The NFL has an unusual schedule in that they implement a bye week for each team, scattered throughout the body of the season. Some teams get their bye early, while others have to wait until the season is nearly over. Some weeks, two teams get a bye, some weeks, four teams get the week off, and other weeks, like this week, six teams get the week off. With only 13 games on the docket, your fantasy team may take a hit, and you may find it hard to fill all your roster spots. This is when all that planning pre-draft comes in handy, looking ahead to see when your players had their bye and making sure you had a viable replacement. It could very well be the difference between a playoff berth and falling short.
It’s important at this time of year for teams not to have any letdown games. With parity throughout the league, almost every game matters for almost every team. Last week, these five teams all won important games (Steelers, Texans, Dolphins, Vikings, and Lions); they cannot afford to lose this week.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns:
The Steelers are 8-2 and firmly entrenched in first place in the AFC North, and coming off a huge victory against the Baltimore Ravens. They can not afford a letdown on the road, facing the lowly 2-8 Browns.
Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans:
The Texans had been sputtering but easily dispatched their in-state rival, Dallas Cowboys. They are now back home, facing their former Houston cousins, the Houston Oilers. They are now 7-4 and two full games ahead of the Indianapolis Colts. Good teams take care of business and easily win these games.
New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins:
The Dolphins have now won two in a row with Tua Tagovailoa back at QB. They have gotten themselves back in the playoff chase, sort of…they are sitting at 4-6, only one game behind the Broncos in the loss column. They must win this game against the Patriots to inch closer to relevance.
Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears:
After their two game blip, the Vikings have now won three games in a row and firmly in the playoffs, with an outside chance of regaining the top seed in the NFC. They have a divisional road game against a plucky Chicago team. They have now lost four in a row though, and they may have lost hope on the season. It will be interesting to see how Caleb Williams handles the rest of the season. This is a game that the Vikings must win.
Detroit Lions at Indianapolis Colts:
A point could be made that each of these teams won this past week, and both can’t afford a letdown. But let’s face it, nobody believes the Colts will win this game, which makes it even more important for the Lions to prevail. With the Vikings right on their heels, they must keep winning. The Colts did win an exciting game against the Jets, with Anthony Richardson playing like the QB they hoped he’d be after being benched for two weeks. And at 5-6, the game is huge for them, too, but championship-caliber teams like the Lions go on the road late in the season and leave with a win.
These five teams are worthy of a five-team parlay.
This past week didn’t have too many injuries, with only Jacksonville’s WR Gabe Davis suffering a season-ending injury, with a meniscus tear.
As far as this week’s list of firings, inexplicably, Doug Pederson and Mike McCarthy still have their jobs. But the New York Jets fired their GM, Joe Douglas. He was in his sixth year with the team…can anybody say scapegoat? First, it was HC Robert Saleh, and now it’s Douglas. This feels like a complete teardown at the end of the season.
As far as owner Jerry Jones is concerned, Cooper Rush is still the man in Dallas. He apparently saw enough on Monday Night out of Rush to keep him installed as the starter over Trey Lance. If Jones isn’t going to see what Lance has in the tank now, it’s never going to happen.
It’s Tommy Cutlets time in New York. HC Brian Daboll is throwing everything against the wall at this point to see if anything sticks. He announced that he was sitting down Daniel Jones in place of Tommy Devito. This has desperation written all over it. They do have a winnable home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Devito may be the spark the team needs to win a game here or there. But at 2-8, it’s probably better if they lose the rest of their games this season.
The NFL has admitted that they decided to hold off any decision regarding any punishment against Nick Bosa for wearing his MAGA hat after San Fransisco’s primetime win a few weeks ago until after the election. Well, the election is now over, and it will be interesting to see what the NFL does, if anything.
This past week, there was a slew of new celebration dances across the league…apparently, President-Elect Trump’s unique dance at the end of his rallies has organically become a thing. MMA fighter Jon Jones did it after his fight, and on Sunday, Bosa did it after a sack, and Brock Bowers did it after a TD…along with many other players. The NFL has come out and said the dance doesn’t violate any rules and has no qualms about the celebrations to go.