The Starts

Jameis Winston – Coming off of a stellar game last week, Winston goes on the road to take on a Colts team that has not been great defensively this season, they did get 3 interceptions off of Matt Ryan, but I doubt we’ll see that kind of production from them 2 weeks in a row, not with Doug Martin running the ball to set up the play action passes. Winston is a rookie going on the road, but he’s already won games in New Orleans and Atlanta, plus, he seems to be coming into his own this season. I like Winston’s chances to do well in this game

Javorius Allen – The Ravens lost Joe Flacco and Justin Forsett for the season last week, and they will be facing off against the Browns on Monday night. The Browns are downright terrible against the run, even if they’ve tried to improve that this season, they’re still at the bottom of the league in run defense, giving up 138.8 rushing yards per game.

Larry Fitzgerald – Going against the 49ers this week, Fitzgerald is a must start, as the 49ers have been playing terribly, and with Carson Palmer under center, this is a good week for Fitzy. The Cardinals have been on fire lately, and I don’t expect that to change any time soon, oh, and Fitzy had 134 yards and 2 touchdowns against the 49ers in week 2

The Sits

Ryan Tannehill – Going up against the Jets this week seems like a dicey proposition for the Dolphins signal caller, as the Jets have a quality defense that’s been good at shutting down quarterbacks (mostly). Tannehill also has not saved his best for the games against his division rival, throwing only 6 touchdowns and 8 interceptions against them… in 7 career games.

Frank Gore – Frank Gore has finally started to look old, he might actually be human after all! This is unfortunate for both him and the Colts, as they brought him in to balance their offense, but, as he always does, Ahmad Bradshaw has come in to save the Colts run game, and their season, getting a lot of touches last week, including 2 touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons, meaning Gore could be in more of a timeshare than he’s used to, and a surprisingly stingy Bucs run defense doesn’t help things.

Charles Clay – The Chiefs defense has been on fire of late, keying their 4 game win streak, and that includes only giving up around 2 points per game to tight ends in that time, I don’t expect that to change this week, as the Bills offense may rely more on the run game in an attempt to slow down Tamba Hali and Justin Houston from the pass rush.

 

The Risks

Andy Dalton – Dalton played a great game last week against the Cardinals, who have a ferocious and opportunistic defense ready to pounce on any quarterback, this week he goes against the Rams,         who have been tough  on quarterbacks lately. That defense has been tough for anyone to break through, but Dalton and the Bengals could be a team that presents too many matchup problems, making Dalton a tough decision this week, he seems like a boom or bust candidate.

Latavius Murray – Murray has had an up and down season, and it’s been mostly down lately, as the Raiders running back has struggled with consistency, and struggling in general in the last 3 games, and going against the Titans run defense, which has been tough this season against opposing runners, this doesn’t look like a game to start Murray, but it would seem that he is due for a big game, after starting this season with such promise.

Stefon Diggs – Diggs looked great early on this season, but going against the Falcons, and their surprisingly good defense against wide receivers, currently 4^th in the NFL against wide receivers, this is not a good week to start Diggs.

I want to start off this post by wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, as I hope you all have a wonderful day with whomever you’re spending the holiday with. Due to the holiday, the weekly recap will be taking a break this week, but in lieu of that, I will be previewing each of the games today in celebration of the holiday, so enjoy the food, the family, and (most importantly) the football!

Philadelphia at Detroit

As per Thanksgiving football tradition, the Lions are playing against the Eagles in a showdown of teams under .500. The Eagles come to town only a game out of first place, after getting demolished at home by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 45-17, and are looking to stay alive in the playoff race, whilst the Lions are far out of the race for the NFC North, and are 3 games out of the wild-card race, and will probably be looking to play spoiler the rest of the way (also a tradition for the Lions at this time of the year). Sam Bradford is questionable to play, meaning that Mark Sanchez could be getting the start (remember Sanchez on Thanksgiving? Sorry Jet fans). The Eagles are a mess right now, but the good news is that they play the Lions, who are coming off a win over the seemingly unpredictable Raiders, but are still not a good team this season. Chip Kelly’s experiment could crash and burn in front of a national audience, or we could see the first steps of recovery for a team who’s currently 1 game better than the Dallas Cowboys, you know, the some Cowboys that lost 7 in a row this season. We should appreciate seeing Calvin Johnson in this game, because who knows what the Lions will look like by next season, as Johnson would represent $21.4 Million of money against the Lions cap, plus Matthew Stafford will could $22 Million against the cap, that’s over a quarter of the team’s allotted cap space wrapped up in 2 players, it already cost them Ndomukong Suh and Nick Fairley, who will be next?

PREDICTION: I will take the Eagles on the road to win this game by a score of 23-17

Carolina Panthers at Dallas Cowboys

Fun fact about this game: The 3-7 Dallas Cowboys opened as favorites to win this game over the 10-0 Panthers. Say what now? Yes, the oddsmakers originally had the Dallas Cowboys as the favorites, as they are at home, and do have Tony Romo back in his second week of action since week 2. Upon learning this news, Panthers coach Ron Rivera called it “A little disrespectful”, he continued “It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before. You know we’ve had a better record in some of our other games where we were underdogs. So we are going to take it in stride. As I said, we are going to play them one at a time and as far as we are concerned everybody is 0-0 and we’ll see how it comes out.” I couldn’t agree more, it’s amazing how disrespected the Panthers have been this season, they’ve found ways to win every game they’ve played, favored, underdogs, at home, and on the road, 10 up and 10 down. As for Dallas, this has been a season of key players missing time, as Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, Greg Hardy and Rolondo McClain have all missed at least 4 games this season (Last week was the first game they all played together this season). The Cowboys need to win every game to realistically have a chance at the postseason, while the Panthers need to win in order to keep the Cardinals at bay, on their way to securing a #1 seed and a 3^rd straight NFC South Title.

