Top Five Fantasy QBs

1.  Tom Brady – You can think about that injury all you want, but when you factor in that a 100% Tom Brady threw for 50 TDs and over 4,800 yards with just 8 INTs, then the hampered mobility version of Brady can afford 5 to 10 less TDs and maybe 600 or so less yards. Don’t forget his team’s receiving core has been bolstered by Joey Galloway.

2. Drew Brees – It’s not wins that count in this game… it’s numbers. During his three year tenure in New Orleans, and because of the lack of production in the Saints’ running game, Drew Brees has 4,400+, 4,400+, and 5,000+ yards, with 26, 28, and 34 TDs all respectively. What he loses in a potentially high INT rate (11, 18, and 17 also respectively), he makes up for by averaging 289.79 yards per game and by only having missed one start in the last five years (none in New Orleans).

3. Kurt Warner – After one full year as the Cardinals undisputed starter, he reverted to his accurate past at a 67.1% completion rate, amassed 4,583 passing yards (good for 286.44 a game), and a cool 30 TDs against an up and down 14 INTs. And like Brees, it’s not how many wins you get in this game… it’s the numbers. Now that Larry Fitzgerald has become the LeBron James of his position after his postseason play, Kurt Warner should be in for another big year. Some of you may be worrying about the potential loss of Anquan Boldin, but remember, his playing time was very limited in those playoffs, and Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston surely produced.

4. Peyton Manning – It may come as a surprise that Peyton Manning is number four on my list. He is still good for a smooth 3,800-4,100 yards this season and an ample high 20’s to low 30’s in TD numbers. However, he does not have anywhere near the yards per game potential as the previously mentioned QBs as his team’s defense is definitely above Brees’ and Warner’s, and better than Brady’s as well.

5. Philip Rivers – Philip Rivers showed in 2008 that he can be a big numbers guy. He finished up with 4,009 yards, and a career high 34 TDs. It would not be a stretch to question his potential consistency due to his 2006 and 2007 seasons. In those years he threw for 3,300+ and 3,100+ yards, with 22 and 15 TDs, all respectively. However, last season we started to see huge signs of wear and tear on LaDainian Tomlinson, which is probably a big reason why his numbers soared this past year as compared to those previous two. So in that respect, it would not be a stretch as well to see him having a great fantasy type season again this year.

San Diego Chargers vs. Indianapolis Colts Playoff Primer

The night cap of day one on Wild-Card Weekend will have two teams on display that can light up the scoreboard. Whereas the Colts have reverted to a more proficient scoring style over the past few years with the peak-point maturity of Peyton Manning, the Chargers have remained a team that can put up points in bunches. This game should have all the makings of a contest that comes down to which team does the best with it’s last offensive drive, and a last chance hail-mary or “lateral push” doesn’t count.

 

Everyone knows that both teams have more-than capable and playoff-tested quarterbacks. Peyton Manning has practically carried his team whose run game which ranked 31^st in the league with a meager 79.6 yards per game, and was able to post his ninth 4,000 yard plus season with 4,002 yards, threw 27 touchdowns against a respectable twelve interceptions, while completing 66.8 percent of his passes. These numbers were good enough to earn him a 95.0 QB rating.

 

Philip Rivers, for San Diego, threw his way to his first ever 4,000 yard plus season with 4,009 yards. He also tied with New Orleans’ Drew Brees for the most touchdowns with 34, completed 65.3 percent of his passes with eleven interceptions. All this was good for a passer rating of 105.5 which was tops in the NFL. Much like Peyton Manning, he too had to overcome his teams dip in rushing stats as LaDainian Tomlinson went from 1,462, 1,815, and 1,474 yards in the past three years respectively to his lowest output ever in his storied eight year career at 1,110 yards with 3.8 yards per carry. In those previously mentioned seasons, he had 4.3, 5.2, and 4.7 yards per carry respectively. So this should be the beginning of the down-hill part of his career.

