Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

Sure, there are some good match-ups this week, including the Chicago Bears heading to Minny to take on Brett Favre and the Vikings, an AFC North match-up pitting the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Baltimore Ravens, as well as the rematch of the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans. But, the biggest game this week will be when the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady play at the Superdome against the New Orleans Saints and quarterback Drew Brees. Just two weeks ago, the Patriots almost ended the Colts undefeated season, but a questionable decision to go for it on fourth down late in the game cost New England. This week the Patriots will have another shot at taking down an undefeated team, but playing at New Orleans isn’t easy as the Saints have won nine of their last ten games at home. Aside from the incredible quarterback play that will be on display in this game, these are two of the league’s best teams, so be sure you do whatever you can to watch this game. To find out where Brady, Brees and the rest of the quarterbacks stack up in week 12, continue reading the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Week 12 Quarterback Rankings.

1. Aaron Rodgers (Green Packers) @ Detroit

Winners of three in a row and five of their last six, the Green Bay Packers appear to have turned their season around following a 1-3 start, and there’s no way they’d be in this position without quarterback Aaron Rodgers. A lot has been made of the play of other quarterbacks such as Favre, Brees, Brady and Manning, but it is Rodgers who currently tops all quarterbacks in points scored this season. The match-up with the Detroit Lions this week will only solidify his ranking as the top quarterback. Last week the Lions gave up 344 passing yards and four touchdowns to Brady Quinn and the Cleveland Browns, making Rodgers the best quarterback play this week.
Point Projection: 23 Points

2. Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers) vs. Kansas City

San Diego Chargers’ quarterback Philip Rivers only threw for 145 yards and a touchdown last week, but still led his team to a dominating win over the Denver Broncos. And, a large part of the reason Rivers’ numbers were so low was because San Diego took an early lead and ran the ball often. This week Rivers should return to form against the Kansas City Chiefs, who are 26th or lower in every major defensive category. The Chiefs offense, however, has taken some positive steps in the recent weeks due in part to the addition of wide receiver Chris Chambers, who was cut by the Chargers earlier this season. As the Chiefs offense should make this more of a game for San Diego than Denver did last week, expect a big game from Rivers.
Point Projection: 20 Points

3. Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) vs. New England

This is the match-up that has had us anticipating week 12 for a while now as we not only get to see two of the best quarterbacks in the league, but we also get to see two of the best teams in the league play each other in what, dare we say, could be a potential Super Bowl match-up. Reasons why Brees will have a good game even against a stout New England defense: he broke a four-game interception streak last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has six multiple-touchdown games this season, the game will be played in the Superdome, and last but not least, the Saints have too many good receivers to cover, let alone keep track of.
Point Projection: 20 Points

4. Brett Favre (Minnesota Vikings) vs. Chicago

This is another favorable match-up for Favre this season, one of what has been many. Favre and the Vikings get to play at home in the dome against a Chicago Bears’ defense that is 18th in points allowed and not good in coverage. Favre has been simply incredible at home this season as his only two single-digit fantasy football performances came on the road. Making this match-up even juicier is the fact that the Bears gave up 24 points last week to an out-of-sync Philadelphia Eagles offense, and as well as the Vikings have been playing that should inspire a lot of confidence in Favre’s owners.
Point Projection: 19 Points

5. Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) @ Baltimore **CHECK INJURY STATUS**

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was in the middle of an incredible game last week with the Chiefs when he took a knee to the helmet in overtime and left the game. Then, there was the confusion. Was it a concussion? It certainly appeared so, but after the game, Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin said it was merely “concussion-oriented” instead of an actual concussion. Interesting! Either way, it looks like Roethlisberger will play this week, which is a good sign as the Ravens are a middle-of-the-road team when it comes to defending the pass.
Point Projection: 17 Points

6. Tom Brady (New England Patriots) @ New Orleans

The other interesting part about the Patriots-Saints match-up will be watching Brady and the Patriots offense play against the Saints’ ballhawking defense. The Saints are so good at intercepting passes that it’s a bit scary to start any quarterback against them regardless of how good that player is, yet at the same time we’re never going to advise benching Brady. Don’t forget what Brady did two weeks ago to a really good Indianapolis defense when he threw for 375 yards with three touchdowns and one pick.
Point Projection: 16 Points

7. Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons) vs. Tampa Bay

Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback Matt Ryan finally got back on track last week in the Falcons’ overtime loss to the New York Giants when he threw for 268 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. That game broke a string of four games of single-digit fantasy football performances for Ryan, and even though it came in a loss, it is a good sign for the young quarterback. Another good sign for Ryan is that the Falcons will play at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week. Tampa Bay is a team that just cannot stop opposing offenses as the Buccaneers are 31st in points allowed.
Point Projection: 16 Points

