Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

There is big news surrounding the quarterback position this week in the NFL. The biggest, of course, is that Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Tony Romo, has a broken pinkie finger on his throwing hand and could miss up to four weeks, paving the way for backup Brad Johnson. In Buffalo, starter Trent Edwards, who had suffered a concussion after a taking a vicious hit in week 5, is back to practice after resting during the bye week.  Buffalo has already gone on record saying he will start. Then, we have situations like Seattle, Cincinnati and Detroit, where injuries to starters caused for some atrocious play out of the backups, play that we may very well be privy to again in week 7.

With four good quarterbacks on bye this week and many more injured, check out the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Week 7 Quarterback Rankings to help you decide who to start and who to sit.

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1. Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) at Carolina

Brees and the Saints continue to play at a high level despite not having all their starters in place. Reggie Bush is still struggling as a running back, but has become a great receiving threat out of the backfield for Brees and that’s helped open up the offense for New Orleans. On paper the Carolina defense looks stout, but look at who the Panthers have played so far this season. Out of San Diego, Kansas City, Chicago, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Minnesota, only the Chargers could be considered an elite offense. Don’t hesitate in playing Brees this week, it should be yet another good game for him.
Point Projection: 24 Points

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2. Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts) at Green Bay

Something finally clicked for the Colts in the fourth quarter of their win over the Texans two weeks ago and since then the offense has been on fire. Last week against the Ravens, who entered the game with one of the best defenses in the league, Manning was 19-of-28 for 271 yards and three touchdowns. It was also nice to see Marvin Harrison get back into things, especially considering the stuff that’s going on in his life outside the game. Looking at this week’s matchup against the Packers, both Manning and counterpart Aaron Rodgers should have good games. But against a defense that ranks 23rd in points allowed and doesn’t cause a lot of turnovers, it will be Manning with the better day.
Point Projection: 22 Points

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3. Jay Cutler (Denver Broncos) at New England

Even when the Broncos don’t score a ton of points, the majority of the scoring is done by Cutler. The last two weeks Denver has scored just 16 and 17 points, respectively, but Cutler went for 222 yards and a touchdown two weeks ago against Tampa Bay and 192 yards and 2 touchdowns last week against Jacksonville. New England showed last week in the loss to the Chargers that it can be passed against as Philip Rivers went for 306 yards and three touchdowns.
Point Projection: 20 Points

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4. Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers) vs. Indianapolis

The last three weeks Rodgers has accumulated eight total touchdowns against three interceptions, all while playing with some minor nagging injuries. In a win last week over the Seahawks, Rodgers played with a bad shoulder on his throwing arm and still went 21-of-30 for 208 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. This game with the Colts could likely turn into a shootout, so both quarterbacks look like good plays.
Point Projection: 19 Points

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5. Brett Favre (New York Jets) at Oakland

Favre got a little wild last week in the team’s win over the Bengals as he threw two interceptions and lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. He also was not asked to do much because the Jets knew they could simply win the game with their running game and did so. The Raiders are, as usual these days, a mess, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Oakland ranks 26th in passing yards allowed, 24th in total yards allowed and 27th in points allowed. It should be fun watching Favre and the Jets playaction the Raiders to death this week.
Point Projection: 18 Points

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6. Eli Manning (New York Giants) vs. San Francisco

Manning looked a bit like the Manning of old against the Browns, throwing off his back foot too often and tossing three interceptions. But, even the best quarterbacks are entitled to a bad game every now and then and perhaps the Giants were just overlooking the Browns. This week Manning gets a San Francisco defense that gave up 33 points (7 of the Eagles' 40 points were scored on a return INT) last week so expect Manning to rebound well.
Point Projection: 17 Points

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7. Matt Schaub (Houston Texans) vs. Detroit

Look at Schaub’s season statistics and they’re not that great. But, let’s look at the last two games against his first two. The first two games of the season Schaub passed for a combined 390 yards and had an average yards per attempt of 5.6. The last two games Schaub has gone over 300 yards each time and upped his average yards per attempt to 8.4, a very good number. Clearly, Schaub is playing much better. This week against the hapless Lions he should continue to do so.
Point Projection: 16 Points

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8. Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) at Cincinnati

As he displayed two weeks ago in a win over Jacksonville, Roethlisberger can be very successful when asked to throw the ball a lot. In that game he completed 26-of-41 passes for 309 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. It was his first 300-yard game this season, but it was also the first time he attempted more than 25 passes. Even with Willie Parker returning, Roethlisberger will have to go to the air some to beat Cincinnati. That’s not a bad thing considering the Bengals rank 17th in total yards allowed and 21st in points allowed.
Point Projection: 16 Points

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9. Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers) at Buffalo

