Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

- Written by Cory Steger
- Edited by Marc Caviglia
- Predictions are based on Staff Consensus

::WEEK 2 RANKINGS UPDATED AS OF SEPTEMBER 14, 2010::

The first week of the 2010 NFL regular season is in the books are there was no shortage of interesting things from the quarterback position. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is still one of the best in the business, even after a car accident. Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is injured again. Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning can put up great numbers even in a loss. Barring a super quick recovery from Kevin Kolb (concussion), Michael Vick is the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, at least for this week.

Week 2 does not bring us as many interesting matchups as Week 1 had, and across the board you’ll see most of the quarterback projections are down a few points this week. If you’re looking for a quarterback to start, Vick looks like a very intriguing option this week against the Lions. We’ve got him ranked No. 6 this week and going for 19 points. To see where all the other signal callers fall, continue reading the Week 2 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings.

**RANKINGS BASED ON STANDARD SCORING - 1 POINT PER 25 PASSING YARDS, 1 POINT PER 10 YARDS RUSHING, 4 POINTS ALL PASSING TOUCHDOWNS, -2 POINTS ALL TURNOVERS**

1. Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) @ San Francisco

The San Francisco 49ers were supposed to have one of the league’s elite defenses, as well as a great matchup against a rebuilding Seattle Seahawks offense last week. Yet the 49ers allowed Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to complete 76.2 percent of his passes with two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Clearly, there is still some work to be done with that San Francisco secondary. That’s why you should fully expect New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees to bounce back after a mediocre Week 1 showing and post a great game this week. Brees did not light up the scoreboard last week against the Minnesota Vikings but the Saints offense still looked good. Expect him to regain his form in Week 2.
Point Projection: 22 points

2. Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers) vs. Jacksonville

The Jacksonville Jaguars defense looked serviceable last week, giving up 17 points to the Denver Broncos. Let’s be honest, though, Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton isn’t the greatest player in the world. The Jaguars face a much tougher test this week in trying to stop San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. The weakness of the Jacksonville defense is its secondary and Rivers will be able to exploit them. Like we saw in a Week 1 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, look for Rivers to find a variety of receivers while on his way to a 300 passing yards and two touchdown performance.
Point Projection: 20 points

3. Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys) vs. Chicago

Even though the Dallas Cowboys managed to score just one touchdown against the Washington Redskins last week, quarterback Tony Romo still managed to put up an OK fantasy football performance. Washington has a pretty good defense, and the Chicago Bears are similar to the Redskins in that the strength is the front seven. The Bears defensive line, by end Julius Peppers is very strong. Going back again to last week, Romo’s numbers were OK even though the final score was not in favor of Dallas. We expect similar numbers from Romo this week, but with him throwing two touchdowns instead of one.
Point Projection: 20 points

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

By his standards, throwing for 188 yards with two touchdowns was a disappointing performance for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. It was enough to help lead the Packers to a win on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles, but Rodgers’ owners were expecting more. We do too, and that will happen this week against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills held Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne under 200 yards last week, but Miami is still a running team. Buffalo won’t be ready to handle the heavy passing attack from Green Bay. Also consider the Packers are without running back Ryan Grant, meaning they’ll lean even more on Rodgers this week.
Point Projection: 19 points

5. Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts) vs. New York Giants

This is perhaps the most interesting matchup of the week. Manning vs. Manning on Sunday night. It also features two of the league’s better teams with the Colts and the New York Giants. Older brother Peyton will come out on top in this one, at least in terms of fantasy football points. Last week in a losing effort, Peyton went 40-for-57 for 433 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Win or lose, we know he’s going to put up points. However, the Colts were down the entire game last week, forcing Peyton to throw as much as he did. Expect Indianapolis to get the running game more involved this week, meaning that while we expect Peyton will have a good game, it won’t be worth as many points as he had last week.
Point Projection: 19 points

6. Michael Vick (Philadelphia Eagles) @ Detroit

Kolb, the Eagles starting quarterback, went down in the second quarter with a concussion and did not return. He was later ruled out of practice for Week 2 until Friday at the earliest. In his place stepped Vick, and Vick displayed flashes of his old self, passing for 175 yards and a touchdown and also rushing for 103 yards in just two quarters of play. Unless Kolb, who basically will miss the entire week of practice, suddenly is good to go Vick will be the starter this week, and he’ll be able to put up some good numbers against the Lions.
Point Projection: 19 points

7. Eli Manning (New York Giants) @ Indianapolis

Younger brother Eli may not be the top Manning in Week 2 from a fantasy football perspective but that doesn’t mean he’s in line for a bad week. In fact, Eli should do pretty well this week. Eli was impressive at times in a Week 1 win over the Carolina Panthers, including throwing for 263 yards and three touchdowns. Yet the Eli of old also made an appearance, as evidenced by his three interceptions. Look for Eli to cut down on both his touchdowns and interceptions this week by one and that’s about what you can expect from him this week.
Point Projection: 18 points

8. Tom Brady (New England Patriots) @ New York Jets

The Cincinnati Bengals were supposed to have a good defense, including having one of the best cornerback pairs in the league with Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall. Yet Cincinnati provided little challenge for Brady last week as he threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns. This week Brady faces the league’s top defense in the New York Jets, who by the way got Darrelle Revis back right before the start of the season. Brady had one bad game and one good game against the Jets last year. Expect a solid performance from Brady, but nothing as a good as last week’s.
Point Projection: 17 points

9. Jay Cutler (Chicago Bears) @ Dallas

After a tumultuous 2009 season, Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler had an impressive 2010 debut against Detroit last week. In a close win Cutler threw for 375 yards with two touchdowns. That’s good, but what was nice to see was that he threw just one interception and completed 67.5 percent of his passes. It will be a little tougher, however, for Cutler this week because the Bears play at Dallas. Not only does Dallas have a much better defense than the Lions, but the Cowboys are also very tough to play at home. Expect a solid week from Cutler, but don’t expect similar numbers as he had last week.
Point Projection: 17 points

10. Kyle Orton (Denver Broncos) vs. Seattle

Things are not looking so good for Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton. Not only is Denver committed to giving backup Tim Tebow some touches, but if the Broncos don’t start winning then Tebow could find himself under center even more. Orton wasn’t bad last week but the Broncos lost a game they should’ve won. Look for Orton to silence some of the whispers that Tebow should be starting with a solid performance against the Seahawks. Sure Seattle looked good last week, but that’s attributable to San Francisco not showing up to play. Plus, the Broncos are at home, instead of playing at Seattle.
Point Projection: 16 points