Go here for this week's Rushing Matchups.

Top 5 Passing Matchups

Seattle at Chicago

Despite the losing effort in Week 16 to Minnesota, Geno Smith was great, throwing for 314 yards and three touchdowns while completing 71% of his passes. While Smith did throw two interceptions, one was at the end of the game as the team was trying to amass a comeback. Jaxon Smith-Njigba continues to show why he is the number one receiver in Seattle, as he has at least 70 receiving yards in seven straight games while scoring five touchdowns in those seven games. Meanwhile, DK Metcalf has continued to struggle. After three 100-yard performances in his first four games of the season, Metcalf does not have a 75-yard game in his last six games. He's just not seeing enough consistent volume, as he has four or fewer receptions in each of his last five games. On a short week, Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet are dealing with injuries, and if they were to both miss, this could force the Seahawks into a pass-heavy approach in this favorable matchup.

Chicago's defense has not been the same since the Jayden Daniels Hail Mary back in Week 8. Since they fired head coach and defensive play-caller Matt Eberflus, the defense has fallen to a different level as they're allowing opposing teams to score 34 points per game in their three games without Eberflus. Since Eberflus was fired, Chicago has allowed 297 passing yards per game, as two of the three quarterbacks they faced topped 300 yards against them, with both Jared Goff and Brock Purdy topping the milestone. Tyrique Stevenson has been a liability in coverage in his second season in the NFL, while the pass rush is not helping matters. The Bears brought in Montez Sweat last season and signed him to a massive extension, but the pass-rusher has just 4.5 sacks on the season. As a team, the Bears have just four total sacks over their last three games, as they just seem to be a defense that is lacking an identity with a struggling secondary and bad pass rush.

San Francisco vs Detroit

Brock Purdy has been extremely volatile over the last six weeks, as the team just lacks consistent playmakers. The issue largely has been that when he has time to throw against struggling pass defenses, he's been able to take advantage of the matchup, as he's now thrown for over 300 yards in three of his last six games against Miami, Tampa Bay, and Chicago. However, when facing average or better pass defenses, the passing attack has been neutralized as he failed to top 200 yards in his other three games. The good news for San Francisco is that we finally saw Deebo Samuel Sr. have a rebound game, as he had seven receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown while adding 25 yards rushing for a total of 121 yards. Samuel had just 101 total yards in his combined five previous games, so to have that big of an outbreak should help the 49ers offense finish the year strong. The big question will be how motivated this team is to finish the season now that they've officially been eliminated from playoff contention. With Trent Williams out for the season, the team also suffered critical injuries along the offensive line last week. The 49ers lost backup left tackle Jaylon Moore for the season with a quad injury last week and right guard Aaron Banks with a knee injury. To make matters worse, Spencer Buford, a third-string left tackle, is questionable after having an MRI on his calf. If Buford is unable to go, this could cause issues for the 49ers, even though they're facing an equally injured Lions secondary.

Detroit's pass defense is struggling due to all of the injuries, as well as just inexperience. With cornerback Carlton Davis out for the next five weeks with a fractured jaw, a lot of pressure is being put on rookie Terrion Arnold, who has hit a rookie wall and is struggling. This has forced the Lions to give more help to Arnold with Kirby Joseph, who is amongst the league's best safeties but has also exposed the other pieces of their defense. Brian Branch has struggled in coverage over the last several weeks and was a big reason Keenan Allen had 141 yards and a touchdown in Week 16. The Lions have now allowed back-to-back 300-yard performances, as Josh Allen and Caleb Williams both had 330 yards or more. This was one of the strongest units in the NFL, and it simply fell apart due to the number of injuries it suffered. With losing Aidan Hutchinson, the Lions have struggled to get a consistent pass rush as they have just three sacks over their last three games, which has put even more pressure on the secondary.

Green Bay at Minnesota

Jordan Love has not been asked to do much in recent weeks, as the Packers have relied upon their rushing attack to carry them to victory in five of their last six games. Over the last six weeks, Love has averaged 219 passing yards per game. Love has just one 300-yard game on the season, which he accomplished back in Week 2 against this Minnesota Vikings defense. The Packers' passing outlook may be a little more difficult this week as they may be without Christian Watson, who suffered a knee injury on Monday. The team did get some good news that it is a knee bruise, and there's a chance that he could play this Sunday. If he's unable to go, expect the Packers to consolidate the volume between Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, and tight end Tucker Kraft. It remains an unpredictable and crowded receiving room, considering the lack of upside we've seen from Love. If Watson is unable to go, expect to see some more workload from Doubs and potentially Bo Melton, who saw 32% of snaps with Watson out on Monday.

Minnesota's secondary continues to be the weak link in this defense. It is a perfect combination of a very good run defense, a high-powered offense, and an exploitable secondary. Last week, the Vikings were torched by the Seahawks passing attack, as Geno Smith threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns, but they were able to come up with the key interception on the final drive to secure the victory. There have now been five quarterbacks who have topped 300 yards against Minnesota this season, as they've allowed 269 passing yards per game to opposing quarterbacks, which is third in the NFL this year. The Vikings did receive good news that Harrison Smith should return this week after missing Week 16 with a foot injury. While Smith is far past his prime as he approaches 36, he's still an important leader on this defense. The Vikings defense is pressure-based, as they run a unique style of defense under Brian Flores to get the ball out quickly. While edge rushers Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard have been great this season as they both have 11 sacks each, if they don't get to the quarterback, there are issues as neither Stefon Gilmore nor Shaq Griffin are good enough to sustain one-on-one coverage throughout the play.

Carolina at Tampa Bay

Bryce Young has given Carolina fans hope that Young is a player that they can be competitive with and build around. The coaching staff has completely changed the offense after his benching. They're no longer asking him to fit their system of being a pocket passer but instead leveraging his mobility to create time and utilize throws outside the pocket to put pressure on opposing defenses. Despite the future optimism, from a pure passing perspective, expectations for this offense should remain somewhat low unless there is an extremely favorable matchup. The Panthers have one of the weakest receiving rooms in the NFL, as Adam Thielen continues to be their top receiver. The Panthers lost Xavier Legette in Week 15 to injury, and Dave Canales came out and said that it is unlikely that Legette would be able to play on Sunday, which once again will force the Panthers to utilize David Moore, and undrafted rookie Jalen Coker this week as secondary options for Young.  

Tampa Bay is another funnel defense that teams are just throwing against, as that is the weak link of this defense combined with an elite run-stopping unit. In their first meeting, Bryce Young threw for a season-high 298 yards in an overtime loss. Tampa Bay has allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks and the fourth-most yardage on the year. The issue for the Buccaneers continues to be at safety. This team depended on Antoine Winfield Jr. to build off of his All-Pro 2023 campaign, but Winfield has dealt with injuries and poor play to become a liability in coverage this season. On the other side, the Buccaneers lost Jordan Whitehead to IR in Week 12 and have been trying to fill in for Whitehead with Kaevon Merriweather and Christian Izien, who have struggled in coverage.