Arguing for Tom Brady in your lineup this weekend isn't exactly bold, but you don't need to be bold when it comes to cash game lineups. And Brady likely offers the safest floor of any quarterback in Week 6.
First, to address the elephant in the room. Yes, Brady will taking a ride down Narrative Street and facing the team that initially brought up to the NFL its concern over the Patriots playing with deflated footballs in the NFC Championship game last season. While one can (and many probably do) use that as their entire reasoning for putting Brady in their cash game lineups, there are plenty of data-driven reasons to want Brady in your lineup this weekend as well.
For starters, Brady gets to tee it up against the 30th ranked pass defense in terms of numberFire's signature player or team performance metric, Net Expected Points (NEP). According to our schedule-adjusted Defensive Passing NEP metrics, the Colts have given up 53.98 points above expectation through five games. That's pitiful. And going against a quarterback who hasn't thrown an interception yet this season won't help improve those numbers.
Vegas also fully predicts this game to be a high scoring affair, with an over/under of 55, the highest expected point total of the weekend. And while the 7.5-point spread might scare folks off due to game-script concerns, Vegas still projects the Patriots to score 31 points, the equivalent of 4 touchdowns and a field goal. Brady's accounted for 65% of the team's offensive touchdowns via the pass this season, so 2 touchdown passes for Brady seems like a conservative estimate to go along with our projections of 322 passing yards.
Roster Brady for the ultimate safety he brings to the position in anchoring your cash game lineups.