New York Giants @ Los Angeles Rams (Game played in London)
Giants -3; O/U 43.5
Giants – Last week, Odell Beckham Jr torched the Ravens secondary in the second half, putting up a career high 222 yards with two scores. Now he plays the Rams who are arguably the worst in defending the pass. Odell will feast again, which makes Eli Manning a good QB play if necessary. Both receivers Sterling Shepard and Victor Cruz have been inconsistent or just plain bad, so I don’t have a lot of confidence in starting them. The Rams represent a great opportunity however, so it does give them a glimmer of hope. I would avoid Rashad Jennings unless you have no other options in your lineup.
Rams – Kenny Britt had a monster game last week, and is a good play once again this Sunday. If you managed to grab him off waivers, or already had him on your roster then have full confidence putting him back in the lineup. Todd Gurley is an obvious lock. There’s nothing crazy about the Giants defense, but these London games can be funky so Gurley could explode for major numbers. Tavon Austin is a complete wildcard. He has a ton of potential, but rarely taps into it. His floor is depths of Hell low, but he’s got himself a nice ceiling. He’s too risky unless you are very desperate.
Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles
Vikings -2.5; O/U 40
Vikings – The only guys I feel confident in are the Minnesota Defense and Kyle Rudolph. Those two normally produce week in and week out. Stefon Diggs is coming back from a groin injury that has hampered him for a couple weeks so I’m a little skeptical there. Jerick McKinnon averaged 1.8 YPC last game against Houston. That’s just putrid. The Eagles defense has been good for fantasy, meaning they have the ability to create turnovers and it’s been tough to score on them. It’s hard to trust much from this offense.
Eagles – The Vikings defense is LEGIT. Knowing that, it makes Eagles offensive players difficult to insert into lineups. I can’t fully trust Jordan Matthews and Ryan Mathews to produce this week. Jordan will likely see top corner Xavier Rhodes, while Ryan has been stuck in a disgusting timeshare. I can see the Vikings eating up Carson Wentz, just feasting on his inexperience and causing a long day for the Eagles. Avoid all Philly offensive options.
Oakland Raiders @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Jaguars -1; O/U 47
Raiders – This is a great time to have members of the Raiders passing game. The Jags are pretty bad as we all know, so Derek Carr has an amazing spot here. Both Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree are elite options this week, but you are starting them anyways regardless. Raiders running backs though are a different story. Latavius Murray returned to practice, but that backfield is so icky right now and if you are looking to start a Raider RB, then you have bigger problems. If I had to pick one, it’s Jalen Richard, strictly for the passing game.
Jaguars – Everyone who was big on Blake Bortles this year and spent a decent pick on him is likely pretty pissed if they are still riding with him. Yes he’s been very underwhelming, but this is his best chance to prove he can get the job done. The Raiders are just as bad, if not worse defending the pass so Bortles at home has a great matchup. If he can’t get it done now, he can be cut after this. The beneficiaries of Bortles’ opportunity are obviously Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns. They should get the most work, and Robinson performs significantly better at home. Marquis Lee offers some upside for deeper plays, while a guy like Julius Thomas is a head scratch as to why he’s not more involved.
Buffalo Bills @ Miami Dolphins
Bills -3; O/U 44
Bills – Tyrod “T-Mobile” Taylor has put together a sneaky good fantasy season so far and if you have a QB on bye this week, he could be a nice streamer. The offense lives and dies with LeSean McCoy, but McCoy is suddenly listed as questionable (but is probably out, who knows) for this Sunday with a hamstring injury. Backup Mike Gillislee has ran well for Buffalo and should step right in to a productive spot replacing McCoy. Robert Woods has been dealing with a foot injury and is questionable. He could be a nice WR3 or flex if healthy this week and you need more options. He missed practice on Friday however, so his availability is not looking good for Sunday.
