David Garrard, Pass: 17 - 30 - 204 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Peyton Manning, Pass: 28 - 42 - 312 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Drew Brees, Pass: 29 - 45 - 225 - 0 TD / 4 INT
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: Joey Harrington, Pass: 16 - 31 - 87 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Byron Leftwich, Pass: 2 - 8 - 28 - 0 TD / 1 INT
They are playing at a very high level as well. Manning had 300+ and a TD but 42 attempts to get there, really not that bad an effort. Mixed bag of Qbs other than manning but they are really playing hard right now. This week they travel into hostile Tampa Bay but I see them able to shut down the Bucs as they will have a hard time running it and also do not possess anyone outside of Joey Galloway who will likely be blanketed this week.
Houston:
Week 1: Damon Huard, Pass: 22 - 33 - 168 - 0 TD / 2 INT
Week 2: Jake Delhomme, Pass: 27 - 41 - 307 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Peyton Manning, Pass: 20 - 29 - 273 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Joey Harrington, Pass: 23 - 29 - 223 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Cleo Lemon, Pass: 15 - 27 - 151 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Trent Green…KO!!!
The Texans really only have 1 poor showing and a lot of that was done by the incredible play of Steve Smith helping Jake Delhomme out. The improvement of their DL has made them much improved with a better overall pass rush and also they have been good against the run minus Ronnie Brown last week. I can’t see where David Garrard would be a great play this week really.
AFC West:
Oakland:
Week 1: Jon Kitna, Pass: 27 - 36 - 289 - 3 TD / 2 INT
Week 2: Jay Cutler, Pass: 23 - 33 - 269 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 3: Derek Anderson, Pass: 18 - 37 - 248 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 4: Trent Green, Pass: 14 - 25 - 158 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 5: Bye
Since week 1, they have been a lot better against the pass. Detroit has a lot of weapons so I wouldn’t fault them too much in week 1. 3 TD vs 6 INT the next 3 weeks…I know many people laugh that they are in 1st place but this defense is not as bad as some imagine it to be. Anderson and Green had trouble completing passes. Rivers might have his hands full on Sunday. This is going to be a big game for a young team, Oakland, on Sunday. The Chargers need this one badly as well but I wouldn’t think Rivers has an explosion or anything.
San Diego:
Week 1: Rex Grossman, Pass: 12 - 23 - 145 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Tom Brady, Pass: 25 - 31 - 279 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Brett Favre, Pass: 28 - 45 - 369 - 3 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Damon Huard, Pass: 17 - 29 - 284 - 2 TD / 2 INT
Week 5: Jay Cutler, Pass: 23 - 36 - 232 - 0 TD / 1 INT
People are going to point to last week’s game and think SD is back, they really are not and here is why. I don’t consider Cutler an upper tier QB and in fact I don’t like anything Denver is doing right now on offense. Has Henry scored yet??? 1 TD, that’s right. All that said, they were lit up by Tom Brady, Brett Favre…you can live with those but Damon Huard? Almost 300 yds and 2 TD in a game they lost. Culpepper is not a guy I pin my dreams on every week but he is coming off a skewed 5 TD performance, but the match up IMO is great. If Curry is healthy and Porter can be effective…might not be a bad match up, would prefer a healthy Jordan though to catch balls o.o.t.b. though.
Denver:
Week 1: J.P. Losman, Pass: 14 - 21 - 97 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Josh McCown, Pass: 8 - 16 - 73 - 1 TD / 3 INT
Week 3: David Garrard, Pass: 14 - 20 - 154 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Peyton Manning, Pass: 20 - 27 - 193 - 3 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Philip Rivers, Pass: 13 - 18 - 270 - 2 TD / 0 INT
While the 1st 3 weeks were really impressive, they did it against very average to poor Qbs. When they faced Manning and Rivers they got smoked pretty good to the tune of 5 TD vs 0 INT. They get a bye this week but they could easily be 0-5 right now. I think if you have a solid QB option you plug him in. It is possible the Travis Henry issue was a distraction to the team this week. He went form a possible season ending knee injury that wa mostly smoked up on the internet, to a season ending suspension that he has managed to stave off for a few weeks it appears.