PREDICTION: Once again, I will take the road team here, Panthers win 31-17

Bears at Packers

In February of 1992, the Green Bay Packers made a trade with the Atlanta Falcons to send a second year quarterback by the name of Brett Favre to Green Bay for a first round pick, and what happened from there was 16 years of mostly great moments, from the Monday night game he played for his father, to the Antonio Freeman catch, to the incredible 2007 season, to Superbowl XXXI, Favre proved to be an all-time great. For the final game of the Thanksgiving schedule, the Green Bay Packers are retiring Brett Favre’s number, and this game couldn’t have a more fitting opponent than the Chicago Bears, as the teams are a part of the NFL’s oldest rivalry. This game features a pair of gunslingers in Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler, and this one should be a high scoring game, so long as Jay can cut down on the turnovers, and Rodgers can continue the momentum built in a win over the Minnesota Vikings.

PREDICTION: Taking the home team here, the Packers can’t lose a game where Favre’s number gets retired, Packers win: 38-23

Cam Newton is the NFL’s MVP, after the way he dismantled the Redskins, among others this year, there can be little doubt that Cam has proven himself worthy of an MVP Trophy. He has his Carolina Panthers off to a 10-0 start, best in franchise history, and no one in the NFC South (which has been an underrated division this season) is going to catch them, due in large part to Cam’s emergence as a complete quarterback. Kelvin Benjamin was supposed to help Cam’s development, who knew that he could do that from the sidelines, as Cam has had to throw to a receiving core that includes draft bust Tedd Ginn Jr., who only seems to play well with the Panthers, Jericho Cotchery, who is the essence of a possession receiver that struggles to get separation, Philly Brown (Or Corey Brown, whatever he wants to be called) who’s wildly inconsistent, Devin (Bunches of) Funchess who’s a rookie converting from the tight end position to playing wide receiver, and steady Greg Olsen, the one guy how can consistently catch the ball. It’s not exactly Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, but Newton is still making it work to the tune of 20 passing touchdowns and 6 more on the ground. How would this team fare if Derek Anderson was to take over? Probably not well, the run game would falter, as cam has almost 400 yards, and leads the team in rushing touchdowns, the passing game would fall apart.

The Falcons and Buccaneers might be in a battle for first place if Cam wasn’t a Panther right now. That’s where value comes into play, a lot of people will look at this article and think I’m downplaying Tom Brady’s terrific season. By no means am I saying Brady isn’t having a good season, it’s phenomenal, no doubt, but when you have weapons like Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola (He was a good player in St. Louis, just hurt more often), Brandon LaFell, and a stable of running backs to salt away games, it’s much tougher to evaluate Brady’s value, Garoppolo would not have the Patriots undefeated, but they would still be a team with a winning record, so in terms of Offensive Player of the Year, I think Brady would be the right choice (depending on Adrian Peterson and Devonta Freeman’s performances the rest of the way), but in terms of value to the team, there’s no doubt it’s Superman.

The detractors for Cam in the MVP race will talk about the play of the defense this year, as the Panthers have the 5^th rated scoring defense, and the 4^th best defense in terms of yards, but I will point right back to the Patriots defense, who have the 4^th best scoring defense, even if only 16^th in terms of yards. Cam’s passing numbers aren’t as good as Brady’s? Okay Phillip Rivers leads the league in passing yards, should he be and MVP candidate too? No, because his team is 2-8, yes, Brady’s passing yards are superior, but they have scored the same number of touchdowns overall, what’s more important: yards, or points? Carson Palmer has more touchdowns than both of these guys, and I have yet to hear his name in MVP conversations, because it comes down to value, not stats, and no one in the league is more valuable to their team than Cam is to his.

We’ve seen a lot of good coming from Newton throughout his career, but nothing like this, where he seems to have put it all together in terms of his passing game, his running game, and his ability to win games in the clutch. Ask the Seattle Seahawks vaunted Legion of Boom about Cam, ask the Green Bay Packers about how well Cam is playing, they’ve been victims of his success. I wouldn’t want to be the Cowboys on Thursday, as once again the doubters have reared their ugly heads, pegging the Dallas Cowboys, who are 3-7 on the year, fresh off their first win since September against Cam’s 10-0 Panthers. Cam Newton has transformed the Panthers from a team that needs to play slow and win sloppy 15-13 games week in and week out, into a team that could hoist the Lombardi Trophy this February, if that doesn’t scream value, then I don’t know what does. Who’s your MVP Candidate this season, do you agree with me? Do you think it should be Brady? Someone else? Leave a comment on this article with your ideas.

The Starts

Matt Ryan – The Mattural returns to the start section this week against the Indianapolis Colts, Ryan has played well at home against AFC Opponents, in the last 6 years, Matt Ryan has thrown 2 touchdowns in those games. The Colts however, have given up an average of 18 points per game since week 3. This sounds like an opportunity for Ryan to get back into the driver’s seat and start the rest of the Falcons season with a good game.

Chris Ivory – This guy has been a beast this season, en route to one of, if not the, best season of his career as the feature back in New York. This week, this beast goes against the Houston Texans, who have not been good against the run this season, giving up over 20 points per game to running backs.

Sammy Watkins – Watkins has played very well, when healthy, this year, including a good game against the patriots back in week 2. The Patriots pass defense has been down this year from last year, giving up the 5^th most points to fantasy receivers this year, and I’d look for good things out of Watkins this week.

The Sits

Andy Dalton – Don’t do it, we all know what happens to Dalton in Primetime games – he becomes the Red Ryder BB Gun. It’s tempting since he’s been a great quarterback this season, but against a quality opponent, on the road, and on Sunday night, not to mention Dalton hasn’t played well the last couple of weeks, it seems like this would be a good week to sit him down.

Doug Martin – Martin has been a nice fantasy bargain this season, but he hasn’t played as well over the last couple of weeks, despite some good matchups. This week Martin goes against the Eagles, who have been one of the better run defenses in the league, and the Bucs may be trailing early, thus getting away from the run game.

