There is no one right answer for starting or not starting players returning from or dealing with injury. If you started, say, Kyler Murray yesterday, you got huge numbers even with him not doing much through the air. If you started hurt/sick guys who were active, like Darrell Henderson or Boston Scott, you got burned. Hopefully you erred on the side of caution with most -- worked better, overall, than the alternative.
Giants at Dolphins: Difficult to take the Dolphins seriously, but their defense is playing well these days. No not this game specifically, Mike Glennon and a skeleton crew of receivers, big deal, but during their current winning streak. Evan Engram the leading Giants receiver which wasn't a total surprise given what was healthy. Pharoh Cooper caught 2 passes for New York and I won't lie I wasn't even aware he was on the team, presumably added from the practice squad for this one. Nice game for Jaylen Waddle, serviceable for Mike Gesicki, disappointing for Myles Gaskin, who today they decided not to throw to. Some readers may recall my confusing Mack Hollins for Gesicki while cheering a long touchdown a couple of weeks back. In this one Hollins scored again, and the TV crew actually put a big "TOUCHDOWN MIKE GESICKI" on the screen. Good work guys.
Colts at Texans: Do we need to talk much about this game? Jonathan Taylor was great, as expected. Michael Pittman, the only passing game component worth starting, was pretty good. The Texans were the Texans. Houston used a three-back committee even with David Johnson inactive, giving a couple of carries to former Steeler Jaylen Samuels. Presumably activated from the practice squad just before the game. Depth chart work is difficult these days.
Vikings at Lions: Earlier in the season, the Vikings put together a final-minute, last-gasp miracle drive that ended with a long field goal to steal victory from Detroit. Turnabout was fair play, as the Lions led throughout, blew it (natch), but then drove the field for a final-play touchdown to win it. My sympathies to Vikings fans, but it was pretty cool to see, I didn't really want the Lions to go winless. Adam Thielen injured an ankle in this game, helping Justin Jefferson go off. Tyler Conklin also had a good game, missing out on a touchdown grab by the pinky toe on his second foot. Slow start but strong game ultimately for Alexander Mattison. Good games for most key players who stayed healthy, including Cousins, Goff, Hockenson. And preseason Index favorite Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was having a nice game even before the winning touchdown grab.
Eagles at Jets: So Gardner Minshew steps in and has a nice game, and pretty cool to see his post game celebration with his Dad, go look for it on Twitter if you haven't seen it. Lots of quarterbacks are going to have nice games against the Jets, of course. As did Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell, and especially Dallas Goedert. DeVonta Smith left out of the fun, to the dismay of the people I recommended him too. Unfortunate. For the Jets, Elijah Moore was the only guy any fantasy team should have been starting, and he had a good game, so I'll call that a win.
Cardinals at Bears: Rain and wind were factors. Forecast didn't look great but wasn't horrific, but it was bad enough. Or Andy Dalton just can't play anymore, certainly conditions weren't at fault for all 4 of his interceptions. Kyler Murray returned with a huge game running it, which was fairly unexpected, but clearly the ankle isn't bothering him these days. Didn't pass much, didn't have to, still had a great game, as did James Conner. The receiving corps not so much, although at least DeAndre caught an early touchdown (pretty impressive grab) if you took on that risk. Really nice game for David Montgomery, and that's about it. Jimmy Graham now the late-career Stephen Davis of tight ends, vulturing touchdowns from Cole Kmet/DeShaun Foster.
Chargers at Bengals: Chargers came to play in this one, and Justin Herbert, the passing game, and the maligned defense got the job done. Keenan Allen scored twice, Mike Williams went over 100 yards, and the Bengals couldn't keep up. Nice numbers for most Bengals starters, at least. Fine line between winning and losing, and both these teams seem to live on both sides of that line, falling one way or the other depending on the week.
Bucs at Falcons: Russell Gage came to play, with a big game for Atlanta. Mike Davis got to score, and Cordarrelle Patterson had good yardage numbers (without scoring). But the Falcons got rolled by Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Godwin, Evans and Fournette. Good and great offenses destroy the Falcons. Mediocre offenses disappoint. That's kind of been how the season has gone. Bucs are rolling along, should be interesting to see if the Bills can slow them down next week. Not betting on it.