Kansas City:
Week 1: Matt Schaub, Pass: 16 - 22 - 225 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Rex Grossman, Pass: 20 - 34 - 160 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 3: Kelly Holcomb, Pass: 14 - 28 - 165 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Philip Rivers, Pass: 21 - 42 - 211 - 0 TD / 2 INT
Week 5: David Garrard, Pass: 20 - 27 - 218 - 1 TD / 0 INT
KC is a hard team to gauge and here is why. Despite what they did against Jax on Sunday…and really it was 1 big run by MJD that made those stats looks that good…Fred Taylor did not tear it up…but KC is pretty good at stopping the run. They don’t get gashed every other play as some others in the league. You would think that more teams would try to pass it more on them yet they don’t. SD tried but Rivers simply failed. When you look at this body of work they have done well against Grossman, Holcomb, and Rivers…2 of them are not real starters in this league. Schaub did alright but it was his 1st start so it was actually really solid and they won 20-3 so he wasn’t asked to do a lot. Garrard was effective but didn’t bury them or anything. We’ll see what they are made of at home this week against Carson Palmer.
NFC East:
Dallas:
Week 1: Eli Manning, Pass: 28 - 41 - 312 - 4 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Trent Green, Pass: 23 - 40 - 287 - 2 TD / 4 INT
Week 3: Rex Grossman, Pass: 15 - 32 - 195 - 0 TD / 3 INT
Week 4: Marc Bulger, Pass: 11 - 24 - 114 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Trent Edwards, Pass: 23 - 31 - 176 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Very mixed reviews I think. They have had some injuries in their secondary but shutting down Rex Grossman, Bulger and the rib injury, and Trent Edwards does not impress me. What does New England do best? Throw the ball although they can run it too, but Brady and crew should have a good time in Dallas on Sunday even if the game is a little tougher. They walked right thru that trap game against Cleveland and manage to win handily, the same could not be said of Dallas. The defense is opportunistic though and they have 10 INT on the season…they will need them this week if they have any hope of winning against the Pats.
Washington:
Week 1: Trent Green, Pass: 24 - 38 - 219 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Donovan McNabb, Pass: 28 - 46 - 240 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Eli Manning, Pass: 21 - 36 - 232 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: Jon Kitna, Pass: 16 - 29 - 106 - 0 TD / 2 INT
This is somewhat impressive. They have a very solid secondary. My question and I hope Skins fans will take the time to educate us on their DL…where is the pressure coming form because without getting heat on the Qb, no secondary can survive. They shut down McNabb, Manning was meh, and what they did to Kitna was criminal. Now they will have their hands full with Brett Favre this weekend but I am thinking they are up to the challenge. Imagine the Skins at 4-1…are they really that good? I don’t think Green bay is all that great so they certainly are beatable.
NY Giants:
Week 1: Tony Romo, Pass: 15 - 24 - 345 - 4 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Brett Favre, Pass: 29 - 38 - 286 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Jason Campbell, Pass: 16 - 34 - 190 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Donovan McNabb, Pass: 15 - 31 - 138 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Chad Pennington, Pass: 21 - 36 - 229 - 1 TD / 3 INT
They have gone from the outhouse to the penthouse the last few weeks. After having Romo and Favre take a blowtorch to that secondary in weeks 1 and 2, they have bounced back hard. OK, Campbell doesn’t count, but McNabb and shut down Penny for most of the day. Those guys do have weapons at their disposal and they couldn’t get it done…I know McNabb was missing Westbrook but he did nothing against the Giants. They travel to Atlanta on MNF, might be seriously going 4-2 after this week…crazy talk after the way they started the season. I’m not totally sold on them being a good pass defense but they should be able to handle Joey and Lord Byron.