Dolphins – Miami means Jarvis Landry. I love Jarvis Landry, I just don’t love Miami. The target machine should fare well this game. Buffalo has a respectable secondary, making it a little more difficult for Ryan Tannehill and DeVante Parker. Jay Ajayi took Week 6 by storm after Arian Foster was cleared to play. I suggested keeping Foster on the bench which was great, but had no idea Ajayi would be a factor whatsoever. He wont have as big a game as he did last week, but he could still put up respectable numbers against Buffalo.
Baltimore Ravens @ New York Jets
Jets -1.5; O/U 40.5
Ravens – Both of these secondaries are bad, so Baltimore’s receivers have some potential here. The only problem is, Joe Flacco is nursing an injury and could be out. This would put Ryan Mallett under center which is not good. Not good at all. Terrence West will likely struggle against the Jets front seven. Not many people can do what David Johnson just did to them, but he’s that good. Steve Smith is still working on an injury, and would be a nice play if healthy. Mike Wallace is the safest play of Ravens receivers this week with his big play ability. If Smith is sidelined again, that helps out both Kamar Aiken and Breshad Perriman. Lot of if’s here in Baltimore — which typically means there’s nothing trustworthy.
Jets – The Jets have decided to switch back to Geno Smith, who can’t really be much worse than Ryan Fitzpatrick. Smith has targeted Brandon Marshall heavily in the past, so there could be hope here. I can’t see Matt Forte doing much work on the ground this game. I can’t see the offense really doing that much at all. Quincy Enunwa hasn’t taken the jump that we hoped he would in Eric Decker‘s departure. Instead, Charone Peak and Robby Anderson have seen the biggest jump. Jets gonna Jet, I guess.
New Orleans Saints @ Kansas City Chiefs
Chiefs -6.5; O/U 50.5
Saints – You know Drew Brees is going to get his. The yards and the scores will be there, but against Kansas City (on the road), it may not be as much as you normally expect. The Chiefs are very good at home and boast a solid defense. The Saints have a lot of weapons, but I would hinder my expectations on Brandin Cooks, Willie Snead and Michael Thomas. The Chiefs are very good with defending the tight end, so I would also lower my expectations as well on Coby Fleener. Mark Ingram has been very up and down. A lot of his production comes from passes out of the backfield.
Chiefs – We all know how bad the Saints defense is, which will give a boost to a normally vanilla Chiefs offense. Alex Smith could be serviceable this week, but you can easily do better. Don’t stoop that low. Spencer Ware seems to have the trust of his coaches and has been featured even with the return of Jamaal Charles. Ware is a great play this week. Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce have some extra value as well.
Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals
Bengals -10; O/U 45
Browns – The Browns are the Browns. They have barely any servicable fantasy options. Terrelle Pryor has been dealing with injuries, while Isaiah Crowell has been struggling lately. Duke Johnson is likely the better back with the Browns a good bet to be behind early. Not many options here.
Bengals – On the flip side though, there are plenty of Bengals players to use against Cleveland. Andy Dalton has a spectacular matchup here — he threw for 450+ yards and 5 touchdowns in two meetings against the Browns last year. Gio Bernard has been solid fantasy-wise catching a lot of passes out of the backfield. The Bengals have given him goal line carries over Jeremy Hill which is puzzling, but speaks to Hill’s lack of production. One would think that if he could get it done, it would be this week. AJ Green is ready for a MONSTER game against this very bad secondary — especially with Joe Haden out. Green has been torching secondaries so far regardless of who they are. With his heavy target load, fantasy owners can expect great things coming their way.
Washington Redskins @ Detroit Lions
Lions -1.5; O/U 49.5
Redskins – After Redskins players celebrated following their defeat of the Eagles last Sunday, they will be celebrating knowing they get to face the god awful Lions secondary. Kirk Cousins will have the benefit of picking apart Detroit in the dome, but he will likely be without top target Jordan Reed. With Reed out, that creates more opportunities for guys like Jamison Crowder and Pierre Garcon to have better fantasy games than normal. DeSean Jackson and his big play ability might be out for this one, as he is currently questionable. Matt Jones has been a nice surprise after a less than stellar start. He could have a nice day as well facing the Lions.