 

But even with that being said, the Chargers still gained 107.9 yards per game on the ground (20^th in the league, and eleven better than Indy’s 31^st) and even with his 2008 swoon, Tomlinson is still one of the most prolific rushers in the league. Furthermore, his production is still better than the Colt’s duo of Dominic Rhodes, 538ypg, 3.5ypc, and Joseph Addai, 544ypg, and also 3.5ypc. The two of them alone gained 1,082 yards. This isn’t good, as the Chargers second option, Darren Sproles, had 330ypg with 5.4ypc. If you combine his total with Tomlinson’s you’ll get 358 yards of extra ground over the two Indianapolis runners.

 

As far as defenses go, the Chargers were 27^th in the league versus the pass, giving up 247.4 yards per game. On the other hand, the Colts were very good with a 6^th rated passing defense giving up 188.1 yards per contest. As for the rushing defenses, the Chargers ranked 11^th and gave up a respectable 102.6 yards per game. With teams rarely giving every single carry to a feature back, 102.6 yards per game between two to three players isn’t terrible. The Colts, however, were 24^th, and they gave up 122.9 yards per outing. That kind of number suggests that their opponent’s feature back was typically able to get at least over 90 yards on his own. Seemingly, the Colts allowed seven of their opponent’s backs to gain over 90 yards to the Charger’s three.

 

Now for the X factors.

 

Both teams are entering the post-season on hot streaks; the Colts have won nine straight, and the Chargers have won four straight. You would think the Colts did their duty better with that kind of disparity, but let’s not forget a few “gimme” games they won this season; The first time they played Houston, when QB Sage Rosenfels fumbled the ball away twice in the waning moments of the game, the game against Pittsburgh when they were down 17-7 at one point and Ben Roethlisberger threw three terrible interceptions, and the game against Cleveland when they were down 6-3 in the fourth quarter and Robert Mathis returned a fumble by QB Ken Dorsey 37 yards for a 10-6 victory. Without those three wins, the Colts wouldn’t even be in the playoffs.

 

In the Charger’s four game streak, their only luck-job win was in Kansas City when they scored twelve points in the final 1:19 of the game to win 22-21. Other than that, they have soared in beating Oakland 34-7, Tampa Bay 41-24, and most recently, Denver 52-21.

 

With all of that being said, the Chargers having a passing game that is actually complimented by the run, the Colts having to rely on Peyton manning for most of the season, and a renewed vigor of the San Diego Chargers by their miracle playoff push after overcoming a 4-8 record, I just simply have to give the game to San Diego at home. There is a reason the Colts passing defense was 6th in the league, and that is because their opponents had field days against their 31^st ranked run defense. I am not saying the game won’t be close and that Peyton Manning isn’t great on the road just as he is at home, but the game can easily slip away from Indianapolis in the second half if they have to go score for score in this contest.

 

Chargers win.

Mad’Nuff Monday Night Guarantee

Well this week is an easy call right? The Titans are the most dominate run team in the league and the Colts have one of the worst run defenses in the league. The Titans are rolling and playing with confidence and each week you know what you will get, while with Colts they look disoriented and inconsistent. The Titans defense is stifling against the run and the Colts have had problems all year running the football. Not to mention that this is a home game for the Titans who are primed and excited to play on Monday night. But wait…Peyton Manning magic anyone? Look for the colts to win this one, I know it sound crazy but the colts are not ready to lose 2 in a row, and where there is a will there is a Peyton Manning waiting to lead his team to victory.

Colts over the Titans 17-14

Indianapolis Colts’ Loss at Green Bay Drops their Record to 3-3

The Indianapolis Colts have proven to be an up-and-down team this season. They have lost a close game to the Jaguars at home, have had to pull off 4^th quarter comebacks to beat the Vikings and the Texans (which was a wild one-in-a-thousand type comeback), and have been blown out by a pair of NFC North teams in the Bears and Packers. There only convincing win has come against a team they usually beat and who was sporting a rookie quarterback in the Ravens.