Rivers has now thrown three touchdown passes in four different games this season, but may have saved his finest performance for his most recent one. Last week against the Patriots, Rivers was 18-of-27 for 306 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Buffalo has a much better defense than the Patriots do, and in fact the Bills will be the toughest defense Rivers has seen so far this season. Thus, don’t expect another three-touchdown game. Still, it's hard to bet against what River has done in 2008.
Point Projection: 16 Points

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10. Jason Campbell (Washington Redskins) vs. Cleveland

Well Campbell and the Redskins struggled a bit against a weak St. Louis team last week. Perhaps playing a bad team after so many big wins led to a snoozing Washington team. Regardless, you can bet the Redskins are fired up for this one and won't be taking the Browns lightly after their 35-14 shellacking of the New York Giants. Look for Campbell to return to double digits after two straight games under 10 points.
Point Projection: 15 points

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11. Brad Johnson (Dallas Cowboys) at St. Louis

With Romo out up to four weeks with a broken pinkie finger on his throwing hand, Johnson gets to start in his 14th season in the league. Johnson has always been a guy that was a solid quarterback that played well out of the backup role. He’ll get the keys to the Cowboys’ offense and will get to go against one of the worst defenses in the league in St. Louis. The Rams rank 25th in passing yards allowed and last in points allowed so consider last week’s performance against the Redskins an aberration. Johnson's first start since 2006 should be a good one.
Point Projection: 15 Points

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12. Jake Delhomme (Carolina Panthers) vs. New Orleans

Delhomme and the Panthers really struggled last week in the loss to Tampa Bay, just one week after looking nearly unstoppable against the Chiefs. The NFL is kind of funny that way. This week Carolina gets to play at home against the Saints, and while New Orleans has an improved defense, it still ranks 21st against the pass and 18th in points allowed. Add in the fact that the Saints are allowing an average of 32 points on the road and it should be a solid week for Delhomme.
Point Projection: 14 Points

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13. Derek Anderson (Cleveland Browns) at Washington

Anderson finally looked a bit like that Pro Bowl quarterback from last year in the team’s win over the Giants on Monday Night Football. Completing more than 50 percent of his passes, throwing two touchdowns and two-point conversions while not turning the ball over, Anderson and the Browns finally looked like they have figured things out. Unfortunately, it’s going to take more than one good game at home before Anderson becomes a must start again. The Redskins have a tough defense and the Browns will be playing on the road, so don’t expect another stellar outing in this one.
Point Projection: 14 Points

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14. Kyle Orton (Chicago Bears) vs. Minnesota

Orton’s first start last season came in a week 15 loss to the Vikings in which he was 22-of-38 for 184 yards and one interception. Things have changed a bit since then for Orton and the Bears offense, which has been decent throughout most of the season. Not much has changed for the Minnesota secondary. The Vikings still struggle to defend the pass and rely heavily on pressure up front to stop passing plays before they start.
Point Projection: 14 Points

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15. Kerry Collins (Tennessee Titans) at Kansas City

We realize that the Titans could literally run the ball on every play and still win this game, but Collins will likely throw some to get it done. With so many young players on defense, the Chiefs will be keying in on the run and some playaction could be deadly to them. Collins will likely get a touchdown of some sort, so if you are out of options and desperate for a decent backup while your quarterback is on a bye, there’s no better matchup than against Kansas City. Well, unless you can get Brad Johnson vs. the Rams.
Point Projection: 13 Points

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16. Trent Edwards (Buffalo Bills) vs. San Diego

Lucky for the Bills they had a bye the one weekend when Edwards needed to recover. The team says he’s good to go in this game, but temper your expectations a bit. The Chargers give up a lot of passing yards but don’t give up a lot of points. San Diego has not given up more than 18 points in any of the last three weeks. Edwards is fine as a backup option this week, but if you can you should wait a week and see how he does in this game before putting him back in your starting lineup.
Point Projection: 13 Points

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17. Chad Pennington (Miami Dolphins) vs. Baltimore

Well, it appears the Ravens are a bit vulnerable on defense after all. The Ravens gave up 300 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air last week to the Colts. The Dolphins appear to have something going with this Wildcat formation they’ve been running, and they’ve now added the new wrinkle of letting Pennington throw out of it despite lining up at wide receiver. Still, it’s tough to imagine Pennington can approach the same numbers this week that Manning did last week.
Point Projection: 13 Points

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18. Jeff Garcia (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) vs. Seattle

Garcia was solid in his second week back as starter last week as he helped lead the Buccaneers to a convincing win over Carolina. In that game, Garcia was 15-fo-20 for 173 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. That looks a lot more like the Garcia from last year. This week Tampa Bay gets the Seahawks at home and Seattle is really struggling on defense as the team is 22nd against the pass and 29th in points allowed.
Point Projection: 13 Points

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19. Matt Cassel (New England Patriots) vs. Denver

