Every Saturday morning, Andy Richardson offers brief overviews of the upcoming Sunday games, including significant developments involving injuries. He'll also offer opinions on lineup questions over the course of the day.
Another week with six teams on byes. I hate it, but at the same time, I think it benefits better fantasy owners -- more strategy. Do you field an empty lineup spot, or drop someone you'd rather keep? The right answer can change from league to league and week to week. I've done both the last two weeks.
That said, I hope the league sticks with only putting four teams on byes in a given week, as it's done in previous years. Six teams being off is a couple too many, especially given the small bench sizes I have in some leagues. What, you think the league isn't taking fantasy football into account when making its schedule? Well. It should.
Kansas City at Bills: The Bills will be using either Jeff Tuel or Matt Flynn at quarterback. This makes me regret picking up Scott Chandler as a bye week fill-in, but I'm sticking with him anyway; throws to the TE might be all one of those guys can manage. Bills will apparently have C.J. Spiller, which just hurts the fantasy potential of the individual running backs. Kansas City has Jamaal Charles and I wouldn't touch anyone else.
Falcons at Panthers: I guess it's wrong to get aggravated about teams making NFL-type decisions (like having Spiller and in this case, Jonathan Stewart likely active), but we all have our personal stakes in these things. Carolina should stomp Atlanta and their offense looks good, just too many running backs. If I had Roddy White I wouldn't be starting him, even though it sounds like he'll limp out onto the field. No interest in the Falcons running game, such as it is.
Vikings at Cowboys: Minnesota is going with Christian Ponder. Next week it will probably be Josh Freeman, and shortly thereafter maybe they'll dust off Matt Cassel. Adrian Peterson and maybe Kyle Rudolph are the only viable guys. For Dallas, everyone looks good except for Miles Austin, who probably won't play.
Saints at Jets: I think the Saints will win comfortably and am starting their passing game, but I've made the mistake of underestimating the Jets before, so we'll see. Marques Colston sounds iffy and hasn't done anything lately. Picked up the Saints D and Garrett Hartley for this matchup. I think it's a good week to start Chris Ivory, he's the guy the Jets will/should lean on for as long as the game is in doubt. Jets may not have Jeff Cumberland, should you unwisely be counting on their passing game.
Titans at Rams: Jeff Fisher faces his former team. I am not buying the Rams defending Seattle's underutilized running game on Monday and think Chris Johnson will have a good game. I understand if you're tired of hearing about Johnson, so we can move on. Rams should have Zac Stacy, not Daryl Richardson, available. The St. Louis passing game has no value, although maybe Jared Cook gets a few more looks against his former team. Interesting, by the way, that after all the talk about the Titans underutilizing the talented Cook for years, the Rams are now doing the same thing. Hey, maybe he's just not that good.
Chargers at Washington: Love the offenses in this game and am using pretty much everyone I've got. Not much else to say; love this matchup.
Eagles at Raiders: Just traded Stevan Ridley for DeSean Jackson. It can always be nerve-wracking trading a RB for a WR, but I looked at Ridley's remaining schedule and the way New England seems to be using their running backs these days and decided it was worth the risk. I've been starting the likes of Jeremy Kerley and some Patriots wideout next to Antonio Brown each week and can't do it any longer. As for this week, Raiders D has been better than expected and I'm not expecting huge things out of the Eagles offense, but things can't get worse than they've been the last couple of weeks.
Bucs at Seahawks: Seattle's offense should be very good in every respect. Tampa Bay has Vincent Jackson and little else. Impressed (surprised?) that Greg Schiano hasn't been fired. Hey, he says Doug Martin will need surgery eventually, but thinks he'll play again this season. Yup, no point getting him that surgery nice and early, they have a lot to play for in 2013.
Ravens at Browns: Old Browns versus new Browns. Former Raven (McGahee) versus Ravens. So many fantastic storylines in this game, although most of them have no great fantasy appeal in a likely 17-10 type of yawner. I think Ray Rice will be better the rest of the way, and am picking up Fozzy Whittaker here and there just in case the Browns get tired of McGahee's lack of an impact.
Steelers at Patriots: This used to be an interesting game. This time it will be interesting to see if LeVeon Bell can have a good game against a soft run defense, and to find out how the Patriots will use their running backs. I still respect the Steelers D (Ridley's next month: Steelers, bye, Panthers, Broncos).
Colts at Texans: Not the most exciting Sunday night matchup, so hardly surprising NBC quickly announced that Denver-Kansas City will be flexing into the night game a couple of weeks from now. Distract attention from this one. Here we've got Trent Richardson and T.Y. Hilton as the most intriguing guys for the Colts, and the uncertain running back situation for the Texans. I suspect both Foster and Tate will be active, but I would be nervous about starting either -- wouldn't use either unless I had both on my roster and could decide Sunday evening to start Tate if it turns out Foster is inactive.
Bears at Packers: James Jones might return for Green Bay, and this being the Monday night game, it will be hard to know how to handle Jones and fill-in Jarrett Boykin unless you have both. I personally would not chance Jones, and think Boykin might be OK even as a No. 3. Eddie Lacy looks great here.
If you've got questions, go ahead and post. If I don't answer, please refer to the Weekly rankings. As always, enjoy the games.