 

 

 

In the past the Colts have been able to get away with torrid defense because they had a strong run game to back up their passing attack. However, this year their running game has been downright terrible. They are averaging an even 70 yards per game on the ground which is last in the league. Oppositely, they are 29^th on defense against the run in giving up 153.5 yards per game.

This is not the stuff of a recent Super Bowl champion, even if they do not have Bob Sanders who vaulted them to that title in the 06 playoffs. One would think that by now they could at least play average defense seeing as how experienced their unit is, but that has not been the case this season.

This has been one of the weirdest teams to follow so far and with their second toughest schedule based on opponents’ winning percentages the year prior, the future seems bleak… bleak as in no playoffs.

Kurt Warner Fantasy Stock Rising

Peyton The General

Peyton The General by Madison Mad’nuff

While it is still too early to tell which teams will remain consistent in the league it must fell good for the Colts to be able to rely on Mr. Consistent Peyton Manning.  Is it me? or does this guy will his way to
wins. In the face of a 15-0 deficit and a none existent running game; he pulls off the comeback helping the team score 18 straight to win the game. Subscribing to my “you have to score at least 15 points to beat the Colts rule”  I thought that they would lose this game against the Vikings.  But again Peyton finds a way to out score you;  if you score 14 he gets 15, if you get 15 he gets 18, if you get 35 he gets 36.  I mean you can’t beat this guy he is unstoppable.  A field general to say the least when the game is on the line he always finds a way to pick apart the Defense, it really doesn’t make any sense!  Because at the beginning of the game he sucked, and then BAM he goes out and wins the game.  It’s like he knows what the defense is going to do before they do, and then before the snap he makes adjustments “TO THE FUTURE!!!”  amazing.

Come Back Sunday

By Mark M

Today in the NFL, we saw four 4th quarter comebacks performances. This made for amazing football Sunday. The Redskins, Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills all surpassed their opposition in the final quarter of their respective games.

1. Redskins vs. Saints-

Going into the 4th quarter the skins trailed 15 – 24. They were trailing until Santana Moss beat whipped Tracy Porter for 67 Yards for the game winning late TD. Drew Brees had a chance to stage a comeback yet, he through a INT.

Final Score was 29-24, Redskins.

2. Colts Vs. Vikings-

Peyton Manning has not looked like himself over the first 2 weeks of the NFL season. However, in the closing quarter of the Game this week, he helped stage a comeback in the 4th quarter. Trailing at one point by 0 – 15 the colts come up with some miraculous plays, to pull out this one. One to defiantly check out would be A. Gonzalez/Reggie Wayne TD in the 2nd half. Peyton who was struggling the 1st half, stayed posed like the true pro that he is and delivered the “W” by getting Adam Vinatieri, in range for a late game winning field goal. I think you know can figure out what the outcome of that was. (Vinatieri is awesome)

Final Score was 15-18, Colts.

3. Broncos vs Chargers-

The Chargers have given up two late game comebacks in the last two weeks. It seems that for them no lead is safe. The Broncos, had a great lead going into the 4th. Broncos lead 27-31 over the Bolts going into the 4th. The Chargers scored and placed the broncos up against the proverbial wall. The Broncos answered however, and decided to go for the game winning 2 pt conversion in the closing minutes of the game. Big Rookie Eddie Royal came up with the catch for the Broncos, propelling them to their 2nd win of the NFL season.

Final Score: 39-38, Broncos.

4. Buffalo Vs. Jaguars-

With three OL out, the Jaguars knew they were going to have a tough day against Marcus Stroud and his new squad. The Bills were trailing going into the 4th quarter by 3 going into the 4th. The Bills, however came out with the Victory due to the outstanding play of QB Troy Edwards, who completed 20 of 25 passes for 239 yards and 1 TD.

Final Score was 20-16, Bills.