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.
It's the day after Christmas. For some reason when I say that I think of Gary Busey shooting a television set in Lethal Weapon. Dating myself here. Anyway, there was a game that I presume very few people watched on Thursday night, there's a game tonight, and there's a whole bunch of games tomorrow. Let's take a look at all the key health, motivation and injury questions going on for fantasy Super Bowls, third-place games, and any other meaningful matchups.
Washington at Eagles: The game is in Philly, but I'm not betting against Washington. They seem to be the better, more focused team. Risky to use running backs from either team without knowing usage for certain, but it's certainly a favorable matchup. If I had to use say Morris or Jones, I probably would. Ryan Mathews mebbe too. Love DeSean Jackson against his former team, and sure on Kirk Cousins.
Panthers at Falcons: Wishing I'd used Latavius Murray the other night, but forgot to put him in with all the activity on Christmas Eve. So I'm using Devonta Freeman and Cameron Artis-Payne and hoping for the best. Julio, Newton, Olsen and I supposed Ted Ginn are the other players to use.
Steelers at Ravens: Pretty much expecting Pittsburgh to light Baltimore up here. Pittsburgh's pass defense isn't very good so you can think about Kamar Aiken, but sounds like Ryan Mallett is going to start and that's a risky passing game to put too much stock in. In general, yes Steelers, no Ravens, seems safest. Aiken is about it.
Cowboys at Bills: Two disappointed and disappointing teams meet here. For Buffalo you're looking at Watkins and I guess Karlos Williams, but Mike Gillislee will also play. For Dallas it's McFadden and maybe Dez Bryant, but it's not a given. No Charles Clay, if that matters to anyone.
49ers at Lions: Still steaming about the way Calvin Johnson let me down in a playoff semifinal last week. I didn't need much out of the guy but got even less than that. Consequently I would consider Stafford, Tate and either Bell or Abdullah against a San Francisco team that doesn't travel well, but I've pretty much had it with Calvin. San Francisco won't have Shaun Draughn and shouldn't do very much here. Pass.
Browns at Kansas City: The Browns, yet another team I want no part of this week. Gary Barnidge looks fine. Travis Benjamin maybe. Like Charcandrick West, Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce against a bad defense. Pretty sure if you're counting on anyone else you have your optimism in the wrong place. What a schedule Kansas City has been handed the second half of the season.
Colts at Dolphins: Couple of bad defensive teams playing out the string here. I don't know all the details of how the Colts can win the AFC South, but it definitely involves the Titans beating Houston this week, which I guess is possible since the game's in Tennessee. But Indy's offense doesn't seem up to the task of doing enough here to get a win. For Miami, their offense should be fine, Tannehill-Landry definitely. The running back duo is iffier since it's hard to predict what the coaching staff will do with any given game plan. If you have Lamar Miller you probably start him and hope he gets 15-17 carries.
Patriots at Jets: Should be a pretty good game and I think the Jets can win. Patriots have a banged-up receiving corps and the Jets have a solid defense. Brady and Gronk and James White are probably the safest options. Jets, usual players, at least they don't use a lot of different ones. I suppose Bilal Powell is the biggest question. New York's running game a little risky. Would use Powell in PPR and Ivory in standard, but expectations should be modest.
Bears at Bucs: Start healthy players, avoid injured ones, I think that's the storyline here. Alshon Jeffery is hurt, tough to consider him unless reports are that he's good to go. Matt Forte, Doug Martin and Mike Evans are healthy and can be used. Zach Miller is starting for me, Austin Seferian-Jenkins is not worth trusting. I think that's about it.
Texans at Titans: Don't think I have anything too clever to say about this one. Alfred Blue, Delanie Walker and DeAndre Hopkins are the first, last and only players to realistically use. If you're in a deep enough league to look at Green-Beckham or Nate Washington, good luck. But there probably won't be a lot of points in this game.
Jaguars at Saints: Drew Brees says he'll play. Even if he sits out I'd probably chance Cooks or Snead. Benjamin Watson might not be available. Jacksonville's offense should be very productive. I'm starting Denard Robinson in one league and Tim Hightower in another, while conceding Hightower faces a pretty good run defense. But there are only so many running backs available these days. I think there is a slight risk in starting Brees only to find out that he gets an early seat because of the foot injury. So I'd look for a comparable option if I could.
Packers at Cardinals: I guess this is kind of an important game. The Packers win this and next week, Arizona loses both, and Green Bay gets a bye. But realistically the Cardinals will win next week over a Seattle team that rests some players anyway. I don't know. Week 16 and 17 become tricky because teams don't always have the motivation you think they will or should. Bottom line: Green Bay's offense hasn't been that great and it's on the road against a very good defense, albeit one missing Tyrann Mathieu. I don't think there are any Packers you absolutely have to start. For Arizona, there's David Johnson, who has suddenly become very important to the Cardinals. Can they risk him too much in a game that probably will have minimal value? I guess they'd like to get their win and rest players in Week 17, which is what I expect. Palmer, Brown, Floyd, yes. Larry Fitzgerald has been too quiet lately to start with confidence.
Rams at Seahawks: Rams always play Seattle tough, but we'll see. A one-dimensional offense up in Seattle playing only for pride seems like a poor bet. Seattle says Doug Baldwin is a gametime decision, so if you want to use Baldwin, make sure you have an alternative just in case. I am starting Todd Gurley and would use Christine Michael if I didn't have a better option.
Giants at Vikings: The most important thing to keep in mind here is that if a couple of likely occurrences happen in other games, this game becomes meaningless for both teams. If that's the case, the Giants will probably kind of sleepwalk through things, and there will be no point in Adrian Peterson playing. Washington winning on Saturday knocks out the Giants. Atlanta losing or Seattle winning puts the Vikings in as a wild card, and Green Bay losing at Arizona means Minn-G.B. will be for the NFC North whether the Vikings win or lose this game. So although Adrian Peterson is probable, you should have backup plan in pace just in case the Vikings decide there's no point in putting him out there in a game that doesn't matter.
Bengals at Broncos: This is a big game, but I will be stunned if it isn't a low-scoring one. Both teams have good defenses -- Denver at home is great, particularly. I think the Bengals will try to keep things low-scoring, running the ball and whatnot. Both teams will use committees, neither should score many points. Most probably have to use the Denver wideouts and A.J. Green, but you shouldn't expect much. No Manning, no Eifert.
Enjoy the games.
--Andy Richardson