Fantasy Football Week 2: Which Games Will Produce Best Performances?

Some weeks, playing the matchups is a better fantasy football strategy than going with your stud starters. Even better, however, is when the perfect matchup emerges for your every week must-start players.

Here, I will detail five games that will produce the best fantasy performances at each position, featuring some of the best players in your league.

QB: Chad Henne (Houston Texans at Miami Dolphins)

Henne's Week 1 performance against the New England Patriots was no fluke; he's better than most anyone thought he was, and he deserves a fair shake by both fans and fantasy GMs alike.

This week, the Dolphins take on the Houston Texans at home. The Texans had one of the worse pass defenses in the league in 2010. Henne and the Dolphins will likely exploit this weakness on Sunday, with a great deal of success.

Despite their dominant performance against the Colts in Week 1, and despite picking up former Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph in free agency, there is little evidence Houston has improved their defensive backfield.

Henne held his own against the Patriots in Week 1, and I don't see much of a significant decline in his performance this week. Henne has gone from an untouchable fantasy quarterback to a recommended starter in the span of two weeks.

While he may not be a starting fantasy quarterback every week of the season, he certainly is this week.

WR: Greg Jennings (Green Bay Packers at Carolina Panthers)

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is continuing on the path he forged in 2010 as one of the most accurate and prolific passers in the NFL.

While he spreads the ball around to a number of receivers, this does not mean that any or all of them should be ruled out as fantasy studs on a weekly basis. Greg Jennings, Rodgers' favorite target, should have as much or more success than he had in the team's Week 1 win over the New Orleans Saints.

In that game, he was targeted seven times for 89 yards and a touchdown. I can see him getting over 100 receiving yards this Sunday against the Panthers and at least one, probably two, touchdowns.

The Packers have proven that they can move the ball in the air regardless of the quality of the defense that they're facing. While the Saints had issues with their secondary last week that allowed the team to put up 396 pass yards, they are still better against the passing game than the Panthers.

The Panthers are outmatched by the Packers offense this week, and that means big gains for Jennings.

RB: Darren McFadden (Oakland Raiders at Buffalo Bills)

While the Bills know that the key to beating the Raiders this week is to stop their running game, and thus stop Darren McFadden, I don't believe they will be able to.

They had a great deal of success in their Week 1 blowout win over the Kansas City Chiefs at holding their star back, Jamaal Charles, to just 56 yards. However, much of that is attributed to the stalled Chiefs' offensive abilities than to the Bills' run-stopping prowess.

McFadden is one of the best, most consistent backs in the league, and while the Bills improved their defensive front four considerably this offseason, the 2010 Bills were worst in the league at stopping the run, and it's going to be hard to bounce back from that so early into 2011.

TE: Antonio Gates (San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots)

Gates is a no-brainer, must-start fantasy tight end every week, to be sure, but this week he is going to have a monster of a game.

All signs point to the Chargers-Patriots matchup quickly becoming a shoot-out, and Gates will be a major beneficiary of that.

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers loves to target Gates, who was thrown to 65 times in 2010, resulting in 50 receptions for 10 touchdowns. He didn't fumble a single time last year, too, which is a great way to get—and keep—a quarterback's attention.

Gates is going to figure hugely for the Chargers on Sunday, and with that should provide you with one of his best performances of the fantasy season.

D/ST: Pittsburgh Steelers (vs. Seattle Seahawks)

Hopefully, those fantasy GMs with the Steelers defense didn't panic after their fantasy-worst performance against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, because they are set to have the best performance of the week this Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.

Seattle's offense is weak, to put it lightly, and quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is likely not prepared for what the Steelers are going to attack him with in their home opener, especially coming off of such embarrassment at the hands of their rivals last week.

Running back Marshawn Lynch is no Ray Rice, either in talent or in being the beneficiary of an offensive line as effective as the Ravens', so don't look for him to put up anywhere near the 100-plus yards that Rice did against the Steelers defense.

K: Matt Bryant (Atlanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles)

For the second year in a row, Falcons kicker Matt Bryant is near the top of the fantasy pack. Last season, he missed just two field goals in his 31 attempts and made every extra point he attempted.

This week against the Eagles, he should find himself in field goal position a number of times. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan struggled against the Chicago Bears in Week 1, going 31-of-47 for 319 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

I see a similar struggle for Ryan this week against the Eagles' difficult secondary. The Falcons will likely look to run the ball more, using rusher Michael Turner as their primary offensive weapon, rather than the pass game, to attack the weak Eagles run defense.

However, if the Falcons find themselves behind (which I believe they will, facing an Eagles offense that can only be described as "explosive"), they will need to take to the air regardless.

I don't see this being a workable strategy, and Bryant should get ample field goal attempts after a number of stalled Falcons drives.