Week 12 Fantasy Football Defensive Matchup Exploitation: QB

Case Keenum fantasy football
Case Keenum fantasy football
Nov 17 2013 Houston TX USA Houston Texans quarterback Case Keenum 7 attempts a pass during the third quarter against the Oakland Raiders at Reliant Stadium The Raiders defeated the Texans 28 23 Troy Taormina USA TODAY Sports

A bad matchup doesn’t necessarily spell disaster for an opposing quarterback but it could certainly limit his production. This week, some of our top fantasy quarterbacks like Peyton Manning, Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III, and Philip Rivers head into difficult matchups.

Obviously, Manning is always a must-start, always. Newton will have a tough time against a Dolphins pass defense that has gotten at least one interception in all but one game this year but he has the ability to make up for it against a bad Dolphins run defense so he’s plenty startable.

Rivers faces a Chiefs defense that started out fairly tough but has given up 13+ fantasy points to Peyton Manning, Jeff Tuel, Jason Campbell, Case Keenum, Terrelle Pryor, and Ryan Fitzpatrick over their last six games so he’s plenty startable as well.

Griffin could go either way. The Niners were able to stop Newton but gave up solid games to Drew Brees, Jake Locker, Carson Palmer, and Chad Henne. His production will certainly be limited, however, so don’t expect an explosion.

Ryan Tannehill, either Raiders quarterback, Chad Henne, Josh McCown, and Kellen Clemens all have difficult matchups and should be stayed away from. Matt Ryan is a risky start but put up 20.3 fantasy points on the Saints in Week 1 so he’s startable. Jason Campbell faces a Steelers defense that started out tough but has given up 18+ fantasy points to quarterbacks in three of their last for weeks so he’s startable as well. Carson Palmer has been hot and the Colts defense has allowed 21+ points to quarterbacks in four of their last five games so he’s startable as well.

On the favorable side, Eli Manning, Case Keenum, Alex Smith, Drew Brees, Matthew Stafford, Colin Kaepernick, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo are all must-starts this week. Joe Flacco should see plenty of green against the Jets as well. Scott Tolzien is a risk but if he’s going to do well against anyone it’s going to be the Vikings. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Christian Ponder both have favorable matchups but are tough to trust.

Let’s take a look at all of this week’s quarterback matchups.

Browse Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

Highly Unfavorable, Unfavorable, Neutral, Slightly Favorable, Favorable

Rank
vs
QB

AVG
QB
FPS
Allowed

Defense

Week 12 Opponents

1

10.88 Panthers Ryan Tannehill

2

12.3 Seahawks BYE

3

12.81 Titans Terrelle Pryor (Q), Matt McGloin

4

12.88 Saints Matt Ryan

5

14.08 Dolphins Cam Newton

6

14.1 49ers Robert Griffin III

7

14.8 Chiefs Philip Rivers

8

14.94 Steelers Jason Campbell

9

15.66 Texans Chad Henne

10

15.66 Bengals BYE

11

16.23 Patriots Peyton Manning

12

16.29 Rams Josh McCown

13

16.69 Bears Kellen Clemens

14

17.21 Colts Carson Palmer

15

17.43 Browns Ben Roethlisberger

16

17.6 Cardinals Andrew Luck

17

17.66 Lions Mike Glennon

18

17.76 Ravens Geno Smith

19

17.92 Giants Tony Romo

20

18.37 Bills BYE

21

18.61 Jets Joe Flacco

22

19.37 Packers Christian Ponder

23

19.41 Raiders Ryan Fitzpatrick

24

19.53 Broncos Tom Brady

25

19.67 Eagles BYE

26

19.98 Redskins Colin Kaepernick

27

20.01 Buccaneers Matthew Stafford

28

20.07 Falcons Drew Brees

29

20.87 Chargers Alex Smith

30

21.06 Jaguars Case Keenum

31

21.56 Vikings Scott Tolzien

32

23.38 Cowboys Eli Manning

*Values based on Yahoo standard scoring.

Browse Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

author avatar
Igor Derysh
Igor Derysh is Editor-at-Large at XN Sports and has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sun-Sentinel, and FantasyPros. He has previously covered sports for COED Magazine, Fantasy Alarm, and Manwall.com.