Bears-Titans
Bears: While the matchup is for passing against the weak Titan secondary (no speed on the outside at CB), the Bears will be without 3 starting OLs: C Cody Whitehair (calf, reserve/COVID-19), LG James Daniels (torn pectoral-IR), RT Bobby Massie (knee-IR). 2019 UDFA G Alex Bars will start for Whitehair. The injuries on the OL have largely contributed to the struggles of RB David Montgomery and QB Nick Foles having DLs in his face on too many throws.
But there's another reason why the Bears might have success passing if they can protect Foles: The Titans do not expect to have starting OLB Jadeveon Clowney (knee-questionable), who did not practice this week. And remember the Titans cut struggling DE/OLB Vic Beasley. Also of note, the Titans did not activate starting CB Adoree' Jackson (knee) off IR by Saturday's deadline. The team must activate him by Wednesday in order for him to play this season.
If the Bears can protect, look for some shot plays to rookie WR Darnell Mooney, who the team remains very high on for the future. He pushed veteran WR Ted Ginn off the roster recently.
Broncos-Falcons
Broncos: The team was optimistic that starting WR Tim Patrick (hamstring-questionable) would be available to play today and he did more in practice this week than he did in previous weeks.
Patrick, who has replaced Courtland Sutton at the team's "X" position, started to develop chemistry with QB Drew Lock last year when the two were running with the 2nd-team offense before Lock took over the starter late in the season.
Patrick runs well for his size (timed 4.47 prior to the 2017 draft) and has good size (6-4, 215).
I'm probably going to see how he does today (if he's active) before using him, but he's definitely worth picking up for the rest of the way.
Falcons: The team was not optimistic that starting WR Calvin Ridley (mid-foot) would be able to play and 3rd-year WR Russell Gage (shoulder, knee) is set to replace him today. He took over at the "Z" spot in last week's game after Ridley left early on. Gage was limited in practice, but that was by design.
It's also worth noting that the Broncos will be without starting CB A.J. Bouye (concussion).
Texans-Jaguars
Texans: The team is expecting to have TE Jordan Akins (ankle, concussion) back on the field today after a 3-game absence. Keep an eye on his role today, which could have an impact on veteran TE Darren Fells. Akins is a much better athlete than Fells. Fells, however, he has been a big part of their red-zone package for the last few seasons.
Jaguars: The Jaguars passing game is getting a huge break with the Texans deciding not to use CB Bradley Roby today due to non-injury reasons.
Roby, who is the team's best coverage player at CB, left last week's game after 3 plays, but took in all of his first-team reps through Friday's practice.
While this is obviously great news for the Jaguars passing game, specifically 3rd-year WR D.J. Chark, the team will be starting rookie QB Jake Luton.
Luton, who does possess a good arm, has been 3rd on the depth chart before this week, and has not had much work with Chark.
3rd string QBs will generally run the scout team. And scout team players rarely get reps with the starters, so the timing between both players can't be expected to be very good.
The matchup is too good to pass up, so I'm seriously considering starting Chark in 2 leagues despite his struggles this season.
Panthers-Chiefs
Chiefs: Starting WR Sammy Watkins (hamstring) was downgraded to out on Saturday, so veteran WR Demarcus Robinson is slated to get another start for him.
However, 2nd-year WR Mecole Hardman is still expected to see plenty of snaps because the team uses plenty of 3-WR sets. Hardman, BTW, had more snaps in last week's game than Robinson.
Lions-Vikings
Lions: The team got starting QB Matthew Stafford back off the reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday and their passing game also got more good news.
The Vikings are down 4 CBs for this game: Mike Hughes (neck-IR), Holton Hill (foot-out), Cameron Danzler (concussion-out), Mark Fields (lung-IR). The first three are their top-3 at the position.
The team is down to first-round pick Jeff Gladney, fellow rookie Harrison Hand (hamstring-questionable), and Kris Boyd. Gladney has not played consistently well this season.
The Lions will be without starting FS Tracy Walker, who is their best coverage player at the position.
While this game features two head coaches who want to run the ball lower limit pass attempts from their QBs, the matchup is very favorable for passing based on personnel issues in the secondary for both teams.
Raiders-Chargers
Raiders: The team expects to have starting RB Josh Jacobs (knee, illness-questionable) in the lineup today. Any time a player feels ill or even has a minor cold, they are asked to stay at home. So when you see illness listed on the injury report that's not COVID-19 related, there's no reason to overreact.
The team is expecting rookie WR Bryan Edwards to play today, but from what I'm hearing he's not expected to have a large role today as he's coming back from two injuries: foot and high ankle.
However, I'm told he's very close to having his ankle injury to 100%, so it's possible that he gets back his starting job in Week 10 vs. Denver.
Look for veteran WR Nelson Agholor to see most of the playing time at the "X" position later today against the host Chargers.
Dolphins-Cardinals
Cardinals: If you're looking for a 1-week fill-in defense, the Cardinals would be a good choice, at least on paper.
I'm expecting Cardinal DC Vance Joseph to make Tua Tagovailoa a thrower today and to bring a lot of pressure against the rookie signal caller.
And the Cardinals will get a break, as the Dolphins will not have their top-2 RBs today: Myles Gaskin (knee-IR) and Matt Breida (hamstring).
Saints-Buccaneers
Saints: The team was expecting starting WR Michael Thomas (hamstring, high ankle-questionable) to be able tonight based on what they saw in practice this week.
Although he didn't take in all of the first-team reps, he did enough to show them that he could play (barring a setback in pre-game warm-ups).
The only question now is how many snaps can he handle?
The team, I'm told, will have UDFA rookie WR Marquez Callaway (ankle) for this game. And veteran WR Emmanuel Sanders came off the reserve/COVID-19 list this week. So starting QB Drew Brees (right shoulder), who took in his usual first-team reps in Friday’s practice, could have all of his top pass targets available this week.
