Five Through Six

The NFL is currently showing perfect symmetry a little more than a third of the way through the season. There are currently 5 undefeated teams and 5 one-loss teams after the Lions eeked out a victory at home against the Bears and got their first win. Now, Green Bay survived a nailbiter at home, Denver won a tough one at Cleveland and Carolina had a surprising comeback win at Seattle, but the Patriots and the Bengals had easier times in tough road matchups. There is a realistic chance that we could see an undefeated team entering the playoffs this year though I am skeptical. Looking at the teams:

• No way it will be Denver. Their defense has carried this team and it gives them a legitimate Super Bowl chance but they need help on offense to continue their undefeated streak.
• Any team with Aaron Rodgers at the helm has a realistic chance at winning every game but they need a bit more consistency out of their running game to get it done.
• Carolina finally shut me up with a win at Seattle. No way they run the table but my Futures Team Total Under bet is almost dead as this team is destined to win double digit games this year.
• Cincinnati is doing everything right to keep their run alive but the Steelers are too good not to beat them at least once.
• That leaves the Patriots. Personally, I don’t think their defense is good enough to be undefeated now, but the Patriots are pissed and are on a mission. Now that they narrowly dispatched the Colts, I do think a letdown is coming soon.

Every year there are first-rounds busts but you can normally see them coming. The utter disappearance of Eddie Lacy and C.J. Anderson is befuddling. Maybe it is due to lingering injuries? No idea. Jeremy Hill is close, but has done enough to miss the distinction, especially in Total Points leagues. Both of though players hit a Bye week this week so I am holding onto them in my leagues until I see how they look in Week 8. At that point, it may be time to cut bait if they still underwhelm. Fortunately, I have backed them up with James Starks and Ronnie Hillman. Though those two players are on Bye this week, grab them in your leagues if some foolish owner has left them on the waiver wire. There are lots of other big names on Bye this week so you will need to stick in a one-week fill-in or more unless your league is playing with the Bye Week Rollover option implemented. If not, plug those holes with these players if available.

QB Brian Hoyer (HOU) – the Texans have to be feeling a bit moronic after finally giving the starting role to Hoyer and watching him thrive. With a healthy running game and solid receivers, Hoyer is going to efficiently win some games. He did well in Cleveland when healthy with less talent around him. After throwing for 3 TDs last weekend, he is a solid one-week fill-in for those needing a Bye Week replacement against a Dolphins secondary that was torched by Jacksonville a few weeks ago.

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (NYJ) – Fitz is another non-exciting QB but he will serve as a fill-in for this week if Hoyer isn’t available. RB Chris Ivory has been a terror but you have to know that the Patriots are game-planning to stop him and make the Jets score through the air. The Patriots secondary scares no one this season. With WR Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker to throw to, Fitzpatrick should have a nice game.

RB Theo Riddick (DET) – he is gone in PPR leagues, but is surprisingly available in just under half of the non-PPR leagues. He has done a nice job catching the ball out of the backfield but has been earning more straight-up carries with injuries and fumbling issues by Abdullah. This is a good weekend to take advantage of his availability.

RB Christine Michael (DAL) – rumor has it that Michael has been working with the first team and will be getting his share of carries versus the Giants this week. It is hard to believe anything that Jerry Jones sez out of his fake face, but, if you are really, really desperate, you have to play someone, right?

WR Stefon Diggs (MINN) – I will admit that I was on the WR Charles Johnson bandwagon after the way he closed out the 2014 season. However, a slow start and injuries have stunted this season and has given rookie WR Diggs an excellent opportunity to bond with QB Teddy Bridgewater. He had a 7/129 game last week and plays against a terrible Lions’ defense indoors this week so play if you can get him.

WR Michael Floyd (AZ) – Floyd has been woefully inconsistent in the pros, but he has had to endure a rash of penalties at the QB position in his tenure as well as his own. When the Cardinals offense is playing a bad defense, there are plenty of balls to go around. I wouldn’t expect consistency since there are a lot of mouths to feed, but he could put up a decent day as a WR3 fill-in.

TE Benjamin Watson (NO) – it is foolhardy to expect any receiver on the Saints to put up consistent numbers, but we are targeting Bye week fill-ins and there are not a lot of available TE options this week. With the Saints engaged in an expected shootout in Indy, the potential for a solid fill-in from Watson is pretty high. I wouldn’t expect a 10/127/1 line like his last game versus Atlanta but I would expect that you would be happy if he approached double digit fantasy points.