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 I don't get to your question, either I missed it (it happens) or the rankings are very clear. (If one guy is ranked a dozen spots above somebody else, I'm going to respect that more often than not; we put a lot of time into those things.) OK, on to the games!
Saints at Falcons: We're not sure how the Saints offense is going to fare this year, but they have plenty of solid options in this matchup. With Atlanta, it looks like Drake London is going to play, but Kyle Pitts is the only Falcon I'd reasonably start this week; maybe Cordarrelle in some leagues. Tough defense Marcus Mariota and company will face.
Browns at Panthers: Not expecting big passing numbers in this game. DJ Moore sure, Amari Cooper maybe, and you've got the revenge game angle with Baker Mayfield. But unless you're in a Superflex league you can't seriously be considering Mayfield. Christian McCaffrey, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt should lead the way for these offense, and I have some interest in both defenses.
49ers at Bears: Couple of second-year quarterbacks squaring off, and both should be looking to run at times, especially with there supposed to be a lot of rain on Sunday. No George Kittle, leaving San Francisco with just 2 viable receivers, just like the Bears (Mooney and Kmet). Elijah Mitchell and David Montgomery should be busy as the main running backs. Defenses have some appeal, especially San Francisco's very talented one. There are worse Survivor pool picks than San Francisco, with the Bears (to me) looking like they're tanking this season hard.
Steelers at Bengals: The Bengals also carry some interest for me in Survivor pools, with the Steelers on the road, starting a new quarterback, and having some holes here and there. But it's a divisional game and Pittsburgh also has some offensive talent, so I'm not married to the idea. But Cincinnati won both games fairly convincingly a year ago. Diontae Johnson is playing, but I can understand sitting him if you have a similar option, with him dealing with a painful shoulder injury. A little wary of the Bengals passing game, but if you drafted Burrow/Chase/Higgins they're probably starting for you. I hope you understand that I don't usually talk about obvious starts like Mixon and Najee.
Eagles at Lions: Eagles won this matchup 44-6 a year ago. That won't happen again, but I do think the Eagles are really good and the Lions more suspect across the board. I'd start obvious Lions (Swift, Hockenson, Amon-Ra), that's it. Is Jalen Hurts good enough for the Eagles to make a deep playoff run? I guess that's the main question. Should be good enough here. If you're ever going to use Miles Sanders, this is a decent matchup, but I'd rather see how the team uses its backs (plus I didn't draft Sanders anywhere so it's a moot point). We have A.J. Brown as the top receiving option, some like DeVonta more than us. I have Goedert everywhere.
Colts at Texans: Dameon Pierce gets his shot to reward our faith in him. I don't actually have him anywhere unfortunately, but he'll be featured. I don't think the Texans will be much good but I think they're more likely headed in the right direction now than a year ago, and don't like the Colts as a 9-point road favorite. Taylor obviously and Pittman are the Colts I'd use. Nyheim Hines should have a decent role, though I'll make the point that I'd like him a little more in games where it seems like the Colts won't be playing with a lead.
Patriots at Dolphins: Everyone's interested to see how the Dolphins offense will look lots of new faces. Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Chase Edmonds are the key start. For the Patriots, the suspense of whether Damien Harris or Rhamondre Stevenson is going to be the main back is what the fantasy world is waiting on. There will be consternation, anger and victory laps after this one, I'm sure. I will be sitting out the Patriots receiving corps until we see who the favored receivers are.
Ravens at Jets: High comedy around the Jets (and the season hasn't even started) with people all offended that the Jets made it sound like Zach Wilson might play in Week 1, then said, uh no, he won, 't play before Week 4. Wow, an NFL team obscuring the truth about a player injury, what a shocker. Bill Belichick does it all the time and he's a genius, the Jets do it and they're a clown show. Whatever. I'm also interested in the fact that many believe Kenyan Drake will be the main back over Mike Davis. I/we disagree, and I'm starting Davis this week. Starting a lot of Ravens, actually, while staying well away from the Jets offense.
Jaguars at Commanders: Maybe I'll be wrong, but I wouldn't go near James Robinson. If someone is giving away Travis Etienne this week, I'll take him. Jacksonville's defense looks improved, but I'd go ahead and use Antonio Gibson and Terry McLaurin. For Jacksonville, Etienne and Christian Kirk are about it.
Giants at Titans: Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry are healthy this week; if you drafted them, they're starting obviously. Tennessee's defense looks like it won't be as good as last year, the Giants might also have some holes (where they'll be replacing Blake Martinez with a youngster, seems like a plus for Henry). I want no part of figuring out who the best receivers will be on this teams, at least not in Week 1.
Kansas City at Cardinals: Feels like a higher-scoring game. Both quarterbacks should be doing their thing, and James Conner looks great and (I think) Clyde Edwards-Helaire should be the lead KC back. The receiving corps is iffier. I wanted to go with JuJu as the No. 1, but from what I saw in August, Valdes-Scantling looks more likely. Arizona will be Marquise Brown and it seems like A.J. Green, at least initially. Zach Ertz, if he's definitely active.
Raiders at Chargers: These teams played a classic in January, this should also be higher-scoring. I'm counting on Josh Jacobs being featured, which most drafts I was in all of August didn't agree with. We'll see. Start your Chargers, definitely, and key Raiders. I can't argue with Ian's history this week of Derek Carr against Los Angeles, but if I drafted him as a starter I'd be using him, hoping the Davante Adams boost is enough. It might be.
Packers at Vikings: No Allen Lazard, leaving us to guess which Packers wideout will be best. Most seem to be going with Sammy Watkins (including us). Long-term we'll see, but if you've been left in the lurch by Lazard, Watkins is the guy. Minnesota is kind of a fun team in that you know who should be good and who can be safely ignored. I suppose I'd roll the dice on Irv Smith if I had to, but it'd be better to just kind of keep him on the bench until we see him do it.
Buccaneers at Cowboys: Some injury question marks with this one. I wouldn't use Chris Godwin even if he's active and don't really expect him to play. Russell Gage and Julio Jones are more likely to be the 2-3 or 3-2, and you kind of know you're taking a risk if you count on either one. Similarly with Dallas, we know that Lamb and Schultz will be the top 2 options, it's guesswork after that. Would be interesting to see Dallas' opportunistic secondary made Tom Brady look old, but betting against Brady hasn't been too profitable over the years.
Broncos at Seahawks: In recent years there have been two Monday night games, just one this year. I wonder why. Anyway, I'm a believer in revenge games, and the idea that players facing their former teams, who things ended badly with, will get up for those contests. So I'm starting Russell Wilson in a couple of spots, and also like the Denver defense more than many. Seattle should use plenty of Rashaad Penny, and maybe there's some production for DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, but investing too heavily in Geno Smith feels bad. I'm torn on whether Courtland Sutton or Jerry Jeudy will be best, starting Javonte Williams where I have him.
Enjoy the games.
--Andy Richardson