T.Y. Hilton  – Hilton has been a disappointment this season to say the least, having failed to reach double digit points in two-thirds of his games this season. Combine that fact with the fact he will be on the road, in Atlanta, going against Desmond Trufant, without Andrew Luck adds up to another potential disappointment for Hilton.

The Risks

Tyrod Taylor – The last time Tyrod Taylor took on the Patriots, I sat him on my bench only to watch him go off for 3 touchdowns and over 20 points. This time around, even though this game is in New England, where Belichick seems to work his magic to render all quarterbacks useless, especially when they are in the AFC East.

Tavon Austin – Austin is the new DeSean Jackson: total boom or bust. Austin has a chance to go off for a 27 point game, or a 3 point game, but this week, Austin goes against the Ravens, one of the worst pass defenses in the league, Austin has a chance to be terrific this week. The bad news for Austin and the Rams is that Case Keenum, a relative unknown, will be starting this week.

Vernon Davis – All of the hype for this guy being traded to the Broncos from the 49ers, and he has failed to produce in the last 2 weeks. It’s possible that he could turn it around for the end of the season, but the Bears have been surprisingly tough against tight-ends this season, only giving up around 5 points a game to the position, I’d look elsewhere for production from the tight end position.

Lions at Packers

The last time the Lions beat the Packers, Erik Kramer of the Lions completed 14-29 passes for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns, both to Robert Clark to win 21-17, oh and Barry Sanders ran the ball 27 times for 85 yards. That was December 15^th, 1991. As for this game Aaron Rodgers attempted 61 passes, the game in 1991 had a total of 69 pass attempts, oh how times have changed. Both teams tried their hardest to lose this game, but the packers were just a little more successful on this occasion, losing the game 18-16 by missing on a 2 point conversion, Mason Crosby missing a 52 yard field goal, but the Lions gave it their all, missing 2 extra points, and even Calvin Johnson got in on the fun: failing to secure an onside kick to give Green Bay a chance to win. The drops and the lack of a running game made it extra tough for Aaron Rodgers, but at least he wasn’t scared or throwing tablets.

Cowboys at Buccaneers

The good news for the Cowboys is that it looks like Tony Romo might be back next week, the bad news is that it might be too late to matter as they fell to the Buccaneers 10-6 in an ugly game, as Dallas fell to 2-7. Jameis Winston and Mike Evans led the way, as the two connected 8 times for 126 yards. Both defenses played fairly well on this occasion, and Dallas even appeared to have the game won late in the 4^th, when Jameis Winston fumbled on the goal line, but Dallas was called for holding, giving the Bucs another chance, faking the hand-off to Doug Martin, and instead running the ball himself into the endzone. Dallas had a chance at a hail Mary, however, Dez Bryant looked for the pass interference penalty as opposed to the ball, allowing Bradley McDougald to intercept the ball to end the game.

Panthers at Titans

Marcus Mariota struggled mightily in this game, it’s too bad he can’t play the Saints every week, as Mariota only had 185 yards passing on 24 attempts, Cam Newton had an easy time in this game, it seemed, as he completed his first 11 passes, the Titans had a little bit of an issue with how well Cam played, specifically, how he celebrated himself for his great game, trying to stop him from dancing after a 4^th quarter score to put the game away. Cam took the Titans complaints under consideration, and promptly continued dancing… dancing to 9-0 and a 27-10 victory, do I hear MVP chants?

Bears at Rams

If you had Zach Miller in your lineup, you are officially the greatest scout of opportunities in NFL history, as the backup tight end rumbled his way to an 87 yard touchdown (the longest play to a tight end since 1999), the first of two in this game to go with his 107 yards. Jeremy Langford had himself a terrific day, running for 73 yards and a touchdown, also catching 7 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. As for the Rams, Nick Foles has been benched for Case Keenum going into next week, as they were absolutely torched 37-13, as Foles and Gurley struggled in this game.

Saints at Redskins

This might be a new low for Rob Ryan, a week after watching rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota embarrass his secondary to the tune of 4 touchdowns, they had an opportunity to play against Kirk Cousins and the Redskins. The game was tied at 14 at one point…. But that was as close as it would get for the Saints, as they would lose the game 47-14, and watched Cousins throw for 324 yards, 4 touchdowns, and a perfect passer rating of 158.3, before you say it Kirk, yes, I do like that. Rob Ryan did not, neither did Sean Payton or the Saints, as Ryan was relieved of duty this week, it might take him more than 5 minutes to find a new job this time around.

Dolphins at Eagles

In the battle of Chip Kelly versus imposter Chip Kelly (Bill Lazor), this one saw more than a few bizarre things happen, including a safety, set up by what might be the worst kick return (of the non-turnover variety), as Damien Williams bobbled the ball, picked it up, had his own man tell him to fall down, and he does so… at his own 1 yard line. Sam Bradford was injured in this game and might miss a couple of games, in other news, water is wet. The Eagles scored 16 of their 19 points in the first quarter, and held the lead for most of the game, until the Dolphins rallied to cut the advantage to 16-13. The Eagles would kick a field goal to make it 19-13, after Bradford exited the game. Dan Campbell and the Dolphins would not go silently into the night, however, as Jarvis Landry caught a ball that was deflected up in the air, in the middle of the field where only terrible things happen, for a touchdown to take the lead. Sanchez had a chance to redeem himself though, as he led the Eagles into the redzone where Sanchez did what he does best: turn the ball over in back-breaking fashion, throwing an interception into the endzone to Reshad Jones. Dolphins won this crazy game 20-19.

Browns at Steelers

Heeeeeeeere’s JOHNNY! No, really though, there are his highlights for this game, all in all, he didn’t look bad at all, completed over 60% of his passes for 372 yards and a touchdown, which earned him the starting nod for the rest of the season. However, the Browns did lose 30-9, as the Steelers watched Ben Roethlisberger come off the bench and jumpstart the offense to topple their division rival, both Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant had over 130 yards receiving and combined for 3 touchdowns on the day, as the Steelers put themselves in better position for a wild card spot with a now 6-4 record.

