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The weeks in the middle of the season that include the bye weeks are always crucial in a confidence pool. There aren’t as many points to get during the week so every game and every point are crucial.

Lucky for you, you are following my picks! After a week that saw 12 of 14 games picked correctly you should be close to if not on top of your league.

Let’s keep it going!

WEEK 9 – HERE WE GO!!

(HOME TEAM IN ALL CAPS)

13 – NEW ENGLAND over Washington – Ho-hum, what do you know? The Patriots are at the top of our list again. Probably something you should just get used to.

12 – CINCINNATI over Cleveland – The Bengals are undefeated…and are playing at home…against the Browns…who will have Johnny Manziel starting…need anything else?

11 – NEW ORLEANS over Tennessee – Drew Brees tied the NFL record last week with seven touchdown passes. His reward? A game against the Titans.

10 – NEW YORK JETS over Jacksonville – The Jets were completely shut down last week in Oakland. They need a game against the Jaguars to get some confidence back.

9 – MINNESOTA over St. Louis – Minnesota is really solidifying their spot as a playoff contender in the NFC. They may have what it takes to slow down the unstoppable tank known as Todd Gurley.

8 – Atlanta over SAN FRANCISCO – Blaine Gabbert is under center for the Niners and Pierre Thomas is now in the backfield after spending the first eight weeks of the season without a team…best of luck with all that.

7 – BUFFALO over Miami – A healthier Bills’ team gets a home game against a team that they blew out on the road just a few weeks ago.

6 – SAN DIEGO over Chicago – After this game, ESPN will be working feverishly on a logistical way to move the flexing ability from Sunday night games to Monday night.

5 – Denver over INDIANAPOLIS – Peyton Manning came as close to the old Peyton as he has this season last week against the Packers. I expect more of the same as he heads back to his old stomping grounds.

4 – Green Bay over CAROLINA – Speaking of the Packers, after reaching their low point of the season last week (by far!) they have a lot of aggression to take out on the unbeaten Panthers. No more unbeatens in the NFC.

3 – Philadelphia over DALLAS – Dez Bryant should have more balls thrown his way this week – unfortunately those balls will still be thrown by not Tony Romo.

2 – Oakland over PITTSBURGH – Another HUGE game for the Raiders after a big win last week. My BOLD PREDICTION this week is NOT ONLY WILL THE RAIDERS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS, BUT THEY WILL WIN A PLAYOFF GAME.

1 – New York Giants over TAMPA BAY – Tampa seems to play their best only when they’re on the road against the division…this game is neither of those.

At this point in the fantasy football season, some teams begin to be eliminated from post-season play. You, of course, know how to work the waiver wire to continually upgrade your roster so that you are not one of those teams. Right? Here are some great pickups for week 10 and beyond. It's way past due to dump some of those bench-warmers that you've been keeping around and trade them out for some real, live fantasy production.

Quarterbacks

Kirk Cousins, WAS – Week 10 is a tough bye week on quarterbacks. Andrew Luck, Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan are all taking the week off. Kirk Cousins is a good streaming option this week if you need a quarterback. While Cousins isn’t a sexy name there are positives heading into week 10; namely the matchup against the Saints defense. Add the fact that DeSean Jackson should be 100% and Cousins has a good ceiling this weekend. He’s only owned in 10% of leagues.

Blake Bortles, JAX – Usually I would avoid putting a guy owned in 52% of leagues on this list, but again this is a tough week for quarterbacks and Blake Bortles deserves some due credit. His cumulative points have him as a top 10 fantasy quarterback right now yet he remains available in almost half the leagues out there. While his ball security is an issue with 10 interceptions this season he also has a knack for multiple touchdown passes per game. 6 of his 8 games this season Bortles has multiple touchdowns. He has a decent matchup with Baltimore in week 10.

Running Backs

James White/Brandon Bolden, NE – The New England Patriots are about the worst team to speculate about. On a healthy week we can’t be sure what Belichick is thinking. That being said Dion Lewis is lost for the season and somebody will see an increased roll. The popular consensus seems to lean towards James White being that player. He only has 9 carries this year so there’s a lot we don’t know about him. Brandon Bolden stepped in this last week when Lewis went down. He only saw one rushing attempt to his 4 passing targets where he caught 3 including on for a touchdown. Both guys should be targeted on waivers this week for teams in need of RB depth.

