Drew Brees

Drew Brees

Week Seventeen Analysis: Drew Brees is only 219 passing yards short of back-to-back 5,000-yard seasons. Considering that Brees accounts for two of the five current 5,000-yard seasons, that's historically impressive. What else is impressive is the three or more touchdown passes he's thrown 10 times. High yardage and frequent scoring make for a fantasy MVP, but I'd pump the brakes on his chances to look like an MVP against the Panthers this week. Only four quarterbacks have passed for over 300 yards against the Panthers this season and they've held 11 teams to one or fewer touchdown passes this year. In their first meeting, Brees did manage 325 yards, but only had one score in a losing effort.

Week Sixteen Analysis: In one of the weirdest weeks in fantasy football history, Drew Brees bucked the trend and returned to his normal state, tossing for 307 yards and four touchdowns against Tampa. That was the third straight game over the 300 mark for Brees and his ninth game this season with three or more touchdown passes. It's probably not a surprise that we're recommending you start him this week in Dallas. The Cowboys started the season as one of the toughest pass defenses in football, but have yielded multiple touchdown passes in three of the last five games and have allowed 300-yard outings to RG3 and Ben Roethlisberger in the last four games.

Week Fifteen Analysis: I'm not worried about Drew Brees' recent dip in production. He's thrown for over 320 yards seven times this year, including a 377-yard and four touchdown effort against this week's opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their first meeting. Tampa is on pace to be the worst pass defense in NFL history, allowing an average of 324 passing yards per game. Last year the Packers set the record for futility in pass defense while allowing 312 yards per game. The Bucs can only stop the run and the Saints just don't care to run, so I could see Brees throwing for 400 yards on Sunday.

Week Fourteen Analysis: Drew Brees was brutal last Thursday night, snapping his league record of 60 straight games with a touchdown pass. It happens. He'll bounce back against the Giants. The Giants have allowed a touchdown pass in six straight games, including multiple scores in three of those contests. However, they've been much tough against the pass recently, allowing fewer than 219 passing yards in each of the last four games.

Week Thirteen Analysis: Drew Brees has now had eight games with three or more touchdown passes. That's two more than any other quarterback this season and only four shy of the all-time record, held by Tom Brady. He's an obvious, every week start even against a tough Atlanta defense. The last passing touchdown the Falcons allowed was to Drew Brees in Week 10. In the 10 games in which the Falcons have not faced Brees, they've allowed only eight touchdowns through the air, but the Saints' signal caller has their number. In his last nine games against Atlanta, Brees has had multiple passing touchdowns in eight games.

Week Twelve Analysis: Drew Brees has thrown three or more touchdowns in six of his last eight games, in the other two games he managed to throw for two scores. That kind of elite consistency is rarely found in the fantasy game. He's completely matchup-proof, and remains a no-brainer even against a tough defense like San Francisco. The Niners haven't allowed more than two touchdown passes in a contest since Brees torched them for 462 yards and four scores in last year's divisional playoff game. They shut down Jason Campbell on Monday night, but prior to that John Skelton and Sam Bradford were able to throw for at least 275 yards.

Week Eleven Analysis: In the last two weeks, the Raiders have given up 97 points. On that basis alone, you can start nearly any anyone in the stadium wearing a fleur-de-lis. And Drew Brees is the best among them. He's making a case for league MVP, having thrown multiple touchdowns in every game since week two. His receivers, notably Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston, are healthy. And last Sunday, Joe Flacco nuked this Oakland defense for 368 yards, three passing touchdowns, and one rushing touchdowns.

Week Ten Analysis: Drew Brees is fantasy football's hottest quarterback, and you'll never bench him, no matter the matchup. But this is a tough one, as he faces one of the least fantasy friendly defenses, Atlanta. Only one quarterback has managed to pass for more than one touchdown against the Falcons. That means quality passers like Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers and Tony Romo were held to zero or one touchdown. Still, Brees is unconscious, throwing multiple touchdowns in seven of eight games, and topping 325 yards five times, so you keep starting him, no matter the matchup.

Week Nine Analysis: Good luck figuring out which Eagles defense is going to show up in any given week. Last week Matt Ryan put on a passing clinic against Philly's secondary. Okay, he's a good quarterback, so that's going to happen. But the previous two weeks, Mathew Stafford and Ben Roethlisberger couldn't get anything going against the Eagles. I still believe that Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie are a great tandem, but they're only two guys, and Drew Brees has so many options: Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Devery Henderson, Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham. The Eagles don't have the depth to cover them all, and Brees hasn't posted a bad fantasy game all year.

