New England Patriots - Fantasy News

Who to Start: Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger?

by Mike Rose

12/15/17

NFL

New England Patriots

Tom Brady

What very well may be the game of the year will occur at Heinz Field on Sunday afternoon when the Pittsburgh Steelers welcome the New England Patriots into town for the first matchup between these teams since last season’s AFC Championship game.

That contest took place in Foxboro, and Tom Brady outshined Ben Roethlisberger as the Patriots tied up the all-time series at 15 games apiece. But Brady had an awful showing against the Dolphins on Monday Night Football this past week, while Roethlisberger is coming off of a 500-plus yard performance against the Ravens.

This game will probably end up determining which team gets home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs, so both quarterbacks will have to be at their absolute best.

Fantasy Matchup: Tom Brady (19.5 PFP) vs. Ben Roethlisberger (19.0 PFP)

After getting picked off multiple times in a game for the first time all season as well as four occasions in the last three weeks, Brady continued his rough patch on Monday night. He had only 233 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions against the Dolphins. Regardless of that poor performance, Brady always shows up in clutch spots and the Patriots are going to need him to do just that on Sunday.

The Michigan product has averaged 19.69 Dober Fantasy Points per game and enters this matchup as a half-point favorite. Heading into what could very well be an AFC Championship game preview, this Dober fantasy matchup is too close to call. Brady will have newly signed wide receiver Kenny Britt at his disposal in addition to star tight end Rob Gronkowski.

For the season, Brady has thrown for 3,865 yards with 27 touchdowns and six interceptions to rank as the No. 4 fantasy quarterback. He’s managed to play to a quarterback rating of 100-plus an incredible seven times. After struggling against the Miami defense, he will face a Steelers unit that ranks No. 6 in fantasy against opposing quarterbacks. They’ve allowed only 14.5 points per game to the position while their pass defense ranks No. 4 in allowing 200.8 yards per game through the air.

Meanwhile, Roethlisberger is now the only quarterback in NFL history to have three 500-yard performances after his insane game against the Ravens last week. He set career highs in pass attempts (66) and completions (44), and it was only the third time since 1950 that a player threw 65 passes.

On the year, the No. 8 ranked fantasy quarterback has thrown for 3,744 yards with 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions to go along with a 63.4 completion percentage. It’s obviously very difficult to throw for 500 yards, so I don’t expect a repeat performance from Roethlisberger. He could, however, get close as he’ll be facing a Patriots defense ranked No. 27 against gunslingers and No. 29 in passing yards allowed (253.9).

Both quarterbacks are going to play lights out and give it their all. After a week in which he had an off game, I feel that Brady is going to bounce back while Roethlisberger steps back down a bit. Given that, go with Brady on your Dober Play Card as a slight favorite, but Roethlisberger isn’t a bad choice either.

Week 15 Fantasy Projection: Tom Brady (-.5) vs. Ben Roethlisberger