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.
If I miss your question, either I didn't see it (it happens), or the rankings are very clear. NOTE: There are a lot of uncertain injuries and committee situations this week. I will offer opinions, but in most cases there's a lot of guesswork. When in doubt, strongly consider the rankings, that's what most of the analysis goes into each week.
Jets versus Vikings across the pond: This game starts at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (West Coast folk presumably still sleeping), so make sure you get your lineups in. I've been very impressed by the Vikings and think they'll take care of business again here, but international games, you never know how teams will adapt, rain is in the forecast and field conditions might be poor. In general I'm using the clear starts (Breece, Jefferson, Aaron Jones and probably Garrett Wilson, maybe a quarterback, though matchup is tough).
Carolina at Chicago: We're a little cool on the Panthers offense against a good Chicago defense, and while Chicago's offense has a more favorable matchup, it's hazy who will benefit. I like revenge games so I'll take DJ Moore against his former employer, and heck Andy Dalton played for the Bears half a season, too. Chuba Hubbard, D'Andre Swift and Diontae Johnson OK, Roschon Johnson and Xavier Legette a little trickier.
Baltimore at Cincinnati: The matchup isn't great but I'm OK using key Bengals players anyway. Matchup is fine for Baltimore but if they just lean on Derrick Henry again the receivers aren't so hot. Zay Flowers the only one I'd consider, I'm not using either tight end these days. Committee backfield for the Bengals, but with the bye and injuries a lot of us are forced to use either or both anyway.
Buffalo at Houston: No Khalil Shakir, no Joe Mixon. Bills are vulnerable to the run, but Cam Akers hasn't been good, and Dameon Pierce might play, and Dare Ogunbowale is around for passing downs. Saturday morning guess is an Akers-Dare tandem. Don't really know which Bills wideout will benefit from Shakir's absence; probably Curtis Samuel, but ranked conservatively; Keon Coleman a little higher. Dalton Kincaid should benefit, maybe James Cook too. I like Stefon Diggs to get some extra looks against the Bills.
Indianapolis at Jacksonville: No Jonathan Taylor. Shane Steichen says running back by committee, but probably Trey Sermon as the main runner and Tyler Goodson getting the most passing-game chances. (Goodson hasn't carried the ball all season, we think Sermon gets most of that.) I don't think Anthony Richardson is playing, the Colts can say whatever they want. Probably Joe Flacco, which helps Michael Pittman and Josh Downs. Neither defense has been great, so offenses get a good matchup. Too bad the Jaguars haven't been better, but Etienne and Thomas/Kirk options. Evan Engram, we have to see if he's active. If he is, I'd use him.
Miami at New England: A lunatic friend of mine bet his entire $11,894 survivor pool pot on the Patriots. I think Miami will win because bad as they are at quarterback they have some offensive talent, while New England is bad on offense and hurting on defense. But game should be lower scoring. Antonio Gibson starts at running back. The Patriots gave Rhamondre Stevenson a $36 million contract two months ago. I'm honestly expecting a committee, but Gibson the better option this week, and if you bought into DeVon Achane in the preseason, you're probably forced to start him and hope he scores a long touchdown at some point. Miami's not good against the run, helping Gibson look viable. Eyesore of a football game.
Cleveland at Washington: Survivor pick options for me would include Washington. Offense really good. Defense poor, but can Cleveland really take advantage? Brian Robinson availability is the main question. I think he should play, but can't count on that. Austin Ekeler looks viable if Robinson sits, and might play more than usual regardless. Terry McLaurin and yes Amari Cooper viable, given the matchup. David Njoku uncertain, but nice matchup if he plays. A damn lot of uncertain guys this week, and it's Week 5 -- wait til Week 8.
Las Vegas at Denver: Denver is involved, so the game should be lower-scoring. No Zamir White, so Alexander Mattison a viable starter as close to a full-time guy, albeit not a good one. No Davante, but Jakobi Meyers will have to deal with Patrick Surtain. I'd rather use Tre Tucker, but tough opposing defense regardless. For Denver, Javonte and Sutton are the potential starters. Brock Bowers, you probably don't have a better option, though he might need to block a little more than you'd like.
Arizona at San Francisco: Teams relatively healthy and game should be relatively high-scoring, so it's got that going for it. I'd use San Fran stars, knowing someone will probably get left out. Trey and Marvin and James Conner and Kyler Murray, knowing the matchup isn't great for the run game.
Green Bay at L.A. Rams: Packers offense looks very good. No Christian Watson or Romeo Doubs, but that's fine, those guys aren't great starters anyway. With them out, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks and Tucker Kraft look even better. Jordan Love too. Both running backs good, and the Ram receiver we'd use is Jordan Whittington, but obviously not a sure thing. I don't often use road teams in Survivor, but I'd make an exception this time.
N.Y. Giants at Seattle: Hoo boy. No Malik Nabers or Devin Singletary. Wan'Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton will be the main wideouts, and Tyrone Tracy probably the best running back. The small, small hesitation is that Eric Gray is higher on the depth chart, but Daniel Bellinger is higher than Theo Johnson, too, and Bellinger is barely getting on the field. So forget that stuff and use Tracy if you need a running back, Slayton if you need a wideout (though Wan'Dale better). For Seattle, Walker and the wide receivers as ranked. Geno Smith revenge game I guess, though the Giants did OK by Geno, hey they benched Eli for him.
Dallas at Pittsburgh: The classic 70s matchup I grew up with. Dallas has some nice offensive players, but they're facing a really good defense. Dallas defense is banged up, but you seldom know what you'll get with the Pittsburgh offense. But key Steelers starters look pretty solid, including Najee Harris as their only healthy running back. And Justin Fields, because why not. Should be entertaining. Rico Dowdle the Cowboys back to consider, but he's Rico Dowdle.
Saints at Kansas City: Kansas City might have Clyde Edwards-Helaire for this game, while Kareem Hunt is dealing with a shoulder injury. Could this backfield possibly be any more complicated? It's a Monday game, too. If Hunt practices fully today, he's the guy I'd use. If he's iffy, I guess CEH. Not a great situation though. I'm using JuJu Smith-Schuster, I think I like him a little more than Ian. Xavier Worthy (ranked higher) should be more involved this week. Travis Kelce too. For the Saints, Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed are the viable guys (no one has been complaining about low ranking of Derek Carr lately, but at least he won't be trotting off the field near the end zone for injured Taysom Hill this week).
Enjoy the games.