Week Eight Analysis: For all the talk of RG3 and Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees is quietly dominating fantasy football. His 350 yard per game average is a whopping 48 yards better than the next closest quarterback, Peyton Manning, who happens to play for this week's opponent, Denver. It's no surprise I see a shootout coming, like most games that involved the Saints high-powered offense, and brutally bad defense. Denver's secondary is middle of the road, statistically, but they've faced some good quarterbacks this year: Matt Ryan, Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger. Every opposing quarterback has managed multiple touchdowns against Denver except for Carson Palmer. In summary, Brees gets his yardage numbers against everyone, and the Broncos will ensure that he throws at least two.

Week Seven Analysis: Very quietly, the Buccaneers secondary has a three game shutout streak going. No quarterback has thrown a touchdown against them since way back in week two. Granted, they saw Brady Quinn last week. And, according to the new NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement any futility stat that includes Brady Quinn is invalid. Still, the Bucs usually contain Brees. He's topped 260 passing yards in just one of his past five games against Tampa. And he's been held to just one touchdown in three of the past five games. All that said, Brees is red hot, with 14 touchdowns in five games, and remains a strong start, especially since Tampa will be without cornerback Aquib Talib, whose suspension starts this week.

Week Five Analysis: Fantasy players don't care about New Orleans' 0-4 record, and the bitterness emanating from the Big Easy. We're perfectly happy with Drew Brees. He's posted multiple touchdowns in every game. He's thrown three touchdowns in every game but one, and topped 325 yards in every game but one. There's no reason to believe that San Diego will slow him down. They've seen three crappy quarterbacks (Palmer, Locker, and Cassel) and one good one, Matt Ryan. And, of course, Ryan shredded them for 275 yards and three touchdowns. Their secondary has excellent safety Eric Weddle, but little else. Atari Bigby and Antoine Cason are pass coverage liabilities who Brees will target.

Week Four Analysis: The Packers secondary is probably much improved from last year's horrible version. They've held opposing quarterbacks to just 155 yards per game. That's literally half (!) of the yardage that last year's secondary was allowing. They currently rank #1 against the pass, after being the worst team last year. The asterisk is that they've faced Alex Smith, Jay Cutler, and Russell Wilson. Needless to say, Drew Brees presents a whole different challenge for the Packers. He's faced Green Bay three times since joining the Saints. His average game is 365 and 3. Brees has already posted two three-touchdown games this year. I don't expect fireworks against the improved Packers, but I do expect a solid outing.

Week Three Analysis: The Chiefs secondary improved last week as superstar cornerback Brandon Flowers returned, but it's hard to tell because the Bills got ahead early, and Ryan Fitzpatrick only threw 19 passes all day. Despite only seeing 19 passes, the Chiefs conceded two touchdowns, meaning opposing quarterbacks have scored six times in two games. Meanwhile, Drew Brees' Saints are the talk of the NFL with their 0-2 start. But Brees has posted good fantasy stats, 339 and 3325 yards, and five total touchdowns. Anyone else get the feeling that Brees is simply going to will the Saints to a big game?

Week Two Analysis: It's not Drew Brees' fault that the Saints find themselves 0-1 to start the season. His defense gave up 40 points, and he threw three touchdowns and 339 yards. Granted, it wasn't his cleanest performance, but it reestablishes that the New Orleans passing game remains as potent as ever. The Carolina secondary is middle of the road. They held Josh Freeman to 16 completions and just 138 yards in the opener. But, Brees faced this team as recently as week 17 of last year, and he murdered the Panthers for five touchdowns and almost 400 yards. What's more, the secondary personnel today isn't much different from the one that finished last year.

Week One Analysis: Boy, if the second half of last year was any indication, Drew Brees is going to destroy the Redskins.  From week 9 through the playoffs, Brees was a machine. His per game averages are jaw-dropping: 377 yards, and 3.5 touchdowns.  Meanwhile, the Redskins' secondary was competent early, but fell apart as the season unfolded. In the second half of the year, they gave up multiple touchdowns to Tony Romo, Tom Brady, and Michael Vick, which is understandable.  But, multiple touchdowns to Joe Webb, Tavaris Jackson, and Ryan Fitzpatrick? And, Brees will throw against two Redskins too shaky to stay in Minnesota, Madieu Williams and Cedric Griffin.  Add in the Katrina-sized chip on Brees' shoulder, and it's easy to see a huge game coming for Brees.

NEXT: #7 MATT RYAN