24 Hours 'Til Sunday — Andy Richardson

Anybody still playing? I hope so. Week 17 seems to be a forgotten art these days. I still like it -- it's NFL football! -- though I understand people not wanting to chance their Super Bowl on it. I'll again make a pitch for a two-week Super Bowl in week 16 and 17, giving owners the chance to keep playing and maybe introducing even more of the element of chance to the final week. Let's face it, the fantasy playoffs largely come down to chance anyway (How many teams' dreams were ruined by Kurt Warner, Andre Johnson, etc. last week?), so adding in an extra week doesn't make much difference.

Dolphins at Jets: A big game, although it will be a lot bigger if the Patriots lose at Buffalo. That seems unlikely, but so did Buffalo winning in Denver. No injuries of note, although the Favre arm injury rumors have been hot this week. Whatever happens here, I've decided he will in fact come back another season, not that I have any special insight. I just figure he won't want to retire again and then possibly want to come back again. Easier to say, I'm back, baby, and then go out and learn for a fact that he made the wrong decision. Weather doesn't seem like it will be a factor in this game -- unseasonably warm, in fact.

Patriots at Bills: Marshawn Lynch isn't certain to play. If he plays, he's not certain to do well against a pretty good run defense, plus he might lose more work than normal to Fred Jackson. I think he'll play and do OK. A 70 percent chance of precipitation in this one, not like poor weather slowed down New England's offense last week. This one looks windier, however. Maybe the Bills can finally knock off their longtime tormentors, sparing us all another year of the Patriots in the playoffs.

Kansas City at Bengals: A decent game from a fantasy perspective. Players are playing, defenses are poor.

Lions at Packers: Start your Packers, sounds like both wideouts (who were banged up Monday) are good to go. Green Bay likes to throw even when they don't have to, because Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson are so desperate to hammer away with the fact that they did the right thing dealing Brett Favre. Oh wait, was that a shot? Sorry. I'm sure the Packers would have been 5-10 with Favre under center, too. Aaron Rodgers is awesome. No way he leads his team to a loss against an 0-15 team.

Raiders at Bucs: The Eagles need the Raiders to win this game. My initial thought was "not gonna happen," but then again, the Bucs have lost three in a row. Why bet on them? Their defense has slipped; maybe the Raiders' runners can take advantage. Ronald Curry is hurt, for the two or three of you who might actually have Curry on a roster and want to start him. Bigger news is that corner Nnamdi Asomugha might miss the game for Oakland; he shut down Andre Johnson last week. Antonio Bryant is a lot more appealing if Asomugha is out.

Titans at Colts: LenDale White is hurting, or else he just doesn't want to play in a meaningless game. Quinton Ganther is the guy I like for Tennessee. Chad Simpson for Indy, maybe Jim Sorgi too. Word is Joseph Addai will play at least some. There's risk involved, but I could see those backup runners being viable this week.

Giants at Vikings: No Brandon Jacobs probably, and I kind of doubt Eli Manning will play very long either. Getting him clobbered by Jared Allen doesn't make much sense. Giants will play to win, though, and might do it. Berrian is hurting for the Vikings, and it's a poor matchup for several reasons -- Giants pass rush, Vikings quarterback.

Panthers at Saints: No Jeremy Shockey. Great year for him. Pierre Thomas is also questionable; he might not play. Deuce McAllister and Mike Bell might be the primary runners. The game is in New Orleans and Drew Brees is pretty good, but I think the Panthers will win big here.

Cowboys at Eagles: Probably no Marion Barber. Tashard Choice will likely be the main runner. Tony Romo is fine. Roy Williams is unhappy about his role. Roy, the Cowboys probably aren't too thrilled they gave up all those draft picks and big money contract to you, either. My Williams for Anthony Gonzalez dynasty league trade is looking pretty good right now. Eagles might not get into the playoffs, but homefield should help them keep Dallas out.

Browns at Steelers: No Kellen Winslow. No Ken Dorsey (yeah, big fantasy impact there). No Steelers starters for very long. The Browns haven't scored a touchdown since forever. If you're actually starting any Browns against such a trend, good luck to you.

Jaguars at Ravens: Sounds like Maurice Jones-Drew is going to play. Tricky starting any Ravens, though, since this game becomes meaningless if the Patriots lose at Buffalo. If you assume New England wins, go ahead with LeRon McClain, Derrick Mason et al. If you think Buffalo might win, don't touch them.

Rams at Falcons: Falcons can win division and get a bye if they win and the Panthers lose, so they'll be fired up to blow the Rams off the field. And they will. Start 'em all. Atlanta's defense isn't so great that I wouldn't start Rams players, but I think they'll be doing a lot of clock-watching this week.

Bears at Texans: Houston is favored here. I don't get that one. OK, I saw Kyle Orton play last week too, but the Bears' defense should be able to cause some problems for the Texans, and they can still win the division with a win and a Vikings loss. No injuries of note or weather, so there will probably be some nice starters for both teams here. Huge game probably for Andre Johnson -- maybe that's why the Texans are favored.

Washington at 49ers: Probably a defensive struggle. Frank Gore a gametime decision (odds are he will play, but not well). Maybe he'll brave through the 22 rushing yards he needs for 1,000, then limp off the field.

Seahawks at Cardinals: No Anquan Boldin. Cards want to build some momentum by playing well, so you can probably go ahead and start Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston. Maybe Tim Hightower, although not because he's played at all well as a starter or anything. No Matt Hasselbeck.

Broncos at Chargers: Whoohoo! A big game with two big offenses and two lousy defenses! Thank heavens. Start 'em if you got 'em. It was 39-38 back in week 2. Probably won't be that high this week, though you never know. Broncos will start old friend Tatum Bell. They have no choice. The winner of this game will get blown out by the Colts next week as sure as there will be a Madagascar 3, but no matter -- one will get to raise a division champions flag next September.

No Monday game. I wish when the league makes up its schedule, trying to make sure it has good games in primetime and so forth, it applied a similar yet reverse logic to the final week of the season -- schedule a Monday game featuring two perennially awful teams with no chance of making the playoffs. Why not give us a Monday night game in week 17 featuring the Lions and Raiders? Unveil a big movie preview at halftime or something. It's an idea they should consider, even though they won't. Today's doormat could be tomorrow's division champions. Even the 0-16 ones, I guess.

Enjoy the games.

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