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The first thing that stands out when looking at the matchups is how the quarterbacks in the league are going to affect your fantasy team. Owners that have the perennial pro bowlers are now on cloud nine with the “cake” matchups that they have.

If you have Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, or Phillip Rivers, congratulations you are going to get at least 20 points from them. Even if their teams go up by more than 4 touchdowns and you think that the coach might take out the QB, don’t worry because they will most likely have those 4 touchdowns. The only way I see this not happening is if fans from the Rams, Bucs, Browns, or Chiefs (who they are playing) pull a move from the classic movie “Celtic Pride” and kidnap the quarterback of the opposing team. So sit back and watch with delight as your computer updates your box score and shows massive numbers for these QBs. Also, expect big points from Drew Brees, who could throw for another 4 TDs and my new favorite fantasy QB in Matt Schaub as well. I could write an entire article on how much I love Schaub, but I’ll just leave this week with, he’ll have another fantasy feast on the exposed 49ers pass defense.

Since these quarterbacks are going to put up huge numbers, they are going to have to throw it to someone; so naturally, their WRs will put up huge numbers as well. Each of the quarterbacks has one or two to WRs in Reggie Wayne, Randy Moss/Wes Welker, Donald Driver/Greg Jennings, and Vincent Jackson. Usually owners hate when quarterbacks have more than one go to guy, but Rodgers and Brady have enough pass attempts that each of their wide receivers could end up with 100 yards and a TD before the day is over. Out of all the WRs listed above, I love the Randy Moss matchup against the horrible Bucs at Wimbley Stadium in England. Seriously, if the Bucs defense doesn’t show up for home games, why would they show up for fans who have never heard of their starting QB, head coach, and about 75% of their roster? You can also expect big things from Andre Johnson, Marques Colston or Lance Moore, and the Giants WR core has to bounce back from such a terrible effort last week.

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, Steve Smith from the Panthers has been underachieving, just like the entire Panthers team. John Fox seemed to find one way to resurrect the Panthers of ’08 with his running game, which had 2,351 between DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart who averaged 5.5 and 4.5 yards per carry respectively. I expect John Fox to use the same game plan he used against the Bucs last week (267 rushing yards) for the remainder of the season. That means DeAngelo Williams should tear up a Bills run defense that got torched by Thomas Jones last week. And speaking of Thomas Jones, he’s facing the Oakland defense that give up nearly 150 yards a game, except when they play Andy Reid and his pass-happy offense. I understand Jones is getting older and Leon Washington is getting more and more carries, but there is no way that Jones doesn’t take advantage against the Raiders, especially with a rattled Mark Sanchize.

Normally tight ends are the same big four every week with Witten, Clark, Gates and Tony Gonzo, but lately the trend has been a new crop of younger tight ends getting the major points. With Matt Schaub at quarterback, anyone on the field is a dangerous receiver, and especially Owen Daniels. Daniels has quietly gone into the top 3 TE in most fantasy leagues and has caught 15 passes for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns in the past two games. It’s scary to think how many more points he can get against a slumping 49ers pass defense. Alongside Daniels at the top of the tight ends is Heath Miller. Miller in the past was used as a goal line option and a short pass option. He is still being used for that but Roethlisberger has turned into a top fantasy quarterback. It’s no coincidence that with Big Ben throwing more, Miller’s production has gone up. Miller is a solid play in every week.

Team Defenses usually are based on the matchup of the teams that they are playing against more heavily than how they are against the run/pass. So whoever is playing the Browns, Rams, and Bucs are usually a safe play. However, this week I like to look at the teams that turn the ball over and the teams who don’t score as much. Eagles are playing the Redskins. Redskins have a new Offensive Coordinator that just came out of retirement at an old folk’s home to coach a team who he has just 2 weeks familiarity with. Also the Redskins average 13 points per game and usually have that Jason Campbell meltdown with an INT/fumble included in the mix. A team that can’t stay away from turnovers is the Carolina Panthers. If they throw the ball at all this week, they will turn it over. They play the team who made Sanchize look like he was crying, aka, the Buffalo Bills, so expect some points there too.

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