Start Em Sit Em Week 1: Stars Who Will Struggle in Season-Opening Matchups

Just because you have a stud on your team doesn't mean that player will be guaranteed to succeed every week.

Look at what happened to reigning Super Bowl champion Victor Cruz in the Giants' season opener against the Cowboys.

Obviously, matchups play a huge part in your fantasy stars' chances for success from week to week. Some mediocre players will thrive against bad teams, and some superstars will struggle against the top defenses in the league.

Here are a few of the players who will bear the brunt of tough matchups in Week 1.

RB Chris Johnson (Tennessee) vs. New England Patriots

Johnson is the sixth-rated running back, according to NFL.com's fantasy gurus, but no owner wants to be facing New England in the first week of the season.

Granted, defense used to be one of the Patriots' strongest assets under Bill Belichick, and New England's unit was uncharacteristically bad in 2011, when it finished second-to-last in the league. But Belichick was once considered the foremost defensive genius in the NFL, and it's a source of pride for him. Expect a serious upgrade this season, and expect Johnson to bear the brunt in Week 1.

Plus, the Patriots' abominable pass defense was its problem last season—not so much its rushing defense, which ranked 17th in the NFL.

Andrew Luck (Indianapolis) at Chicago Bears

Luck has been fine in the preseason—or rather, he was excellent in the first half of the preseason and mediocre in the second half—but there's no way to predict how he's going to fare in the regular season. He could end up being the best rookie quarterback we've ever seen. He could also end up being a colossal failure, like so many rookie gunslingers who have come before him.

NFL.com has Luck ranked 18th among all quarterbacks; succeeding in Week 1 could change that. Although the Bears don't seem like such a formidable opponent, they were ravaged by injuries at the end of last season and still finished with a decent (17th) defense.

Plus, they're at home, where they tend to be fine, especially early on in the season. Chicago's defense can be expected to test Luck in this one. 

Greg Jennings (Green Bay) vs. San Francisco 49ers

Last season, the Packers and the 49ers were opposites. One had a stellar offense, the other had a stellar defense.

Green Bay was not the one with the stellar defense, which doesn't bode well for Greg Jennings in Week 1.

NFL.com ranks Jennings 12th among all receivers, and for good reason: Last season, he finished with 949 yards and nine touchdowns. However, San Francisco finished last season with the fourth-best defense in the league and as the 49ers proved with their postseason run (and as the Packers confirmed with their own), a good defense trumps a good offense.

This is a tough opening-week matchup for both sides and it's not the kind of matchup that suggests Green Bay's offensive stars are going to thrive.