Philadelphia:
Week 1: Brett Favre, Pass: 23 - 42 - 206 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Jason Campbell, Pass: 16 - 29 - 209 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Jon Kitna, Pass: 29 - 46 - 446 - 2 TD / 1 INT
Week 4: Eli Manning, Pass: 14 - 26 - 135 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Bye
When all is said and considering the injuries that they have sustained, they actually have held up pretty well. 206 yds on 42 attempts is really good against Favre. Kitna had a lot of yards but didn’t really do the damage those numbers would first indicate. They have a good chance to help the Jets usher in the Kelly Clemens era this weekend. I don’t see where Pennington will light them up short of being able to exploit some injuries, but other teams have not really done that.
NFC North:
Green Bay:
Week 1: Donovan McNabb, Pass: 15 - 33 - 184 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Eli Manning, Pass: 16 - 29 - 211 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Philip Rivers, Pass: 27 - 36 - 306 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 4: Kelly Holcomb, Pass: 21 - 39 - 258 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Brian Griese, Pass: 15 - 25 - 214 - 2 TD / 1 INT
Other than Rivers, they haven’t really been bad. Griese had his moments but that should not have lost Green bay the game when you look at the stats…Favre really hurt them in that loss. Manning had a bum shoulder, McNabb was in his 1st game back from his ACL tear…I could try and find excuses for why they are just average but really they have played pretty solid.
Detroit:
Week 1: Josh McCown, Pass: 30 - 40 - 313 - 2 TD / 2 INT
Week 2: Tarvaris Jackson, Pass: 17 - 33 - 166 - 0 TD / 4 INT
Week 3: Donovan McNabb, Pass: 21 - 26 - 381 - 4 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Brian Griese, Pass: 34 - 52 - 286 - 2 TD / 3 INT
Week 5: Jason Campbell, Pass: 23 - 29 - 248 - 2 TD / 0 INT
We all know they are bad. McCown had his best day, McNabb his best day, Griese had almost 300 yds and 2 TD, Campbell had his best day of the season…they are not good, far from it.
Chicago:
Week 1: Philip Rivers, Pass: 22 - 31 - 190 - 0 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: Damon Huard, Pass: 19 - 28 - 175 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Tony Romo, Pass: 22 - 35 - 329 - 2 TD / 1 INT
Week 4: Jon Kitna, Pass: 20 - 24 - 247 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Brett Favre, Pass: 29 - 40 - 322 - 1 TD / 2 INT
The Bears are another team that is tough to gauge because of all the injuries. They shut down Rivers mostly week 1, Huard week 2, Romo lights them up in week 3, Kitna was bottled up till late in that game, and Favre was doing fine against them till he started to throw interceptions. 2 games of over 300 yds, another for about 250 over the past 3 weeks but both of their CB have had injuries…although Tillman was in the line up and very productive against Brett Favre on Sunday. I doubt TJax lights them up this week or Holcomb for that matter.
Minnesota:
Week 1: Joey Harrington, Pass: 23 - 32 - 199 - 0 TD / 2 INT
Week 2: Jon Kitna, Pass: 22 - 33 - 245 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Damon Huard, Pass: 20 - 29 - 206 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Brett Favre, Pass: 32 - 45 - 344 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Bye
Favre has a sensational game but that was special moment where he broke Marino’s record. The Vikes dropped the hammer down pretty good on the lesser Qbs although they did fare well against Kitna too. When you consider how great they are at stopping the run, its hard to imagine why they aren’t giving up more yards thru the air. Griese will have his moments this weekend but I don’t see him posting 20 points like he did last week.
