Matt Ryan, Peyton Manning, Michael Vick and Philip Rivers are all on bye this week. So are all the players that they throw to. Well, unless you count all of the opposing defenses Vick has been throwing to recently. Still, those are some big QB, WR, and TE shoes to fill for your fantasy teams.
I’ve been saying a lot of bad things about The Tennessee Titans’ defense recently, but they deserve it. Sure, they beat The Steelers last Thursday, but Roethlisberger still managed 363 passing yards against them; including an 82 yard bomb to Mike Wallace. I guess the reason I’m saying all of this is to point out that just because The Titans won a game doesn’t mean you should stop playing all of your fantasy players against them. Ryan Fitzpatrick is a great plug-in at QB this week and Scott Chandler should prove a worthy replacement for Tony Gonzalez or Antonio Gates. Even Steve Johnson who has been on a bit of a TD drought recently should bounce back nicely against The Titans.
The Arizona Cardinals may have some questions at QB this week, but you sure don’t if you have a Cardinals WR on your fantasy team. Both Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Roberts should put up great numbers against The Vikings this Sunday regardless of who is throwing to them. Look for both of them to pass 80 yards and at least one of the two reaching the end zone.
The same can be said for Fred Davis and Santana Moss of The Redskins. Divisional battles are always interesting, but when the two pass defenses involved are both relatively lacking, the results can be phenomenal for fantasy owners. You were going to start The Giants’ players anyway, but Davis and Moss are great plays this week as well. With The Giants turning the heat up on offense, The Redskins will likely need to turn to the air plenty and since Pierre Garcon is still suffering from a lingering toe injury, RGIII will be looking for Moss and Davis to pick up the slack.
On the negative end, Jordy Nelson owners shouldn’t expect anything like last week when The Packers play The Rams. St. Louis has a surprisingly stout pass defense. Cortland Finnegan held the league’s leading receiver going into last week, Brian Hartline, to ZERO catches. ZERO! No, I don’t think Nelson will be quite that bad, but I don’t expect to see him in the end zone.
Losing Ray Lewis and Lardarius Webb for the year was bad for The Ravens, but things will be just as bad on the offensive side of the ball against Houston this week. Yeah, yeah, Green Bay lit up Houston’s pass defense last week, but Baltimore’s offense isn’t exactly Green Bay’s either. Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith will likely both have a rough weekend.
For tight ends, both Coby Fleener and Vernon Davis have rough matchups this week. You’re probably more likely to have Davis on your team already, but don’t be fooled by Fleener’s matchup against The Browns, they’re surprisingly good against the tight end.