Jaguars at Rams: I was watching this one needing a big game from Cooper Kupp, and here it was deep into the second quarter and he hadn't caught a pass. From that point forward he blew up, Matthew Stafford had a nice game (nearly being knocked out early on on a big hit, but he was OK), Sony Michel too, Beckham and Jefferson also caught touchdowns. Darrell Henderson active but didn't play, there was plenty of warning that might happen Sunday morning. With the Jaguars, I don't really understand what they're trying to do on offense. I'm not sure anyone associated the team knows what their goal is on any given play. There was a 3rd and 2 (looked more like 3) where they ran the ball up the middle into a wall. Maybe that works in college when you're more talented than the other team, it's not gonna work against Aaron Donald and company. James Robinson benched after an early fumble, enabling Carlos Hyde to score. Benching one of your only good players, good job. Nice game for Matt Gay.
Football Team at Raiders: So the Washington defense is playing better these days. The Raiders offense, in contrast, seems to be a week to week proposition, sometimes coming out looking great, sometimes not. I picked up and started Foster Moreau, much to my dismay, though I will note he was inches from catching a touchdown, it was a great defensive play that broke it up. So Moreau was close to getting you 13-14 points. I know, close doesn't count. Great game for Antonio Gibson. Impressive leaping touchdown for Logan Thomas; unfortunately he also tore his ACL in this game, reportedly, and is done for the year. Washington maybe got away with a pass interference that could have decided the game in the final seconds. Not gonna say whether it should or shouldn't have been called, just that probably 6 times out of 10, at a minimum, it's called.
Ravens at Steelers: Exciting game. Presumably people have seen the highlights. Impressive game from Ben Roethlisberger, who was probably a little better than his stats (Diontae Johnson actually dropped a beautifully thrown ball early in the end zone, before going on to catch everything after that). Drove Pittsburgh downfield multiple times at the end to build a 7-point lead. Baltimore responded by driving for a touchdown to pull within 1, and going for 2 (which to me isn't controversial, are your odds of winning in overtime better?). The play was there, but either the throw was a little wide or Mark Andrews didn't do enough to catch it as it glanced off his hands...both opinions valid. Should have been caught. Should have been thrown a little better. Big win for Pittsburgh, AFC is pretty cluttered right now.
49ers at Seahawks: Scary opening kickoff where Trenton Cannon had to be taken off the field in an ambulance. Kind of cast a gloom over things, but Seattle three plays later tried a fake punt, scoring a touchdown on it, which is why Travis Homer shows up with 80 rushing yards (73 on that play). Cannon suffered a concussion but is apparently OK otherwise, for those wondering. That started a back-and-forth affair where the absence of Deebo Samuel led to huge numbers for George Kittle and to a lesser extent Elijah Mitchell (in a surprise, no other running back touched the ball on offense). Seattle offense surprisingly solid and Adrian Peterson even scored (while averaging 1.5 per attempt). Good of Seattle to show up, I'm not sure it's the start of a late run (but probably a killer loss for San Francisco).
Broncos at Kansas City: I think this game was probably the de facto end of both the Teddy Bridgewater and perhaps Vic Fangio (certainly Pat Shurmur) era in Denver. Broncos defense played well and Javonte Williams had a breakout performance, busting good runs and dragging tacklers on nearly every carry. But Bridgewater was typically brutal and the playcalling was horrific. Bizarre sequence before halftime where with 4 seconds left at his own end of the field, Bridgewater threw an out toward Williams with no upside potential that was nearly returned for a Pick Six. They then ran another play where a sack fumble was certainly possible, but instead it ended up being a 34-yard reception by Williams as the half expired. Thanks for the 4.4 fantasy points, glad you didn't put yourselves down 17-3. Bridgewater proceeded to throw couple of back-breaking second-half interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown when Bridgewater at least attempted to make a tackle, but didn't. The sad part for those with Kansas City players is their offense didn't do much of anything, because it didn't have to. Nice game for Harrison Butker, at least. And I'll mention Javonte again, because he was pretty awesome, too bad he's been limited by Melvin Gordon and this coaching staff all season.
Monday, Monday: Can't speak for anyone else, but most of my matchups are done, with lots of Bills and Patriots on benches. This is unlikely to be a shootout, weather might be factor, the defenses are two of the league's best. Buffalo favored, yet I don't know anyone (except for David Kennedy, hey David) who thinks they're going to win. I think they might, but unlikely to be a big offensive performance. Should be more running than passing, and the Bills haven't proved they can win by doing that. Patriots 23, Bills 20.