Lions – Matthew Stafford at home against the Redskins will generally be a nice time to use him in your lineup. I like him a lot more at home where he seems to have some absurd days. The only issue with facing the Redskins is knowing Josh Norman will be on the other side. This could limit the upside of Marvin Jones, who I would expect Norman to cover. With Norman on Jones, that could allow Golden Tate to build off last week and have another solid fantasy day. Anquan Boldin also offers some deep streaming upside — that dude flat out balls, no matter how old he is. In the backfield, Theo Riddick is becoming more and more doubtful. It could be another week of Zach Zenner, but this time with some Dwyane Washington sprinkled in. I don’t like that backfield at all.
Indianapolis Colts @ Tennessee Titans
Titans -3; O/U 48
Colts – The Colts have been very strange this season, with limited fantasy options. Frank Gore faces a very tough Titans run defense, but has been relatively consistent with his production. Will Father Time ever catch up with this dude? Andrew Luck will be his usual self, probably go down early on, before staging himself a nice comeback in the end. I’m not too thrilled about him this week. TY Hilton should have a nice day against the Titans corners. It helps that Luck peppers him a ton. With an injury to Dwayne Allen, our guy Jack Doyle becomes an alright streaming option if you really need a fill in.
Titans – Tennessee is walking right into a cupcake schedule, and after dispatching the Browns last week, get the lowly Colts D to continue their run. I love Marcus Mariota again this week, but not as much as I love DeMarco Murray. I think Murray will be the highest scoring RB this week. He had a down week by his standards last Sunday, so look for him to bounce right back. Same goes for Delanie Walker — he struggled against the hapless Browns but should a great play again vs the Colts. Kendall Wright emerged big time last week doing what we had all hoped Tajae Sharpe would do. Wright offers WR3/Flex upside if you need it.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs San Francisco 49ers
Bucs -2; O/U 46
Buccaneers – With Doug Martin out for Week 7, Jacquizz Rodgers will remain fantasy relevant. The 49ers are terrible against the run, as you saw what LeSean McCoy did to them last week (140 yards, 3 scores). Rodgers makes for a great RB2 play this week especially after being given 30 carries his last game. The Bucs also lost Vincent Jackson when he was placed on the IR recently, which should allow Mike Evans to have even more targets than usual. I see a big Evans week coming. Jameis Winston has been very up and down this season. Consider this an “up” matchup. Cameron Brate and Adam Humphries could also benefit from Jackson’s absence as deep sleeper plays.
49ers – San Francisco will also be without Carlos Hyde this week. This will allow Mike Davis to assume the early down role, while Shaun Draughn could operate on 3rd downs and passing downs. Davis is the better fantasy option and can be used to replace Hyde, Martin or McCoy if you unfortunately have one of them. Jeremy Kerley didn’t impress in new QB’s Colin Kaepernick‘s season debut. He’s a tough play to use this week, since he looks like a Blaine Gabbert guy.
San Diego Chargers @ Atlanta Falcons
Falcons -6.5; O/U 53.5
Chargers – Vegas has this as the highest scoring game of the week and rightfully so. Neither of these defenses are very good so a shootout in Atlanta is bound to happen. Phillip Rivers is a great play, and I really love Hunter Henry this week. Henry has been on fire, catching touchdowns in three straight games. I also really like Tyrell Williams this week, while Travis Benjamin also has great value against the Falcons. Melvin Gordon should continue to put up RB1 numbers while being featured in the offense.
Falcons – The atomic bomb. Usually referenced as an A-Bomb and sometimes used with Alex Rodriguez. This week it’s an Atlanta bomb that’s likely to go off at home against San Diego. After facing both the Seahawks and Broncos, Matt Ryan gets the depleted Chargers secondary and should take full advantage of that. Julio Jones is in line for a monster stat line, and Mohamed Sanu could be in line for some nice production. Running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman are in good spots, but I really like Freeman this week and he should overshadow Coleman’s production heavily.
