NFL Bruno Boys Game of The Week (Fantasy Style)

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

With Week 6 of the NFL season fast approaching, it is once again time for the Bruno Boys to pick a Game of the Week, with a fantasy football twist. Each week we will choose one NFL game that we feel will have a lot of impact on the fantasy football world.

For this week’s match-up we will head to the “Big Easy” as the New York Giants and their vaunted defense head south to take on the New Orleans Saints and their explosive offense. When we pick the Bruno Boys Game of the Week we focus on the NFL game that will have a big impact in the fantasy football world. That does not always translate into the NFL’s game of the week, but this week it might very well be. The New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants have been picked by many to play each other in the NFC Championship game this season. Both teams are undefeated heading into the game, and don’t forget, these two teams pulled off a pretty big off-season trade in 2008, when the Saints acquired tight end Jeremy Shockey from the Giants for draft picks. This should be an excellent football game to watch and with the fire power on both sides of the ball, it should have a ton of fantasy football impact.

Quarterbacks - Thanks in part to a fantastic statistical season in 2008, Drew Brees was the first quarterback off the board in many fantasy drafts this summer, and during the Saints first two games this season, he did not disappoint as he totaled 669 yards passing with nine touchdowns and just two interceptions. But, during the next two games, Brees only managed to pass for 362 total yards without a touchdown or an interception. So, what happened to Brees? The New Orleans Saints have become a very balanced offense and a well rounded team. They have learned to use the pass to set up the run and the run to set up the pass. What does this mean for Brees’ value? What it means is he might not get you 30 fantasy points every week, but he will continue to be a weekly must-start. He is still one of the top quarterbacks in all of football and he is ranked No. 7 this week in the Bruno Boys Quarterback Rankings.

Eli Manning on the other hand entered the season as a fantasy afterthought. He was considered nothing more than a solid fantasy backup that might have value when the match-up was right. Well, apparently the match-up has been right more than we expected. He has passed for 1,212 yards with 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions through five games this season. Manning has been very efficient this season, and his young wide receivers have really stepped up. He is dealing with a painful plantar facitis in his right heel, which kept him limited to only playing in the first half of last week’s blowout of the Oakland Raiders. Manning was able to practice on Thursday and it appears he should be able to play this week against the Saints. He is our No. 11 ranked quarterback this week and a recommended start, just make sure you keep an eye on his status up until game time.

Running Backs - When we first looked at this match-up at the beginning of the season, it looked like it would be the Giants’ power running game versus the Saints’ finesse passing offense, but really, what we have is two teams with very balanced offenses. The Giants still employ a power running game with bruising Brandon Jacobs leading the way, but they balance out his power with the break-away speed of Ahmad Bradshaw. The two have combined for 825 total yards and three touchdowns this season. Expect Jacobs to get near 20 touches this week, while Bradshaw should see about 15. They both could be used as RB2 fantasy options in this match-up. Jacobs is ranked No. 17 in the Bruno Boys Running Back Rankings

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?