Brady vs Stafford

[PenguinHunter]

Hello all....

tell me am I overthinking this?

I picked up Stafford so that my opponent (who has Kaepernick and Mariota) could not pick him up as he was the only decent option on waivers.

I have Brady. Everything I am seeing/reading/hearing is that Brady is a tough start this week because he does not have Gronk and Baltimore Defense is playing well and always plays well against Brady.

Should I be considering starting Stafford against Chicago instead?

[Eskimo Brother]

Roll your stars and don't overthink it too much

[hockeyrobot]

This will be the second time disagree I have to disagree with EB on this....names don't get you points in the playoffs. If you're comfortable going with the better matchup and won't kick yourself for not starting Brady.....then I would go Stafford.

Plus......they're calling for bad weather and potentially snow on Monday....last thing you want to do is bench Stafford and then be stuck with Brady in a snow storm.

[LuigiC173]

I get Eskimo's logic but I am more of a matchup guy so I vote Stafford. I am starting Rivers over Cousins this week only because of matchup for example.

[MasterByte]

Very intriguing!
I'm with you PH, I'd start Stafford. Detroit has been a powerhouse, has a great matchup, and they have no issue throwing the whole game.

Meanwhile, NE scores at will and has zero fear of not making the playoffs. Their staff approaches each season as though they will be playing to the superbowl until they have reason to think otherwise. I know the Ravens have a great run defense, but I think we see alot of Dion Lewis and Blount, with Brady putting up points when needed.

[dejeanneret]

Tough call here. I'd keep an eye on the weather forecasts as decision time rolls around on Sunday. If it's really forecasted to be nasty in NE on Monday, I'd go with Stafford playing indoors over Brady outdoors minus some weapons as some others have suggested.

But I WOULD NOT make that decision based solely on the belief that Stafford has an appreciably easier matchup. He does not.

Chicago is a lousy team, true. But Chicago's pass defense has been pretty much equally as a solid as Baltimore's based on raw numbers. The two are allowing almost identical yards/game (low 220's); Chicago has given up 4 fewer passing TDs than Baltimore; but Baltimore does have several more INTs than Chicago. At least in part, that is probably why I've seen some fantasy sources rank Baltimore and Chicago one spot apart in terms of matchup friendliness to QBs.

And don't forget, when Detroit and Chicago last played in Week 4, it was easily Stafford's worst outing in an otherwise pretty stellar season: 213 yards, 0 TDs, 2 picks.

I'd expect better from Stafford this week at home, but the matchup isn't gravy enough for me to give it much, if any, weight in deciding whether to play him over Brady against the Ravens.

Good luck!

[MasterByte]

But I WOULD NOT make that decision based solely on the belief that Stafford has an appreciably easier matchup. He does not.

It's more about Brady having a documented history of tapering off production in the last 3-5 games of the regular season, preparing for the playoffs. TD production tends to drop and the Patriots move to being more run heavy.