Houston Texans As an avid fantasy football participant Kevin Faulk Jerseys 2019 , I plan to start a weekly analysis of the New England Patriots and their current matchup in terms of fantasy football. This is my analysis and estimations of stats heading into week 1. Good luck with all of your match-ups!Tom Brady Heading into week 1, I know every Patriot fan is expecting terrific Tom to come out firing on all cylinders and put the Houston Texans in their place, like he normally does. In the past 3 years, Brady has faced the Texans 3 times, averaging 300 yards, 110.5 passing rating, and 3 touchdowns. He has also been sacked a total of 10 times in those 3 games! This last stat is what gives me hesitation about his fantasy production. With J.J. Watt healthy, and all the other weapons the Texans have on defense, I am concerned how our offensive line will hold up. While I do believe we will get the win, I think Brady has an average to decent game. Final Prediction: Tom Brady: 220 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception Rob Gronkowski Gronkowski is a must start nearly every week he is healthy. He is a tier above the rest, and even tight ends that could potentially match his productions, are very limited. Not to mention, it is no surprise that the Patriots are super thin at wide receiver, which will highly favor Gronk’s fantasy value. However, looking strictly at the numbers, in 4 regular season games vs the Texans, he has scored one touchdown in 3 out of the 4 games. The only game he didn’t score, was in 2016, where it was his first game back from an injury and was only targeted once. In the games he did score, he posted at least 80 yards in each. However White Tedy Bruschi Jerseys , this time around, newly acquired Texan, Tyrann Mathieu, will potentially be matched up with Gronk. Even though Gronk has never played against Mathieu, I don’t expect him to slow down Gronk. Final Prediction: Rob Gronkowski: 8 receptions, 110 receiving yards, 1 touchdown Running Backs When you have Tom Brady slinging the rock, it helps the run game tremendously and like mentioned in previous blogs, the Patriots always like to keep the mystery when it come to the running game. With Mike Gillislee cut, and Sony Michel expect to be out in week 1, we can narrow it down to James White, Rex Burkhead, and Jeremy Hill. Since Burkhead himself is dealing with a knee injury, it is possible we won’t see a huge workload from him either. His status is something definitely to continue to watch leading up to Sunday. I believe we can see White getting the majority of the snaps during the game with a healthy amount of receptions, thus making him the most likeable fantasy option. Hill and Burkhead will make some appearances, but their fantasy impact should be minimal. Final Predictions:James White: 45 rushing yards, 5 receptions, 55 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown Rex Burkhead: (barring further injury news): 22 rushing yards, 24 receiving yards Jeremy Hill: 37 rushing yards Wide Receivers This section is scary. It felt like each week the Patriots were losing another wide receiver and while I have all the faith in Brady making the offense work with whatever receivers the Patriots put out there, the potential of injury is terrifying. With the main trio being Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett Tedy Bruschi Jerseys 2019 , and Cordarrelle Patterson, I am expecting Hogan to be the only start-able fantasy wide receiver. Hogan’s success vs the Texans in the past has been sporadic, posting 9 catches, 171 yards and 2 touchdowns in his last 3 games. However, one of those games was played without Brady. One can make the argument that Patterson has a high upside but is also a very high risk. Same can be said about Dorsett, but until we see how he will be utilized during the game, he should remain on the bench. Final Prediction: Chris Hogan: 5 receptions, 67 yards, 1 receiving touchdownDefense I want to make it clear I am very high on the Patriots defense this year. With our new defensive play caller, healthy key players, and new faces that have showed a strong preseason, I think it is possible to be ranked in the top 5 in overall defenses in 2018. However, this is a week they should remain on the bench and better options should be explored. This is because of two names, Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins. I know it is nearly impossible for the duo to keep up the pace they were playing at last year, I believe they will come out strong and will score some points against whoever they are playing across. My hopes are that the Patriots are able to contain them to some extent. I would be looking on the waiver wire for the New Orleans Saints Defense, which play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home or the Detroit Lions, playing against the New York Jets and a rookie QB in Sam Darnold at home. BALTIMORE (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers‘ prize for dismantling the toughest defense in the NFL is a road game against a team that has long been a nemesis for Philip Rivers.Los Angeles advanced to the divisional round of the postseason by beating the Baltimore Ravens 23-17 on Sunday. Next up, a matchup against the New England Patriots (11-5) this Sunday.Since Rivers became a starter, the Chargers are 0-7 against Tom Brady and the Patriots, including 0-2 in playoff games. The last time they met, New England rolled to a 21-12 win in the AFC Championship game in January 2008.Fortunately for Rivers, past performances don’t necessarily mean that much. Just two weeks after being dominated by Baltimore in a loss that knocked them out of first place in the AFC West White Andre Tippett Jerseys , the Chargers (13-4) bounced back with a resounding win to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2014.Rivers went 22 of 32 for 160 yards, his longest completion a 28-yarder to Mike Williams.Going up against longtime Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and standout coach Bill Belichick is no easy task, but Rivers is up for the challenge.“I’m not playing Tom by any means. But is it special to go to New England against a Hall of Fame coach and arguably the best quarterback ever to play and get another shot at ’em? Heck, yeah,” Rivers said. “To get an opportunity again to go against them, 11 years after we had the opportunity in the 2007 season, yeah, it’s awesome. Looking forward to it.”The Chargers face a veteran quarterback after putting the clamps on a rookie, Lamar Jackson of the Ravens, who fumbled three times, threw an interception and was sacked seven times in his playoff debut.AFC North champion Baltimore (10-7) got to play a home playoff game for the first time since 2012, but its run ended there.Looking ahead, this much is clear: John Harbaugh figures he’ll be back as coach — even if nothing is set in stone yet — and he knows Jackson will be the team’s starting quarterback next season instead of past Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco.While Flacco is “the best quarterback in the history of the Ravens,” as Harbaugh put it, Jackson’s 6-1 close to the regular season cemented the first-round draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner as the No. 1 quarterback.“Lamar’s our quarterback going forward. There’s no question about that,” Harbaugh said.And as for Harbaugh’s future?“We’ll see,” he said. “I have every expectation and every plan to be here, as long as the Ravens want me here. And I believe they want me here. That’s been made clear by them to me.”Some other things we learned from the Ravens-Chargers matchup:STICK TO THE PLANIt would be easy for Chargers defensive end Melvin Ingram to hog the spotlight after recording a team-leading seven tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on Sunday.But Ingram said his success was simply a byproduct of playing in a system that emphasizes staying in position and not over-pursuing a mobile quarterback and his hard-running backfield.Two weeks ago, the Ravens’ complicated offensive strategy wore down and puzzled the Chargers. Not this time.“We played assignment football,” Ingram said. “We were told to see what we were supposed to see. They do a lot to confuse us Andre Tippett Jerseys 2019 , but we stayed with it and it was a much better result for us.”SUGGS WANTS MORESixteen seasons of being an NFL linebacker evidently isn’t enough for Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs .Asked after the game if he intended to return, the 36-year-old Suggs said, “Absolutely.”With Baltimore?“I would love to be here. I would love to be a Raven life-timer,” Suggs said. “If it’s not, I’ll be playing lights out for somebody.”BOO BIRDSThe boos started in the second half, as the Ravens’ offense kept getting shut down and Jackson kept getting sacked. Then came the chants from the home fans for Flacco to replace Jackson.Baltimore cornerback Jimmy Smith was not surprised — but he was angered. So he told those spectators exactly what he thought.“I’m standing there, and they were just like chanting Flacco’s name. I love ‘Flac,’ but (Jackson) got us here,” Smith said. “So for the fact that you’re a fair-weather fan that quickly when things go rough — you turn your back on him? That just got under my skin a little bit.“So I just went to them and told them, like, ‘Yo, you either ride or die or you get … out of here.'”JOE TO GO?Although Flacco likely won’t throw another pass with the Ravens, Harbaugh clearly believes Flacco will be a starting quarterback for years to come.“Joe Flacco is going to play really well in this league. Joe can still play,” Harbaugh said. “Joe’s going to have a market. A lot of teams are going to want Joe because they understand that.”Asked if he can still be a starter in the NFL, Flacco replied, “Oh, there is no doubt about it.”