Now that we’re a quarter of the way through the fantasy football season, we’re starting to see some trends begin to form. One of those trends is the emergence of underperformers on a regular basis.
As we head into Week 5, one player who was expected to be a solid starter has been anything but that through four weeks. In fact, he’s been a major letdown in every game he’s played in.
We’re talking of none other than the quarterback of the New England Patriots, Tom Brady. We warned you last week that Brady could be a potential dud in Week 4, and he sure didn’t disappoint.
Today we’ll break down Brady’s struggles and attempt to highlight a few potential duds for the upcoming week.
Dud of the Week, Week 4
Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots
The stats from Brady last week are difficult to even think about. Fourteen receptions, 159 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions is a far ways from what many expect Brady to do on a weekly basis.
However, the first four games of the 2014 season have shown us that Brady might not be the same Brady of years past. His PFF quarterback rating is sitting at 73.38, the worst in the league heading into Week 5. Unfortunately, that isn’t the most telling stat of Brady’s struggles.
No, that honor goes to his 6.3 percent accuracy percentage on passes thrown over 20 yards. In 16 attempts down the field, Brady has only completed one pass.
Some of the issues that Brady has are due to the deterioration of his skills. However, most of it is due to the personnel currently in New England. The Patriots currently have the worst graded offensive line in terms of pass protection. Their highest graded receiver, Julian Edelman, is currently the No. 60 receiver in the league according to PFF’s grade.
Simply put, Brady, and this Patriots team as a whole, is nowhere near as talented as it’s been in past. As bad as he was in Week 4, it’s definitely possible we’ve only seen the beginning of his struggles.
Potential Week 5 Duds
Jay Cutler, QB, Chicago Bears
It took four weeks before we really got to see Jay Cutler be Jay Cutler. Well, four and a half weeks would be more like it.
Up until the start of the second half of Week 4, Cutler had been mostly solid for the Bears. Then came one interception which was quickly followed by another and you could almost see Cutler transforming into the 2010 version of himself.
With a tough matchup against the Carolina Panthers in Week 5, look for Cutler to crumble under the pressure Carolina creates.
Nick Foles, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
Foles had a down game last week, but it’d be easy to write that off due to his matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Just because it’d be easy, however, doesn’t mean you should do it.
What the 49ers showed the rest of the NFL was the exact way to stop Foles and the high-powered Eagles offense. Foles failed to reach 200 passing yards for the first time this season in Week 4 and also failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time. His two interceptions were the most he’s had in a single game since Week 11 of the 2012 season.
The Eagles play the St. Louis Rams in Week 5, and on paper this seems like a potential bounce-back game for Foles. However, don’t be surprised if the Rams, who are defensively set up similarly to the 49ers, are able to keep Foles from having a big game in terms of fantasy football.
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