NFC South:
Tampa Bay:
Week 1: Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 17 - 24 - 222 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Drew Brees, Pass: 26 - 44 - 260 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Marc Bulger, Pass: 17 - 26 - 116 - 0 TD / 3 INT
Week 4: David Carr, Pass: 19 - 41 - 155 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Peyton Manning, Pass: 29 - 37 - 253 - 2 TD / 1 INT
The Bucs are better than people think. Manning had a good day without Harrison by his side but the overall picture for the Bucs has been pretty good. Now granted when you shut Brees down right now, it doesn’t seem to carry as much weight as all the other teams are doing it too, but they have not been torched for 300 yds yet, and they also have only 1 game with over 2 TD and that was against Manning. This is not a pushover for opposing Qbs for sure. While I do think the Titans are going to march into TB and win the game, I don’t expect superstar numbers form Vince Young this weekend.
Carolina:
Week 1: Marc Bulger, Pass: 22 - 42 - 167 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Matt Schaub, Pass: 20 - 28 - 227 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Joey Harrington, Pass: 31 - 44 - 361 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Jeff Garcia, Pass: 15 - 25 - 176 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Drew Brees, Pass: 29 - 47 - 252 - 0 TD / 2 INT
Harrington of all people has had the most success of anyone right now. They are not a super easy team to put points on. They are going to travel this week to AZ who now have Warner starting…not sure if that is good or bad. Warner does well off the bench, will be different when he is actually out there from the 1st snap.
Atlanta:
Week 1: Tarvaris Jackson, Pass: 13 - 23 - 163 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 2: David Garrard, Pass: 17 - 25 - 272 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Jake Delhomme, Pass: 10 - 18 - 109 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Matt Schaub, Pass: 28 - 40 - 317 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 5: Vince Young, Pass: 20 - 33 - 157 - 0 TD / 3 INT
Schaub and Garrard found success, but they have held their own on other weeks. Part of it is teams know they can run the ball on Atlanta, but they are not swiss cheese in the secondary as some believe. They did a number on Vince Young last week but Young is still learning the ropes in the NFL and he is going to have some bad games. Not the best, not the absolute worst you could be facing either.
New Orleans:
Week 1: Peyton Manning, Pass: 18 - 30 - 288 - 3 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Jeff Garcia, Pass: 10 - 16 - 243 - 2 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Vince Young, Pass: 14 - 22 - 164 - 2 TD / 1 INT
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: David Carr, Pass: 10 - 17 - 119 - 1 TD / 1 INT
The Saints can be passed on. Carr was not a good test, and they still managed to lose that game. Why Hasselbeck is so far down on the cheat sheets this week is beyond explanation. I understand he has Branch and Hackett out, but DJ Hackett hasn’t been a part of the offense yet this season. Still ahs Engram in the slot, Burleson lined up wide, and likely Seneca Wallace or Obunwhatever on the other side. I think Hass will be fine, and the game is in Seattle for crying out loud.
NFC West:
Seattle:
Week 1: Jeff Garcia, Pass: 19 - 27 - 201 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Matt Leinart, Pass: 23 - 37 - 299 - 1 TD / 1 INT
Week 3: Carson Palmer, Pass: 27 - 43 - 342 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 4: Trent Dilfer, Pass: 12 - 33 - 128 - 0 TD / 2 INT
Week 5: Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 18 - 22 - 206 - 1 TD / 0 INT
They have only given up 3 passing TD on the season, not much at all really. A couple of 300 yd games here and there as well. Factor in Drew brees has been awful this season and I don’t see how most owners can start Drew Brees this week. He should remain kind of quiet, especially in that hell hole up in Seattle. The Nest is not a fun place to play football for the opposition.
Arizona:
Week 1: Alex Smith, Pass: 15 - 31 - 126 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 22 - 36 - 281 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Steve McNair, Pass: 20 - 27 - 198 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Kyle Boller, Pass: 8 - 10 - 83 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 17 - 32 - 244 - 2 TD / 2 INT
Week 5: Gus Frerotte, Pass: 24 - 43 - 262 - 3 TD / 3 INT
The Cardinals have given up 5 TD the past 2 weeks. They do get David Carr however so I don’t anticipate large FF points for him this week. Big Ben’s numbers a little deceptive as the Steelers were playing form behind and FWP was doing nothing on the ground that day. Frerotte’s numbers a mixed bag…a pick for every TD is not good. 43 attempts for 262 yd is not that impressive either.