Jaguars at Ravens

Jason Myers kicked the Jaguars into playoff position… these are words I did not think I would udder this year, let alone after beating the Ravens, which was controversial in that a seemingly final snap Hail Mary attempt led to Blake Bortles being sacked, but dragged down by his facemask by Elvis Dumervil, giving the Jaguars, trailing 20-19 a chance to kick a 53 yard field goal, however, on the last gasp Hail Mary, the left tackle was not set on the line, meaning that there should have been an illegal formation on the offense, which in the last 2 minutes of a game, when the clock is running, is ruled as a false start, and a 10 second runoff OR timeout (if the offense has a timeout) can be taken to avoid the runoff, but the Jaguars had no timeouts, meaning the game should have ended without the field goal attempt happening, the face mask, irrelevant, and the snap should never have happened. This finishes the Ravens season, in case they weren’t already done, this finishes them off. As for the Jaguars, this win, their first on the road in 2 years (at Cleveland, on December 1^st, 2013), puts them just 1 game behind division leaders Indianapolis and Houston, both 4-5.

Vikings at Raiders

The final score may have read 30-14, but this game was closer than that for most of the afternoon, until Adrian Peterson broke the Raiders with an 80 yard run in the 4^th quarter, on his way to a 200 yard performance on the ground, as the Vikings, now 7-2, sit in the driver’s seat to the NFC North title. As for the Raiders, Derek Carr had 300 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he had 2 interceptions as well, as the normally dynamic Raiders offense was stymied for most of the afternoon. The Raiders are in trouble, as they are behind a bunch of teams in the AFC Wild Card race, and have a lot of work to do if they’re going to catch up.

Patriots at Giants

This was a similar game to what we normally see from these two teams in the regular season (on the rare occasion they do), it’s a back and forth affair that showcases 2 teams that match up well against one another, as each Brady vs. E. Manning has been decided by 4 points or less. Whether it was the 38-35 win for the Patriots in 2007 to complete the undefeated regular season, and the catch that counted for 2 records, the Superbowl where David (Tyree) beat Goliath, or the Superbowl in 2011 where Mario Manningham makes the catch down the sideline… You get the idea, these games are great. This one was no different, as it came down to a Tom Brady drive down the field to set up a game-winning field goal. It has been 4 years…. Are we looking at round 3 in the Superbowl? Maybe not this time around, but this was a fun game nonetheless.

Chiefs at Broncos

Before we get into this game, let’s take a moment to honor the history that Peyton Manning made in this game, he broke Brett Favre’s record for most passing yards in NFL History, that’s an accomplishment that no one can take away from him at this moment, on that note, Congratulations Peyton on the record, hopefully you can get the record for most wins in NFL History in a couple week, in the meantime, heal up, the Broncos will need you for the playoffs. Back to the recap: Manning played one of his worst games in the last decade, but the Chiefs played a great game on the defense, Cairo Santos kicked 5 field goals to give the Chiefs a 22-0 advantage when Gary Kubiak pulled Manning from the lineup, after the game Kubiak said that he shouldn’t have played Peyton due to several injuries. The Chiefs put themselves back in the hunt for a playoff spot with this win, they have a mountain to climb, but they still have hope. Good news for the Broncos, Demarcus Ware and Aqib Talib should be back soon, Emannuel Sanders has a week to rest up and get ready for the Bears, and they can see what they have in Brock Osweiler, whose contract runs out at the end of this season. As for Peyton, rest, get healthy, be ready to play down the stretch and in the playoffs, one week did wonders for you against the Packers, imagine what 2-3 games rest can do.

Cardinals at Seahawks

Early on, this game looked like a one sided affair, as the Cardinals led 22-7 going into the half, 27 second half points, including 2 turnovers in a row by the Cardinals, one was returned for a touchdown, giving Seattle a 29-25 lead, but the Cardinals came storming back as Jermaine Gresham and Andre Ellington scored, giving the cardinals a 10 point lead. The Seahawks would come within 7 points by kicking a late field goal, but it wasn’t enough, as Seattle dropped to 4-5 to the now 7-2 Cardinals 39-32.

 

The Starts

DeAngelo Williams – Coming off a 170 yard game on the ground last week, and going up against the Browns with Landry Jones possibly under center, there’s no question about starting Williams this week.

Doug Martin – Martin has been a good bargain this year if you drafted him, and the matchup against the mightily struggling cowboys has him in good position to put up a solid stat line for your lineup.

Blake Bortles – Bortles has been a much improved player this season, he’s on pace for 34 touchdowns and over 4000 yards this season if he keeps it up, plus he goes against the Ravens today, who’s secondary has been, in terms of the franchise, historically bad against the pass. With Allens Robinson and Hurns in tow, Bortles is set to have a great day.

Eric Ebron – The Packers have given up over 14 points per game to tight ends since week in the last month of the season. Plus the Lions will probably trail in this game, meaning plenty of opportunities for Ebron to make plays

The Sits

Eddie Lacy – Lacy has been trouble this season, for a guy who was a first round pick in most drafts, he has not produced anywhere near that level due partially to injury. With James Starks in the backfield, I look for Lacy to be spending a lot of time on the bench while he heals up. [UPDATE: Lacy has been ruled out, I definitely wouldn’t start him now]

Marcus Mariota – Mariota, against the Panthers this week, would not be a wise player to start, as the Panthers just took down the Packers from the ranks of the undefeated last week. Any team that can mostly bottle up Aaron Rodgers shouldn’t struggle to contain Mariota.

Nate Washington – Washington’s fantasy owners have seen him have some really good games this year, but going against the Bengals, even if in Primetime, should prove to be too tough of a matchup. With Brian Hoyer at quarterback against a very good Bengal defense, the numbers won’t be there this week.

