By Chet Gresham – @ChetGresham
Follow @walterfootball for updates.
Each week, I will provide our loyal readers with a matchup chart for each NFL position. To start the season, I’ll be using last year’s stats, but will combine them and wean off of them as the season gets going.
Check out the other positions so far: Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End
My method is to rank each defense in different categories and then average those rankings into a single ranking. So below, you will see how well defenses performed against quarterbacks based on completion percentage allowed, passing yards allowed, touchdown passes allowed and so on and so forth. Remember, the numbers are how they ranked in that category. The higher the ranking the worse the defense performed. So as you can see in the chart, Oakland ranks the worst against quarterbacks and Denver the best so far this season
Marcus Mariota has thrown two touchdowns in each of his games and gets the Raiders and their worst pass defense in the league. Of course, the Raiders faced Drew Breen in New Orleans and a hot Matt Ryan, but they aren’t getting any pressure and any quarterback can do well with a clean pocket. I expect a nice game from Mariota and hope he can run a bit more to boost his stats.
Drew Brees is at home against Atlanta’s poor pass defense. There’s not much to deliberate on in this matchup. Brees is my No. 1 quarterback this week and has the highest upside in what should be a shootout.
Aaron Rodgers hasn’t broken out yet, but this week is his best chance to date. I expect him to put together a strong game against the Lions, who were dismantled by Andrew Luck and gave up a 76-percent completion rate to Marcus Mariota and two touchdowns to boot.
Philip Rivers will likely be without Antonio Gates, and we already know Keenan Allen and Danny Woodhead are out, but this matchup is too good and we saw how well Travis Benjamin and Tyrell Williams stepped up last week. The Colts are still running a skeleton crew in the secondary as well, so don’t expect big improvements anytime soon.
| Quarterbacks | Tm | Opp | Com% | YPAtt | YPG | TD/G | Int/G | FPPG | FO | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Mariota | TEN | OAK | 29 | 31 | 32 | 31 | 16 | 32 | 32 | 29.0 |
| Drew Brees | NO | ATL | 32 | 20 | 18 | 31 | 16 | 30 | 30 | 25.3 |
| Case Keenum | LA | @TB | 13 | 28 | 26 | 27 | 26 | 29 | 27 | 25.1 |
| Aaron Rodgers | GB | DET | 27 | 23 | 24 | 29 | 16 | 31 | 24 | 24.9 |
| Alex Smith | KC | NYJ | 26 | 32 | 28 | 20 | 6 | 26 | 29 | 23.9 |
| Philip Rivers | SD | @IND | 31 | 25 | 22 | 14 | 16 | 22 | 31 | 23.0 |
| Matt Ryan | ATL | @NO | 28 | 26 | 29 | 3 | 26 | 18 | 26 | 22.3 |
| Brock Osweiler | HOU | @NE | 24 | 24 | 27 | 20 | 6 | 25 | 28 | 22.0 |
| Carson Palmer | ARI | @BUF | 25 | 30 | 25 | 9 | 26 | 15 | 23 | 21.9 |
| Eli Manning | NYG | WAS | 30 | 28 | 21 | 14 | 16 | 24 | 20 | 21.9 |
| Joe Flacco | BAL | @JAX | 15 | 13 | 4 | 29 | 26 | 28 | 25 | 20.0 |
| Cody Kessler | CLE | @MIA | 21 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 23 | 21 | 19.9 |
| Matthew Stafford | DET | @GB | 22 | 26 | 22 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18.9 |
| Andrew Luck | IND | SD | 23 | 13 | 30 | 20 | 3 | 27 | 13 | 18.4 |
| Brian Hoyer | CHI | @DAL | 18 | 21 | 17 | 20 | 6 | 21 | 17 | 17.1 |
| Ryan Tannehill | MIA | CLE | 7 | 13 | 18 | 20 | 6 | 20 | 22 | 15.1 |
| Carson Wentz | PHI | PIT | 16 | 16 | 31 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 13.9 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | NYJ | @KC | 20 | 18 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 12.3 |
| Dak Prescott | DAL | CHI | 14 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 16 | 10 | 19 | 11.7 |
| Kirk Cousins | WAS | @NYG | 12 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 26 | 5 | 18 | 11.3 |
| Trevor Siemian | DEN | @CIN | 1 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 11.3 |
| Cam Newton | CAR | MIN | 9 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 6 | 16 | 9 | 10.4 |
| Derek Carr | OAK | @TEN | 5 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 10.3 |
| Jameis Winston | TB | LA | 16 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 6 | 8 | 10.0 |
| Blaine Gabbert | SF | @SEA | 8 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 26 | 8 | 3 | 10.0 |
| Russell Wilson | SEA | SF | 4 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 9.6 |
| Blake Bortles | JAX | BAL | 19 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 8.4 |
| Sam Bradford | MIN | @CAR | 6 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 7.9 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | PIT | @PHI | 10 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6.9 |
| Tyrod Taylor | BUF | ARI | 10 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6.6 |
| Jacoby Brissett | NE | HOU | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 5.0 |
| Andy Dalton | CIN | DEN | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 5.0 |
Key
Com%: Completion Percentage allowed per game to QBs
YPAtt: Passing yards allowed per pass attempt
PaYd/G: Passing yards allowed per game to QBs
TD/G: Passing touchdowns allowed per game to QBs
Int/G: Interceptions made per game against QBs
FPPG: Fantasy points allowed per game to QBs
FO: Football Outsiders ranking for pass defense
Avg: Average of listed rankings
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