St. Louis Rams (3-2) at Miami Dolphins (2-3)
The team Jeff Fisher turned down for the head coaching position faces the team he ended up choosing on Sunday. The Miami Dolphins host the St Louis Rams on the day they enter Miami greats Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas into the Ring of Honor. Both teams try to gain ground in their respective divisions. The Rams try to move to 4-2 in a suddenly very competitive NFC West division and the surprising Dolphins try to move back to .500
The Dolphins are leading the league in rushing yards allowed and are in the top ten in running the football. This combination has made the Phins a difficult opponent to go up against. Like the Dolphins the Rams also have a good young quarterback leading the offense in Sam Bradford and also like the Dolphins the strength of the team is on defense. Look for a low scoring game in this one. The team that wins the turnover battle will come out the victor.
Fantasy Outlook
Do not look for an offensive explosion between these two defensively strong teams. The Rams are missing Danny Amendola due to injury and you should not expect much from Steven Jackson. On the other side Reggie Bush is respectable RB2 option but don’t expect huge numbers. Brian Hartline leads the team in targets but teams have started to figure this out, look for him to have 5-6 catches for 60-80 yards.
Buffalo Bills (2-3) at Arizona Cardinals (4-1)
Like two ships passing each other in the night, the Bills and Cardinals are passing each other in NFL relevance. The surprising Cardinals are playing well despite a loss last week to the Rams and the Bills have not lived up to expectations despite some high profile off-season signings. Two teams headed in opposite directions meet Sunday in a NFC West vs. AFC East showdown.
The Cardinals have a solid front seven and Kevin Kolbe has been playing good football for the most part. This has been the winning formula in Glendale this season and has the upstart Cards are in a first place tie with the Niners in the NFC West. The Bills must get things turned around. The defense can’t seem to stop anybody. One bit of good news for the Bills is that both running backs (Fred Jackson & CJ Spiller) appear to be getting healthier. Despite the health of the Buffalo’s running backs look for Arizona to move to 5-1 defeating a struggling Buffalo team.
Fantasy Outlook
I do not like the match up for any body on the Buffalo offense. The Cards have a very stingy defense and Buffalo appears to be asleep at the wheel on offense. My sleeper pick this week is Cards RB LaRod Stephens-Howling. He will receive the bulk of the carries with Ryan Williams out with a shoulder injury and Buffalo is allowing 171 yards per game on the ground.
New England Patriots (3-2) at Seattle Seahawks (3-2)
This game is extremely intriguing to me. Normally this game would be an easy win for the Patriots but Seattle has many things working in their favor. For one, they are playing at home and replacement refs or not they are difficult to beat at Century Link field. What’s more New England must travel across the country to play this game and they will face a strong Seattle defense.
All that said New England is much too polished of a team to get beat by a rookie quarterback. The Patriots offense will outlast the Seattle defense and Bill Belichick and co. will force rookie QB Russell Wilson to turn the ball over. This will be a close fought game but New England’s offense will be just enough to get passed the feisty Hawk’ D.
Fantasy Outlook
Seattle may rely heavily on RB Marshawn Lynch to help out Wilson. Lynch has been quietly steady all year look for him to continue this trend, start him against New England. Tom Brady is a must start every week and start TE Rob Gronkowski even though he has a tough match up. Be wary of starting TE Aaron Hernandez with his injury status uncertain.
Indianapolis Colts (2-2) at New York Jets (3-2)
The Colts travel to New York to face the struggling Jets this week. The Colts are coming off an emotional victory over Green Bay, while the Jets have lost back to back games and look to rebound. The pressure will definitely be on the side of the Jets as they have been struck by the injury plague to key positions.
The Jets have more to lose than the Colts. The Jets will come out guns blazing in this contest. Gang Green must turn things around in a hurry. They played well last week against a very tough Houston team but fell short. The Colts have a future star at QB in Andrew Luck but look for Jets CB Antonio Cromartie to lock down the resurgent WR Reggie Wayne. I see the Jets getting back on track defeating the Colts in what could be a high scoring affair.
Fantasy Outlook
The Jets have are starving to find a playmaker on offense. The closest thing they have is WR Jeremy Kerley. Look for Kerley to solidify the Jets top WR spot. He was targeted nine times last week and caught five for 94 yards. Kerley can be a solid play this week as WR2 or if your starter is on a bye. For the Colts the combo of Luck to Wayne has been pretty consistent this year. Look for this duo to have another solid game against an inconsistent Jet’s defense.