Week 14 is upon us, and with it; the first week of fantasy football playoffs. Last week we saw quite a few surprises, as well as some break-out fantasy performances from some not-so-familiar faces (and a few familiars as well). This week we’re treated to a great match-up of two talented quarterbacks, between the New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants. This game could have a lot of impact on the fantasy playoffs, as well as the Giants’ actual playoff hopes. Will Eli Manning or Drew Brees come out on top? Which is the best option for your playoff roster? Let’s take a look and find out.
The Saints just aren’t the same without head coach Sean Peyton. While Brees has managed to lead the league in touchdowns with 31 and is second in passing yards with 3,674; the Saints are just 5-7 and Brees leads the league in interceptions with 16. He had possibly the worst game of his career last week at Atlanta, throwing five picks and breaking his record consecutive games with a touchdown streak. He’s still Drew Brees, one of the top-three quarterbacks in this league, but it’s going to be hard for him to bounce back against a New York Giants team who is tied for second in the league with 18 interceptions and has excelled at putting pressure on the quarterback in recent weeks; racking up 30 sacks on the season (ranked 10th).
After slumping badly in Weeks Eight through 10, Manning came back after the bye week and dismantled the Green Bay Packers for 249 yards and three touchdowns. This past week on Monday Night Football against the Washington Redskins, Manning turned in another solid performance with 280 passing yards and one touchdown; good for 16 fantasy points. The Saints’ defense is allowing 287(30th) passing yards per game, giving up a league-worst 441 total yards per game and are ranked near the bottom in sacks(20th), interceptions(T-24th) and touchdowns allowed(T-27th); giving up an average of 27 points per game.
The Giants and Manning should be making their annual late-season surge from here-on-out, and Manning should look to take full advantage of the Saints’ awful defense for a great day. Brees probably won’t have the best day, but he should be at or just-below average; and still a much better candidate to help you get to the next round than a lot of other quarterbacks playing on Sunday.
Projection: Manning 22 points, Brees 17 points.