24 Hours 'Til Sunday — Andy Richardson

Week 2 kicks off and there's a lot of nervousness around probably half of the fantasy coaches in the world. "Does my team stink, or was it just one unlucky week?" Those thoughts probably aren't as bad as those who are thinking, "My team is AWESOME." Like fans of the Bills and Bengals, for example. Which brings us to...

Raiders at Bills: Maybe this is why the Raiders abstained from voting on the new CBA; they were ticked about playing their first two games on the road. But on the bright side, they played at Denver and Buffalo. I know the Bills played great against Kansas City. I'm still backing Darren McFadden here. Raiders receivers are banged-up; Boss will play, but Ford and Murphy won't and Heyward-Bey is iffy. If you took Denarius Moore in your draft, maybe this is the week to consider him. Just heard about some scandal involving Janikowski, but last I knew he was playing. Bills are healthy, and Oakland's defense is sketchy, but I can't get excited about Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fred Jackson. No, not Scott Chandler either. I'm not buying, yet.

Packers at Panthers: Seems like ages since the Packers played. I don't think many good things about the Panthers defense, so I'd be using Green Bay's key players -- while recognizing there are so many that somebody is going to get left out each week. Rodgers, Jennings, Nelson, Starks, Finley should be good. Carolina, I expect Newton to come back to earth this week. Doesn't mean he won't be good this year, but I like this secondary and pass rush much more than Arizona's. I may start Steve Smith anyway, however.

Kansas City at Lions: Going to the Lions, that's the story here. I'm still not sure the Lions defense is all that -- the pass rush is great -- so I will probably be starting Jamaal Charles. Dwayne Bowe I suppose, though I don't have him anywhere. As for the Lions, start 'em if you got em. As long as Stafford is healthy, the Lions offense should be pretty good.

Browns at Colts: I like Peyton Hillis here. Benjamin Watson, when the Browns do pass the ball (which may not be a ton). Cleveland defense. Uh, I think that's about it for both teams. Reggie Wayne or Dallas Clark if you've got to start a Colt. But do you?

Bucs at Vikings: Adrian Peterson should be very good. Minnesota passing game, not so much. Harvin in a PPR league. For the Bucs, my man LeGarrette Blount is annoyed he only got 5 carries last week. Me too! I don't think much of the Vikings run defense with neither Williams around, so I think the squeaky wheel will get the grease this week. No injuries of note aside from Blount's bruised ego I guess.

Bears at Saints: Sounds like Roy Williams won't play, and no Marion Barber either (big deal). Lance Moore is uncertain; if he's active, I'd use him, and if he isn't, I may pick up somebody like Adrian Arrington in my best-ball league for the heck of it. I'd use Meachem, not Henderson. Both teams should have pretty good run defenses. I'd avoid the Saints committee and will start Forte only because it's a PPR league and he'll catch a lot of balls even if there's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. No Garrett Hartley.

Jaguars at Jets: I attended this matchup three years ago when the Jags took a couple of knees inside the 5-yard-line before kicking the game-winning field goal. Think I lost a matchup because of Maurice Jones-Drew not scoring then when he could have. Anyway, there's no profit in investing in the Jaguars this week. Jets should be very good, and may do so without Santonio Holmes; sounds like he is very shaky to play, as are Jason Hill and Marcedes Lewis. Maybe THIS will be the start of the Shonn Greene Era. Right? Right?

Seahawks at Steelers: Sidney Rice won't play, which makes him only a slightly worse fantasy play than EVERY OTHER SEAHAWK. Steelers should roll here.

Ravens at Titans: I'm a little wary of Lee Evans, but as long as he's playing, I'll assume he's good to go. Ray Rice should be great, and I'm using Chris Johnson just because I can't bench my first-round pick in Week 2. Unless he's Arian Foster, more on that later. If you assume the Titans have to pass a lot, and they probably will, Kenny Britt becomes a nice option, and I'll mention Jared Cook as a sleeper this week. Titans have to move the ball somehow (although I'm not applying that theory to the Seahawks, above).

Cardinals at Washington: Love Tim Hightower, Larry Fitzgerald and especially Santana Moss here. Like Grossman and Wells. Would consider Jabar Gaffney if desperate. Don't want to start Fred Davis off his big game last week.

Cowboys at 49ers: Ah, the epic matchup of the '80s. One of these teams should sign Terrell Owens for this game. And really, since Dez Bryant isn't certain to play and Michael Crabtree has a bum wheel, Owens could probably help one of these teams, aside from the torn ACL and being a loudmouth and stuff. I would use both quarterbacks here, especially the one Jerry Jones loves. And I think I'm using both tight ends in that crazy SuperLeague thing, because both secondaries have some issues. (A nice way of saying San Fran's isn't good and Dallas' is godawful.)

Bengals at Broncos: Cedric Benson will run a lot. Andy Dalton may or may not play; you really shouldn't be considering a Bengals quarterback regardless. For the Broncos, Knowshon Moreno sounds as if he won't play, making Willis McGahee your desperation spot starter. Brandon Lloyd is uncertain. Kyle Orton will I suppose get booed as fans chant for Tim Tebow to come in. Whatever.

Texans at Dolphins: Conflicting reports on this game, but it sounds like Arian Foster will start and be in some sort of a committee with Ben Tate. He's either "fine" or "limited," depending on which you want to believe. I would go ahead and use him if I drafted him and he turns out to be active, and would be wary of using Ben Tate. I'm gonna say 60-40, Foster, and it's not a great matchup anyway. Better situation for Schaub, Andre, Jacoby (lesser, but he'll start) and Owen Daniels. For Miami, the passing game will be busy, just not necessarily good.

Chargers at Patriots: Might be more of a defensive struggle than you'd expect. Not that I'd bench Brady or Rivers, but I think this is more of a 23-20 (like last year's matchup in San Diego) than 35-28. Lot of heated opinions around the fantasy world on Mathews-Tolbert. Story yesterday pointed out that Tolbert is better in pass protection and that's why he'll play more. Doesn't matter if Mathews is a more talented runner. Tolbert on the field more, he'll do more scoring, catch more passes, and be at least close in total yardage. Ochocinco is hitting the books this week. I don't think he's washed up, but he's not a difference-maker, and New England has some other guys who are. As usual, I'm signing off on Aaron Hernandez until he lets me down.

Eagles at Falcons: Not sure why the Eagles built this great team while ignoring their linebacker corps. Michael Turner should be very good, and I like the Eagles passing game, too. I'm thinking there will be a lot of points in this Sunday night game, making it a fun week to start a lot of players. I think DeSean Jackson will be leaned on as Maclin and Smith work their way back.

Rams at Giants: If you want to use Hakeem Nicks in this game, make sure you've got someone on your roster you can sub in, just in case. Domenik Hixon works, he's available most places. Steven Jackson almost certainly won't play, so Cadillac Williams should get a big workload. And Giants should cause some problems for Sam Bradford and the passing game, so I wouldn't want to invest too heavily in the St. Louis offense. People have to have better options than Brandon Gibson and Mike Sims-Walker, right? I like Eli and Mario against a banged-up St. Louis secondary.

Enjoy the games.

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