Week 5 Start or Sit QB Rankings: Big Ben, Big Points

So as we turn the page on week 4 in the NFL, we are starting to get a good idea on which QBs are good for fantasy. More importantly, we are starting to see which defenses are great match ups for opposing QBs. Sometimes if a borderline top 12 QB is up against a great matchup, he can start in place of a stud like Manning or Brees. Let's take a look at which defenses have been letting teams pass on them at will:

Team	Pts/G	TotPts	Comp	Att	Pct	Att/G	Yds	Avg	Yds/G	TD	Int	1st	20+	40+	Sck	Rate
Detroit Lions	33.5	134	95	131	72.5	32.8	961	7.7	240.2	12	2	55	9	2	7	118.8
Tennessee Titans	27	108	102	149	68.5	37.2	1,129	8.1	282.2	10	3	58	15	3	9	107.1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	26.8	107	65	107	60.7	26.8	887	8.6	221.8	9	4	44	11	6	6	101.1
St. Louis Rams	27	108	75	119	63.0	29.8	898	7.9	224.5	7	2	48	13	3	7	100.2
Arizona Cardinals	22.7	68	65	109	59.6	36.3	841	8.0	280.3	7	2	38	10	3	8	98.8
Jacksonville Jaguars	21.5	86	110	153	71.9	38.2	1,129	7.5	282.2	7	4	60	11	1	3	97.7
Dallas Cowboys	19.5	78	92	142	64.8	35.5	1,025	7.5	256.2	6	2	46	13	3	6	95.7
Carolina Panthers	29	87	60	89	67.4	29.7	539	6.5	179.7	5	2	31	7	0	4	94.6
Seattle Seahawks	20.5	82	88	131	67.2	32.8	879	7.1	219.8	5	2	45	45	1	9	94.2
Pittsburgh Steelers	19.5	78	90	146	61.6	36.5	873	6.3	218.2	7	1	54	57	1	8	92.8
Kansas City Chiefs	28	112	77	139	55.4	34.8	1,002	7.4	250.5	8	2	51	12	4	5	92.5

So as we take a look at all these fantasy friendly defenses on this spreadsheet, we will see two discrepancies. First, Pittsburgh is on this list. While Pittsburgh hasn't been the best defense, they've been pretty good. The only reason they have been in the bottom 10 for opposing QBs is because Troy Palamalu has been out. He has been practicing and looks to come back, so ignore them on this list. That is why I included the 11th ranked Kansas City Chiefs.

The second discrepancy we see on this list is the Carolina Panthers. They are indeed one of the worst passing defenses in the league but if you look at the raw numbers it doesn't appear that way. The reason for this is they have only played three games. While they have only played three games, they are allowing 67 percent of passes to be completed against them. They are 29th in the league in completion percentage allowed, which tells me QBs are getting time to make great passes against them. Unlike the Steelers, Carolina will continue to be one of the worst teams in the league defending the pass as the season goes on.

Some other interesting things to look at on this list include the Lions and Jacksonville defenses. They are allowing more than 70 percent of the passes against them to be completed! When I see those numbers, I salivate at the idea of starting the QB going against those defenses.

Alright, now that we have taken a look at fantasy friendly defenses, let's look at the rankings for QBs headed into week 5:

We call him "Big Ben" when he plays football, but Ben Roethlisberger doesn't look so big compared to WWE wrestlers.

Week 4 Byes: Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler, Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers

QB Rankings:

Ranking	Quarterback Name	Match up	Notes
1	Peyton Manning	@TEN	There's too many good things to say about Indy's offense, so I'll just say START HIM!
2	Ben Roethlisberger	@DET	Even with a newly found running game, Roethlisberger will tear up Detroit for two or three TDs.
3	Tony Romo	@KC	KC couldn't get a sack at White Castle, let alone against the Dallas O-Line
4	Donovan McNabb	TAM	If he can come back right from his injury he's going to have a field day against the Tampa secondary.
5	Kurt Warner	HOU	The Texans defense as a whole just doesn't look sharp, 5 sacks in 4 games.
6	Matt Schaub	@ARI	If this game wasn't a shootout through the air, I'd be completely surprised.
7	Brett Favre	@STL	You might think AP would run it all day against StL, but they might rest him later in the game and let Favre air it out.
8	Jason Campbell	@CAR	Jason Campbell has quietly been one of the better fantasy QBs this year, even with his interceptions.
9	David Garrard	@SEA	Look at what Manning did to them last week. Garrard has his legs to add to his fantasy value.
10	Kyle Orton	NE	You can't complain about a guy who doesn't turn it over and has Brandon Marshall as a weapon.
11	Tom Brady	@DEN	It's going to be really tough for Brady to play against that defense that is second in the league with 15 sacks.
12	Joe Flacco	CIN	Cincinnati's defense is for real but Baltimore's running game will create opportunities for Flacco and company.
13	Matt Ryan	@SF	San Francisco's defense is for real, which could pose problems for the Falcons and their passing offense which has been lacking this season.
14	Carson Palmer	@BAL	Baltimore's passing defense is strong so expect Palmer to throw a few picks
15	Shaun Hill	ATL	Don't expect Crabtree to do much, if he even appears at all. However you can expect 200 yards and 1 TD at least.
16	Matt Cassel	DAL	I really should rank Cassel higher because he's been decent this year, but I just don't trust that KC O-Line.
17	Trent Edwards	CLE	Their offense needs to drop the no-huddle, because they look like utter crap so far.
18	Mark Sanchez	@MIA	Sanchez is mentally tough, so I don't expect his grand collapse last weekend to effect him much this week.

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