The Week 9 matchup between the Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts features two teams with struggling quarterbacks who are normally members of an elite class. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 9: Broncos-Colts featuring Peyton Manning, Vernon Davis and Andrew Luck
We break down the Week 9 matchup between the Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts.
Denver Broncos
Midway through the season it’s obvious that the dynamic of the Denver Broncos offense has changed. The bottom line is that quarterback Peyton Manning is getting older and he’s really shown it this year. He misses open receivers on passes down the field, throws more interceptions and runs one of the worst offenses in the league statistically speaking. That was especially true in the first month of the season. Now Manning and company are starting to rely on the running game more to create space, which means the days of him throwing three or four touchdowns in a game on a regular basis are likely over.
If there is one reason to get excited about Manning’s potential output the rest of the way, it’s that the team acquired tight end Vernon Davis from the San Francisco 49ers in time for the game against the Colts. Davis is also getting up there in age, but the former Pro Bowler could see his career reinvigorated on a team much better than San Francisco. He’ll be a reliable tight end target who possesses more ability than Owen Daniels and Virgil Green. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of a boost his fantasy value gets this week, but Davis’ fantasy owners are sure to see at least some improvement.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts fired the team’s offensive coordinator earlier this week. Hopefully that results in some improvement for fantasy owners of Andrew Luck. After being arguably the top fantasy player in the league last year, Luck has taken a step back. Things just aren’t clicking the way they were previously. To put it in perspective, Luck has thrown at least two interceptions in all but one of his starts this season. A matchup against a very good Broncos defense makes it difficult for fantasy owners to trust Luck this week. Perhaps he’ll prove some people wrong, but to be honest that’s unlikely this week.
Perhaps that means running back Frank Gore will need to produce more than usual. He has yet to have a 100-yard rushing game this season and has found the end zone just three times. Nobody expects him to be the Frank Gore that he was when playing for the 49ers, but Andrew Luck isn’t going to beat the Denver Broncos by himself. Given the way he’s turned the ball over lately, handing it off to Gore may be a much safer bet.
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SB Nation presents: NFL Week 9 start/sit fantasy advice
