Good morning! I hope you got to enjoy that extra hour of sleep before Sunday’s NFL games begin, especially after a stacked Saturday of sports. The Astros finished off the Phillies in the World Series and Alabama and Clemson both lost, two upsets bound to shake up the College Football Playoff rankings.
We’ll get to all that and more as we ready you for the day ahead.
In today’s Winners Club you’ll find:
Who’s In, Out and Still Questionable
A better question would be, “who’s not on bye?” Because six teams—Browns, Broncos, Cowboys, Giants, Steelers, 49ers—are off this week, which will put plenty of fantasy managers in a pinch when setting their lineups.
Beyond the byes, two of the biggest stars in fantasy football—Jonathan Taylor and Ja’Marr Chase—will miss Week 9. Keep reading for the full injury report to see which players are game-time decisions.
Quarterbacks
Ryan Tannehill, Titans: QUESTIONABLE (ankle), game-time decision
Running backs
Jonathan Taylor, Colts: OUT (ankle)
James Conner, Cardinals: QUESTIONABLE (ribs)
D’Andre Swift, Lions: QUESTIONABLE (ankle/shoulder), expected to play
Damien Harris, Patriots: QUESTIONABLE (illness), not expected to play
James Robinson, Jets: QUESTIONABLE (knee), game-time decision
Cordarrelle Patterson, Falcons: ACTIVE (knee)
Gus Edwards, Ravens: DOUBTFUL (hamstring)
Chuba Hubbard, Panthers: OUT (ankle)
J.D. McKissic, Commanders: OUT (neck)
Mark Ingram, Saints: OUT (knee)
Wide receivers
Rashod Bateman, Ravens: OUT (foot)
Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals: OUT (hip)
Mike Williams, Chargers: OUT (ankle)
Keenan Allen, Chargers: OUT (hamstring)
Allen Lazard, Packers: QUESTIONABLE (shoulder)
Michael Thomas, Saints: INJURED RESERVE (toe)
Josh Reynolds, Lions: DOUBTFUL (back)
Corey Davis, Jets: OUT (knee)
Demarcus Robinson, Ravens: QUESTIONABLE (groin)
DeAndre Carter, Chargers: QUESTIONABLE (illness)
Jarvis Landry, Saints: QUESTIONABLE (ankle)
Van Jefferson, Rams: QUESTIONABLE (knee)
Russell Gage, Buccaneers: OUT (hamstring)
Jahan Dotson, Commanders: OUT (hamstring)
Tight ends
Mark Andrews, Ravens: DOUBTFUL (shoulder/ankle)
Darren Waller, Raiders: QUESTIONABLE (hamstring), not expected to play
NFL Week 9 Game Lines
With so many teams idle, there’s only 12 games left to be played this week and three of them feature spreads of a touchdown or more. The largest line of the week is Titans-Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, despite the fact that Tennessee has gotten the better of Kansas City in the last two regular-season meetings, including a 27-3 win in 2021.
The Rams-Buccaneers afternoon matchup is shaping up to be more of a loser goes home game than a clash between two of the NFC’s top teams. Los Angeles and Tampa Bay both enter the week below .500 despite their lofty preseason expectations.
I have my eyes on Seahawks-Cardinals, an important NFC West bout, and I went with Seattle getting points on the road as my best bet for the SI Sportsbook Perfect 10 Contest. To participate, just pick 10 games against the spread and you could win a $10,000 prize! The full breakdown of the eligible games can be found here.
And if you’re also interested in placing a few player prop bets for the week, don’t worry: Jen Piacenti has a half dozen picks worth backing this week.
1 p.m. ET (FOX): Chargers (-1.5) vs. Falcons | Total: 49.5
1 p.m. ET (CBS): Dolphins (-3.5) vs. Bears | Total: 45.5
1 p.m. ET (FOX): Panthers vs. Bengals (-8.5) | Total: 42.5
1 p.m. ET (FOX): Packers (-3.5) vs. Lions | Total: 49.5
1 p.m. ET (CBS): Colts vs. Patriots (-4.5) | Total: 40.5
1 p.m. ET (CBS): Bills (-10.5) vs. Jets | Total: 46
1 p.m. ET (FOX): Vikings (-1.5) vs. Commanders | Total: 43.5
1 p.m. ET (CBS): Raiders (-1.5) vs. Jaguars | Total: 47.5
4:05 p.m. ET (FOX): Seahawks vs. Cardinals (-1.5) | Total: 49.5
4:25 p.m. ET (CBS): Rams vs. Buccaneers (-2.5) | Total: 42.5
8:20 p.m. ET (NBC): Titans vs. Chiefs (-12.5) | Total: 44.5
8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN): Ravens (-2.5) vs. Saints | Total: 47.5*
*Monday
Your options might be limited this week, but that makes it more important than ever that you plug the correct players into your starting lineup.
It’s not always easy to make those decisions, but the SI Fantasy team has plenty of tools in place to help out. There’s the weekly cheat sheet, DFS recommended plays, Michael Fabiano’s famous Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em and plenty of interactive tools over at si.com/fantasy to toggle through.
Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: QB | RB | WR | TE | K & D/ST
Defense vs. Position Matchup Info
If you’ve still got questions, we’ve got two ways to answer them! First, you can tweet me @SI_Fantasy or @Kkylewood. Or head over to @SINow or @SI_Fantasy at noon for the weekly Twitter Spaces and see what our experts have to say about your fantasy football quandaries.
Astros Send Phillies Home, Win World Series in Houston
After five scoreless innings on Saturday night, Kyle Schwarber launched yet another home run to put Philadelphia ahead 1-0 in Game 6 of the World Series. If the Phillies could hang on, they would force a winner-take-all Game 7 in Houston.
Their magical run fell short, though. The Astros responded with four runs in the bottom of the sixth—taking the lead on a three-run shot by Yordan Álvarez—to wrap up the scoring and secure their second championship in franchise history.
Houston delivered on its title favorite status entering the series and Piacenti nailed three of her four picks for the series: The Astros (-200) won, they did so in six games (+350) and the series went over 5.5 games (-200). Her only miss was Alex Bregman to win MVP as rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena earned the honor.
Mattress Mack won big—really big. He placed $10 million worth of bets on the Astros to win it all and at +750 odds, he came away with $75 million, the largest payout in sports betting history.
Read Emma Baccellieri and Stephanie Apstein’s coverage from Houston for more.
In Other News
Georgia Still on Top in SI CFB Top 10: The Bulldogs took care of Tennessee at home Saturday to send the Volunteers tumbling down a few sports. Elsewhere in the sport, LSU downed Alabama, Notre Dame blew out Clemson and TCU improved to 9-0.
Alex Ovechkin Scores 787th Goal for Capitals: After netting a score against the Coyotes, Ovechkin now holds the record for most goals scored with a single franchise. He passed Gordie Howe’s record, which he held with the Red Wings, and is now 16 goals away from Howe in all-time goals.
Cowboys Join the Pursuit of Free Agent OBJ: Dallas looked to add a pass-catcher at the trade deadline but after that was unsuccessful, it may try to sign the veteran receiver whenever he elects to make his return from a torn ACL. The expectation is sometime in December.
Thanks for reading! Good luck with all your matchups and wagers today. I’ll be back in your inbox Tuesday morning.