San Fran:
Week 1: Matt Leinart, Pass: 14 - 28 - 102 - 1 TD / 2 INT
Week 2: Marc Bulger, Pass: 24 - 41 - 368 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 13 - 20 - 160 - 1 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 23 - 31 - 281 - 2 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Steve McNair, Pass: 29 - 43 - 214 - 0 TD / 0 INT,
Pretty solid outside of allowing Bulger to throw for 368 yds. Just 1 game of 2 TD. Looks like they have a bye this week.
St Louis:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme, Pass: 18 - 27 - 201 - 3 TD / 0 INT
Week 2: Alex Smith, Pass: 11 - 17 - 126 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 3: Jeff Garcia, Pass: 14 - 22 - 151 - 0 TD / 0 INT
Week 4: Tony Romo, Pass: 21 - 33 - 339 - 3 TD / 1 INT
Week 5: Kurt Warner, Pass: 14 - 28 - 190 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Matt Leinart, Pass: 7 - 13 - 100 - 0 TD / 1 INT
The Rams are all over the place but understand one thing…teams can run almost at will so they tend to not have to pass the ball that much. I imagine most teams could as Dallas showed but at the same time there is no reason to press the issue. They are on the road at Baltimore this week. McNair has been pretty stale most weeks but if they want to light up St. Louis I believe they can.
Top 10 Qbs that I think are overrated this week:
Kurt Warner: Carolina is not soft serve on defense, Warner has shown over the past few seasons a knack to under perform when given the reigns. I understand people want to get behind him and I am picking him up in many of my redraft leagues, however I have some very tempered enthusiasm for him. I would not rank him as high as he is right now.
Jason Campbell: The Pack are middle of the road but I don’t think Campbell should be ranked ahead of guys like…wow this is a crappy week for Qbs…still top10 for this guy is too much for me right now. Way too inconsistent.
David Garrard: Are you kidding me? No way do I rank him in the top10 this week. I don’t think Garrard will ever be called upon to throw more than 25 times in a game. He has a ceiling of about 200 yds and a TD per week.
Guys towards the bottom this week that should do well:
Matt Hasselbeck: He should be much higher. Even with Nate as his only real weapon on the outside, he will find a way to exploit that secondary of New Orleans. I like him this week, and I told you he was going to do crap last week. I have had a good beat on Matt most of the season, and I give him the green light to start this week. Branch is out, plug in someone else. Look what other Qbs like Matt Schaub are doing with even less really.
Daunte Culpepper: So many bad plays this week, he might actually be decent against the Bolts. This is a big game for the Raiders…I mean B-I-G, BIG!!! They can keep sole possession of 1st place this week and they have like 2,000 new RB in the mix there to keep everyone fresh.
Must starts:
Tom Brady
Tony Romo…YES!!!
Carson Palmer
Donovon McNabb…if you got him, play him this week against the Jets.
Eli Manning…against the Falcons on MNF, he should be top10 this week really.
Games that could end in a 0-0 tie include…
Tennessee at Tampa Bay…both teams will be challenged to put up any points
Minnesota at Chicago…the Vikes do not have the personnel to exploit the Bears secondary, and Chicago does not fare well when they cannot run the ball, I don’t see how they can against the Vikes…low scoring affair I imagine.
Games that could see the doors blown off include…
New England at Dallas…duh
Miami at Cleveland…neither defense especially good at much, Qbs are shaky though.
Oakland at San Diego…the Raiders are avg about 50 points total a game…the Chargers 43…we likely will see something like 24-21 one way or the other, could be a lot of points in this game.
Anyone that has an opinion on what they are looking at, please post your thoughts. It's not about being right or wrong, or trying to twist the stats in any one direction. I think a lot of you guys have some great takes so fire away. That’s all I got right now...sound off folks, cause I’m exhausted.
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