New England Patriots @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Patriots -7 (LOL); O/U 47
Patriots – Same old song and dance here. Tom Brady will feast, while the offense continues to hum like a sweet song bird. Rob Gronkowski is the No. 1 tight end this week as he should be. I’d expect a huge stat line. James White has solidified his spot as a PPR RB2 with Brady back. He’s been getting lots of catches out of the backfield, and has even become a red zone option which is just gravy. Hopefully Julian Edelman can snap out of his funk and put up a standard Jules day. He was great last year against the Steelers, so Brady’s boy needs to come back soon. Martellus Bennett is also a solid tight end play despite Gronk’s presence.
Fun Fact: Tom Brady vs Mike Tomlin’s Steelers since 2007: 134 for 189: 1,667 yds, 17 TD, 0 INT, 127.9 QBR. Pretty good, imo.
Steelers – As we wrote earlier this week, the loss of Ben Roethlisberger deeply affects the rest of the Steelers fantasy outputs. Antonio Brown takes a big bump down as he has struggled to produce with quarterbacks that aren’t named Ben. Sammie Coates did nothing last week, and you shouldn’t expect much from him this week either. He can be put on your bench. The one shining light the Steelers have is Le’Veon Bell. His usage will go up to help out Landry Jones, but his PPR numbers will take a hit, much to our disappointment.
Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals
Cardinals -1.5; O/U 43.5
Seahawks – We all expected Russell Wilson to have a good game against Atlanta and he flopped. That noise you hear is The Wolf and The Truth’s Panic Meter (I prefer Panic O-Meter). We’re not sure what’s happening to Russ, but maybe he needs to stop porking Ciara for awhile and see if that could help. The entire Seahawks team is tough to use as the Cardinals have one of the league’s better defenses, especially at home and on primetime television. Be cautious with Christine Michael, Doug Baldwin and Jimmy Graham‘s expectations.
Cardinals – Carson Palmer STINKS. Stinks! Don’t play Palmer this week, go use someone else. Use Geno Smith if you have to. The Legion of Boom should put their mark on Cardinals receivers, making it tough to play Michael Floyd and John Brown. Ol’ Reliable Larry Fitzgerald has a tough matchup, but knowing him, he can put up a solid stat line and should remain in your lineups regardless. Of course, there’s the beast that is David Johnson. After expecting him to struggle against the Jets run defense, he proceeded to rip their heads off and shit down their throat. So have full confidence in DJ to be a freak each and every week.
Houston Texans @ Denver Broncos
Broncos -8.5; O/U 40.5
Texans – The Brocketship aka Brock Osweiler is in for a loooooooooooooooooong day Monday night. The Denver secondary is elite and gives opposing quarterbacks fits each week. Osweiler has been pretty piss poor this year, and should get shut down by the Broncos. Unfortunately, that means it’s a tough spot for DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller. A very bad matchup for those two, Hopkins needs to stay in your lineup, but if you have some good bench options to fill in for Fuller I would strongly consider that. The play here will be Lamar Miller. The workhorse has been fed by Bill O’Brien this year and exploded against the Colts last week. The Broncos defense actually kind of struggles with the run, so Miller has the chance to put up some nice numbers Monday. Expect Miller to touch the ball 1,000 times.
Broncos – The Texans defense isn’t as good as the Broncos, but it’s still a respectable one that can limit Denver’s production. Trevor Siemian is not a viable option this week, he’s only usable in good matchup streams. CJ Anderson has had his tires pumped by people, but I’m personally fading fast on him. I think Devontae Booker will start to have his role increased and eat into Anderson’s work. Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders take a hit going against Houston. It seems to be on schedule for a low scoring, grind it out, primetime blah game, which is not good for fantasy owners.
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