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 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 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.
Cardinals at Falcons: So David Blough is starting this game for Arizona and DeAndre Hopkins apparently got injured in practice and is questionable. I'm not sure what the story is with Hopkins, but clearly he can't be used unless it's certain he'll be active, and expectations should be lowered with a quarterback who was on another team's practice squad two weeks ago (but apparently will be an upgrade over Trace McSorley). The running backs look best from this game.
Bears at Lions: Big game for the Lions, and their offense should be solid. For Chicago you've got Fields, Montgomery and Kmet as viable options. Fields is banged-up but he's playing and as long as his foot is OK you wonder if he'll try to make a "run" at Lamar Jackson's quarterback rushing record. Although Jackson set it just 3 years ago so it's not exactly a hallowed milestone or anything. Game should be higher-scoring.
Jaguars at Texans: Some are worried the Jaguars might rest or pull starters. They say they're not going to, and as I've pointed out elsewhere they definitely shouldn't since they definitely can be a wild-card team if they win this game, lose to Tennessee next week, and a few other very plausible outcomes go their way (quick summary: Dolphins lose twice, Jets and Patriots and Steelers each lose once). You never say never, but I'm not worried about using Etienne or Lawrence. Houston doesn't have much to recommend it, I guess Brandin Cooks is an option if he feels like playing for the team he signed an extension with 9 months ago.
Broncos at Kansas City: There's some garbage-time potential for Denver's offense, they put up good numbers against Kansas City a couple of weeks ago. But Jerry Jeudy isn't 100 percent, it's risky really looking for good numbers from Russell Wilson, and Denver will probably use a committee against a good run defense. Kansas City should be fine, Denver's defense not playing as well as it was earlier in the year.
Dolphins at Patriots: Big game for that 6th or 7th playoff spot in the AFC. Teddy Bridgewater starts, I'd use Tyreek and Jaylen as per usual. New England backfield tricky with both Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson available. Picked up Bailey Zappe in my dynasty league just in case New England opens up that job to competition next preseason. Miami D hasn't played well outside of Florida, so Jakobi Meyers shows up pretty favorably. Dolphins running backs also in a committee and less productive overall than New England's.
Colts at Giants: Colts offense is a disaster these days, so hard to get too excited about any of these players. Zack Moss the main runner and Michael Pittman kind of the No. 1 wideout, and maybe Jelani Woods will do something with Kylen Granson out. But that's about it. For the Giants, Saquon obviously, but people need to not look at what the passing game did last week, against Minnesota, since it definitely won't be as good this week. We ranked those modest wideouts high a week ago and it paid off, but they're ranked a lot lower this week, which is what we expect.
Saints at Eagles: No Jalen Hurts, so Gardner Minshew will be running things. We're optimistic on him and the main receivers and a pair of running backs. We don't really know what the story is with Alvin Kamara -- hurt, disinterested, not sure. If he's active, I'd use him as ranked, but some attention must be paid to those Sunday morning inactives. Eagles should win and take the mystery out of the NFC East and No. 1 seed, so they and the Cowboys can rest everyone important next week.
Panthers at Bucs: Game will essentially decide the NFC South. I'm not betting against Tom Brady and his main receivers, given the stakes. For Carolina, though, both running backs and DJ Moore have value. Would be nice to see the Panthers shock everyone and win, especially if you're a Cowboys fan since Dallas will probably play the winner of this game in Round 1.
Browns at Commanders: Would be a surprise if Washington didn't just come out and run all over Cleveland en route to a lower-scoring win. I don't expect much from Cleveland's offense on the road in a meaningless game (for them) against a good defense. Chubb and Njoku look best, mebbe Cooper. Washington has three good wide receivers but I think Brian Robinson will be their best player in this game. No Antonio Gibson, he accidentally showed up in the Friday Update, sorry about that.
49ers at Raiders: Let's give Jarrett Stidham his first NFL start against the 49ers defense. Good thinking, Raiders. I would still be using Jacob, Adams and Waller, but I'm not expecting their best numbers. San Francisco should be fine on offense, with Kittle-Aiyuk-McCaffrey putting up typical numbers. I love all the speculation about Carr to the Jets or whatnot -- there are probably 8-10 different NFL teams who would be happy to have Carr as their starting quarterback next season.
Jets at Seahawks: New York's offense should be good, with Mike White at quarterback and the Seahawks on the other side of things. But Garrett Wilson looks like the only guy to really count on, with Zonovan Knight next (but might be kind of a committee with Michael Carter). But Knight the main back and ranked accordingly. Seattle should get Tyler Lockett back and Kenneth Walker should be fine to use. But Metcalf ranked lower than usual and Lockett too (if he's active at all) due to a tough matchup.
Vikings at Packers: Maybe Christian Watson plays, but I'm not counting on it. Green Bay calls everyone who's ever picked up an injury "day to day" and says "we'll see," and sometimes those guys miss multiple weeks. I'll be checking the pregame shows, this is a late game so we may not know for sure if Watson is playing until after most other games kick off. Given the matchup, I like Rodgers and Lazard. Running back committee, most likely, for Green Bay. Minnesota key starters look good.
Rams at Chargers: There was some talk about the Chargers resting players, locked in as a wild-card, and I admit I thought about it. On the other hand, there's a big advantage to being the AFC's top wild-card as opposed to the 6th or 7th seed. The No. 5 seed will open against the AFC South winner, potentially an 8-9 team. The 6 and 7 seeds will be traveling to face either Buffalo, Kansas City or Cincinnati -- whichever one of those teams doesn't get the No. 1 seed and the bye. Would you rather go to Jacksonville/Tennessee, or Kansas City/Buffalo? So I expect Chargers starters to play throughout this game. For the Rams we like Cam Akers and Tyler Higbee.
Steelers at Ravens: Low-scoring game. That's some "sprain" that has now kept Lamar Jackson out for nearly a month. Hard to get excited about anyone in this game, but I suppose you're using Freiermuth, Andrews and Najee, perhaps Dobbins too. Diontae Johnson, as long as you're not expecting a touchdown.
Bills at Bengals: Game of the Week (thank heavens there is one). It's supposed to be raining throughout this game, that's the one concern, but given the offensive talent on both sides, I think it will be higher-scoring anyway. The running back committee for Buffalo is a negative, but that's the only issue to really be concerned about.
Happy New Year, stay safe out there, and enjoy the games.