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!
Broncos vs. Jaguars across the pond: Once again the Broncos are playing at a time when there are no other games. Fortunately it's early enough (9:30 a.m. Eastern start, make sure to get your Broncos out of lineups) that most will either sleep through it or forget it's on. Travis Etienne is probably the only certain start in this one, with the Broncos having a great pass defense that should be able to make things tough on Christian Kirk. Courtland Sutton and I suppose Jerry Jeudy are viable but not great in an offense that disappoints on a weekly basis.
Panthers at Falcons: Atlanta better against the run than the pass, but I'd probably try D'Onta Foreman anyway (Chuba Hubbard out). DJ Moore also viable, in this matchup. For Atlanta, Drake London and Kyle Pitts just barely sneak into the discussion on a team that doesn't pass the ball.
Bears at Cowboys: Ezekiel Elliott is doubtful, so Tony Pollard will not only start but almost certainly be featured against a run defense that's struggled. He's the compelling choice here, along with the Dallas defense. CeeDee Lamb too. Bears will use a committee backfield and can't be counted on to finish with great numbers. Probably a lower-scoring game (this is a better Dallas defense than the New England one the Bears surprisingly fared well against).
Dolphins at Lions: D'Andre Swift returns, and I'm just chucking him into my lineup (over Najee Harris, no less). Amon-Ra St. Brown should clear the concussion protocol, since the Lions say he didn't actually have a concussion, but teams will be forced to check the inactives just to be certain. Miami main wideouts, Tua, and Raheem Mostert all options against a lousy Lions defense. Hockenson and Josh Reynolds, too.
Cardinals at Vikings: The Cardinals won't have James Conner, again, so Eno Benjamin has at least another week of value. Vikings are healthy and offense should be pretty good. Cousins, Cook, Jefferson.
Raiders at Saints: New Orleans starts Andy Dalton at quarterback and doesn't have Thomas or Landry, as per usual. Chris Olave should be great and I think I actually have to start Marquez Callaway in a league, though I don't feel good about it. Josh Jacobs, Davante Adams (playing through illness, whatever) and Derek Carr viable, I'm nervous about Darren Waller, wouldn't use him.
Patriots at Jets: After New England got smoked by the Bears Monday night, clearly nothing can be taken for granted with the Patriots. It seems like they've moved to Rhamondre Stevenson as their main running back, and apparently Mac Jones starts at quarterback, but there's a little bit of risk. And the Jets defense and offense have both exceeded expectations. Michael Carter should be the main runner this week (I'm not sure James Robinson will even play, and if he does it should be as the clear No. 2), so I like him. No Corey Davis, and the Jets don't pass much/well anyway, I won't recommend their receivers at this point.
Steelers at Eagles: Eagles look like the league's best team these days and Steelers look like they'll be struggling to win games. There's some potential in a few players if they fall way behind (the wideouts, and definitely Pat Freiermuth) but no clear No. 1 wide receiver, and the running game shouldn't do much of anything. Eagles offense should be fine and I do think there's some blowout potential.
Titans at Texans: Ryan Tannehill is iffy for this dull looking game where the Titans should run Derrick Henry a ton and the Texans will probably try to run Dameon Pierce a lot but might struggle to do so. And maybe they'll feed Brandin Cooks a bunch of passes in hopes they can trade him next week.
Commanders at Colts: The Taylor Heinicke versus Sam Ehlinger show. I remember liking Ehlinger last preseason, so I'm intrigued, but I will concede I'm a little nervous about his high ranking -- for example, he's ranked over Daniel Jones, but I picked up Jones (in a league where Herbert is on a bye) and plan to use him, though weather has entered the discussion as a problem in that game. But Ehlinger should run a lot and Washington's defense is nothing special, so I don't have a problem with rolling the dice, within reason. I am however a little less apt to recommend Colts 2 and 3 receivers, Alec Pierce and Parris Campbell. For Washington, Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson have value, and also Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel. I'll steer clear of TEs for both teams, and would use Jonathan Taylor and consider Nyheim Hines in PPR. Tough week for byes (and next week will be even worse -- six teams off).
49ers at Rams:No Deebo Samuel, so I'm very comfortable recommending Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle. Should be a better week for Christian McCaffrey, too. For the Rams, Darrell Henderson should be close to a full-time back, but I'm leery of using Matthew Stafford against a defense he's often struggled against. Tyler Higbee, yes, he's done very well in this matchup, the de facto No. 2.
Giants at Seahawks: Foul weather is apparently a concern for this game. I'm using Tyler Lockett anyway, who should catch some shorter passes, but the passing games might not be as good as they could be. Both running backs look great. The fact that Seattle is calling DK Metcalf questionable does not mean I'd consider him if they have him active for this game, I don't trust Pom-Pom Pete Carroll.
Packers at Bills: Even though I wrote an article this week knocking him, I'm using Sammy Watkins. Green Bay won't have Allen Lazard and Aaron Rodgers doesn't seem to trust Romeo Doubs, so Watkins has to be involved. In a game the Bills will probably win comfortably, of course, but still. Aaron Jones and Devin Singletary viable, and also Dawson Knox, Robert Tonyan and of course Buffalo's top 2 wideouts.
Bengals at Browns: So the Bengals aren't placing JaMarr Chase on IR, which I suppose means they think there's some chance he can return in fewer than four weeks. But keep in mind (some aren't) that players do on occasion miss 4-5 weeks without being placed on IR; it's not an obligation. Maybe they don't need the roster spot, maybe the 5 percent chance of returning in three weeks is worthwhile, whatever. I believe the 4-6 week report and don't know if he'll be 100 percent even after that. As for the game, Joe Mixon, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, Hayden Hurst and Joe Burrow all look just fine to me against a Browns defense that's been barely there this year. For the Browns, Nick Chubb of course and perhaps Amari Cooper and that's it.
Happy Halloween ladies! Enjoy the games.