8. Kurt Warner (Arizona Cardinals) @ Tennessee **CHECK INJURY STATUS**

Similar to Roethlisberger, Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback Kurt Warner left last week’s game with what appeared to be a concussion. Yet, when asked about it after the game, Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt said it was not a concussion, but that Warner was suffering from “concussion-like symptoms.” Warner is listed as probable this week and claims he could have finished the game last week had it been necessary. This week’s game against the Tennessee Titans should be a solid one for Warner as the Titans are 31st in pass defense and 30th in points allowed.
Point Projection: 15 Points

9. Carson Palmer (Cincinnati Bengals) vs. Cleveland

The Cincinnati Bengals’ loss last week to the Oakland Raiders will be blamed mostly on receiver Andre Caldwell, who lost a fumble on a kickoff return with the game tied and less than a minute remaining. However, two turnovers from quarterback Carson Palmer did not help things. Palmer and the Bengals offense should rebound well this week. First of all, the Bengals have played well at home this season and have responded well coming off of both of their other losses. Secondly, they’ll be playing against the Cleveland Browns, who allowed Detroit Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford to lead a last-minute drive for the winning score in addition to allowing the rookie to throw for five touchdowns and over 400 yards.
Point Projection: 15 Points

10. Matt Hasselbeck (Seattle Seahawks) @ St. Louis

Two turnovers and no touchdowns in a loss to the Vikings is a performance Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, along with his fantasy owners, would like to forget. He’ll get a good opportunity to move past that this week as Seattle plays on the road versus the St. Louis Rams, who are allowing 239 passing yards and 27 points per game. Prior to last week, Hasselbeck had put together three consecutive double-digit fantasy performances, so last week was likely more of an aberration than the norm as he went against a good defense. Playing the Rams this week, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be in your lineup.
Point Projection: 15 Points

11. Matt Schaub (Houston Texans) vs. Indianapolis

It seems like when talking about Houston quarterback Matt Schaub, we always said “Yeah, well if he could just stay healthy…” and lo and behold, he’s lived up to expectations this season as he’s been able to remain healthy and in doing so, has been lighting up fantasy score boards. This past Monday in a loss to the Tennessee Titans, Schaub threw for 305 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. This week it’s a rematch of the week nine game between Indianapolis and Houston, a game in which Schaub threw for 311 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Expect a similar performance from Schaub this week.
Point Projection: 15 Points

12. Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts) @ Houston

Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning struggled from a statistical standpoint last week as he had just 299 yards but just one touchdown with two interceptions. He did lead the team to a close win on the road against a pretty good Baltimore defense, but realistically, he should have done better against a mediocre group of cornerbacks. This week the Colts will play at surging Houston, which limited Manning to just 14 fantasy football points in week nine. Even if Manning leads the Colts to a big road win in this game, you shouldn’t expect a huge game from him.
Point Projection: 14 Points

13. Eli Manning (New York Giants) @ Denver

Last week the New York Giants got the best performance out of quarterback Eli Manning they’d seen from him all season as he had 384 yards with three touchdowns and just one interception. Manning also led the Giants to a big overtime win over the Falcons. Denver has one of the better defenses in the league, or should we say had. In the last three weeks the Broncos have allowed an average of 29 points per game.
Point Projection: 14 Points

14. Kyle Orton (Denver Broncos) vs. New York Giants

Chris Simms got the start for Denver last week and, predictably, played poorly in a loss to the Chargers. Kyle Orton dressed and as a result of Simms’ poor play entered the game. However, Orton didn’t look his usual self. Effected by the ankle injury, Orton threw for just 171 yards with no TDs and one interception. He is listed as probable this week meaning that unless there’s any setbacks in practice he will start this week against the Giants. The Giants did give up 31 points last week, but a less-than-100 percent Orton isn’t the best play.
Point Projection: 13 Points

15. Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys) vs. Oakland

In each of the last three weeks, Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo has thrown one touchdown and one interception, which directly followed that three-week stretch where the team’s passing game looked unstoppable. Are teams starting to figure out the Dallas offense? Well, perhaps they are a little bit, but two of those three teams had very good passing defenses. This week Dallas will be at home against Oakland, which is 22nd in points allowed.
Point Projection: 13 Points

16. Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia Eagles) vs. Washington

The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense has been a bit inconsistent this season and quarterback Donovan McNabb hasn’t always appeared to be in sync with things. This week he faces a tough match-up against the Washington Redskins, a team that limited him to 156 yards with one touchdown and one turnover earlier in the year. Washington’s defense doesn’t always get the credit it deserves, and you should expect a similar performance from McNabb.
Point Projection: 12 Points