Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own 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 questions, too.
If you've made it this far and have a meaningful game this week, congratulations. It's no small thing. I firmly believe in skill and knowledge in this game of ours, but you can't play defense, and you can't control the playoff games where you face an unreal outing by say Dez Bryant or another 3-TD scorer. So be proud that you're playing! I've got one team alive and expect to be over a 140-138 semifinal loss in another league sometime around June. Let's go win a championship.
Eagles at Washington: If you can't get two teams in the playoff hunt squaring off, this is the next best thing: a playoff hopeful on the road against a division rival that should be more than willing to play spoiler. I don't think there's any noteworthy injuries here. Washington's secondary is pretty bad so Jeremy Maclin and Jordan Matthews look promising. LeSean McCoy losing goal-line looks to Chris Polk, but few teams have the luxury of benching McCoy. DeSean Jackson against his former team. Considered picking up Robert Griffin III as a spot start here. This game starts at 4:30 p.m. Eastern today, so get your starters in or out.
Chargers at 49ers: Just like last week, I'm facing the Philip Rivers or Russell Wilson choice. At the moment I'm going with Wilson, but recently considering Rivers (who we have ranked a little higher). Just a few hundred dollars at stake, no big whup. No Ryan Mathews or Keenan Allen. Not crazy about the Branden Oliver-Malcom Floyd alternatives, but San Francisco has nothing to play for, so they might be better than the year-long performance of the Niners D suggests. San Francisco should have Frank Gore but not Carlos Hyde. I kept Hyde on my roster all year long only to cut him yesterday, sigh. If you think I should start Rivers over Wilson, let me know. Gore could be OK, San Diego's defense nothing special.
Browns at Panthers: Hope you didn't start Johnny Manziel last week, or Josh Gordon. After that performance you can't really be eager to use any Browns here. Jonathan Stewart looks great, and sounds like Cam Newton is good to go. I'm using Kelvin Benjamin and would use Greg Olsen, too. Pass on all things Cleveland.
Lions at Bears: Jimmy Clausen really did look OK in the preseason, but that's the preseason. Still, I'd be using Bears players as normal. Love the Lions passing game here and probably Joique Bell too. Would be surprised if the Bears show up on defense.
Ravens at Texans: Should be all Ravens here. Their pass defense has been poor but I have no faith in Case Keenum. Sounds like DeAndre Hopkins won't play, Andre Johnson will, and Johnson should at least be heavily targeted. Arian Foster too. Speaking of the Ravens, I was surprised Gregory didn't get bounced on Top Chef last week. Steak and chicken on the same plate, really?
Vikings at Dolphins: Not expecting much out of Miami here. Their season has fallen, the coaching staff is probably on the way out. Minnesota's offense is pretty mediocre though. This has the feel of a 17-13 game that helps no one. No Kyle Rudolph, not that you'll necessarily notice. Excuse me for a minute while I go cut him from my Super Bowl team. OK, done.
Falcons at Saints: Sometimes these games have been lower-scoring than expected in recent years, but that said, these are two really bad defensive teams and it's not going to happen. Julio Jones, apparently, will play. It's scary to use him because he could take an early shot and be sidelined, so if you have a remotely comparable option, take it. You're not getting the Julio of the Green Bay game here. But, Harry Douglas becomes unusable if Jones is active. For the Saints, I'm using Ingram, though last week proved he's back in a committee with Pierre and Khiry, so it's not midseason Ingram you're getting. Just, don't start him assuming a feature workload, start him because it's a soft matchup and he should get at least half the snaps and has a decent chance of scoring. But you can't say you weren't warned that Sean Payton might screw you here.
Patriots at Jets: Like the Patriots passing game, don't like either Blount or Gray, because who knows what New England will do with them, and the matchup is poor. Wouldn't use any Jets, only Ivory, maybe, if no other choice. I know New York was competitive up in Foxborough a while back.
Kansas City at Steelers: Am facing Alex Smith in the Super Bowl. That seems OK to me. I know Pittsburgh is soft and maybe Smith throws a TD to Charles or Kelce, but still. Alex Smith. Steelers offense should be fine, they're home and they're great. No noteworthy injuries. I have to use Heath Miller, so I hope this is the game he does something.
Packers at Buccaneers: Bay of Pigs, all that. Green Bay's offense should bounce back in a big way here. Tampa Bay has been playing better the second half of the year, but this seems like a good spot for that to run out. What I do really like is the wide receivers, Green Bay is giving a lot of touchdowns to those players. Not really keen to use Doug Martin, but it is a soft run defense he'll face.
Giants at Rams: The way the Rams defense is playing, Odell Beckham Jr. is the only guy you absolutely have to start. Andre Williams is a full-time guy this week, but I wouldn't be crazy about using him. I like Tre Mason, that's about it for St. Louis.
Colts at Cowboys: Injury questions about. Sounds like DeMarco Murray will play, and if I had him, I'd use him. He's not out there to be a decoy at running back. Hilton probably won't play, so I'd use Donte Moncrief. I expect to get a Dan Herron question or two. He's the running back I'd use for Indy, but it is a committee, so you're gambling on half the work.
Bills at Raiders: Your options in this game appear to be Fred Jackson, Latavius Murray, and Mychal Rivera. Bills defense. I think that about covers it. Sammy Watkins will be in some lineups I guess, but he sure hasn't done much lately.
Seahawks at Cardinals: I am probably just going to stick with Wilson here. We know Seattle won't run the ball much, and if they do, Wilson will be the one doing a lot of it. Arizona's offense will be led by Ryan Lindley. That's enough for me to say Hands off. If you have Marshawn Lynch you're using him, but I'm not confident he'll do much of anything.
Broncos at Bengals: A good, compelling Monday night game, with a lot of fantasy options on both sides. I'm facing Jeremy Hill and A.J. Green and Julius Thomas, so it will probably be a big lead after Sunday but a late night of nail-biting on Monday for me. If you've made it to this point with Peyton Manning (seems unlikely...), I wouldn't sit him down for just anyone, but you can consider it. I do expect Denver to win this game, though.
Again, ask questions, and I'll do what I can. Good luck! And enjoy the games.
