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.
What follows is a brief look at all the games with how I'd react in my own lineups to injury developments or other news. The official rankings are the ones in the Weekly. Those are the ones that subscribers are paying for. Sometimes players are very close in the rankings, and if I get questions like that, I'll offer opinions. Sometimes I like certain players more or less than Ian, and sometimes I have different risk tolerance with injuries/weather issues, etc.
Sorry I'm a little late this morning; kids Halloween party you know. Six teams on byes, so you may find yourself starting players you'd rather not use. WEATHER ADVISORY: There's supposed to be stormy and windy weather on parts of the East Coast, so worth checking in with the pregame shows tomorrow morning to see what conditions are like for some of these games.
Vikings versus Browns across the pond: Debatable how much matchups like this one will do to build affection for the NFL overseas. Stefon Diggs is apparently good to go, which slightly reduces the appeal of Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph, but they still look good. Prefer Jerick McKinnon to Latavius Murray. For the Browns there's Duke Johnson and nothing else of value. Remember to set your lineups early for this one.
Raiders at Bills: Bills defense has played well, while the Raiders are coming off their best offensive performance of the season. Not a great situation, but the main piece of the passing game are viable and I'm pretty sure a lot of people are forced to use half of the running back committee (with Marshawn Lynch suspended) and hope either DeAndre Washington or Jalen Richard scampers into the end zone at some point. LeSean McCoy, Nick O'Leary and I guess Deonte Thompson are lineup options for Buffalo.
Colts at Bengals: I love the Bengals this week, and others have gotten in the act, as their skill guys and defense, kicker, etc. have been added in pretty much every league. I'm so gutted by byes in one important league that I've added Jeremy Hill and am starting him, which means this will be the week Marvin Lewis stops starting him and giving him a handful of carries. But I hope there's enough production to go around. Obviously I'd much rather start Joe Mixon. Brandon LaFell and maybe even No. 3 John Ross are possibilities. For the Colts, eh, Marlon Mack, maybe.
Chargers at Patriots: Seemingly good matchup for the Chargers, but I recall saying that about the Falcons a week ago. I'm starting Philip Rivers (over Matt Ryan, they're back to back in the rankings) but not 100 percent confident with New England playing better on defense. Yes, they just lost Donta Hightower. It's a system they run there where they seem to get by no matter who is missing. For the Patriots, Dion Lewis and James White are the running backs to use, particularly Lewis. I think. Probably a higher-scoring game, although check to make sure the weather isn't going to be a problem.
Bears at Saints: No denying what Chicago's defense has done, so I'm not quite as confident starting Saints at home as usual. But whatever, it's Drew Brees in the SuperDome, and the Bears did get blown out in a couple of road games, so I'm using the guys I'd normally use (and again, six teams on byes, I don't have a lot of great alternatives in most leagues). For Chicago, it's Jordan Howard, but game flow could work against him. I can't get over the fact that the Bears attempted only 7 passes last week. And that wide receivers have combined to catch 3 passes for Chicago in the last two games. And that Trubisky has been sacked 8 times while attempting just 23 passes the last two weeks (so thumbs up on the Saints D). So many crazy stats. I would not use Willie Snead, by the way.
Falcons at Jets: Teams are pretty much healthy. Falcons might be able to get their offense going in this one. I'm starting Rivers over Ryan, just because of the way Ryan has disappointed in so many games, but Jets defense not that tough. For the Jets, I picked up Jermaine Kearse to use this week, dropped Elijah McGuire, who's back to being the No. 3. Another possible weather issue in this one.
49ers at Eagles: One of the league's best teams hosts one of its worst. Thumbs up on Eagles starters. Expecting some sort of garbage-time production from the likes of Pierre Garcon and Carlos Hyde, in the passing game anyway. Maybe George Kittle and C.J. Beathard. Marqise Goodwin may not be available.
Panthers at Bucs: Tampa Bay's defense has been pretty awful lately, although so has Carolina's offense in recent games. Though as pointed out by somebody, the last time Cam Newton walked out of a press conference, he came out and had a good game the next week. Anyway, I like the Carolina offense, and am fine with the Bucs passing game, the major components anyway. Sounds like Luke Kuechly will return, a negative for Doug Martin. Graham Gano may not be able to kick; the idea of Roberto Aguayo lining up a potential game-winner against the Bucs would make for great theater.
Texans at Seahawks: You probably heard about the Texans-Bob McNair dust-up. Not much to say beyond I hated Houston's offense in this game anyway, so the possibility of some players either not trying their hardest or at very best lacking focus doesn't make me feel any better about them. Thumbs up on Seattle's offense, except for Thomas Rawls-Eddie Lacy (though again, I'm starting Jeremy Hill in a league, so I can't write one of these guys off entirely -- I just don't know which one Seattle will decide to favor. Houston defense doesn't worry me overly in Seattle even with total focus.
Cowboys at Washington: Should be more offense than defense here. Washington has some ability and Dallas has some pass rush, but I think you're using Dallas' key starters regardless. For Washington, I don't know what to make of Jay Gruden's bizarre comment about using the "hot hand" with Terrelle Pryor and Josh Doctson at wideout. How does a wide receiver have a hot hand? In any case, Doctson a better bet than Pryor right now, but hard to have a ton of confidence, particularly with a coach saying such outlandish things. And possibility of wind and heavy rain.
Steelers at Lions: No Martavis Bryant, so Justin Hunter fills in and won't necessarily provide any less than Bryant has thus far (but that doesn't make him a great option). JuJu Smith-Schuster is more compelling. I was impressed by Roethlisberger last week, albeit at home, so I'm a little higher on him than Ian is this week. For Detroit, Golden Tate is expected to play, hurting the appeal of the other receivers, but it's not like the Lions are going to run wild, either. Decent Sunday night game, I think.
Broncos at Kansas City: Oh great, the Broncos are in primetime against a team that's much better than them right now. Glad to be able to prepare a couple of days in advance for my son going to bed disappointed in his favorite team. Kansas City's defense hasn't been playing well, but "not playing well" is a couple of levels above Denver right now. Sounds like no Emmanuel Sanders, but I can't feel great about Bennie Fowler or anything connected to Denver's offense. Not a great matchup for Kansas City, obviously, but Kelce-Hunt-Hill are in lineups.
Enjoy the games.
--Andy Richardson