A nearly-full slate of games with only two teams on bye weeks leaves 14 matchups to be dissected for Sunday. Unlike last week, we are not necessarily in a position where teams are ready to rebound and catch opponents off-guard. Instead, Week 6 appears to be more matchup-driven than the rest.
In another contrast from Week 5, many of the injury concerns – really, uncertainties – that preceded the last set of games are not present in the encore. With that, we can trust that most players dependent upon the health of either their teammates or themselves will be able to perform as expected.
Sporfolio’s NFL Daily Fantasy Sports game-by-game analysis columns are driven by expected game flow. Based on a combination of our Week 3 NFL picks against the spread and our expectations for a given game, we project the actions necessary to make these picks come to fruition. We aim to pinpoint players integral to our predicted game flow for each game of the week.
Luke May is Sporfolio’s NFL DFS expert, and Mario Mergola operates Sporfolio as the expert for NFL Picks Against the Spread.
Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints
Luke’s DFS Take: With Cam Newton apparently heading towards playing this weekend after missing last week’s game, we may actually get the shootout most people expect in this divisional showdown. Newton is not the only player on track to return, as running back Jonathan Stewart should be active, as well. Unfortunately, Stewart’s presence somewhat muddies the backfield and, while he should receive the bulk of the carries, he may not be completely 100 percent. Because of this uncertainty, Cam Newton, Kelvin Benjamin, and Greg Olsen will be my focal points as Newton will look to ignite his team if they want to save any hope of making the playoffs. Flipping sides, the Panthers’ defense has been nothing like what came to expect, last year. They have been beatable on a consistent basis, and Drew Brees should be able to take advantage. If the Saints have to pass to attempt a comeback – a likely possibility – Brandin Cooks, Willie Snead, Michael Thomas, and Coby Fleener are all in play.
Mario’s DFS Take: I’m not ready to bury the Panthers’ defense, just yet. Monday Night Football might have exposed Carolina for being much worse than their 2015 selves, but, we should have already known this. This is the classic case of a 15-1 team – that overachieved for an entire season – finally playing like human beings. Now that the Panthers lost – publicly – I’m ready to jump back in for a division game against a horrible defense. If Cam Newton plays, I’m buying. With or without Newton, Greg Olsen and Kelvin Benjamin are top plays, and Jonathan Stewart slides onto the list if he is healthy. Of course, there is the high probability that an offensive outburst by Carolina will lead to New Orleans responding, but I’m staying away.
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans
Luke’s DFS Take: To put it simply, Lamar Miller is my number one running back of the week. The Colts’ defense is flat-out bad, and Miller has absolutely no competition for touches. Miller is also coming off a week where he had only eight carries – in a loss – which almost certainly guarantees a heavier workload. The last box to check in Miller’s favor is that he has yet to reach the endzone, this season – which is astonishing for a lead back entering Week 6. In reality, the whole Houston offense – Brock Osweiler, DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller – is in play because of its matchup, but Miller is ahead of the pack. Indianapolis lives to throw the football, but this, unfortunately, plays right into the strength of the Texans’ defense. Without a real threat to run the ball, Indianapolis’ offense is to be avoided.
Mario’s DFS Take: The final game of the Sunday schedule is so enticing for fantasy purposes that I had to start there – literally, this was the first write-up I tackled, this week. Admittedly, I’m always a fan of having at least one player from the night game in my all-day slate – besides an added rooting interest, it gives me time to assess the flow of the day – but I am over-the-moon when a poor defense is playing. This is especially true when said poor defense is facing an offense that desperately needs to break out. After getting shut out by the Patriots, the Texans then faced – and beat – a difficult Titans defense, and now have the pleasure of abusing the Colts. With Indianapolis porous in all aspects, it might be a necessity to use two of Brock Osweiler, Lamar Miller, DeAndre Hopkins, or Will Fuller on Sunday night.
Read More: Fantasy Football Player Rankings: Week 6
Featured Image Credit: By Pantherfan11 [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
