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.
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.
Jets at Dolphins: No Breece Hall, so Braelon Allen makes his first start. His ranking suggests a starter, but not a knock it out of the park one. Jets haven't been running the ball well all year, Dolphins have played it well, Isaiah Davis will work in. I picked up Allen in a league but am not planning on using him, I just didn't want him starting against me. Otherwise, I like the Dolphins offense in this game, I just don't think the Jets are too invested in things.
Falcons at Vikings: That was a disturbing game by Kirk Cousins last week. The Pick Six was a floater that you or I could probably have intercepted. He's old, and maybe the Achilles rehab has left him without as much strength in his legs, affecting his passes. Vikings are susceptible to the pass and of course you have the revenge game angle, but I like the Vikings offense a lot more. But I'd use London and Mooney as ranked, since that's the way to move the ball against Minnesota, and Bijan will be doing the three-down thing.
Saints at Giants: Whereas the Jets have played worse since firing Robert Saleh, the Saints have played pretty well since Dennis Allen was canned. I actually don't think Brian Daboll is a bad coach, but I don't think much of the Giants offense, defense, or motivation, plus Drew Lock isn't good and Malik Nabers is iffy. Love Alvin Kamara here and will sign off on Tyrone Tracy, but that's probably it for this one.
Panthers at Eagles: Placed a parlay with a lot of unders here. Both quarterbacks (I think the Eagles will be mostly running it), Chuba Hubbard (I think Carolina will be behind early and often). Carolina has been competitive of late but the Eagles are rolling. No Dallas Goedert. Upsets happen all the time but I'm staying well away from Carolina this week.
Browns at Steelers: As we know from watching Browns-Broncos, the Cleveland defense is not very good these days. So I think both Pittsburgh running backs and Russell Wilson have value. Concern is George Pickens showing up with a hamstring injury sustained in practice. As we often say, hamstrings aren't things you can just tough out; if it's bad, you can't run with it. So it needs to be confirmed he's active, and I'm considering sitting him if there's any doubt. Calvin Austin and Mike Williams would be starters. Jameis Winston, Jerry Jeudy and Elijah Moore are for sure options, despite Pittsburgh having a good defense. If Nick Chubb scores you'll be happy, but it seems like his days of running for even 60 yards are in the past or maybe future.
Raiders at Bucs: Lots of banged-up players here, but for now I'm assuming that Bruce Irving and Mike Evans and Jakobi Meyers are good to go. Sincere McCormick. I picked him up in dynasty and am glad to have him. As far as using him this week, well, Bucs are better against the run and the Raiders will give Alexander Mattison (assuming he plays) and Ameer Abdullah passing game work and some carries. So McCormick carries a little more risk than I'd like to put in a Week 14 lineup. I like the Bucs offense and the Raiders passing game.
Jaguars at Titans: I find myself weirdly interested in starting players in this game. Not Jacksonville running backs, but Brian Thomas and Evan Engram and Parker Richardson, and most Titans: Ridley, Westbrook-Ikhine, Pollard and yes even Will Levis. Oh, and both defenses. Healthy starters against suspect defenses, and those same defenses against error-prone quarterbacks.
Seahawks at Cardinals: Huge game, with the winner the favorite (I think) to win the NFC West. Seattle seems to be kind of doing it with mirrors, but they're doing it. Kenneth Walker's health status the big question. If he's out, I'd love Zach Charbonnet. If he plays, I think it's more of a committee. Seahawks more inclined to pass the ball anyway. For Arizona, McBride obvs, Harrison sure, Conner for his three-down role. Seattle's top 2 and Geno, sure.
Bills at Rams: Comforting starting players in games that don't involve weather this kind of year. Rams defense isn't very good and won't be slowing down the Bills. But Rams offense is capable enough that I think they'll be fine against Buffalo's strong defense. I'm staying away from Dalton Kincaid, even if he plays. I think we know the drill with Khalil Shakir. Sees some targets, catches some short passes, but not a goal-line factor and probably won't have a big game. James Cook my favorite Bill this week, risky investing in the wide receivers. Kyren, Puka, Kupp, sure.
Bears at 49ers: I will use and recommend Isaac Guerendo as ranked. Is there risk involved, sure. But he's starting and he'll be featured, and the Bears are vulnerable to the run. George Kittle still appealing, Jennings and Deebo not quite as much. For Chicago, it needs to be confirmed that both DJ Moore and D'Andre Swift are playing. Moore, probably. Swift, I don't know. If he's active, I guess he's OK and I'd use him, just somewhat nervously. If he's inactive, Travis Homer, modest veteran third-down back that he is, becomes an option. A situation I'd prefer to avoid, frankly.
Chargers at Kansas City: Last week people were asking Kimani Vidal questions and I shot them all down because he was the No. 3. Now he seems to be the No. 2, and the starter, Gus Edwards, isn't very good. So we can at least discuss Vidal as an option. But not a very good one, with KC tough on the run and the Chargers more apt to be passing it. I'm assuming Ladd McConkey is OK, but that's a situation to confirm tomorrow (tricky with this the night game). I like Pacheco somewhat but it will be a committee.
Bengals at Cowboys: Both teams technically alive for the playoffs. Technically. So key starters look good, especially the two running backs against bad run defenses and the passing game stars: Burrow, Chase, Lamb, Higgins. Jake Ferguson returns, also an option. But I'll pass on the other receivers, and am afraid this will break our nice little streak of entertaining primetime games.
Enjoy the games.