1. Andrew Luck — Luck has been, by a pretty sizable margin, the best fantasy quarterback of 2014. He is only four touchdowns away from matching his 2013 total and career high of 23. Luck could throw four touchdowns this weekend, which would put him on pace to DOUBLE his career high in passing touchdowns. Given, he’s only been in the league for about two and a half years, but that’s unbelievable, especially since it’s not like Luck has had a lackluster career to this point. Anyway, Luck’s Colts are on the road against the 4-3 Pittsburgh Steelers this week, and it’s looking to be another passing clinic from the league’s leading passer.

Pittsburgh’s defense is on pace to break records this year, but not the good kind. Unless something changes dramatically, the Steelers will finish the year with about 23 sacks — the lowest sack total ever in a 16 game season. When Luck isn’t pressured, he’s completing 71 percent of his passes. Luck goes into Pittsburgh and lights it up, matching his 2013 touchdown total in half as many games

2. Peyton Manning — Manning is now the NFL’s all-time passing touchdown leader. We’ve been expecting and waiting for this to happen for several years now, and finally it happened. Not that anything has changed for Peyton in this past week, you know he’s going to approach his Thursday night divisional matchup against the Chargers like any other day at the office. He spent all week preparing, he’ll throw three or four touchdowns tonight, then he’ll start prepping for next week. This is the tried-and-true method to being the greatest regular season quarterback of all time. There’s no reason not to expect Peyton Manning to be the player of the game tonight, and the short week only helps his cause, because he’ll be more prepared than anyone else on the field.

3. Tony Romo — This Monday night, Romo’s Cowboys host Washington, with former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy at the helm (I still think he has the best quarterback name of all time). Dallas is rolling, and this is about as easy as a divisional home game gets. It’s a home game during primetime, and the division-best Cowboys will likely thrive in the spotlight. There is a teeny tiny bit of doubt in the back of my mind that says “JIM, THIS IS A TRAP GAME!” but that’s probably just the part of me that can’t stop comparing this year’s Cowboys to last years squad. They’ve definitely shown enough to prove they aren’t the same team as last year, but for some reason I keep thinking they are. If Dallas’ playmakers (Dez, DeMarco, and Tony) answer the bell like they’re expected to, this turns into an ugly game by halftime.

4. Phillip Rivers — Rivers and the Chargers find themselves in a position for a statement win tonight, as they face the Broncos in Denver for the division lead. Manning’s Broncos are riding high off of a big win on Sunday Night where Peyton claimed Favre’s passing touchdown record. The timing couldn’t be better for the Chargers. Brandon Oliver has some success on the ground, and Phillip Rivers caps off the best eight game stretch of his career.

5. Ryan Tannehill — Yeah you read that right. Tannehill is among this week’s top waiver wire pickups, and honestly, he should have been picked up a while ago. Since nearly getting benched, Miami’s quarterback has responded, completing 72 percent of his passes over the past three weeks. His coaches have acknowledged this boost in performance, and they believe he’s finally progressing like the Dolphins wanted him to when they drafted him two years ago. OF course it helps his cause that he’s facing the Jacksonville Jaguars this week, but Tannehill has not scored less than 14 fantasy points in a game this year, which leads me to believe he’ll at the very least score 17 points.

Honorable Mention — Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford

Check out our other weekly fantasy pieces:

Over the Middle

Down the Seam

Rock Solid (Coming Soon)

In the Backfield (Coming Soon)

Down & Distance Contributor Jim Bearor