Welcome to a special Week 12 Edition for the Thursday Slate. To attack the slate, we must look at the games itself and figure out your best (or sneaky pieces) to pick out of each game. All 3 games will be played in a dome eliminating any weather concerns. I’ll also note how hard it is for road teams In Thursday spots. Short week + travel does not always = great football. Most teams do not practice banged up players until Friday.
The Bears visit the Lions as a 3-point favorite. The game overall is a 41.5 total, but the Bears trail only Dallas and Buffalo with a 22.25 team total. Andy Dalton will start and we saw he and Darnell Mooney and even Marquise Goodwin hook up deep on a defense better than Detroit’s. The game should also set up David Montgomery to play with a lead and possible pairing of Montgomery and The Bears defense. I lean Mooney here as I’m still not sure despite THE BEST matchup on the board how many TD drives does Chicago has in the tank. I am not overly interested in D’Andre Swift or TJ Hockenson here. I would rather take a stab on Amon-Ra St. Brown or Kalif Raymond with Goff set to return although sheer volume can elevate Swift. They are thin WR plays, but the masses will play thin WR plays in Dallas and New Orleans as well.
The Cowboys host the Raiders after performances both teams would like to forget. It’s very hard to trust the Raiders offense at this point. Josh Jacobs could be a way to get different vs Dallas after seeing 7 targets last week. Bryan Edwards bottomed out with 0 targets despite leading the team in routes run vs Cincy. Darren Waller bounced back in his best game since week 1. I always find Hunter Renfrow appealing in spots we believe Las Vegas can move the ball. If you are multi-entering take a shot on Desean Jackson to break a big one on Dallas. Dak Prescott is usually the safest QB to play, but with a banged up WR core and protection issues, we saw where safe can get us. CeDee Lamb surprisingly practiced Wednesday increasing his chances to suit up Thursday. Amari Cooper likely remains out. The biggest beneficiary to the WR injuries has been the return of Dalton Schultz and I think he is a great way to get off of Darren Waller. Plus I feel better about Schultz than the likes of Cedric Wilson and Noah Brown. The other play here I really like is Tony Pollard. Ezekiel Elliott would be a great play, but I question his health on a short week after limping around in Sunday’s loss in KC. If the WR core can’t get going this could also create some more passing opportunities for the Dallas RBs. Joe Mixon ran all over Las Vegas last week and Cincy seemingly stopped passing because The Raiders simply could not stop them. I also like the Dallas Defense to suffocate these WRs quite a bit.
The night will end as Josh Allen and The Bills visit The Saints. Allen has been about as up and down as a QB could be as of late. While The Saints have a good defense, they have supported top performing QBs in the fantasy department. Josh Allen-Stefon Diggs stacks are back in play. I also like Dawson Knox here in attempt to stop falling on the Manny Sanders Cole Beasley train. But for a 3-game slate, THEY’RE ALL POTENTIALLY IN PLAY. I’ll likely lean the younger Gabriel Davis over them both. I’m avoiding the backfield in Buffalo in a 3 Man time share. The Saints WRs are flat out difficult to peg, but they carry a high upside potential in a mystery spot. Trevor Siemian has not been the worst QB and he could get a WR there. I’d lean Deonte Harris and Tre’Quan Smith over Marquez Callaway on recent performances only, but I don’t feel good about it. And I will not feel good about avoiding the Saints WRs. The last discussion is that Alvin Kamara likely remains out which means another volume driven Mark Ingram week. He really will need a TD to get there and Buffalo has a good run defense. We have the Taylor 5 TD game fresh on our minds but only Taylor and Derrick Henry has beaten this defense on the ground and they are a far cry from Mark Ingram.
You can almost go any defense for any reason. But I’ll rank my personal favorites as Chicago, Dallas, & Buffalo. Detroit is nothing to be afraid of, Las Vegas is spiraling out of control, and Buffalo could attack a injured Saints O-Line.
Find something you like, hammer it home, and let the night play out!!
