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With a bye-heavy Week 9, let’s take a look at a few quarterbacks who are primed to thrive on Sunday.
Eli Manning, for all of his faults, has put up monster numbers when he isn’t playing within the NFC East. In four games against divisional opponents, Manning is averaging just 10.6 fantasy points per game. His numbers against teams outside the division, however, rank toward the top of the NFL.
In four games against teams outside of the NFC East, Manning has averaged 26 fantasy points per game, including his recent 350 yard, six touchdown performance against the New Orleans Saints where he finished with a whopping 38 fantasy points. Manning is in for another juicy matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have surrendered the third-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season, according to ESPN.
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Tight end Benjamin Watson has also played well this season, and he’s proven to be a reliable red-zone target for Brees, just like Jimmy Graham had been in years past. The Titans have fared pretty well against opposing quarterbacks this season, but the Saints’ offense has been clicking on all cylinders, and Brees has shown that he has still has plenty left in the tank, especially when he’s playing inside the Superdome.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were dealt an awful blow when running back Le’Veon Bell tore his MCL against the Bengals last week. It was the first time Ben Roethlisberger played since he sprained his own MCL in Week 3, and now he’ll be forced to play without one of the NFL’s best running backs.
Luckily, Big Ben has a more than favorable matchup against an Oakland Raiders secondary that has struggled to contain opposing quarterbacks this year. The Raiders are just one of two teams allowing more than 300 passing yards per game, so look for Big Ben to target Antonio Brown early and often. Roethlisberger is coming off an awful three-interception performance against the Cincinnati Bengals, but those rivalry games are always difficult to perform well.
In his first two full games of the season, Roethlisberger threw for 720 yards and four touchdowns, good enough for an average of 24 fantasy points per game. With Bell out of the lineup, look for Big Ben to attack the susceptible Oakland secondary.