Cassel continues to deal with consistency issues for the Patriots. After throwing a touchdown pass in back-to-back weeks, Cassel failed to crack the end zone last week against the Chargers, who don’t exactly have the best pass defense. This week Cassel gets an even weaker defense so there’s decent chance he’ll throw his fourth touchdown of the season. Don’t expect much else.
Point Projection: 12 Points

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20. Gus Frerotte (Minnesota Vikings) at Chicago

Frerotte has now put back-to-back games where he wasn’t completely terrible. Frerotte isn’t going to complete a high number of passes and likely won’t throw for multiple touchdowns in this game, but he should be similar to what he has been for the past couple weeks. A skin of the teeth double digit  fantasy play.
Point Projection: 10 Points

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21. Marc Bulger (St. Louis Rams) vs. Dallas

The Rams may have won last week but Bulger didn’t have much of a hand in it as he was 15-of-26 for 136 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. It appears he’s still having trouble picking up the offense under new offensive coordinator Al Saunders. Until Bulger demonstrates he’s done that, he doesn’t hold the same fantasy value as he has in the past.
Point Projection: 9 Points

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22. J.T. O’Sullivan (San Francisco 49ers) at New York Giants

O’Sullivan had his worst game of the season last week in a loss to the Eagles. O’Sullivan was 17-of-30 for 199 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. The Giants won’t be any easier to play against considering how aggressive and talented they are in the front seven. You should probably keep him on the bench again this week.
Point Projection: 8 Points

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23. Seneca Wallace (Seattle Seahawks) at Tampa Bay

Starter Matt Hasselbeck will be out for the second straight game meaning that back-up, Seneca Wallace, who is now back after a calf injury, gets the start at Tampa Bay. On 28 pass attempts last season, Wallace completed 19 for 215 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT. Don't expect him to approach those numbers in this one.
Point Projection: 8 Points

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24. JaMarcus Russell (Oakland Raiders) vs. New York Jets

Just when it appeared that Russell was improving as a quarterback, he took a few steps back last week in the loss to New Orleans. In that game, Russell was 13-of-35 for 159 yards with no touchdowns, one interception and one lost fumble. The Jets have a better defense than the Saints so keep Russell on the bench, or better yet just leave him in free agency altogether.
Point Projection: 7 Points

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25. Brodie Croyle (Kansas City Chiefs) vs. Tennessee

There haven’t been many times when Croyle has demonstrated he's a decent NFL quarterback. So far Croyle has only played in the season-opening loss to the Patriots, where he was 11-of-19 for 88 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions before leaving the game because of injury. Tennessee has one of the top defenses in the league so it will be a rough reintroduction for Croyle.
Point Projection: 7 Points

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26. Ryan Fitzpatrick (Cincinnati Bengals) vs. Pittsburgh

The injury to starter Carson Palmer may be more serious than originally thought. Palmer has already been ruled out of the game with Pittsburgh and will be examined by the New York Mets team doctor, who is considered an expert on elbows. Fitzpatrick has been pretty bad in both appearances so far this season but perhaps the most telling stat is that he’s averaging a meager 4.5 yards per attempt. Don’t let this guy anywhere near your fantasy team.
Point Projection: 6 Points

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27. Dan Orlovsky (Detroit Lions) at Houston

Starter Jon Kitna is hurt and there’s rumors he may be traded to the Dallas Cowboys so either way it appears Orlovsky will get his second career start at Houston on Sunday. In case you were wondering how Orlovsky is as a quarterback, just look at the play where the Lions were backed up against their end zone last week. Orlovsky took the snap and almost immediately, but unintentionally, ran out of bounds. He is not a fantasy option at this point.
Point Projection: 6 Points

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28. Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens) at Miami

Flacco did well enough to earn the starting role for the Ravens for the rest of the season, but the last two games have been pretty bad for the rookie. In those games, Flacco threw five interceptions against no touchdowns. He’ll be a fine quarterback some day, but that day won’t be this Sunday at Miami.
Point Projection: 5 Points

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WEEK 7 BYE WEEK QUARTERBACKS

David Garrard (Jacksonville Jaguars) - BYE

The first three weeks of the season weren’t too kind to Garrard. The last three; however, have been and it appears as if the quarterback we saw last season is reemerging.

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Kurt Warner (Arizona Cardinals) - BYE

In that amazing Dallas-Arizona game last week, it was Warner who was the best quarterback on the field that day. Now, the Cardinals are 4-2 heading into their bye week. Perhaps switching from Matt Leinart to Warner was the right move after all.

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Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia Eagles) - BYE

It’s still hard to believe the Eagles scored 23 points in the fourth quarter against the 49ers last week. That’s more than the Bengals average for a full game.

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Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons)- BYE

Matt Ryan be a rookie, but he’s shown some uncanny ability on the field already. This guy is going to be a special quarterback.

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