Fantasy Football Week 13 Rankings: Quarterbacks Matchups To Exploit

Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers) vs. Oakland

The San Diego Chargers put up 36 points in their over the Indianapolis Colts last week, but quarterback Philip Rivers had little to do with that.

In fact, last week’s game against the Colts was the first time this season Rivers failed to score a touchdown and it was also the first time he passed for less than 200 yards. Don’t expect that kind of performance to become a trend for Rivers, especially against this week’s opponent, the Oakland Raiders.

When these two teams met in Week 5, Rivers threw for 431 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Combine that with the Raiders defense giving up seven passing touchdowns and picking off just two passes in their last three games and Rivers looks set a for a nice return to the level at which he normally plays.

Sam Bradford (St. Louis Rams) at Arizona

So that thing about rookie quarterbacks always struggling? Well, apparently it doesn’t apply to St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford.

Bradford has 17 touchdowns to nine interceptions on the season, which is a better ratio than the majority of NFL signal-callers, and he’s thrown just one interception in his last six games.

The Arizona Cardinals are giving up roughly 15 fantasy points per game this season to quarterbacks, but with there is no stopping Bradford. He does an excellent job of scanning the field and finding the open receiver and reminds us a lot of Philip Rivers in terms of doing a lot with little options on the outside.

If you own him, don’t hesitate starting the rookie with your season on the line.

Michael Vick (Philadelphia Eagles) vs. Houston

 In last week’s loss to the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick threw an interception and fumbled four times. Fortunately for his fantasy owners, none of those four fumbles were lost, so his 333 passing yards and two touchdowns were still worth a ton of points.

The Bears were able to generate a lot of pressure on Vick, the question is, will the Houston Texans be able to do the same this week? Most likely, they won’t be able to.

The Texans have forced just six fumbles this year and defensively they are the worst when it comes to defending opposing quarterbacks from a fantasy perspective, as they’re allowing an average of about 21 fantasy points per game.

It looks like Vick will have yet another big game.

Kyle Orton (Denver Broncos) at Kansas City

One of the things we’ve harped on for a while was how Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton played poorly down the stretch last season. To his credit, Orton seems to be avoiding that trend this year, having thrown eight touchdowns and just one interception in his last three games.

The great thing for Orton is that he gets to face the Kansas City Chiefs this week, and when he played against them in Week 10 he threw for 296 yards with four touchdowns in a blowout win. In the games since then, however, the Chiefs have given up just three passing touchdowns with two interceptions.

It’s hard for an NFL team to play to replicate a performance against a team twice in one season, so even though Orton should have a good game, it’s not realistic to expect another four-touchdown game.

Still, Orton has proven to be an elite quarterback throughout the season, and if you own him, start him.

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