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Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating Turkey Day this week. Safe travels and good eats.
Arizona
Daryl Washington's season got off to a very strong start with an 8-3-2, INT/PD line, but he has disappointed those who were expected his strong 2012 numbers since. There are multiple reasons why. Some of them are under Washington's control (he's a little less aggressive than last year and has missed a few more tackles than usual). But at least some of Washington's statistical decline is opportunity based. The Cardinals have faced just 16 rush attempts per game over the past four and 42 tackle opportunities per game over the last three. Washington has also had much more competition for tackles from Karlos Dansby, Yeremiah Bell and Tyrann Mathieu than he had last season. But don't write him off yet. His playoff schedule (Week 14-16) includes St. Louis at home, then Tennessee and Seattle on the road. Those matchups should be very favorable, particuarly if Jared Cook and Delanie Walker and Percy Harvin play well.
carolina
Mario Addison was able to primarily focus on rushing the passer against what's essentially a second team offensive line in Miami last week. The Dolphins ran the ball just 13 times against 49 dropbacks (42 pass attempts, three sacks, four Tannehill scrambles). Though Addison didn't fill up the boxscores -- he had just one sack -- he pressured Tannehill all afternoon. If Charles Johnson isn't able to return this week, Addison might be worth a look. But consider him a boom-bust option in big play leagues only. The matchup with Tampa Bay is a home game, but the Buccaneers have been protecting well over the past three weeks.
chicago
I warned in last Sunday's notes that Zack Bowman's matchup wasn't as favorable as the previous week, but I still expected more from him against a run-heavy St. Louis offense. If you picked him up, I'd be willing to forgive last week's stinker and roll with him again this week. And I still like the Week 14-16 matchups. Hopefully, he won't put us to the test with another so-so statistical effort this week.
cincinnati
There's been nothing official from the team, but yesterday's locker room comments from Vincent Rey strongly imply that Rey Maualuga will be back as the base defense middle linebacker this week. I'll have more on Sunday morning, but hopefully you've already prepared for this possibility. Rey has jumped off the screen on many plays over the past three weeks, but there have been times where he's been out of position. That's something that both Marvin Lewis and Mike Zimmer stress. Rey may be the future at the position, but it's likely that he'll have a rotational role only this week.
cleveland
Tank Carder was off to another strong statistical start last week before leaving with a sprained shoulder. Neither he nor Craig Robertson were practicing Wednesday morning. Darius Eubanks filled in last week if you're looking for a desperation fill-in and Carder and Robertson aren't able to go. If Eubanks goes, T.J. Ward's value would get a significant bump.
dallas
Last week, Jerry Jones tried to argue that Sean Lee had a chance to play on Thanksgiving. On Tuesday, he wasn't nearly as confident. That means we'll see another week of Ernie Sims in the middle. By default, Sims and Bruce Carter should run up good numbers on Thursday, but neither are playing effectively. DeVonte Holloman is probably also a long shot to play.
detroit
Four weeks off did Ezekiel Ansah well. He looked better against a well-schemed Tampa Bay offensive line than he did in two months of battling through abdominal strains and high ankle sprains. His burst off the line and leverage off the edge was back. The matchup at home against Green Bay is favorable. If you're in a gambling mood, Ansah has enough upside to trust in sack-heavy leagues this week.
houston
Whitney Mercilus flashed again last week, albeit in a favorable matchup against the Jaguars at home. He's still a work in progress and, with a likely change in coaching staff this offseason, a stash in deeper dynasty leagues only. But keep his name on the watch list. If the Texans change their defensive philosophy to a 4-3 front, Mercilus will have a chance to move into an upside DL3 tier or better.
indianapolis
It's been a frustrating season projecting and predicting player roles and snap counts this year. Last year, injuries caused lots of turnover on depth charts, but the resulting changes and snap counts were reasonably straightforward. This season, there are many situations that become evident only in hindsight. Further, it's hard to know whether it was a one week game plan / minor injury issue or something that will carry forward to future weeks. That's the case with Pat Angerer this week. Angerer rotated (base and subpackages) with Kelvin Sheppard last week. There was no mention of an injury after the game and the rotation looked to be two series for Angerer, two series for Sheppard, with neither playing in a few spare dime packages the Colts used. That leaves Angerer's value a big unknown -- inconsistent Titans' offense, assist-happy home stat crew -- this week.
kansas city
Tamba Hali seems to have avoided a long term ankle injury, but Justin Houston could miss multiple weeks with his elbow injury. The Chiefs have yet to be able to define Houston's injury -- there was too much swelling for an early week MRI. Hold Houston in all leagues due to an extremely favorable playoff schedule and hope for good news.
miami
Many of you are emailing me frustrations with Cameron Wake. Take a deep breath and keep putting him in your lineup. He's edging closer to his pre-injury snap count and looked very good last week. If he can get back another fraction of health in the next couple of weeks, he'll convert some of those pressures to sacks. There aren't many ends in the league with 3+ sack upside in any given matchup. Unless you have extremely strong alternatives, I'd stick with Wake.
minnesota
Long time readers know I'm stubborn. I'll admit when I'm wrong -- OMGHI2U Tyrann Mathieu! -- but I'm likely to stick to my first impressions of a player until I see clearly otherwise. That's why I'm hedging on Paul Worrilow. And that's why I'm going to hedge on Audie Cole. Cole is big and athletic. He looked good in drills at the Senior Bowl. He had impressive measurables at the Combine. But little of that translates to the game tape. He makes plays when he's unblocked, but rarely gets off blocks. He seems to diagnose quickly, but isn't violent at the point of attack, takes too many steps when changing directions and misses tackles as a result. He was given lots of pass rush opportunities last week and flashed when unblocked. He was able to get good coverage depth, but the Packers never challenged him with an athletic player. There's no denying the 11-2-1 debut. But recognize that it came on the strength of 34 rushing attempts, 20 completions to backs and receivers and 64 tackle opportunities. Cole is a must add, especially with Erin Henderson's status an unknown, but dynasty leaguers shouldn't be cutting a high upside talent for him and tackle-heavy leaguers should not be immediately considering him a LB1 down the stretch.
new england
There could be some transition at linebacker this week. Though he's playing well through it, Brandon Spikes is clearly limited by a knee problem. Dont'a Hightower was benched midway through the game for ineffectiveness and lack of foot speed. Dane Fletcher saw extended playing time in all packages. Unfortunately, the Houston matchup this week is a tough read. Spikes is the primary base middle backer and the Texans are a run first team. That might limit Fletcher's upside if Spikes is healthy enough to play. I'm still flabbergasted at the snap counts of Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich. Jones is still on pace for nearly 1100 snaps and took all 86 defensive snaps last week. He's been a monster this year. Hopefully, the snap count doesn't catch up to him during the fantasy playoff weeks.
new york giants
We're staring to see the issues that concerned Carolina on Jon Beason. As his snap count increases, he's just not able to keep up outside the tackles and he's lost some of his power inside. The Cowboys didn't provide as much tackle opportunity as expected, but Beason's floor is too low to trust. The same goes for Jason Pierre-Paul. Continued nerve issues in the neck and shoulder after a cervical fusion is very bad news. While it's possible that another offseason of healing brings Pierre-Paul back to his former self -- he'll turn 25 on January 1st -- the trend is very worrisome. Consider him a sell high -- buy very low if you can pull either off at this stage of the season.
st. louis
Robert Quinn is a stud. That's a near lock to continue through our playoff weeks. James Laurinaitis looked healthier coming out of the bye. Hopefully, that will also carry through our playoff weeks. T.J. McDonald returned to the starting lineup over Darian Stewart last week and had a five solo week. There's likely too much competition for tackles for McDonald to be a trustworthy play, but it's a trend to monitor.
san diego
The Chargers moved Reggie Walker into a near full time role at outside linebacker after experimenting with him there in Week 11. It didn't impact the snaps of Manti Te'o, who still left the field in dime packages. Walker played well enough to consider a deep sack-heavy league flyer, but only if Jarret Johnson continues to miss time.
san francisco
Aldon Smith nearly returned to his full time role last week, with Dan Skuta starting but playing only a fraction of the snaps. Smith's return has helped Ahmad Brooks some, but it's been a combination of strong play and good matchups that have thrust Brooks into a LB2+ role in sack heavy leagues. His playoff schedule is intriguing, especially if the Seattle offensive line isn't healthy in Week 14.
tennessee
Early in the week, Mike Munchak said that Moise Fokou would return to his starting job but that he expected to ease him back into the lineup, presumably with a rotation with Colin McCarthy in the short term. That didn't happen. Fokou didn't play every down, but McCarthy didn't see the field at all. Anyone fished in by the nice three game McCarthy run should now know exactly what the Titans think of the former starter.
Subscribe to The Audible on iTunes or download our weekly IDP podcast here every Thursday for injury updates, player analysis and matchup discussion. Check my article page on Sunday morning for notes on every team's key injuries, depth chart changes and IDP expectations. Follow and ask questions on Twitter @JeneBramel.