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24 Hours 'Til Sunday

Snapshot previews of all the games

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.

Here's the drill: our official rankings and projections are in Fantasy Index Weekly. That's the content you're paying for. My goal here is to answer questions on players who are close, and on occasion I will have opinions that clash with the rankings -- sometimes I like a player a little more than Ian. Or a little less. If you ask me Who to Start? between Player A and Player B, and Player A is 15 spots higher in the rankings, then I will probably skip the question; answer is right there.

In short, I'm here to give opinions and help as best I can, but when in doubt, I suggest you favor the official rankings. That's what we put the most research and blood, sweat and tears into. OK, on to the games!

49ers at Panthers: I'll admit I was stunned by what San Francisco managed against the Rams last week. But if you want to really impress me (not that they care), let's do it again. I'm not starting any Niners, and I'm all over Carolina's main players. This would be the clear suicide pool pick (but there's a wrinkle in ours where you can buy back in if eliminated in the first three weeks, so no point wasting Carolina at home here).

Old Browns at New Browns: Wow it's almost like cutting all their veteran defensive players and starting a bunch of second-stringers has had an ill effect on Cleveland's coverage issues. I did like Carson Wentz as the best rookie quarterback but c'mon, the Browns are going to be a team to put players up against all year. Sadly the Ravens seem to be using a committee everywhere, but it seems like a viable week to at least consider Smith Sr., Wallace, and Pitta. Terrance West too. For the Browns I'm pretty sure I'm using Isaiah Crowell in a league and just hoping he finds his way into the end zone at some point. Just hanging on for another two weeks until I can bench him for LeVeon.

Titans at Lions: I made the Lions my suicide pool pick. Not feeling great about, but I'm a big believer in their offense and I think their defense is a little better than it showed against the Colts. And they should be able to outscore Tennessee. If not, I buy back in. Starting DeMarco Murray, keeping Derrick Henry on the bench -- will need to see the touches before counting on them. Like Tajae Sharpe and Delanie Walker, and am fine with the Lions offense though I don't see a go-to receiver, and three running backs will play.

Kansas City at Texans: When I think how far I let Will Fuller slip in my dynasty rookie draft back in May...ugh. Drafted Paul Perkins instead and am sorely regretting it. Kansas City defense not as good as it used to be and have no problem with Houston's main players here. For Kansas City, I think I signed off on Ware to everyone who asked last week. He's the guy, occasionally West will get some chances. It might be October before Charles does much, hope you didn't draft him. Starting Maclin and Kelce.

Dolphins at Patriots: In the Weekly we talked about Miami's pitiful recent history up in New England. Jarvis Landry is the only and I mean the only Dolphin I'd be using. I guess you consider Arian Foster in PPR, but he popped up with a hamstring injury (shocker) so there's some risk. For the Patriots there's Edelman and Blount. Doesn't sound like Gronkowski will be active, but there's a chance. I'm making other plans. We've got Garoppolo higher than I would have expected in our rankings. I was impressed by Miami's defense in Seattle.

Saints at Giants: Friend of mine will be at this game and it seems like one where you wouldn't want to spend too much time waiting in the beer line because you might miss a touchdown or two. New York's defense seems improved but nobody should realistically be considering sitting down Brees, Cooks or Snead. Right? Gotta start 'em. I don't actually have Shepard or Cruz anywhere but if there's a defense you consider them against, this is it. Eli is in a couple of my DFS lineups. The Saints are the kind of defense you go for 2 against when you're down 1 point in the final seconds.

Bengals at Steelers: Anybody else annoyed that DeAngelo Williams was still in the game scoring a meaningless touchdown in the final 2 minutes at Washington? Like, they can't let Fitzgerald Touissant score that one? Yes I lost by 3 points to a Williams team, why do you ask. Anyway, nothing special to say about this game. Nobody needs help to start the stars. Probably more passing than running, but unless you're unusually deep at running back you might need to start say Jeremy Hill and hope for the best. Pittsburgh's offense was impressive in Washington, tough to sit those guys down.

Cowboys at Washington: Dallas doesn't have a pass rush, so Washington's offense should be better than it was against Pittsburgh. Washington's defense looked pretty sorry in that game, so I am not shying away from key Dallas starters. With Matt Jones, not a guy I have anywhere, not a believer. Hanging onto Robert Kelley for when Washington decides to pull the plug.

Buccaneers at Cardinals: Very impressed by Jameis Winston and company, and the Cardinals secondary is short a cornerback, so I'm good with the Bucs passing game. And the Bucs are missing one of their best pass rushers and the Cardinals are due for a bounce-back after a tough loss. I think there will be some offense here. Both Ds probably tougher on the run, so I'm cool on Martin.

Seahawks at Rams: The Rams defense has been a slow starter in recent years. It looks like Thomas Rawls will be the main guy in this committee, so you can't use Michael with confidence. Rough game for Gurley last week, but I'm not jumping ship. No other Rams but their D should be considered, and that's pretty much a seasonal thing.

Colts at Broncos: The Colts don't have a good defense with a healthy secondary, and they're very much not healthy. Thumbs up on key Broncos. For the Colts, well, it's a tough matchup. I think it is hard to consider benching guys like Luck, Moncrief and Hilton, and I'm using them where I have them, but obviously it's not ideal. Wonder if Peyton on Sunday morning will be watching. Lionel Richie looks good these days.

Falcons at Raiders: The favorable defenses keep coming for the Raiders. Giddy up. All I can say on Devonta Freeman-Tevin Coleman is that we called it back in the magazine, then backed off it when Coleman looked so ordinary in the preseason. I even traded the guy away in dynasty. Let's see if Coleman can keep it up. I'm not excited about Freeman now but let's give it a couple of weeks, OK? Julio, Sanu (Raiders clearly have cornerback issues), Cooper, Crabtree, the quarterbacks, all look good.

Jaguars at Chargers: There should have been more interest in Dontrelle Inman in my leagues than there was. That's all I'm saying on him. Gonna be a busy slot receiver. Nervous about Gates. In general I like both passing games here, and think Jacksonville's entire offense will be good, including T.J. Yeldon and Julius Thomas. Chargers play the Saints and Colts next two weeks after this, as well.

Packers at Vikings: I'm making the potentially risky move of benching Aaron Rodgers for Philip Rivers. Bottom line, I respect this Vikings defense a ton and think even if the Packers win it will be with modest numbers from their offense. Or at least not as good as what Rivers will do, yes even missing Keenan Allen. Eddie Lacy and Adrian Peterson have fared well in the past in this series, so don't bench either for just anyone. Should be a good game (although saying that I suppose it means it won't be). We can hope.

Eagles at Bears: So if the Eagles go into this one and fall on their face, we can all agree that last week's big win was just matching up with a Cleveland defense that's terrible by design. I'd be fine using Jordan Matthews and probably Ryan Mathews (although it's a committee) and that's it. Zach Ertz isn't going to play, so either it's a breakout game for Trey Burton or more looks for Brent Celek; not starting either. For Chicago, there's Jeffery and Langford, and that's pretty much it.

I'll check in every so often to answer questions as best I can. Enjoy the games.

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