Julius Thomas – The artist formerly known as “Orange Julius” has disappeared into Fantasy purgatory this season, as he has not produced anywhere near the level of production he had in Denver. Going against the Ravens today won’t help things, as they haven’t given up many points to the tight end position.

The Risks

Ryan Tannehill – this man has been among the hardest quarterbacks to predict this season, but going against an Eagles defense that has been good against quarterbacks this year, and the fact that this game is in Philadelphia means that he would be a risk to start this week.

Mike Evans – Yes he’s a number 1 wide receiver coming off of a great game against the Giants, however, the Cowboys secondary is not quite as forgiving over the last month, as they have given up the 6^th fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Evans is a risk, but he could be in line for another big game.

Martellus Bennett – Bennett has been solid, but unspectacular this season for fantasy owners, the Rams are a tough defense against tight ends, but Bennett has the potential for a pretty good stat line, but he could also do very little to impact this game.

Packers at Panthers

This was not a game until the very end. The Panthers shut the Packers down for the first half, only allowing them to score 7 points before a furious 2^nd half rally to get them back in the game, which was halted deep in the Panthers redzone, as Aaron Rodgers missed a wide-open Randall Cobb on a 4^th down to end the Packers chances of tying the game. Panthers win 37-29

Patriots at Redskins

The biggest surprise in this game was that the Redskins kept the damage to only a 17 point loss (27-10) with all the issues they’ve had in the secondary this season, and Kirk Cousins only turned the ball over once in 40 pass attempts against a pretty good Pats defense, in Foxborough no less. The Run game was a disaster for the Redskins, only gaining 37 yards on 15 carries. The bad news for the Pats is the loss of Dion Lewis for the rest of the season to an ACL tear.

Titans at Saints

Welcome back Marcus Mariota, he had himself a terrific game against the Saints, throwing 371 yards 4 touchdowns against a struggling secondary. Drew Brees would not be outdone however, throwing for 387 yards and 3 touchdowns, as this game would go to overtime, tied at 28. Delanie Walker had himself a game though, catching 3 tipped passes, including a spectacular catch where the ball was tipped by 2 Saint defenders. Marcus Mariota would throw the game winning touchdown on the first drive of overtime.

Dolphins at Bills

Tyrod Taylor only threw 12 passes in a 33-17 win over the Dolphins, and 8 of those 12 were completed to Sammy Watkins, who turned those 8 catches into 168 yards and a touchdown. As for the Dolphins, they were unable to keep up with the Bills 3 headed rushing attack of Karlos Williams, LeSean McCoy, and Tyrod Taylor. Ryan Tannehill did manage to throw for 309 yards in the loss however.

Rams at Vikings

This was a tightly contested game throughout, no one able to maintain an advantage, no matter how hard one team may have tried to do it… even if it went beyond the rules. The Rams defense cheap shot on Teddy Bridgewater has no place in the NFL, and Gregg Williams, the defensive coordinator for the Rams, has run into trouble with dirty defenses before (see Bounty Gate), but the Rams got their comeuppance as they fell to the Shaun Hill (Yes, he’s still in the league after all of these years) led Vikings 21-18 in overtime. This win for the Vikes tied them with the Packers for first place in the NFC North

Jaguars at Jets

Despite the loss dropping the Jaguars to 2-6, they competed well in this game, and still have a shot at the AFC South, believe it or not. Chris Ivory struggled hugely in this game, rushing for 26 yards on 23 carries, but he did get into the endzone twice, and Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 272 yards and a pair of scores, which gave the Jets just enough points to beat Blake Bortles 381 yards and 2 scores on a day where the Jags had 2 120 yard receivers in Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson.

Raiders at Steelers

Can the Steelers catch a break?…. Okay, maybe that was poor word choice, but the Steelers were dealt a huge blow with Ben Roethlisberger going down with a foot injury in this game, right after getting him back, and after losing Le’Veon Bell to a torn ACL. The good news for the Steelers is that they were able to survive the onslaught of Derek Carr, as Carr raced the Raiders up and down the field for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns on the day. DeAngelo Williams and Antonio Brown won the day for the Steelers, as Williams racked up 170 yards on the ground, while Brown caught 17 passes for 284 yards on the day.

Giants at Buccaneers

This game was close for most of the afternoon, and got even closer at the start of the 4^th quarter, when rookie Jameis Winston scored a rushing touchdown to make the score 20-18, after missing on the 2 point conversion. 2 Giant field goals and a fumble returned for a touchdown put the game out of reach for Tampa Bay as they fell 32-18 at home.

Falcons at 49ers

Despite the football gods giving the Atlanta Falcons the gift of possibly the greatest schedule ever, including the timing of the Andrew Luck injury (details to follow), they got to play Blaine Gabbert and the 49ers. How do they respond? By laying an egg in San Francisco, they appeared to show no fight in this game, as they seemed to think the game would win itself. Dan Quinn’s decision to kick a field goal on 4^th down in the 4^th quarter of a 4 point ballgame proved to be the difference, as they could have gone for the win, rather than playing not to lose. The 49er defense deserves a ton of credit though, holding NFL touchdown leader Devonta Freeman to only 12 rushing yards has proven to be a tough task this year.

