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 lineup 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 take precedence. But sometimes players are very close, and in those cases I'm glad to offer opinions on how I'd approach those situations. Sometimes I like certain players more or less than Ian, and sometimes I have different risk tolerance with injuries etc.
If your question doesn't get answered, it's possible the rankings are very clear on those choices. OK, on to the games.
Seahawks at Eagles: Heard a weather forecast that this one might be windy. It's a couple of days out, so we'll see, but something to monitor Sunday morning perhaps. Some banged-up receivers here but apparently Tyler Lockett and Alshon Jeffery are good to go. Jordan Howard unlikely but best to steer clear of remaining committee. I like both quarterbacks.
Lions at Washington: If Bo Scarbrough doesn't work out the people I told to start him over Jonathan Williams will be displeased. Well, hopefully it does. I like the matchup for the Lions offense and Scarbrough should be the main runner. Am using Marvin Jones, too, and would use Golladay. Terry McLaurin with fingers crossed that Dwayne Haskins either shows competence or gets yanked early. Not a big Derrius Guice fan but clearly the kid can play and is a viable option.
Raiders at Jets: Both teams better defending the run than the pass. I'm stuck leaving Jamison Crowder on my bench due to a last-minute decision to play T.Y. Hilton, unfortunate. But feature running backs, quarterbacks and top receivers look fine.
Panthers at Saints: Fun matchup of elite running backs. Otherwise I'm not too keen on the Panthers offense, just DJ Moore and maybe Greg Olsen, with tight end kind of a wasteland. Saints seem to have a few elite options and then a bunch of unusable guys not doing anything. Saints possibly not having Marshon Lattimore a plus for Moore. Some discussion at a party last night of where Cam Newton might end up. We didn't really come up with an answer, but the guy would/will have a brisk market if the Panthers move on, which seems to be a given, inexplicably.
Dolphins at Browns: Jarvis Landry revenge game! Browns offense should put up some of its better numbers of the season. Those guys are all ranked pretty high. Miami has DeVante Parker and that's about it, though I need to use Mike Gesicki somewhere, bye issues. Browns defense shorthanded, you've probably heard, making them a less appealing streamer.
Steelers at Bengals: I've been doing the James Conner dance with a lot of other Index readers. He's out, so I don't need to burn a lineup spot on him. I am using Jaylen Samuels, but it's going to be a committee. Got offered JuJu Smith-Schuster for Deebo Samuel and a 2nd in dynasty. I turned it down. Was that wrong? Do we all think Smith-Schuster bounces back with Roethlisberger next year, or is there truth to the idea that his big numbers were a result of having Antonio Brown across from him? As for this game, Bengals a disaster on offense and defense. Steelers won't have JuJu, so Diontae Johnson and James Washington your main guys. Run-heavy game plan though.
Giants at Bears: So, Sterling Shepard is playing. Sorry that I cut him in a league and can't get him back. And Darius Slayton now less appealing. Big game in his last one so I probably have to use him, but that was a better matchup; Bears are tough on the pass. We're fond of David Montgomery and Allen Robinson against the Giants' barely there defense. Tarik Cohen OK but game flow will probably favor the runner, that's the reasoning. Giants and Bears both down to their No. 3 or 4 tight ends, guys no one should be using.
Broncos at Bills: Not using Josh Allen for a change (gotta use Matt Ryan versus Tampa Bay). Seems like a lower-scoring game. Denver running backs, especially Phillip Lindsay, should be busy. Courtland Sutton is great, Noah Fant should catch some balls, John Brown playing too well for most to sit down. Devin Singletary has the negative of his quarterback stealing all the rushing scores. Possibly a lower-scoring type game.
Bucs at Falcons: Gotta invest in the Falcons passing game, and yes I'm doubling down on Brian Hill, not for his work as a runner but in the passing game in this matchup. But I don't blame those who are wary. Atlanta's defense has been lights out the last two weeks, making me less inclined to invest in Ronald Jones than I would have been earlier. Evans and Godwin, can't sit them down. No interest in the tight ends, though.
Jaguars at Titans: Wouldn't have expected to be using Nick Foles at this point, but those Week 12 byes for four viable fantasy quarterbacks (if we're counting Philip Rivers ugh) make strange bedfellows. DJ Chark too. I may be forced to use Dede Westbrook, pending how confident I feel Sunday about San Francisco's banged-up receiving corps. Gotta use Derrick Henry and like Fournette too. Cut Jonnu Smith a week too early in an FFPC league, unfortunate; Delanie Walker still hurt.
Cowboys at Patriots: This to me is a fascinating game. Both offenses have beat up on some lousy defenses. Faced with a solid opposing defense, what's going to happen? Tough matchup but I think you need to use the key Dallas starters. New England has some receiver injuries, and I guess Tom Brady, though not much doubt at this point that he's playing. Phillip Dorsett unlikely and Mohamed Sanu iffy, so they may have to use Jakobi Meyers and/or N'Keal Harry, though if you ask me about starting either I'll say no. Seems to benefit the pass-catching running backs, James White and Rex Burkhead.
Packers at 49ers: The other great Sunday game, and a lot of tough injury questions for San Francisco. If I let it go until late and Deebo Samuel winds up inactive, I'd need to use Hayden Hurst in a flex spot. If I start somebody else earlier, I risk missing out on Samuel, who's gone over 100 yards in back to back games. That's not even counting the George Kittle versus Ross Dwelley situation. My advice is going to be if you're hoping to use one of these guys make sure you have a healthy alternative either in this game or the Monday contest, hopefully better than Hayden Hurst. I'm not scared to use Rodgers, Aaron Jones or Davante Adams. Or Tevin Coleman, though he flopped a week ago. Expecting a Green Bay win, in part because they're more proven.
Ravens at Rams: Would be nice to see the Rams surprise us all and make a game of it. But who can have any confidence in Jared Goff playing well? Not me. It's a drag on Cooper Kupp. Will be interesting to see if Aaron Donald and the Rams defense are able to keep Lamar Jackson in the pocket. Stranger things have happened. Out of respect for the Rams D I'm not going crazy recommending Baltimore players. Just Jackson, Andrews and Ingram. And if I have to use Hurst, hopefully he'll turn his 1-2 catches into a touchdown.
Enjoy the games, and good luck.