James Starks, GB – This is not a name Eddie Lacy owners want to see on this list. James Starks has had opportunities to take over the starting gig before and missed that chance. The difference this year is that Eddie Lacy looks BAD. In week 6 Starks proved himself on the ground with 112 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries; this last week he did it through the air catching 6 of 8 targets for 83 yards and a touchdown. It’s getting late in the season and Lacy owners may want to handcuff him. Other fantasy owners may need the depth. Either way Starks is available in 60% of the leagues and drawing interest heading into a week 10 matchup with Detroit.

Wide Receivers

Dorial Green-Beckham, TEN – When Kendall Wright went down it was Justin Hunter stepping up to the starting position. Hunter was unimpressive as Dorial Green-Beckham saw a team high 10 targets. He grabbed 5 of those 10 for 77 yards. This wasn’t exactly a tough defensive match up so there is no reason Hunter should have struggled to get open. I really like the targets DGB saw and with Wright likely to miss week 10 he needs to be taken off waivers.

Michael Floyd, ARI – Arizona faces a tough matchup in week 10 at Seattle. That matchup only makes me like Michael Floyd more heading into week 10. He is unlikely to draw the heavy pressure of the defense and should continue to quietly put up solid WR3 numbers. In his last 3 weeks Floyd has 215 yards and 3 touchdowns. John Brown’s return in week 10 will make for an interesting side bet as Floyd continues to try to earn his job back.

Tight Ends

Crockett Gillmore, BAL – Week 8 reminded me why I am glad the Bears canned Marc Trestman. Steve Smith Sr. is lost for the season and somehow Crockett Gillmore wasn’t used properly. Expect that to change as Baltimore comes off the bye week to play Jacksonville in week 10. They really have no choice but to get Gillmore more involved. I am not saying he has TE1 value, but against Jacksonville in week 10 it’s a favorable match up and players streaming Tight Ends will want to take a hard look.

Kickers

Connor Barth, TB – It wasn’t until week 5 that Connor Barth saw the field. Yet he has accumulated 52 points in 4 weeks of games. Tampa Bay has plenty of weapons to move the ball and have continued to improve this season. Barth’s stats alone prove this. Any time a kicker is perfect on the season and consistently earning double digit points he needs to be owned in more leagues than just the current 14%.

Defense/Special Teams

Pittsburgh Steelers – I’m going to be honest with you guys. This is a flier pick based on the matchup. Pittsburgh hosts Cleveland in week 10 and while Josh McCown should be back, it’s still the Browns. Honestly, week 10 is a tough match up for streaming defenses and I hope you aren’t that unlucky.

Week 9 Injuries:

Ben Roethlisberger (QB, PIT) sustained a foot injury on an Aldon Smith sack, which ended up being a mid-foot sprain and will likely sideline him until after the Steelers’ week 11 bye. Initially, it was suspected that he may have sustained a LisFranc injury to his left foot, which could have ended his season. Big Ben is still trying to play in week 10, but we believe that the starter will be Landry Jones. Thankfully, Jones has shown that he is capable of running the offense to some degree (and unlike Michael Vick, he has been getting the football to Antonio Brown on a regular basis), but the Steelers have never wanted to start Jones and he doesn’t perform well under pressure (as evidenced by his start against Kansas City earlier this season).

Teddy Bridgewater (QB, MIN) was knocked unconscious in week 9 and sustained a concussion, but he appears on track to start in week 10 against the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders are giving up 18.9 points per game to opposing fantasy QBs, so things look good for Bridgewater assuming that he is in good health.

Andrew Luck (QB, IND) has a partial tear of an abdominal muscle and a lacerated kidney. Yikes! These injuries will keep Luck off the field for a few weeks at minimum and bring in veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck to start under center going forward. Not good news for the Colts at all. Hasselbeck was previously able to score a few TDs when he filled in for Luck earlier in the season, but to rely on him for any more than a game or 2 at a time will likely spell trouble for fantasy production in Indianapolis.

Dion Lewis (RB, NE) was a huge pickup off the waiver wire for many fantasy football teams, but unfortunately he suffered an ACL tear in week 9 which will sideline him until 2016. This reinforces LeGarrette Blount as the primary RB in New England, but we will definitely see a committee of James White and Brandon Bolden on the field sucking up the snaps that Dion Lewis handled previously. As far as predicting which, if any, RB besides Blount will now be fantasy relevant? Might as well flip a coin.

Latavius Murray (RB, OAK) suffered a concussion this past week, but looks to be on track to play in week 10 already. If he’s not able to suit up, some combination of Taiwan Jones, Roy Helu and Marcel Reece will be in line to handle Murray’s touches.