Broncos at Colts

This was an all-around well played football game between division leaders (granted, leading the AFC South is about as meaningful as leading the NFC South last season.), and it looked like a game between 2 good teams. Peyton Manning looked good, passing for 281 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, there was a bizzare sequence at the end of the game where Denver cornerback Aqib Talib poked Dwayne Allen, a Colts’ tight end, in the eye. Not only did this lead to a suspension, but it also kept Peyton Manning from getting on the field with a chance to tie or win the game for Denver. Oh, and it kept Peyton from breaking Bret Favre’s passing yardage record… in front of the home crowd that had supported Peyton for most of his career, no big deal Talib, just remember “Ice up, son”

Eagles at Cowboys

For a game being quarterbacked by Sam Bradford and Matt Cassel, this was actually a fun one to watch, as these 2 NFC East rivals went head to head in a back and forth affair where 4 quarters was not enough to decide it, as each team scored 13 points in the final frame to tie the score at 27 apiece before the Eagles won the game in overtime on a beautiful throw to Jordan Matthews that went for a 41 yard touchdown, Sam Bradford’s only one of the game. DeMarco Murray had himself a great game, rumbling for 161 total yards and a touchdown on the ground against his old team. As for the Cowboys, this marks the 6^th straight game they’ve lost, all of them since Tony Romo went down with an injury. Dez Bryant looked like his old self at least… maybe a little too much.

As we near the halfway point in the season, this is the time where the trade frenzies begin, and everyone is looking for an edge in playoff positioning. Here’s my recommendations to help get you there.

The Starts

Derek Carr – after saying “Park the Carr” last week, he kicked it into overdrive and shifted the course of his and his team’s season against a very tough Jets secondary. I’ll stop with the puns for now, I promise. This week Carr goes against the Steelers, who don’t exactly have The Steel Curtain on defense, they’ve played well overall, but the Raiders have too much firepower on offense to be contained. Carr seems like he could be on his way to a weekly must-start at the quarterback position.

Chris Ivory – If you’re disappointed by his awful game last week, and think he could be slowing down, don’t think, keep this guy in your lineup, he’s too talented, the matchup is too good, and the Jets will be looking to pound the ball against a not very good Jaguar defense this week. With Fitzpatrick and Brandon Marshall banged up, the run game is going to be the lifeblood of the Jets.

Steve Johnson – The Chargers take on the Bears, who have among the worst defenses in the league, and will be without Keenan Allen for the rest of the season, making Johnson one of the top targets in the Chargers offense, the top offense in the league. I’d look for Johnson to get plenty of targets in a game that should feature a ton of points.

Heath Miller – The Raiders seem to forget how tight-ends work, as they have not covered one this season, and Miller is coming off of a 10 catch game against the Bengals stingy defense last week. Miller needs to be started this week, I expect him to have another great game, especially with Big Ben back in the lineup.

Atlanta Falcons Defense – Against the Buccaneers, this same defense was awful (and that’s being kind), but this week, they’re going against Blaine Gabbert….. Is there a better matchup in fantasy football? As long as Jamarcus Russell doesn’t spontaneously get signed somewhere and started on Sunday, then there’s not going to be a better matchup this week for a defense.

The Sits

Ryan Tannehill – I like Ryan Tannehill as a quarterback, but going against a very talented Rex Ryan defense from Buffalo didn’t go well last time, and I don’t expect it to go well this time either, especially considering that this game is in Buffalo. The Dolphins go as Lamar Miller goes, and this matchup suggests that he may struggle this week, as will Tannehill.

Frank Gore – Frank Gore is one of those players that seems like he will always put up 1000 yards and 7 touchdowns in a season, however, this week is not a week that will help his total. The Denver Bronco defense is just too strong for Gore to overcome, as the Colts offensive line can’t seem to get out of its own way, let alone block for anyone.

Jarvis Landry – The Bills defense has not allowed top receivers to score much in the way of points this season, as only 2 number 1 receivers have scored in the double digits this season. Landry is on an unpredictable team with an unpredictable quarterback, so this might be the week to sit him down and look for other options.

Zach Ertz – People continue to tout this guy as a great tight-end, when all he does is catch a few passes, and not even as well as the elite receiving tight-ends in the league. He’s not even considered the starter on his own team, so why start him? Dallas also has a solid defense, and scored almost nothing against the Cowboys the last time these two teams met.

The Risks

Ben Roethlisberger – This guy has been a fantasy stud in years past, however, his return to the field showed a Big Ben that seemed flustered the entire game. This week he goes against an Oakland defense that gives up a ton of fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks (and Tight Ends for that matter), so the matchup is good, the loss of Le’Veon Bell, however, is not. Big Ben would make for a hard player to sit if you’ve held on to him, I would start him, but it could be a risk for disappointment.

Darren McFadden – McFadden is always a risk, no matter who he plays for or against, as he could go off for 100+ yards and a score, average 1.3 yards a carry, or pull a hamstring in the first quarter and not play again for 5 weeks. Not helping matters is that the Philadelphia Eagles have a legit run defense, and Tony Romo is still not under center, so they will be keying on the run game.

Brandin Cooks – Cooks looked great last week against the Giants, scoring 2 touchdowns, and making it look like he was beginning to turn the corner this year after a disappointing start. The Giants have also been using a fullback as a pass rusher, so doing well against a team who’s struggled on defense as much as the Giants have doesn’t mean Cooks has found his groove… necessarily. The Titans are not a good team either but they can stop opposing top receivers…. Or they fall behind so quickly that no one bothers to throw on them anyway.

This week saw a number of high-profile players go down due to injury, including a scary moment in the Seahawks and Cowboys game, with Ricardo Lockette leaving the stadium on a stretcher, I sincerely wish all of those injured a speedy recovery and hope to see them back at full strength next season.

Lions at Chiefs (in London)

For the second week in a row, we had an early London kickoff, and for the second week in a row, this game was unpredictable. The Chiefs throttled the poor Lions 45-10, having 4 different players score rushing touchdowns, and Alex Smith throwing for 2 more, it just seemed like everyone on the Chiefs roster got in on the fun. As for the Lions, it appears that Joique Bell has life, rushing for 56 yards on 7 carries, other than that though, there wasn’t much in the way of good news for them in this game. At least they have Jim Bob Cooter calling the plays, that’s a positive.

