Through the first half of last week's game, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was on his way to a record-setting performance.
Stafford threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone, which equals 21 fantasy points in leagues that award four points per passing touchdown.
But then the second half happened.
Adding just one more fantasy point in the second half, Stafford completed only three pass attempts for 35 yards after the intermission.
Despite last week's in-game inconsistency, Stafford has been extremely consistent on a week-to-week basis. In his past five games, he has finished with 22-plus fantasy points four times. Even the exception during that stretch was an 18-point performance that ranked eighth among quarterbacks in Week 10.
Once again leading the league in pass attempts, Stafford is on pace for his second 5,000-yard season in three years with 5,117 and 34 touchdowns.
Of course, it helps to have the game's most talented wide receiver Calvin Johnson. In his past four games alone, Megatron has 35 receptions for 746 yards and seven touchdowns.
Above or Below the Kaepernick Line?
In baseball, the Mendoza Line refers to a .200 batting average threshold and hitting below the Mendoza Line is a measurement of a hitter's (extreme) inefficiency.
For 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the 200-yard mark has been a threshold that he has struggled to surpass this year.
More surprising with the hindsight of his struggles, Kaepernick threw for 412 yards and three touchdowns in Week 1 against the Packers. Since then, however, he has exceeded 200 passing yards only once in nine games and has less than 200 yards in four consecutive games.
Since Week 2, Kaepernick is averaging 154.4 passing yards per game and has barely thrown more touchdowns (eight) than interceptions (seven) during that nine-game span.
In fact, Kaepernick has barely averaged 100 passing yards in his past two games: 109.0 yards per game. To be fair, he has faced difficult matchups in back-to-back weeks against the Panthers and Saints, but 109 YPG is pathetic.
Heading into Week 12, Kaepernick has a favorable matchup against the Redskins, but can he exploit it?
The Redskins have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks and held the opposition to less than 200 passing yards only once (Cowboys in Week 6) this season.
[Related Poll: Will Kaepernick throw for at least 200 yards on Monday Night?]
Saints Defense: Allowed 128 passing yards or less in past 3G
In this week's Thursday Night Football matchup, the disappointing Falcons, who have compiled a 2-8 record, will host the Saints. As nearly double-digit underdogs, the Falcons could very well lose their ninth game this year, which would equal their total number of losses in 2011 and 2012 combined.
Of course, injuries to the Falcons offense has really hurt the team this year and it could be another long day for quarterback Matt Ryan.
Ryan found some success in garbage time last week and managed to end the game with a four-week high of 14 fantasy points. Perhaps some garbage-time opportunities will help boost Ryan's stats this week, but I wouldn't bank on it.
During the four-game stretch since Julio Jones' season-ending injury, Ryan has a total of 40 fantasy points and has thrown nearly twice as many interceptions (nine) as touchdowns (five).
As noted above, the Saints limited Kaepernick on Sunday to only 127 passing yards, but they have held opposing quarterbacks to 128 passing yards or less in three consecutive games. Only the Panthers and Seahawks have allowed fewer fantasy points this season.
Even though Ryan threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns against the Saints in Week 1, there seems to be little chance that he has a repeat performance without Jones this time around.
Rivers' TD-to-INT ratio: 11:2 (1st 4G), 8:6 (next 6G)
After a strong first month of the season, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has cooled considerably with roughly one month to left to go in the season.
In the first four games of the season, Rivers scored more than 20 fantasy points in three games and threw a total of 11 touchdowns. In addition, he threw for more than 400 yards in three of his first five games.
That said, Rivers has failed to score 20 fantasy points for six consecutive games and has a more pedestrian eight-to-six TD-to-INT ratio during that span.
This week, Rivers and the Chargers will face the Chiefs, who have yet to allow more than 20 fantasy points to any quarterback this season.
In fact, they just allowed their first 300-yard passer (Denver's Peyton Manning) in Week 11, but they held Manning to only 14 fantasy points.
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Here are my Week 12 fantasy quarterback rankings:
1. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos (at NE)
2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints (at ATL)
3. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions (vs. TB)
4. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (at MIA)
5. Tom Brady, New England Patriots (vs. DEN)
6. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys (at NYG)
7. Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins (vs. SF)
8. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts (at ARI)
9. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers (at CLE)
10. Eli Manning, New York Giants (vs. DAL)
11. Case Keenum, Houston Texans (at OAK)
12. Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers (at WAS)
13. Josh McCown, Chicago Bears (at STL)
14. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers (at KC)
15. Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs (vs. SD)
16. Mike Glennon, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at DET)
17. Scott Tolzien, Green Bay Packers (vs. MIN)
18. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons (vs. NO)
19. Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals (vs. IND)
20. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tennessee Titans (at OAK)
21. Jason Campbell, Cleveland Browns (vs. PIT)
22. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens (vs. NYJ)
23. Chad Henne, Jacksonville Jaguars (at HOU)
24. Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins (vs. CAR)
25. Geno Smith, New York Jets (at BAL)
26. Matt Cassell, Minnesota Vikings (at GB)
27. Matt McGloin, Oakland Raiders (vs. TEN)
28. Kellen Clemens, St. Louis Rams (vs. CHI)
More Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings:
Week 12 Fantasy Football RB Rankings
Week 12 Fantasy Football WR Rankings
Week 12 Fantasy Football TE Rankings
Week 12 Daily Fantasy Football Salary-Cap Analysis:
FanDuel Salary-Cap Analysis
DraftKings Salary-Cap Analysis
DraftStreet Salary-Cap Analysis
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