Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own brief take on what I think will happen, as well as touching on significant injury news since our Weekly came out. I'll check in every so often over the course of the day to answer questions, too.
What follows is a brief look at all the games with how I'd react in my own lineups to injury developments or other news. The official rankings are the ones in the Weekly. Those are the ones that subscribers are paying for. Sometimes players are very close in the rankings, and if I get questions like that, I'll offer opinions. Sometimes I like certain players more or less than Ian, and sometimes I have different risk tolerance with injuries/weather issues, etc.
Cowboys at Falcons: The Falcons won't have Deion Jones back for this one and otherwise their defense isn't good. Dallas won't have Sean Lee or a couple of defensive linemen, hurting their defense, too, helping Tevin Coleman. I think Atlanta at home you start their usual players, and Amari Cooper seems viable for Dallas (along with Elliott, natch).
Bengals at Ravens: So Joe Flacco won't play, and there's certainly a chance that Lamar Jackson puts up a Michael Vick type of game, running for 80 yards and 2 TDs. But I'm going with boring old Philip Rivers in the league I have Jackson in; I'd like to see Jackson first, and confirm that it's not a Robert Griffin-Lamar Jackson tandem situation, which is possible. I'm currently staying away from Ravens receivers where possible, despite the great matchup; I want to see how things are going to play out. If you're more bold than me in such situations, go for it. No A.J. Green.
Panthers at Lions:Marvin Jones has been ruled out and I can't trust TreQuan Smith anymore, so I spent the ridiculous amount of $107 to buy TJ Jones and have a potentially viable receiver. I don't entirely trust him, but Panthers give up production through the air and there's more of a track record than with Powell or Ellington or whoever else the Lions shove out there next to Kenny Golladay. Great matchup for the Panthers and I'm starting all their key guys.
Titans at Colts:If you're like me and believe one of these two teams is going to the playoffs, this is a huge game. I know the Titans just knocked off the Patriots, but this game's in Indianapolis and I think they're going to win. Should be a good one, though. Colts have been soft against the pass and it's one of the few weeks I'll use Corey Davis. For the Colts their tight ends and Hilton seems the most usable. Marlon Mack looks like an OK but not great option.
Bucs at Giants:The key fact to note here is that the Bucs have been a little better on defense since replacing their coordinator -- not as godawful against the pass, worse against the run. So while I'm using Sterling Shepard (as I always do) and Evan Engram, Tampa Bay isn't giving up 350 passing yards per game. Doesn't mean they won't, but it's a different kind of defense. Saquon Barkley should be very good. For the Bucs I'm using Peyton Barber, it's a rough bye week, but not happily. I will not be recommending Ryan Fitzpatrick over safer, less Fitzpatrick-y options this week.
Texans at Washington:Hard to like anything connected with Washington's offense right now. Jordan Reed and Adrian Peterson if you have to. For Houston, Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins, I suppose Demaryius Thomas. Probably a lower-scoring, more conservative game for these two division leaders.
Steelers at Jaguars:Can anyone slow down the Steelers? Jaguars get corner A.J. Bouye back, which will help. Hard to be enthusiastic about Jacksonville's offense against anyone, but a better matchup for the passing game, such as it is, and not a great one for Leonard Fournette (but if you've waited on him this long...). For the Steelers, they should have more success running it with LeVeon, I mean James Conner, but I don't think anyone is sitting down the wideouts, I'm not anyway. But you can think about avoiding Ben Roethlisberger, on the road with a tough matchup for the passing game.
Raiders at Cardinals:Two bad offenses. Scary how high Doug Martin appears in the rankings, but it's fair, he should get plenty of carries. David Johnson looks great, making up for lost time. If you want to use a Raiders receiver, I can't help you. Larry Fitzgerald-Christian Kirk-Ricky Seals-Jones viable against a bad defense, but investing heavily in Josh Rosen when the Cardinals should emphasize the run carries some risk. Had I not been bounced from my Survivor Pool (Eagles loss to Dallas, sigh) I'd have probably picked the Cardinals, because I think the Raiders are going to lose out.
Broncos at Chargers:Chargers should have plenty of good options against a banged-up Broncos team. And Denver's own line injuries should hurt their offense. I'd probably use Phillip Lindsay and Emmanuel Sanders and consider Jeff Heuerman given the state of tight ends these days, but I like the Chargers offense (and defense) a lot better. Antonio Gates is a gametime decision, not that anyone has been starting Gates since 2016.
Eagles at Saints:Had I not already been burned multiple times by TreQuan Smith, I'd consider him in this favorable matchup against a defense whose secondary has really been gutted by injuries. Saints should put up big numbers via the pass. Eagles should too, so it's a week to use Jeffery and maybe Agholor or Tate, but the question is which one? Too much uncertainty for me to get too excited about either. Steering clear of Eagles running backs, sorry. Big game, but Eagles might not be able to overcome last week's costly home loss (although the NFC East still looks wide open).
Vikings at Bears:Sometimes when two great defenses get together you end up with a slightly higher scoring game than expected, but I don't get the sense that this will be one of those games. I have no interest in the conventional ground games (Howard or Murray) but do like Cohen and Cook. Passing games should do more than running games, but both pass rushes are good, so some value in the easy targets -- the tight ends, the short passing games. It's not the most thrilling matchup if you love offense, but a pretty big NFC North game.
Kansas City at Rams: I guess I don't have a good sense of groundskeeping challenges. The league determined on Monday that the field in Mexico wasn't suitable to play a football game. That's not enough time to fix it? Whatever. The big injury question in this one is Sammy Watkins. Over-under of 63 is the highest I've ever seen so you'd like to use him if possible. And we know from past experience his fill-ins don't tend to do anything, so it's not like you can easily switch to Chris Conley or anything. Let's see if he practices today. Those with key Kansas City starters should be rooting for them to lose a high-scoring affair, minimizing the possibility of them being able to rest players in Week 16. Bad enough these teams have a bye in Week 12, first week of the playoffs in the FFPC leagues. Thanks, NFL.
Enjoy the games.