Buccaneers at Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are the #1 team in the league at shooting themselves in the foot, they established their dominance in that category throughout this game, turning the ball over 4 times, leading to 20 of the Buccaneers points. Kwon Alexander had himself quite a game, getting 6 tackles, forcing a fumble, recovering a fumble, and even intercepting a Matt Ryan pass. In the second half, the Falcons seemed to remember how to play football, scoring 17 straight points to take the game to overtime, where the defense gave up a field goal, then the offense failed on their next drive. You would think the Falcons would win a game where Ryan threw for 397 yards and didn’t punt, however, bad snaps, poor discipline, and costly penalties will cost you games, even against the Bucs.

Cardinals at Browns

The Browns actually led this game at halftime 20-10, as the Cardinals looked like they were becoming a team that plays down to their competition. Bad news for the Browns though: there are 2 halves in the game of football, and the Cardinals went on to score 24 unanswered points to knock the Browns down to 2-6, and injured Josh McCown in the process, making it look as if Johnny Manziel will get the start on Thursday Night Football. Carson Palmer threw 3 of his 4 touchdown passes in the second half on his way to 374 yards on the day. Chris Johnson and Michael Floyd topped the 100 yard mark rushing and receiving respectively. As for the Browns, Gary Barnidge continued his break out season with a touchdown.

49ers at Rams

Todd Gurley is making his case for offensive rookie of the year, rushing for 133 yards, and Tavon Austin is continuing his breakout campaign, scoring 2 touchdowns on the day en route to a dominant 27-6 win over the 49ers. This 49er team can be summed up by one play in this game: The 9er offense was backed up against the goal line on their own 3 yard line, however, no one covered wide receiver Torrey Smith, Colin Kaepernick didn’t notice this fact, so as opposed to a potential 97 yard touchdown, the Rams would score on a safety later in the drive. This could be part of the reason that Kaepernick was benched in favor or Blaine Gabbert, remember this guy?

Giants at Saints

This was one of the most entertaining games of the season, as there were 14 touchdowns on the way to becoming the 3^rd highest scoring game in NFL history. If you had any players from this game on your fantasy team, you were probably very happy. Eli Manning had 350 yards and 6 touchdowns, however, Eli was outdone by Drew Brees in this QB duel, as Brees technically had 8 touchdown passes, but only 7 of them were to players on his team, as Trumaine McBride has a pick-6. This came down to the very end, as the Saints kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired to win 52-49. Odell Beckham had himself a game as well, catching 8 passes for 130 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Vikings at Bears

The Vikings had lost 7 straight games at Soldier Field, and the Bears looked poised to make it 8 straight after Jay Cutler scored a rushing touchdown to give the Bears the lead with under 5 minutes left, however, Teddy Bridgewater would not be denied, throwing a touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs to tie the game late, on the ensuing drive, the Bears would punt, which allowed the Vikings a minute to drive down the field for the game winning Blair Walsh field goal to send the Vikings to 5-2. Alshon Jeffery had himself a terrific game, catching 10 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown on the day, Adrian Peterson also topped the 100 yard mark for Minnesota.

Chargers at Ravens

Justin Tucker’s 5^th and final field goal of the game led the Ravens to victory over Phillip Rivers and the Chargers 29-26, how did Tucker celebrate this victory? By doing this. Unfortunately for the Ravens, they lost their spiritual leader in Steve Smith Sr. in what may turn out to be the final game of his career, on the day he moved to 10^th all-time on the career receiving yards list. As for the Chargers, this could all but end their season, as they drop to 2-6 with the Ravens. That #1 offensive ranking doesn’t seem to mean much at this point in the year.

Titans at Texans

Things are ugly in Tennessee, they lost this game, they lost their coach, and their fans probably lost their lunch watching Zach Mettenberger get sacked 7 times. They allowed more sacks than they scored points (7-6) on offense, the Texans are not a good football team, but the Titans are worse without Marcus Mariota. Brian Hoyer looked good in this game, throwing touchdowns to DeAndre Hopkins and Nate Washington. When Brian Hoyer looks good in a game that doesn’t go to garbage time, you know you have a bad football team. Remember his tenure in Cleveland? One Browns fan certainly did. Texans win 20-6

Jets at Raiders

This was a statement game for the Oakland Raiders, as they jumped on the Jets early, especially after Ryan Fitzpatrick’s early exit, leading at halftime 21-6 over the mostly Geno Smith led Jets. Derek Carr was phenomenal against a very good Jet defense, throwing for over 300 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Raiders swagger seems to have returned, as they dominated this game from start to finish, and wasn’t as close as the 34-20 final score may indicate. Michael Crabtree went over 100 yards on the day.

Seahawks at Cowboys

In a tough, hard hitting, defensive game, every yard was earned, every point was a struggle as there were a total of 25 points scored in this game, as the Seahawks got the win 13-12. Dan Bailey, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, kicked 4 field goals to give Dallas the lead in the Jerry dome 12-10, until Steven Hauschka kicked what would prove to be the game winner with 1:10 left in the game. Dallas took over, however, they would fail on a 4^th down with 22 seconds remaining to give the Seahawks the win 13-12. The defenses both played tremendous games, however, it was the Seattle offense that was able to get it going, granted Dallas was starting Matt Cassel as opposed to Tony Romo, who is still recovering from his injury. Dez Bryant came back to play in this game, but he only had 2 catches for 12 yards, as Darren McFadden was the leading rusher and receiver for Dallas.

Packers at Broncos

The Denver Bronco defense could be one of the best we’ve seen in NFL history, this team has scored a ton of touchdowns on defense, they’ve held every team they’ve faced to low scores, low passer ratings, and so on. Aaron Rodgers fell victim to the Rocky Mountain Horror Show (new nickname for the Denver defense), as he was held to 77 yards passing. That is not a typo, 77 yards, Aaron Rodgers, while Peyton Manning turned back the clock (as we all did on Sunday) throwing for 340 yards. Apparently Peyton Manning was just getting into the spirit of daylight savings time with how great he looked on Sunday night. The Bronco run game came back with vengeance, rushing for over 160 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 29-10 win over the previously undefeated Packers. Will Green Bay bounce back in Carolina next week? Will Denver continue this dominance on defense?