Eddie Lacy (RB, GB) was on the injury report with a groin injury from week 9. Only in his 3^rd year, we expected Lacy’s production to be similar to what it was in 2013 and 2014, but he’s currently only on pace to reach about 50% of that production this season. It’s hard to see James Starks carving out a permanent role as the lead RB for the Packers, but an underperforming Lacy is forcing that to happen. As of right now, Starks appears to be taking that job.

Allen Hurns (WR, JAX) was injured at the very end of the game in week 9 with a sprained left foot. Hurns has been great, turning in a touchdown in each of the last 6 games and as long as he can dress for week 10’s match-up against Baltimore, he should continue that trend. We’ll have to wait until later this week to see if Hurns has shed the walking boot and is able to practice.

Malcolm Floyd (WR, SD) suffered a torn labrum on Monday night and will likely be out for the remainder of the season and perhaps be done for his career. This points to Stevie Johnson, Antonio Gates and Danny Woodhead sucking up all of Rivers' passes for the rest of the season. Fantasy gold, Jerry! Especially in PPR leagues.

Previous Injury Updates:

Tony Romo (QB, DAL) is still expecting to return in week 11, against the Dolphins.

Matt Forte (RB, CHI) news is not forthcoming, but the current expectation is a return in week 11 against the Broncos.

Carlos Hyde (RB, SF) had a stress fracture and there are no new updates on his recovery, though he could very well be out for the rest of 2015.

Kendall Wright (WR, TEN) is still sidelined with a sprained MCL and won’t return this week unless he can get out on the practice field.

John Brown (WR, ARI) said he would ‘be healthy after the bye [week 9]’ and we expect him to be ready for the Seahawks in week 10.

Breshad Perriman (WR, BAL) has not yet been able to practice after sustaining a knee injury in training camp. With Steve Smith out for the season, the Ravens need him to return and provide a boost to the passing offense. As of now, we don’t expect him to play in week 10.

We have hit double digits in weeks now – week 10!

Playoff contenders are starting to take shape and where you stand in your pool should be taking shape as well. Let’s make sure we continue strengthening our lock on that top spot.

Week 10 – HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN ALL CAPS)

14 – CINCINNATI over Houston – The week ends with what will probably be a Monday Night yawner. Bengals easily remain undefeated.

13 – GREEN BAY over Detroit – The Packers are on a bit of a slide…but that “slide” was against two undefeated teams. They’re playing pretty much the opposite this week hosting the Lions.

12 – Carolina over TENNESSEE – We saw some signs of life last week from the Titans under their new coaching regime – but that wasn’t against the Panthers.

11 – PITTSBURGH over Cleveland – Ben Roethlisberger is on the shelf once again. As long as Landry Jones realizes that Antonio Brown is also on the field, the Steelers should be just fine against the Browns.

10 – PHILADELPHIA over Miami – Once again the Dolphins are not playing a team destined for the top 10 of the draft. Pretty easy to pick against them.

9 – New England over NEW YORK GIANTS – The Giants are pretty familiar with handing the Patriots their first loss. This, however, is not a Super Bowl Giants team.

8 – DENVER over Kansas City – After literally handing the Broncos a win earlier in the season, the Chiefs will be out for a sense of retribution. Unfortunately for them they have a much worse team than they did in the first game.

7 – ST LOUIS over Chicago – The Bears have been showing some signs of life as of late. The Rams have the defense to slow that role down though.

6 – OAKLAND over Minnesota – I actually read a story giving Derek Carr a bit of MVP credibility. How he bounces back against close loses like last week will test that hypothesis.

5 – NEW YORK JETS over Buffalo – Rex Ryan returns to MetLife Stadium and does so with a captain that knocked out the Jets quarterback. The Jets will be amped for this one.

4 – SEATTLE over Arizona – Seattle will be holding on to whatever chance of winning the division they have this week and should be able to squeak out the win against division-leading Arizona.

3 – TAMPA BAY over Dallas – Does anybody else feel as odd as I do saying that the Cowboys need Tony Romo as much as they do?

2 – WASHINGTON over New Orleans – Drew Brees has brought spark back to the Saints offense to make them exciting to watch again. I don’t expect that to happen here, so this game just won’t be exciting.

1 - Jacksonville over BALTIMORE – Normally I would just say that if you pick the Jags to win a road game, they should be on the one point line. But along with that, with how wide open the Colts have left the division door open, my BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that THE JAGUARS WILL WIN THE AFC SOUTH.