By
Jonathan Munshaw on Wednesday, December 18
th 2013
Happy national fantasy football championship week! Whether you’re in the consolation championship or in a two-week battle for the top spot in your league, improve your lineup this week by finding other quarterback options if you own one of these three guys.
Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
Newton hasn’t been a great fantasy performer this season, but has been pretty effective in rushing and passing even if he’s not scoring four touchdowns per game. Coming off a 273 yard game last week against the New York Jets, Newton faces a very tough opponent in the New Orleans Saints, who have been bad on the road this year. But the Saints defense is allowing the fourth fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks. In their last five games, the Saints have given up 14 or less points to quarterbacks in four of them. The last time Newton played the Saints (which was just two weeks ago) he only threw for 160 yards and one touchdown. It’s best to avoid him this week, even though the Panthers have a great shot at winning this game.
Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Tom Brady is a MVP candidate, and he might even win it. But he hasn’t been a great fantasy option this season, especially with Rob Gronkowski out of the lineup. Brady has been on a streak of 20-point fantasy performances, but will face a tough defense this week in the Baltimore Ravens, who are allowing less than 15 fantasy points to quarterbacks this year. In his last five games against the Ravens, Brady is averaging just 6.2 yards per completion while throwing five touchdowns and nine interceptions, according to ESPN. Baltimore hasn’t given up 300 passing yards since Week 6 (keep in mind that was also Aaron Rodgers) and they held Matthew Stafford to just seven points Monday night. Brady isn’t the worst option this week, but he’s by no means a must-start.
Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts
After giving up 309 yards and two touchdowns last week to Matt McGloin and the Oakland Raiders’ passing game, the Kansas City Chiefs defense will get back on track this week against Luck and the Colts, who can’t seem to get anything going on offense. Since Indianapolis’s Week 8 bye, Luck has only broken 20 fantasy points twice, falling below the 14-point mark three times. The Chiefs have allowed the likes of Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers to put up big numbers, but they held Robert Griffin III to just 12 points in Week 14 and Manning to 14 points in Week 11. The Chiefs have also only allowed one more touchdown than the number of interceptions they’ve forced (20). Until the Colts can show that T.Y. Hilton can be a down-field threat, Luck will continue to struggled as a fantasy quarterback as the offense looks to find its identity.