Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own brief take on what I think will happen, as well as touching on significant injury news since our Weekly came out. I'll check in over the course of the day to answer questions, too.
The official rankings are the ones in the Weekly. Those take precedence. But sometimes players are very close, and in those cases I'm glad to offer opinions on how I'd approach those situations. Sometimes I like certain players more or less than Ian, and sometimes I have different risk tolerance with injuries etc.
Kansas City at Carolina: No Pacheco, so Kareem Hunt looks good. We've discussed this one a lot, tough matchup for Chuba Hubbard and the Carolina offense in general, but he and Legette are viable if not great. For KC I'm also in on DeAndre Hopkins and Mahomes. People shouldn't need much help to use starters against the worst defense in the league.
Minnesota at Chicago: D'Andre Swift (groin) questionable, but he practiced fully on Friday. Tough matchup for running. Bears should have beat Green Bay and will probably be competitive here, but still best to tread cautiously with their offense. Vikings in usual spots, Bears defense respectable but banged-up, I think I like T.J. Hockenson a little more than rankings suggest. Keenan Allen picked up an ankle injury in practice, if he's out Rome Odunze and DJ Moore a little more promising.
Tennessee at Houston: Good situation for Mixon, Stroud, Nico. Tyjae Spears out, helping Tony Pollard. Nothing special to say about this one.
Detroit at Indianapolis: Colts defense somehow respectable against the Jets last week, presumably because it was the Jets. I'm not buying, Lions should put up big numbers. Jameson Williams paid off last week and I'd take the plunge again, while conceding he's a hit or miss player. In on Sam LaPorta too. Colts offense somewhat hard to predict who the better performers will be, and the Lions defense has exceeded expectations for much of the season -- it's not last year.
New England at Miami: Miami's offense should be very good. Patriots, I'm in on Maye and DeMario Douglas and Rhamondre, with Hunter Henry also a generally productive option. Sort of hoping the Patriots spring the upset, but expectations should be low for that.
Tampa Bay at N.Y. Giants: Crazy week for the Giants. I guess I can't blame them for making the choices they did, they couldn't risk Daniel Jones getting hurt and being on the hook for the huge contract they gave him, oh, 20 months ago. I do not understand elevating Tommy DeVito over Drew Lock though. They're both terrible, but Lock's the No. 2, he's the guy who should be starting. No question. Bucs offense should be good, I don't really expect the Giants to rally together after the past week. Malik Nabers says he's playing but that needs to be confirmed. Oh yeah, Mike Evans returns, I'd use him.
Dallas at Washington: Another situation where I don't expect the underdog to rise up and make things really competitive. I guess it's possible, but the Cowboys just don't have a ton going for them. Lamb, Dowdle, Luke Schoonmaker (with Jake Ferguson out), those are the guys to consider. Brian Robinson yes, key Commanders passing game options sure, though it's been a quiet month for Jayden Daniels.
Denver at Las Vegas: Seems like an easy win for Denver but I thought the same for the Steelers on Thursday. I think the big question everyone will have here is how the backfields might be used. I expect (and the coaches have not called me personally) the Broncos to be about 60-40 Javonte/Estime (with McLaughlin getting just a few snaps) in a good matchup and the Raiders to be about 60-40 Ameer Abdullah/Dylan Laube, in a bad matchup. Raiders could decide to feature the rookie Laube, but Abdullah is definitely playing at least some and at least with him there's something to go on at the NFL level. If you start either Raiders back you need to be braced for disappointment, while there's also the slight chance one of them catches 4-5 passes and scores a touchdown against a Broncos team that's certainly a candidate to let down. Just, don't look for either LV back to be recommended here. And last week I was recommending Estime only to see Javonte featured, so I'll be treading cautiously with him, too.
San Francisco at Green Bay: No Brock Purdy. I would use George Kittle anyway, but I thought it would be a run-heavy game plan anyway. A little cool on the receivers, but Jauan Jennings has been hot and maybe Deebo Samuel plays more as a running back. With Green Bay, I think the ReDrafter and Weekly laid out the problem locking in on any one receiver. Different guy steps up each week. I've been leaving Jayden Reed on the bench. Tucker Kraft also hit or miss at this point.
Arizona at Seattle: Should be raining in this one, favoring the run games. That's how the Cardinals want to play anyway. Seattle not as much, but Kenneth Walker looks fine and their passing game has been pretty productive. Big game in the wide-open NFC West.
Philadelphia at L.A. Rams: The more I watch the Eagles the more I see Nick Sirianni making some dubious calls. He's gotten away with it in recent games against lesser opposition, maybe not this week. No DeVonta Smith, so Dallas Goedert looks better than usual. Other key Eagles also in lineups. Key Rams too, despite the tough matchup. Should be an entertaining Sunday night game.
Baltimore at L.A. Chargers: Also a good game. Ravens have generally given up points on defense and put up points on offense, but it was different against the Steelers and maybe this, too, will be a little more defensive oriented. Tough matchup for J.K. Dobbins, as the rankings suggest. Baltimore has a Rashod Bateman injury on the report that's of unknown severity; Bateman kind of unpredictable anyway. Flowers and Andrews (and Henry and Lamar) the players to consider. Chargers passing game should lead the way, so Herbert-McConkey and perhaps Dissly and Johnston viable. Big matchup in the AFC.
Will check in to answer questions on close players or injury-related stuff, around thinking about starting my Christmas shopping. Enjoy the games.