Colts at Panthers

When this game was 23-6 in the 4^th quarter, it looked like this one was over, however, Andrew Luck came all the way back to tie the game at 23 points to take this game to overtime, where the Colts got the ball first, kicked an Adam Vinatieri field goal to take the lead, only to see the Panthers answer with Graham Gano’s field goal later in OT, the Colts however, would turn the ball over on an interception on their next drive, giving the Panthers a chance to win the game on another Gano field goal, making the final score 29-26. Andrew Luck seems to play much worse in close games, throwing 8 touchdowns and 11 interceptions when games are within 14 points, whereas when the Colts are trailing by 14 points, Luck has thrown 5 touchdowns and 1 interception, with a 112 passer rating. Chuck Pagano needs to right the ship, or else the Colts are in danger of losing the AFC South. The Titans are a game and a half out with a 1-6 record, oh and the Texans are tied for first place. Who do you all think will take the AFC South crown?

The Starts

Matt Ryan – Ryan has not played well as of late, there’s no doubt about that. After a hot start to the season, he’s tailed off. This week should be his elixir, as the Buccaneers are coming to down, and Ryan loves the Bucs, throwing 6 touchdowns in his last two home games against them. I like his odds to increase that total this week.

Andy Dalton – This information is so secret, not even the employees at the daily fantasy sports sites know it, nor use it to win more money: The Steelers pass defense is not very good. Another not-so-well-kept secret: Andy Dalton is having a phenomenal year, leading the Bengals to a 6-0 record while throwing 14 touchdowns against 2 interceptions. Not to mention that the Bengals have an embarrassment of riches at the skill positions. Start Dalton if you’ve got him.

Todd Gurley – The first running back off the board in this year’s NFL draft, Gurley has been lighting it up lately, rushing for at least 125 yards in each of his last 3 games. Yes, the 49ers were a tough draw in the past, but the once proud defense in San Francisco is now giving up 22 points per game to the running back position, and we know that the Rams will run the ball, and will continue to run the ball as long as Jeff Fisher is their head coach.

Alshon Jeffery – When this guy is healthy, he is a beast, he put up 147 yards and a touchdown in his last game, against the Lions before the bye week, and has victimized the Vikings to the tune of 25 catches for 418 yards and 3 touchdowns in his last 3 games against them. That’s an average of 8 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown per game. If that’s not incentive enough to play him, I’m not sure what is

The Sits

Derek Carr – I’d say Derek Carr is a good start most weeks, as he’s in the middle of a terrific year for the Raiders, putting them in decent position to earn a… dare I say it?…. Wildcard spot in the playoffs? Okay, maybe a little soon for that, but I don’t like his chances this week against a very good New York Jets defense that makes life difficult on the best passers the NFL has to offer. Put Carr in Park this weekend, and don’t forget the E-Brake.

Melvin Gordon – The other first round rookie running back is not having quite as much success as his counterpart in St. Louis, as he has developed a fumbling problem, and both Danny Woodhead and Brandon Oliver are taking meaningful snaps away from him, not to mention that the Chargers are not a very good football team right now. This is a bad combination for a young running back to have success, especially in a fairly tough matchup against the Baltimore Ravens

Colts WRs – This is going to be a rough game for Indianapolis, the Panthers defense has been on a tear lately, only bested by the Denver Broncos impenetrable wall of a defense. The Colts offensive line play, along with a possibly not fully-healthy Andrew Luck will lead to a tough matchup for this position group, and as good as TY Hilton is, Josh Norman has been lights out this year, so I wouldn’t look for much from him either.

Heath Miller – One of the least celebrated good tight-ends in the league, probably because he’s not normally a great contributor to the fantasy world, but if you’re streaming TEs. Miller is reliable. The matchup this week however, he’s been reliably mediocre, only scoring 4 touchdowns in 18 career games against the Bengals. Even with Big Ben coming back this week, I don’t like Miller’s odds to be a contributor this week.

The Risks

Matt Stafford – Stafford has looked great since his benching a few weeks ago, he’s averaged about 26 points a game over his last two, and the matchup looks good against the Kansas City Chiefs. Here are the issues: The Chiefs still boast a pass rush with Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, the Lions offensive line still isn’t great, and the game is in London for a 9:30am kickoff. Only strange things happen in that timeslot

Darren McFadden – McFadden appeared to take the lead in the “Dallas Starting Running Back Derby” (It’s not the Kentucky Derby, but outside of the Breeder’s Cup this weekend, what can even come close?) last week after his phenomenal performance. However, this is still Darren McFadden, he could stub his toe getting off the bus and be out for 6 weeks, or he could put up 180 yards and 2 touchdowns, you just never know with him. The matchup against the Seahawks doesn’t help either, as they seem to be getting their mojo back after slumping early in the season.

Randall Cobb – Cobb is the best receiver in the Packers offense, which is great if you were smart enough to draft him, the bad news is he plays against the Denver Bronco’s juggernaut of a defense. Jeremy Maclin, Steve Smith, Calvin Johnson, Amari Cooper, Stephon Diggs, and Travis Benjamin, the top receivers for each of Denver’s opponents this year, were held to a total of 33 catches for 398 yards and zero touchdowns. That’s an incredible level of defense that Cobb might fall victim to, however, Aaron Rodgers is still the quarterback, so there’s always a chance for a good game from Cobb.

Falcons D/ST – As improved as the Falcons defense has been this year, it still doesn’t produce a lot of sacks, they do tend to get turnovers, and with a rookie QB coming to town, the stars seem aligned for a great game for this defense to have a big day. However, Doug Martin is still in the backfield for the Bucs, and Atlanta has struggled against running backs this year (even though they have a highly rated run defense. The matchup looks good, but Doug Martin and Mike Evans could ruin an otherwise great day for this defense.