24 Hours 'Til Sunday — Andy Richardson

More bye-week concerns. With the Saints, Bears, Chargers and Packers on byes, you lose a lot of star power at quarterback -- arguably 4 of the best 6 quarterbacks in the league right now. And then there's Vincent Jackson, Marques Colston and a couple of good Packers wideouts. This explains why I'm scouring the waiver wire to start the likes of Derek Anderson and Austin Collie. Even my 5th and 6th wideout types (Devery Henderson, Earl Bennett) are on byes. Rough week.

Things get worse: there are a couple of weeks coming up with six teams on byes. More than ever, it seems, every week counts. Because I can see a week in the future in some league where I'll be starting backup running backs and hoping for an in-game injury. OK, on to the games:

Bengals at Ravens: Cedric Benson is healthy, but he's facing the Ravens. I like Carson and Ochocinco. I'll start Ray Rice here, who got most of the work (and did most with it) last week and hope. Pretty good game; Bengals are a little better than they looked against the Browns.

Browns at Bills: Pretty ungood game. The Browns are the Browns. Jamal Lewis might play, which given the matchup might seem OK, but I can't see him as a full-time guy even if he does get the start. (Not feeling so bad about trading away James Davis in my dynasty league, by the way.. Even though he could be the No. 1 here next year.) For the Bills, I want Marshawn Lynch to have a huge game so I can trade him, everywhere, but it will probably be a tandem. It'd be cool if this were a shootout, but I fear it'll be more of an ugly, 16-13 type of affair.

Washington at Panthers: Think I'd rather watch Bills-Browns. At least those teams KNOW they aren't going to the playoffs and are just out slinging it around. These teams? Washington has delusions of grandeur and Carolina has had hard-luck season all over it since Maake Kemoeatu went down in the preseason. Or since they gave Jake Delhomme that big contract extension, whichever. Anyway, Washington's offense has struggled against lousy defenses, and it's defense hasn't shut down any good offenses, so I'd be OK with starting Steve Smith (like I have a choice this week) and DeAngelo Williams. With Washington, Santana Moss is on a mini-roll, so what the heck. Otherwise, I wouldn't want much to do with any of these players, but if I had the misfortune of drafting Clinton Portis, I suppose this is one of the teams I'd use him against, 'cause they can't stop the run.

Steelers at Lions: Speaking of can't stop the run. Although actually, the Lions seem even worse against the pass right now. It's all relative, of course: they're just a bad defense that's very thin on talent -- This is your legacy, Matt Millen! -- it doesn't really matter which offensive element they're more inept at stopping. Willie Parker almost certainly won't play. Start your other Steelers happily. For the Lions, you might have to wait until gametime to know who the quarterback is. And it's not exactly an easy matchup for either player. Or Kevin Smith.

Cowboys at Kansas City: We're into the suicide pool portion of our column. Actually, I'm the only one in the pool who picked Dallas. Unfortunately I used Philadelphia and the Giants the last two weeks, so for me it came down to Dallas and the Vikings, and I fear a Minnesota letdown. Anyway, no Felix Jones, and probably no Roy Williams. Cowboys should still run wild with Barber and Choice. Big game coming for Jason Witten, I think, too. If you need to use Kansas City players, well, I've got no advice for you here beyond, good luck.

Raiders at Giants: I'm not sure why this wasn't a more popular choice in the suicide pool. So Eli might not play (and shouldn't be used). So what. The Raiders can't move the ball on the Giants. They can't pass, they probably won't run effectively (no Darren McFadden, not that he'd make a huge difference). And their coach might get arrested this week. I could see the Giants winning this game 20-3 without putting the ball in the air all day.

Bucs at Eagles: The most popular suicide pool pick -- good to see people are taking note of the Bucs this year. I wouldn't use any Bucs players -- I wouldn't have them on my roster, to be honest. I was wondering if the Lions might have set a trend by going 0-16 last year. Isn't it possible that the Bucs could manage the feat? Maybe I underrate them. But maybe not. McNabb and Westbrook are back. Kevin Curtis, probably not.

Vikings at Rams: I'll say it: letdown, letdown, letdown! I hope that by using the word I shall take away its power, and the Vikings will win. Basically the Rams have almost no chance, but crazy stuff happens in the NFL every week. The Vikings SHOULD, however, be able to run and pass fairly well (I actually think this Rams defense might not be horrible, just poor), and there's no earthly reason to think the Rams can mount any kind of offensive threat. Boller's going to start, almost certainly, but nobody on the Rams outside of Steven Jackson can reasonably be used. Oh, I'm bummed I gave away Sidney Rice in my dynasty league.

Falcons at 49ers: Good game between a couple of young upstarts. Falcons offense struggled at New England and you have to think the same might happen here. Frank Gore won't play, otherwise no injuries of note. I'm finally going to start Vernon Davis over Dustin Keller this week, we'll see how that goes.

Texans at Cardinals: A wild shootout coming. I'm starting anyone I can in this game, and regretting that I'm facing Schaub and Daniels with my lone losing (1-3) team. Steve Breaston is a guy to make sure he's active Sunday morning, but he should be OK.

Patriots at Broncos: The Broncos are an underdog here, which says all you need to know about what people think of their 4-0 start. I watched all of their Bengals and Cowboys games and still can't figure out how they won. No Fred Taylor, obviously, but the people snapping up Sammy Morris in my leagues are more confident than I am about who will benefit from his ankle surgery. Though I hate people bringing out the Fragile Fred talk this week -- the guy had some injuries early in his career but he's a legit star running back who had a great career. Correll Buckhalter won't play, making Knowshon Moreno more appealing.

Jaguars at Seahawks: Hello David Garrard, the most popular bye-week fill-in quarterback. Should be a pretty good game with more offense than defense.

Colts at Titans: I hate roster spots that you're stuck using on hurt players. I carried Andre Johnson for half a season, and I think I did the same thing for Anquan Boldin for about a month. At the same time! And that's where I'm at with Anthony Gonzalez, even knowing that when he comes back, maybe he'll be sharing his role with Pierre Garcon or Austin Collie or something. As for this game, the Titans could win this thing. The matchup is horrible -- Peyton's on fire and they can't stop it -- but they can play keep away with Chris Johnson and throw everything but the kitchen sink at the Colts in a game they absolutely have to win. Not saying they will, but I think it will be a good game.

Jets at Dolphins: Jerricho Cotchery may not play; he has a legitimate hamstring injury, evidently. Braylon Edwards will, and what the heck -- the Jets might have to throw to the guy a lot. I'm starting Sanchez in one league because I have to. Dolphins are very good against the run, so bad matchup for the Jets there. Interested to see Chad Henne, but it's a rough matchup for him, too. Should be a good defensive struggle with a couple of young QBs who, just maybe, might be playing this one a lot over the next decade or so. You never know.

Enjoy the games.

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