There are plenty of great matchups this week in the NFL. It was honestly hard to choose which ones to analyze. I figure I can at least mention some of the other matchups that you will want to pay attention to this week like Dez Bryant vs. Victor Cruz, Colin Kaepernick vs. Robert Griffin III, Drew Brees vs. Matt Ryan, and Jimmy Graham vs. Tony Gonzalez. As you can see there is a lot to look forward to this week. Any fan of football loves week’s like these and being that I am one, I will be watching every game that I can. Anyway, here is my list of this week’s top-five matchups:
Wes Welker vs. Danny Amendola
For the first time since leaving the Patriots, Welker will have his first visit to New England on a new team. As of now he is going through mandatory concussion protocol and will not practice until Friday at the minimum so he is questionable for this Sunday. Welker has cooled down some since being a touchdown catching machine in the first six weeks.
He hasn’t caught a touchdown the past two weeks but still had a good amount to targets and catches. The Patriots rank 15th in defending wide receivers and have given up nine touchdown catches over the past five games against opposing receivers. This gives Welker a good chance to get back on the touchdown track if he ends up playing.
Amendola has been active on and off all season but has been gelling quite well with quarterback Tom Brady the past two games. He has 10 catches and over 150 receiving yards and a touchdown in that span. The Broncos defense has been improving over the season but still gives up plenty of yards and touchdowns to opposing receivers. Amendola will play a key role in the underneath and quick out passes. He should be a solid start this week.
Projections:
Wes Welker – Six receptions, 76 yards, one touchdown
Danny Amendola – Six receptions, 55 yards, one touchdown
Frank Gore vs. Alfred Morris
Gore has posted single digit fantasy numbers for the first time since Week 2 against the Seahawks. Between those two games, Gore has put up a minimum of 10 fantasy points and had six rushing touchdowns.
He hasn’t reached the end zone the past two weeks but that is likely to change this week against the Redskins who have the second worst defense against the run.
They have surrendered 10 rushing touchdowns over the past six games with an average of just over 75 yards per game. Gore looks good to get back to double digit fantasy points. Morris has had at least 93 yards in five straight games but with only two touchdowns in that span. Luckily for fantasy owners, Morris is seeing tons of touches which is a lot more than what his workload was at the beginning of the season.
The past three games, Morris has had over 20 touches compared to him getting under 15 touches the first couple weeks. Him getting the ball more gives him a better shot at reaching the end zone and getting more yards and the 49ers defense has given up 90 rushing yards or more with two touchdowns the past three weeks. Morris’ production should continue.
Projections:
Frank Gore – 85 rush yards, one touchdown
Alfred Morris – 80 rush yards, one touchdown
Adrian Peterson vs. Eddie Lacy
Peterson has gotten back on his game the past four games after having a slight bump of slow production for a couple weeks. Last week against the Seahawks he only had 65 rushing yards and admitted to reporters that his injured groin bothered him a lot in that game. It causes concern for fantasy owners because the 2-8 Vikings have nothing going for them this season and may sit their star wide receiver. He has done extremely well against the Packers in the past and had 60 rushing yards with a touchdown earlier this season.
Speaking of the Packers, since quarterback Aaron Rodgers has gone down, teams have been putting all of their focus on Lacy. This is why he hasn’t been producing as much as he was when Rodgers was under center. He will still put up great stats and make fantasy owners proud, especially this week against the poor Vikings defense. His numbers should get higher when Rodgers returns to the lineup.
Projections:
Adrian Peterson – 80 rush yards, one touchdown
Eddie Lacy – 85 rush yards, two catches, 15 receiving yards, two touchdowns
Vincent Jackson vs. Calvin Johnson
Jackson has been hot and cold all season long. Last week he racked up over 20 fantasy points in standard leagues for the third time and had over 100 yards receiving for the fourth time this season.
It is always hard to tell how Jackson will be used in the Buccaneers offense because it seems he either gets all the looks or barely any looks.
This week he is up against the Lions defense that has given up the second most fantasy points to opposing receivers including 10 receiving touchdowns in the last four games.
Expect hit or miss with Jackson this week. Now I will throw some numbers at you for Calvin Johnson’s past four games: 35 receptions, 746 receiving yards, and seven touchdowns. What more can you say? If these aren’t “Megatron” numbers then I don’t know what is. The Buccaneers defense has surrendered two touchdowns in each of their last three games so is there any question that Johnson couldn’t match that? There is a good chance he can.
Projections:
Vincent Jackson – Six receptions, 90 receiving yards, one touchdown
Calvin Johnson – Seven receptions, 110 receiving yards, two touchdowns
Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady
As there was any guess as to which matchup will be the most looked forward to. Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos will travel to Foxborough to take on Brady and the New England Patriots. Every time these two marquee quarterbacks go up against each other, there are always fireworks and plenty of drama.
Manning and the Broncos are coming off of a huge division win against the Chiefs where the pass protection was excellent and his ankle did not seem to bother him at all.
Historically, Manning hasn’t been at his best when playing in New England but the way he is playing this season and how the Patriots defense has been exposed the past three weeks, there shouldn’t be any cause for concern.
Especially if the offensive line protects him as well as they did against the Chiefs. Manning has only thrown for under 300 yards once this season and I do not expect that to happen again for this week.
As for Brady and the Patriots, they are coming off of a very controversial loss to the Panthers. I believe that this adds some fuel to the fire of the Patriots offense and Brady will perform very well at home.
Brady has been far from outstanding as a fantasy quarterback but he has had his moments. He has six touchdown passes the past three weeks and averaged over 350 yards the past two weeks.
The Broncos defense (as stated earlier) has been increasingly getting better week by week but still give up plenty of yards and touchdowns. Brady should have no problem tossing a couple touchdowns and this game will come down to which team makes the least mistakes.
Projections:
Peyton Manning – 310 passing yards, three touchdowns, one interception
Tom Brady – 290 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception