As the 2020 NFL regular season roars towards the finish line, so, too, do the majority of fantasy football redraft leagues. If you made the championship round, congratulations! If not, there’s always next year, and for now, there’s always DFS sites like DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo. These sites allow you to construct a brand-new roster each time, acquiring players at different salaries and keeping your team under a hard cap. In order to achieve DFS success, you must pinpoint under-the-radar value plays and sleepers so you can afford weekly studs in other roster slots. That’s where RotoQL comes in -- we provide detailed rankings of each NFL players’ DFS prices, values, stat projections, floors, and ceilings. I then compile a detailed list of our favorite under-the-radar value players, and we provide it to you free of charge via this weekly column. If you checked in last week, you would have benefited greatly from our advice to make the following DFS roster picks (all Week 15 prices and fantasy points via DraftKings): QB Jalen Hurts ($5,900): 40.8 fantasy pointsQB Philip Rivers ($5,900): 17RB D’Andre Swift ($6,400): 23.2RB JKDobbins ($5,900): 15.1WR Brandon Aiyuk ($6,300): 22.3WR: T.Y. Hilton ($5,500): 11.1Arizona D/ST ($2,900): 10These players (and Arizona’s D) all vastly outperformed their price tiers, with some even leading their positions for the week. By finding such great values at modest costs, DFS managers afforded themselves studs like Derrick Henry and Calvin Ridley in other roster spots.MORE WEEK 16 DFS: Best stacks|Lineup BuilderYou can read Week 16 previews and fantasy prediction articles 24/7onBetQL, find out which side the pros are betting on their NFL expert picks dashboard, follow all the NFL public betting data, and build DraftKings lineupson RotoQL.Let's break down ourtop Week 16 DFS value plays, and you can get an idea of why 100,000DFSplayers trustRotoQLto build lineups. We constantly monitor pricingand provide the most up-to-date insight and analysis to maximize your lineup success.Optimize, find value plays, and increase your chances of cashing today!WEEK 16 DFS TOURNAMENT LINEUPS: DraftKings | FanDuelNFL DFS Picks Week 16: QB sleepers, valuesJalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (DK: $7,000 | FD: $8,200)Coach Doug Pederson probably secretly wishes he had turned to Hurts earlier this season, as the rookie phenom has been explosive in his two starts for Philly. He posted 23.3 fantasy points in Week 14 against the Saintsand a whopping 40.8 in Arizona last week. Now he gets a dome game in Dallasagainst one of the more disappointing defenses of 2020. RotoQL projects Hurts to score 21.8 fantasy points against the Cowboys this weekendwith a40.8-pointceiling. Fire the rookie up with confidence.Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns at New York Jets (DK: $6,100 | FD: $7,600)Mayfield has morphed into a sensational playmaker this season. Six days after nearly leading the Browns over the Ravens on Monday Night Football with 366 total yards and three scores, the third-year QB went 27-of-32 for 297 yards and two TDs against a good Giants defense in a 20-6 spanking. After Pittsburgh choked against the Bengals on Monday, the AFC North is very much in play for the Browns. Expect a huge statistical game for Mayfield against the lowly Jets, who rank 30th in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacksand have allowed three passing TDs per game over the past three weeks.Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears at Jacksonville Jaguars (DK: $5,700 | FD: $7,200)Clearly the Bears should have kept Trubisky under center the whole season, as he’s now 5-2 as a starter in 2020. He may not be the future in Chicago but he’s definitely the present, and there’s no better gift to a QB than a sunny late-December meeting with the Jaguars. Jacksonville serves up the second-most fantasy points to QBsand has surrendered five passing TDs in the past two games.Stocking Stuffer SpecialAndy Dalton, Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles (DK: $5,500 | FD: $6,900)Dalton finally looks comfortable under center in Dallas, and he’s quietly averaged about 17 fantasy points over his past five games. Kyler Murray just put up 406 passing yards and three TDs against Philly’s secondary, so we like Red Rifle in this crucial home game against the Cowboys’ division rivals.Saturday Slate Standouts:Kyler Murray, Cardinals; Tom Brady, Buccaneers; Derek Carr, RaidersWEEK 16 DFS CASH LINEUPS: DraftKings |FanDuelWeek 16 DraftKings, FanDuel Picks: RB sleepers, valuesDavid Johnson, Houston Texans vs. Cincinnati Bengals (DK: $6,100 | FD: $6,700)After missing a handful of contests to a concussion and COVID-19 (not the kind of alliteration you want), DJ exploded for 133 all-purpose yards in Indianapolis last weekend. He caught all 11 of his targets, serving as Deshaun Watson’s security blanket against a tough Colts front seven. The Bengals looked pretty darn good against the Steelers last weekend, but they still allow 128.6 rushing yards per game (seventh worst in the NFL). Johnson should grab at least 60 yards on the groundand maybe another 50 through the air. RotoQL projects him to score 15.8 fantasy points this weekend, which would equal enormous value at these prices.JKDobbins, Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Giants (DK: $6,200 | FD: $6,300)Dobbins has been one of the best offensive rookies in the second half of the 2020 season, and he’s averaged 14 fantasy points overthe past four weeks. The Giants have a good secondary, but their front seven has been vulnerable to good running games. The Ravens are one of the best rushing teams in the NFL, and Dobbins has emerged as their best back. Expect another double-digit points performance from the talented rookie this weekend.Le'Veon Bell, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Atlanta Falcons (DK: $5,800 | FD: $6,400)After standout rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire suffered a high-ankle sprain and hip strain in a gruesome-looking play Sunday, Bell is now the true bell-cow in KC. The veteran has done it all for the Chiefs lately, and he logged 76 scrimmage yards and a score in their big 32-29 win over the Saints. The Falcons D has been better as of late, but it’s still susceptible to big-play guys in high-flying offenses. Leonard Fournette just scored two TDs in Atlanta last week, and it’s a good bet that Bell can fall in the end zone at least once this week.Stocking Stuffer SpecialChase Edmonds, Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers (DK: $4,600 | FD: $6,400)I’ve been one of the loudest critics of Kenyan Drake this season, and I maintain that Edmonds is a better fantasy player (and RB in general) than Drake. Edmonds touched the ball 14 times in Arizona’s big win over Philly last week, netting 66 yards and a touchdown (15.6 PPR points). Meanwhile, Drake managed just 40 yards on 12 touchesand appeared banged up throughout the game. RotoQL projects Edmonds at 10 PPR points with a 38-point ceiling on Saturday.Saturday Slate Standouts:D’Andre Swift, Lions; Salvon Ahmed, DolphinsWEEK 16 PPR RANKINGS:Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | KickerFanDuel, DraftKings Picks Week 16: WR sleepers, valuesBrandin Cooks, Houston Texans vs. Cincinnati Bengals (DK: $6,200 | FD: $7,000)Cooks missed one game after suffering a concussion against Indy in Week 13, but he returned to face the same Colts last weekend. He recorded six receptions on seven targets for 59 yards inhis fourth consecutive game with at least 11.9 PPR points. Cincinnatihas a much weaker secondary than Indy, so expect the volume to translate into more points production for Cooks this weekend. He’s Deshaun Watson’s A-1 ever since Will Fuller’s suspension, and he’s well worth these price tags.Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans (DK: $4,700 | FD: $5,900)Bengals veteran wideout Tyler Boyd (concussion) got banged up in the upset win over the Steelers last week, so the rookie could be in for a huge volume boost from third-string QB Ryan Finley. The Texans’ pass defense has been abysmal this season, ranking 23rd in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers. He's a volatile play, but Higgins could come with a huge reward at a low cost.Sammy Watkins, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Atlanta Falcons (DK: 5,000 | FD: $5,400)Watkins has had a tough 2020, but Patrick Mahomes has increasingly involved the veteran wideout in the past few weeks. He has 22 targets since returning from injury in Week 12, and he’s caught four passes in three of those four games. He logged 60 receiving yards against a dynamic Saints secondary last week, so 80 yards and a score seem attainable at home against the last-ranked Falcons passing defense.Stocking Stuffer SpecialAllen Lazard, Green Bay Packers vs. Tennessee Titans (DK: $4,200 | FD: $5,700)Lazard has been heating up as of late, making up for the time he lost to core muscle surgery. Only two teams give up more fantasy points to wide receivers than Tennessee, so some of the volume should go his way this weekend.Saturday Slate Standouts:Brandon Aiyuk, 49ers; Mike Evans, Buccaneers; Marvin Jones, LionsWEEK 16 STANDARD RANKINGS:Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | KickerWeek 16 NFL DFS Picks: TE sleepers, valuesMark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Giants (DK: $5,700 | FD: $7,000)The high-flying Ravens are back just in time for a playoff push, and Andrews has been one of the main catalysts. The 6-5, 256-pound veteran has averaged 17 fantasy points over his past three contests, and he remains one of the more trustworthy targets in the NFL on third down and in the red zone. Unlike the majority of tight ends, Andrews has a massive ceiling and a decent floor. The Giants have allowed tight ends to find paydirt in each of their past two games, and Andrews has caught nine-of-13 red-zone targets this season (with two TDs in the past three games), so getting the Pro Bowler at $5,700 is an early Christmas gift.Logan Thomas, Washington Football Team vs. Carolina Panthers (DK: $4,900 | FD: $6,000)A perfect storm of factors went into this recommendation. The veteran journeyman has enjoyed a breakout season, with 62 receptions and five touchdowns. He’s coming off his best volume game of the season, having caught 13-of-15 targets for 101 yards against the Seahawks. And this week he lines up against the Panthers defense, one of the worst units in the league and the eighth-most generous fantasy D to tight ends. Thomas has caught 32 of his 35 targets over the past four games, so you might want to hop aboard Thomas the Tank before DFS sites start to catch on.Stocking Stuffer Special:Austin Hooper, Cleveland Browns at New York Jets (DK: $3,500 | FD: $5,100)Hooper came back last week from a one-game absence due to a neck injury, and he posted 15.1 fantasy points in the Browns’ win over the Giants. Now he gets to face off with the other Big Apple team, the lowly Jets, who serve as the most generous defense to tight ends. It’s been a tough year for Hooper -- emergency appendectomy, neck ailments, etc. -- but this game should prove to be a much-needed stat-padder for the two-time Pro Bowler.Saturday Slate Standouts:Darren Waller, Raiders; Rob Gronkowski, Buccaneers; Jordan Reed, 49ersBetQL, RotoQL’s sister product, simplifies the research process for sports bettors by equipping them with real-time line movements, value bets of the day and meaningful team trends.Check it out here!Week 16 NFL DFS values: D/ST sleepersWashington Football Team vs. Carolina Panthers (DK: $3,000 | FD: $4,800) The team with no name sure has one hell of a defense. WFT has emerged as one of the more dominant squads in football, and it’s coming off a tough 20-15 loss to the Seahawks. Newsflash: Carolina sans-Christian McCaffrey comes nowhere near the offensive ability of Seattle. I think the Panthers struggle in D.C. this weekend, and Washington logs at least 11 fantasy points for the fifth time this season.Saturday Slate Standouts:Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions; Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers

Week 16 NFL DFS Picks: Best value players, sleepers for DraftKings, FanDuel daily fantasy football lineups

Ranking all 32 NFL teams in tiers pre-2020 season

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Now that we have passed the opt-out deadline and are only about three weeks away from the Chiefs and Texans kicking off the 2020 NFL season, I wanted to put together my pre-season power rankings and put all 32 teams in separate tiers, to give you an idea of where I see them at this point.
When putting together this list, I considered the talent on the roster, coaching staff and what will be a more important factor coming into this season than it has been in previous – the continuity as a franchise, since the COVID situation has limited the amount of preparation and ability to build chemistry as a team. That will be especially tough for new head coaches and inexperienced teams.
With that being said, this is how I would group them:

Super Bowl contenders:

This group of four represents what I think are the four elite teams in the NFL. They all feature complete rosters, excellent coaching and continuity as a franchise. I think these are the franchises that will most likely square up against each other in the conference championship games on either side of the bracket.

1. Kansas City Chiefs
We have heard this many times over the course of the offseason – the reigning Super Bowl champs bring back 20 of 22 starters (actually 19 now) on offense and defense combined. They have the best player in the league, the most dangerous receiving corp, above-average O-line play and a still improving defense, that just added some much-needed speed at the second level, which will allow DC Steve Spagnuolo to even more versatile. So at this point I can not have anybody unseat them. I think Clyde Edwards-Helaire (LSU) will be a star in that offense, they get a couple of guys back that missed their playoff run and there are plenty of young, developing players on that roster. What general manager Brett Veach has done this offseason in terms of securing Patrick Mahomes for the next decade and still opening up cap room to also sign their best defensive player in Chris Jones is amazing to me. My only two concerns for Kansas City at this point are a lack of depth in the secondary and the fact they will have to go on the road when they face the four best teams on their schedule – Baltimore, Buffalo, Tampa Bay and New Orleans, which has me favoring the second team on my list for the number one seed in the AFC and which this year means having one more game in the playoffs on their road to another Super Bowl for Andy Reid’s troops.

2. Baltimore Ravens
Right behind the Chiefs, as the biggest competitor for the AFC is Baltimore. They were the best team in the regular season from this past year, but the Titans handed them only their third loss of the season in the Divisional Round at home. While they did lose what to me is a first-ballot Hall of Fame guard in Marshal Yanda, outside of that the Ravens to me have an even better roster. The reigning MVP Lamar Jackson is only entering his third season in the league, the Ravens just added a top prospect in J.K. Dobbins (Ohio State) to a backfield that set a league-record in rushing yards and some of these young receivers will continue to develop. On defense, they addressed the two areas that needed some help, when they brought in Calais Campbell to boost their pass-rush and two top-six linebackers on my board in the draft (Patrick Queen & Malik Harrison). They may not have as many superstar names as some other teams, but without a full offseason to prepare for it, that Greg Roman offense could be even tougher to stop if Marquise Brown becomes a more dependable deep threat (now fully healthy) and I love how multiple Wink Martindale is with his defense, combining the different pressure looks to go along with more versatile pieces up front and one of the elite secondaries in the game. You combine that with a rising young special teams coordinator in Chris Horton and a great motivator and in-game decision-maker in John Harbaugh – I just can’t find a lot of L’s on their schedule.

3. San Francisco 49ers
Obviously the Super Bowl hangover will be brought up a lot of times with the loser of that contest, but unlike a lot of these teams coming off the big game – yet similar to the actual winners in the Chiefs – John Lynch did a great job re-tooling for the few losses they did have and didn’t overspend on some of their talented guys. Kyle Shanahan to me is the best offensive play-caller and game-designer in football, with a diverse rushing attack and the type of personnel to match it, while Jimmy G, despite some issues, is coming off his first 16-game season in his career. Defensively, they are losing what I thought was their best player in DeForest Buckner, but they did replace him with a top ten prospect in Javon Kinlaw (South Carolina) and Fred Warner is an emerging superstar. Their Seattle-based scheme under Robert Salah may not be very complex, but the Niners have a ferocious pass-rush, fast-flowing linebackers and a great safety tandem to be very sound in their execution. The Deebo Samuel injury is definitely a concern for me and if he doesn’t get back a few weeks into the season, I might drop San Fran a spot or two, plus I don’t love what they have at that second cornerback spot, but as for now I see the recipe that made me predict them winning the NFC West ahead of 2019 and what allowed them to be up double-digits in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.

4. New Orleans Saints
One of the themes this offseason for me has been how loaded this Saints roster is and that they just need to win this year. This is the final season with Drew Brees at the helm, they are already in a horrible place with the cap – before that even goes down in 2021 – and to be honest, a lot of their key contributors are getting pretty old now. While I have seen a significant drop-off in the arm-strength of Brees, other than that I don’t see any offense with this Sean Payton-led offense – the front-five is elite, Alvin Kamara should be back to 100 percent as a dynamic dual-threat back and they finally found a number two receiver in Emmanuel Sanders. When healthy, that defensive line is a dominant unit, I think third-round pick Zack Baun (Wisconsin) gives that linebacker group some versatility and they have a lot of experience in the secondary, including a guy I thought would be a future star on the outside in Marshon Lattimore. Before anything else, they need to take care of divisional-rival Tampa Bay – which is a very tough challenge already – but if they can do that, they are fairly in the hunt for the NFC’s top seed. There’s a lot of pressure on this group because of the cap situation, their all-time great QB having his “Last Dance” and brutal playoff losses in recent years, but they have all it takes to finally break through all the way.

Playoff contenders:

This second tier consists of eight teams that to me have only or two holes on their roster, while their coaching gives them an advantage over the majority of teams in the league and they bring back most of their pieces from a year or at least improved in those areas. I expect all but one of these squads to make the playoffs in 2020, as long as they don’t suffer significant injuries along the way.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Number five in the entire league seems pretty high for a team that finished below .500 last season, but this is not just about Tom Brady coming in, but rather the roster Tampa Bay has built around him. To me Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are the top receiver duo in the league, the Bucs arguably have the best tight-end room in the league and the offensive line only got better with superhuman Tristan Wirfs (Iowa) playing one of those spots on the right side. I have talked about this a lot over the offseason, looking at the match between Bruce Arians’ vertical-based passing attack and what Brady is used to, in terms of spreading the field and getting the ball out of his hands quickly. My bet is they go to a bit of hybrid and figure things out. Maybe more importantly, I don’t think people realize what they have put together on defense. Last season the Bucs finished number one against the run, they forced the fifth-most turnovers (28) and tied for sixth with yards per play (5.1) in the league. Todd Bowles is excellent defensive mind, who now enters his second season with as much talent as he has had since his Arizona days. Jameis turned it over 35 times last year (12 more than any other player in the league), while Tom didn’t even crack double-digits once again, and he immediately improves their situational football awareness and overall execution. This is a very dangerous squad.

6. Dallas Cowboys
When you talk about some of the most talented rosters in the league, the Dallas Cowboys come to mind right away – especially on the offensive side of the ball. Dak Prescott now has one of the premiere receiver trios with the selection of Ceedee Lamb (Oklahoma) in the draft, still probably a top-five offensive line and Zeke looking to re-establish himself as a top-tier back, after looking a step slow for most of last season. Defensively they are getting back Leighton Vander Esch, whose energy they desperately missed for stretches last season, and they have a very deep rotation at the defensive line (even though nobody knows what we’ll get from a couple of guys that were out of the league), while Mike Nolan will change things up a little more and get his guys into the face of opposing receivers. We have yet to see how much Mike McCarthy will want to have say in the offensive play-calling, but I like that they retained a young and creative OC in Kellen Moore, and as far as in-game control and CEO duties go, I certainly believe McCarthy is an upgrade. There are some questions with the secondary after the loss of Byron Jones and losing Travis Frederick to retirement hurts, but I think those are things that can be overcome. Something that I think should not be overlooked is the signing of former Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein and his special teams coordinator John Fassel, after converting only 75 percent of their field goal attempts last season (6th-lowest in the league) and missing a couple of crucial kicks.

7. Philadelphia Eagles
Right behind the Cowboys, I have their division rivals from Philadelphia. I think the Eagles actually have a better quarterback, the best defensive player among the two teams in Fletcher Cox and a more experienced secondary. However, with Brandon Brooks out for the season and maybe the worst group of linebackers in the NFL, I could not put this group ahead of Dallas, even though they have come up victorious against them in the big games recently. Last year Carson Wentz carried a group of skill-position players from the practice squad and a banged-up O-line to a division title. This upcoming season he will go from already wasn’t an overly dynamic receiving crew to a group of track stars, most notably with first-round pick Jalen Reagor (TCU) and a hopefully healthy DeSean Jackson, plus Miles Sanders I think is ready to emerge as a star back for Philly. The defense did lose some long-time stalwarts like Malcolm Jenkins and Nigel Bradham, but I loved the addition of Javon Hargreave in the middle to free up the other guys to attack upfield and with Darius Slay as their new CB1, not only does that move everybody one spot lower on the depth chart, but it also finally makes more sense for Jim Schwartz to be as aggressive with those zero-blitzes, since he has the guys to cover. Those two newcomers also fit perfectly when matching up against Dallas, because of an improvement interior run defense and having a guy who can match up with Amari Cooper, after the other guys got toasted for the most part.

8. Buffalo Bills
For the first time in about twenty years, a team not named the Patriots will enter a season as favorites in the AFC East – and it’s actually not that close for me. Buffalo made a switch last season offensively to more 11 personnel and quick-tempo with Brian Daboll moving to the booth. This offseason they finally got the big-armed Josh Allen a dependable deep threat in Stefon Diggs, who averaged 12.0 yards per target last season (second-highest in the league), which – similar to what I just talked about with the corners in Philadelphia – moves everybody else down one spot in the food chain. And I love what they do defensively, with Sean McDermott and Leslie Frazier’s game-plan specific zone pattern coverages, with a versatile secondary to execute those, to go with a deep D-line and two super-rangy linebackers. Even outside the Diggs trade, Buffalo has made some sneaky-good deals since losing that Wildcard game at Houston in such heart-breaking fashion. Whether that is Mario Addison as double-digit sack guy in four straight years, added depth on the O-line or a really solid draft class to complement what they already had. I don’t want to crown them at this point, but to me they are the favorites for the AFC’s number three seed as for right now, since I think the South doesn’t have that clear front-runner to win the majority of their divisional games.

9. Seattle Seahawks
I would have probably had the Hawks as the final team of this group or right at the top of the next one a couple of weeks ago, but after acquiring Jamal Adams, I think they have re-established themselves as that second team in the NFC West, since I had them very close with Arizona originally, I did not love what they did in the first two days of the draft (somewhat of a trend with them), they lost their second-best defensive player at that point in Jadeveon Clowney, I’m not sure if they upgraded on the offensive line and we don’t even if know if Quinton Dunbar will be suspended at this point. With that being said, Seattle has finished above .500 every single year with Russell Wilson under center and while I’m not a fan of their conservative approach offensively, where they don’t allow Russ to throw the ball on first downs and push the tempo a little at times, they are one of the most effective rushing teams and they have two lethal weapons to catch those trademark rainbow balls from the Seahawks QB. Defensively there are still some questions about the edge rush and at second corner spot, but Pete Carroll at least has what he wants most in a team at those positions – competition – and you already saw them go to more two-high looks in coverage than we are used to, telling me they utilize Jamal’s versatile skill-set more than what that strong safety mostly does in that system.

10. Green Bay Packers
The whole Aaron Rodgers-Jordan Love drama has been looming large over the offseason and that has brought us some interesting discussions, but let’s not allow this to take away from the fact Green Bay just had a first-round bye in the playoffs and made it to the NFC title game. While they were 8-1 in one-score games and should regress more towards the mean in terms of the success rate in those close games, the North is still wide open and they have a few things going for themselves – they have the best quarterback in the division, the best offensive line, the most versatile and effective pass rush and a lot of young talent in the secondary. The first-round selection of a future signal-caller aside, I wasn’t too fond of what they did in the draft. Even though I liked Cincinnati’s Josiah Deguara and can see what they want to do with him as H-back/move guy in this offense, I thought they did not get Aaron Rodgers help in the receiving corp, which has no proven commodity outside of Davante Adams. Their defense got absolutely steamrolled in two games against the eventual conference champion 49ers, but I hope to see Rashan Gary develop in his second season and I think Christian Kirksey was a very under-the-radar signing as a run-stopping linebacker. I think schematically with Matt LaFleur’s offense based on what they did under Sean McVay and Mike Pettine being very creative himself they are one of the better coaching staffs in the NFC, but I would like to see them open up the offense more for Rodgers and break tendencies more often with their coverage calls.

11. Pittsburgh Steelers
Another very dangerous squad for me is the Steelers. I have talked many times about how bad the Steelers quarterback situations was last season, as both Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges finished near the bottom in air yards per attempt, percentage of throws beyond the marker and many others. We have only seen Big Ben throw in some short clips on the internet, but if he is just 70-80 percent of what he was in 2018, this team is bound for a playoff berth. There are some question marks with this group of skill-position players, but I expect Juju to bounce back in a major way with a capable QB and being healthy himself, I have already picked Diontae Johnson as a breakout candidate for this season and I like the diversity of this group of backs. Pittsburgh’s defense was already elite last year, finishing top five in both yards and points allowed, tied for first in yards per play (4.7), the most takeaways (38) and sacks (54). If former Raven Chris Wormley can replace Javon Hargreave as a two-down run-stopper at least and rookie Antoine Brooks Jr. (Maryland) can fill a very specific role as their second sub-package linebacker in place of Mark Barron, I think they will one of the scariest units in the NFL once again. So the best all-around defense for my money and an offense who I would say has top ten potential at the very least is a tough match-up. Maybe not quite battling with the Ravens for the North, but the top Wildcard spot for sure.

12. Indianapolis Colts
If there is one team in the AFC that could go from finishing sub-.500 to making it all the way to the conference championship game, the Colts would be my pick. I thought Philip Rivers had a really rough 2019 campaign, in which his arm looked rather weak and his decision-making hurt the Chargers on multiple occasions, but he will play behind by far the best offensive line he has ever had and they will run the heck out of the ball. Indy already had a pretty good back in Marlon Mack, but Wisconsin superstar Jonathan Taylor, who they selected in the second round, will be one of the front-runners for Offensive Rookie of the Year if given the chances in combination with what I believe is the best front-five in the entire league, plus their other second-rounder Michael Pittman Jr. (USC) will be that Vincent Jackson/Mike Williams type target for Rivers. More importantly, with the trade for a top 50 player in the league in DeForest Buckner, this entire Colts D immediately takes a step forward, since he is a perfect fit as that 3-technique in their front and help them disrupt plays at a much higher rate, to go with range in zone coverage behind that, including the “Maniac” Darius Leonard chasing people down. I’m a big fan of Frank Reich and the coaching staff he is has put together, in terms of in-game decision-making, offensive gameplans and just the intensity his team plays him.

Fringe playoff teams:

This middle tier is made up from all those teams who I expect to be at .500 or above, firmly in contention for a Wildcard spot at least. They can be some areas of concern, but overall they have the roster ready to compete with the big dogs and/or feature above-average coaching. With a couple of these there is a change at quarterback and head coach respectively, but they have enough around those to overcome that.

13. Tennessee Titans
This definitely seems a little low for a team that is coming off an AFC Championship game appearance, but people seem to forget the Titans were 8-7 ahead of week 17 and if it wasn’t for the Steelers losing their final three games, this group wouldn’t have even been in position to lock down the six seed. Things were also made a lot easier by their division rival Texans, who sat most of their starters after beating Tennessee two weeks prior. So as impressive as their playoff run was, you have to think of what happened before that and put it into perspective a little. With one more playoff spot in each conference, their chances of making it to the tournament should be at least equally as good, but I believe the Colts are the favorites to win the South and for me the Steelers are the favorites for the fifth seed. With all that being said, there is plenty to like about this team still – they can pound you with the Derrick Henry and the run game, Ryan Tannehill at least gives them the threat of pulling the ball and going deep off play-action, they have some young weapons catching the ball and defensively they are very versatile in how they set up gameplans. I also like the mind-set Mike Vrabel installs in these guys and I was impressed with what OC Arthur Smith did in 2019. If there are two spots that could decide if this group is fighting for a division title or that final playoff berth, it will be their rookie right tackle Isaiah Wilson (Georgia) and recently signed edge rusher Vic Beasley.

14. Cleveland Browns
While I don’t see them competing for the AFC North – just because of how loaded the Ravens are – the Browns are pretty clearly the most talented team that is considered to be third in their division. In terms of their group of starting skill-position players at least, they are near the top of the NFL, the O-line to me already just made my top ten ranking with room to move up, if healthy they are at least in the conversation for that with the D-line as well, with a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Myles Garrett, and I like how they have assembled their secondary. Now, they have some unproven guys at the linebacker level and Cleveland’s potential is largely dependent on which Baker Mayfield we will get. With Kevin Stefanski coming and installing an offense that will be built on the zone run game and bootlegs off that, where his quarterback is put on the move, I could see much more efficient play and more comfort in that system. Something that really jumped out to me on tape was how many times Baker seemed to not be “on the same page” with his receivers, expecting routes to break off differently and unfortunate drops in certain situations. Even though the preparation for the season does look a lot different and QB & WRs haven’t been able to spend too much time together, I expect this to improve and more suitable roles for those pass-catchers overall. And if they are ahead in more games, that pass rush will be a problem.

15. Arizona Cardinals
There are certainly still some issues here, but the Cardinals are probably the most exciting young team in all of the NFL. Kyler Murray was a one-man show last season and is due for a big jump, with DeAndre Hopkins being added to a receiving corp that severely lacked dependable weapons, to go with some other youngsters fully healthy, Kenyan Drake looked like a different player once he came over from Miami and the O-line should at least be marginally better. Defensively they transitioned a little up front, with big gap-pluggers on the line and Isaiah Simmons being that ultra-rangy player on the second level, who can run guys down on the edges, if those ball-carriers forced to bounce outside, plus they have maybe the most underappreciated edge rusher over the last four years in Chandler Jones. I don’t think they are very deep in the secondary, but Budda Baker is an absolute baller, Jalen Thompson emerged late last season and I already predicted Byron Murphy would have a breakout second season. With Kliff Kingsbury and Vance Joseph, Arizona has creative play-calling on both sides of the ball and they now have the personnel to execute at the needed level as well. Like I mentioned, I was ready to have the Cardinals at least go toe-to-toe with Seattle for a playoff spot, but the addition of Jamal Adams has shifted the balance again to some degree. And if you just go based off my rankings, two NFC Wildcard spots already go to teams from five to seven.

16. Denver Broncos
A team that has been getting a lot of love this offseason is the Broncos. They have pretty much all the pieces that you usually see with those rising squads – a promising second-year quarterback with a lot of weapons surrounding him, a ferocious defensive front and having shown signs late last season. My belief in them has taken a bit of a dump unfortunately since I thought they did well to improve the offensive line, with Garrett Bolles on the left end being the only weak-spot, but now that Ja’Wuan James won’t be available at right tackle for the second straight year (injury last season and now opting out), their duo of OTs is a concern for me. Defensively you have to love what they have in the front seven, with Von Miller and now again Bradley Chubb coming off the edges, Jurrell Casey added to the interior to go with Shelby Harris and Alexander Johnson being an under-the-radar standout at linebacker. I’ve always been a big fan of Justin Simmons, but that second corner spot is still up in the air. I like Vic Fangio and that coaching staff they have put together in Denver, with Pat Shurmur providing a QB-friendly offense, the game’s best O-line coach in Mike Munchak and most of the people that have helped Fangio put out elite defenses at multiple stops before. So the Broncos are still the most dangerous opponent of the Chiefs in the AFC West, but now I’m not sure if they can add some drama over the fourth quarter of the season.

17. Minnesota Vikings
At the same time, a team that has been a little overhyped to me this offseason is Minnesota. While I don’t love how the Packers have operated since February, what have the Vikings done to really improve? They traded away the best deep threat in the league last season in Stefon Diggs, stalwarts on the D-line in Everson Griffen and Linval Joseph are now gone, their entire group of corners has combined for less than 1500 career snaps and their offensive coordinator is now in Cleveland. I’m intrigued by the combination of Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson, who could be pretty interchangeable in their roles and I like their 12 and 21 personnel groupings, but they lack depth at the receiver position. And the defense will be relying on several inexperienced pieces to step in. I mean their three starting corners from last year are off the team now. So I don’t really get how most people all of a sudden put them ahead of the Packers. With that being said, I like the offensive scheme and always thought Gary Kubiak was a huge factor in their success on the ground at least. On defense there are certainly question marks – especially in the secondary – but Minnesota could easily have a top five player at their respective position at all three levels, with Danielle Hunter, Eric Kendricks and Anthony Harris, plus they still have some promising young guys like Ifeadi Odenigbo, Mike Hughes and a deep rookie class. Their only true shade nose Michael Pierce opting out hurts though.

18. New England Patriots
This offseason must have been a rollercoaster for Patriots fans. First, Tom Brady leaves and everybody goes crazy. Then people start getting onto the Jarrett Stidham hype train and talk about how good the rest of this team still is. Out of nowhere they sign Cam Newton for the veteran minimum basically and they are back in the conversation for the top teams in the AFC all of sudden. And now, they lead the league in players opting out of the season, with key defensive pieces like Dont’a Hightower and Patrick Chung, to go with a couple of role players on offense at least. So now they are right at the bottom of these fringe playoff teams for me, because purely based on the roster, they are not even in the top 20 league-wide, but they still have maybe the greatest defensive mind in NFL history in Bill Belichick and one of the best offensive play-callers right now in Josh McDaniels. Obviously a lot of this will come down to what version of Cam Newton we will get and even if he is and can stay totally healthy. Not only is New England the most adaptable team in terms of how they can adjust to personnel and how flexible they are with their game-plans, but Cam is a great fit in that offense, where he can spread the field and make decisions based on defenses adjusting. The one area that took the biggest bump – outside of quarterback I’m guessing – is the offensive line, because they lost a legendary position coach in Dante Scarnecchia and their probable starter at right tackle in Marcus Cannon. While the Pats do have some young players, who can replace part of the losses, they were already more in plan for the pieces that left before there was any virus outbreak.

Around .500:

This broad group of seven teams represents all those franchises who will be dancing around .500 mark in the win-loss column. A couple of teams have the potential to win nine or ten games, while others could see those numbers on the wrong side of the column as well. There are obvious question marks in certain areas, even though they might feature top-tier players and/or coaches.

19. Houston Texans
It’s kind of tough to put a team here that has won its division the last two years, but I think the Texans are pretty clearly number three in the South now. I love Deshaun Watson and I think he has fairly established himself as a top five quarterback in the NFL, but Bill O’Brien just took away an elite wide receiver in DeAndre Hopkins and replaced him with an injury-prone Brandin Cooks to go with another always banged up Will Fuller and a declining Randall Cobb, to go with a David Johnson in the backfield, who was unrecognizable last season. I think the O-line is improving, but outside of Laremy Tunsil maybe, they don’t have anybody other than Deshaun who is clearly above-average in their role. And defensively they finished in the bottom five in yards allowed and tied with Cincinnati (who picked first overall in the draft) for an NFL-high 6.1 yards allowed per play. Hopefully having J.J. Watt back for a full season should help, I like the selection of Ross Blacklock (TCU) on the inside and there are some talented young corners on this roster, who could be better much in 2020. I would not be surprised if they are that .500 team at heart and their quarterback carried them to a couple of wins that they weren’t supposed to get – which we have seen him do many times before – but it’s more likely to me that they are fighting for one of the two bottom Wildcard spots.

20. Atlanta Falcons
Very rarely do you have a team that was among the worst over the first half of the season and among the best over the second half. The Falcons started out 2019 with a 1-7 record, but would go on to win six of the final eight games. Their defense was absolutely atrocious early on last season, with no pass-rush impacting the opposing quarterback and several miscues in coverage. With Raheem Morris taking over the defensive play-calling, they showed a lot of improvement already and there are signs that trend will continue. While there are some questions about the back-end and if they can get consistent production from their rush outside the top two guys, I think Dante Fowler is an upgrade over Vic Beasley, I like Marlon Davidson (Auburn) as a guy with inside-out flexibility on sub-packages and Keanu Neal is back healthy, as that Kam Chancellor-type, who can be that extra defender in the box in their system and punish receivers when catching the ball over the middle or in the flats. Offensively I believe this is still a team that can move the ball – they just have to start doing so earlier in games. While the top NFL receiver duo is in their own division with the guys in Tampa Bay, Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley could easily be that next one. They lost a very productive tight-end in Austin Hooper, but I believe Hayden Hurst can replace at least 80 percent of that production, and while we have no idea what we get from Todd Gurley and his knees at this point, last year the Falcons had one of the least effective per-touch backs in Devonta Freeman. Plus, the O-line should take a step forward with former first-round pick Chris Lindstrom returning from injury.

21. Las Vegas Raiders
To me the Raiders are still in transition, not only moving to Las Vegas, but also in terms of roster construction and the culture Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock are trying to establish. Outside of Tyrell Williams, that entire group of receivers was overhauled, they have a lot of young pieces on the defensive line and the secondary, plus they will have at least two new starters on the second level of their defense. By far the biggest thing they have going for them is the offensive line and second-year back Josh Jacobs running behind it. When I did my top ten offensive lines in the NFL a couple of weeks ago, I had the Silver & Black at number five, and Jacobs was already a top 100 player in the league for me, with how physical and elusive a runner as he is. I could easily see the Raiders finish near the top in terms of ground production, and I also like the young guys they brought in around that, with Henry Ruggs III (Alabama) keeping the defense honest with his speed, Bryan Edwards (South Carolina) as a physical receiver, who will get hands after the catch, and Lynn Bowden Jr. (Kentucky) as that chess-piece potentially, that you can use in a multitude of way. My bigger question here is if Derek Carr is willing to push the ball down the field. Defensively I like the rotation they have on the interior D-line and the two linebackers they brought in via free agency, most notably Corey Littleton. There are still some questions about how snaps will be split between their corner group, but I’m excited to see a full season of Jonathan Abram hopefully. These guys have some attitude and an energetic head coach.

22. Los Angeles Rams
Oh, how far we have come. Just one-and-a-half years ago the Rams were officially 20 spots higher basically, when they lost the Super Bowl to New England. Ahead of last season, I predicted them to miss the playoffs and while they made a bit of a run at it late, that’s what ended up happening. Now I see them as the fourth team in their own division – even though that says more about the competition they face rather than them. I still believe in Sean McVay and his ability to win on paper with play-design and game-planning, but Jared Goff has turned out to be an average quarterback, they don’t have a prime Todd Gurley setting the table anymore and the offensive line had some major issues, for large stretches of last season, especially in the run game. I was very high on Cam Akers, who they selected in the second round out of Florida State, but he will obviously be a rookie with shortened preparation, rather than an Offensive Player of the Year like Gurley was for them. Defensively, they have two elite players in Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey and I like some of the other guys in their roles, but overall the high-end talent beyond the two biggest names isn’t overly impressive. Leonard Floyd might be their top edge rusher and he has always been more of a Robin, they have no proven commodity as stand-up linebacker and I have yet to see if Brandon Staley can actually be an upgrade over Wade Phillips as their defensive coordinator.

23. Detroit Lions
While I was going back and forth with putting the Lions third or fourth in the NFC North, I recently said they are among the top two teams that could go from worst to first in their division and I would not be surprised if they were in the hunt for a Wildcard spot in the last couple of weeks of the season. His second year in a system under Darrell Bevell – where he wasn’t just going in shotgun 40 times a game and asked to make magic happen – Matthew Stafford looked like an MVP candidate as long as he was healthy in 2019. That duo of Kerryon Johnson and my top-ranked running back in the draft D’Andre Swift (Georgia) could be one of the most dynamic ones in the league, the receiving corp is highly underrated and I like those rookies competing for the two guard spots. Defensively, they seem to finally look like what Matt Patricia wanted, when he came over from New England, in terms being versatile with their fronts and having guys who can take on receivers in man-coverage. With that being said, there is also a good chance that the Patricia experiment could go to shambles, if some of the veterans get turned off by his style of coaching without having established that winning culture, and this team has simply been dealing with too many injuries to key players. I don’t think there is much of a gap between the Lions and Vikings for example, but Detroit has not shown the stability of some other organizations.

24. Chicago Bears
A franchise that I don’t really hear anybody talk about – unless it’s their quarterback competition – is that team from the Windy City. I understand that the Bears aren’t really sexy because they lack those superstars on offense that people will recognize, but I’m higher on some of the guys they do have on that side of the ball and on defense they could be much closer to 2018, when they led the league in points allowed and turnovers forced, rather than being just inside the top in most categories last season. A guy I already predicted to break out for Chicago this upcoming season with a bigger workload is running back David Montgomery, to go with Anthony Miller as a gadget player and developing young pass-catcher and one of the more underappreciated receivers out there in Allen Robinson. Defensively, I thought the biggest issue last season was Akiem Hicks missing double-digit games, as a table-setter with his ability to disrupt plays from the interior, and Leonard Floyd didn’t provide much on the opposite side of Khalil Mack, who they upgrade from with Robert Quinn, who just had his best season since the Rams were still in St. Louis. Now, I don’t love what they have at that second safety spot to complement Eddie Jackson, someone will have to fill that second corner spot – even though I’m a fan of second-round pick Jaylon Johnson (Utah) – and nose tackle Eddie Goldman opting out is a huge loss. If the quarterback position can just complement the rushing attack and the defense plays up to their potential, this group could be competing for second in the North, but Foles or Trubisky could still hold them back.

https://preview.redd.it/aep6uj385di51.png?width=1060&format=png&auto=webp&s=07674898e4de7d73699c065907983e69612c56a4

The final tier is in the comments!!

If you enjoyed this breakdown, I would really appreciate if you could visit the original piece - https://halilsrealfootballtalk.com/2020/08/18/ranking-all-32-nfl-teams-in-tiers-pre-season/
You can also listen to my analysis on the Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz7WE0epZw8

Covid-19 update Tuesday March 17th

Good morning from the UK. Happy St Patricks day. It'll be a woeful one for many Irish people around the world with pubs and bars shut in multiple US states, several European countries, several Asian countries and worst of all, Ireland itself. Here in the UK you can still go to the pub, although as of late yesterday afternoon the UK government advised against it says the BBC.

Virus statistics
Several comments from redditors in past days complained the WHO stats I C&P'd did not come very close to reflecting stats being quoted by national media wherever they lived. As a result, I'm abandoning the WHO stats and going back to the John Hopkins University tracker stats for all countries. If it's good enough for the likes of Forbes, Business Insider, FT, USA Today to regularly cite it then it's good enough for me:-

Region	Today (John Hopkins Stats at time of writing)	Yesterday (John Hopkins stats not the WHO's)	% daily change
Global	182,424	169,387	+7.7%
China	81,053	81,020	+0.4%
Italy	27,980	24,747	+13.1%
Iran	14,991	13,938	+7.6%
Spain	9,942	7,844	+26.7%
South Korea	8,320	8,162	+1.9%
Germany	7,272	5,813	+25.1%
France	6,655	5,437	+22.4%
USA	4,661	3,774	+23.5%
Switzerland	2,330	2,200	+5.9%
UK	1,553	1,395	+11.3%
Netherlands	1,414	1,136	+24.5%
Norway	1,347	1,256	+7.2%
Sweden	1,121	1,032	+8.6%
Belgium	1,058	886	+19.4%
Austria	1,018	860	18.4%

All other countries with under 1000 identified infections not listed (sorry Denmark), yesterday's threshold was 750. Total countries infected worldwide = 155, an increase from yesterday of 9. Source for all countries (as discussed above): the John Hopkins University dashboard (Link). (Personal note: Western countries infection counts are increasing each day much faster than Asian countries but that may be due to cultural differences or it may be that they're doing my testing, if anyone can shed light on this please do).
Reminder, these are identified case counts and medical experts are reporting this virus has a long incubation period with people being infections despite displaying no symptoms; the true infection figures are likely to be much higher. Note that some countries are reporting shortages of test kits which further skews the data available; assume true cases are much higher.
Finally, no, I don't believe China's official statistics either.

Selected Virus news

Warnings of shortages of regeants (ingredients) to make test kits in the US - the Fool (a high quality finance website despite the name) reports that FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn stated last week in testimony before a U.S. House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee that there could be supply chain issues with reagents needed for novel coronavirus diagnostic kits. He noted that the supply issues specifically apply to RNA used in testing for coronavirus disease COVID-19.

Shortages in US supermarkets likely to continue until panic buying eases - The LA Times says that shortages will continue until people calm down in their shopping habits. The major chains usually get shipments overnight, or perhaps twice a day, to restock essentials such as paper towels, toilet paper and water, but “manufacturers in some cases are having trouble keeping up, and that’s where the void is, they’re not able to keep up with demand,” said Bob Reeves, vice president for the West at the Shelby Report, a research firm that tracks the grocery industry. “We’re seeing shipments coming into the stores sometimes without any of those products, and it will be like that until people calm down a little bit,” he said. In some cases, chains are sending their delivery trucks directly to manufacturers — bypassing warehouses and distributors — to get the items to the stores faster. (Personal note: the same applies for all supermarket supply chains globally)

Pa. hospitals are rationing protective gear as the number of coronavirus cases grows - (Personal note, this is an example, there seems to be a general global shortage of medical PPE (personal protective equipment) - The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that hospitals across Pennsylvania are drastically limiting the use of key protective gear out of fears that a dramatic increase in coronavirus cases could diminish reserves and cause a dangerous shortage. The rationing comes as the state Department of Health maintains that it has personal protective equipment available and is working with health systems to make sure they have what they need. The gear includes eye protection, gowns, and N95 respirators, which are essential in preventing a health care worker from breathing in infectious particles when in close contact with someone who has COVID-19. In Philadelphia, two doctors who work at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania said it’s barring the use of N95 respirators “except in extraordinarily limited situations.” Penn Medicine declined to comment. Another city doctor, Daphne Owen, said in a tweet Thursday her clinic “for uninsured and undocumented patients” was out of masks. Two days later, the clinic, Puentes de Salud, said it was closed due to the pandemic.

Other Virus news in brief
- The Scottish courts and tribunals announced today that no new criminal jury trials would be commenced or new juries empanelled until further notice.
- Iran has temporarily freed a total of 85,000 prisoners, including political prisoners, a spokesman for its judiciary said on Tuesday, adding that the prisons were responding to the threat of a coronavirus epidemic in jails.
- Britain had “no time to lose” in changing tactics in order to prevent thousands of deaths and the NHS being overwhelmed, scientists providing guidance to the UK government have said. The Imperial College Covid-19 response team – which is one of several scientific teams advising UK ministers – published a paper (I've put it in the addendum below) showing that 250,000 people could die if efforts were focused only on delaying and slowing down the spread of Covid-19.Separately, England’s deputy chief medical officer, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, could not rule out the strict measures having to last for a year but predicted they would last at least “several months“.
- Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs has advised Australians to return home as soon as possible by commercial means because overseas travel is becoming “more complex and difficult” as countries impose travel restrictions and close their borders.
- Leaders of EU states were expected on Tuesday to suspend all travel into the passport-free Schengen zone by non-EU nationals for at least 30 days in a bid to instil uniformity across the bloc after some member states, including Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, unilaterally began imposing border checks.
- China has issued an angry reaction (by diplomatic standards) to the US president Donald Trump’s characterisation of the disease as “the Chinese virus.” (he tweeted late last night "The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!"). China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the US president should take care of his own matters first and not seek to “stigmatise” China.
- The postponement of soccer’s Euro 2020 Championship may already have been decided after Uefa last week cancelled its hotel bookings in Copenhagen.
- The UK just advised its citizens against all non essential travel worldwide in the past 10 minutes
- Mobile phone networks are struggling in some areas of the UK with significantly increased demands according to down detector. For sure a lot of people seem to be home working, my commute in this morning was like it was the middle of August and everyone else was on holiday.
- Alitalia, the Italian airline flag carrier is to be renationalised by Italy
- Cinema chains are closing in multiple countries due to shutdowns
- Kazakhstan is closing down its two largest cities (despite only having 32 cases so far)
- A preliminary calculation by a US expert suggests that tens of thousands of premature deaths from air pollution may have been avoided by the cleaner air in China, far higher than the 3,208 coronavirus deaths.
- Jordan: the army has said it will deploy at entrances and exits of main cities in the kingdom in a move officials said was ahead of an imminent announcement of a state of emergency to combat the spread of coronavirus.
- In a joint statement, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit and YouTube said they would help ensure people could stay connected to each other during isolation as well as fight any misinformation and fraud linked to the outbreak. “We are working closely together on Covid-19 response efforts,” the statement said. “We’re helping millions of people stay connected while also jointly combating fraud and misinformation about the virus, elevating authoritative content on our platforms, and sharing critical updates in co-ordination with government healthcare agencies around the world.
- Almost all Germans shops are about to close by government decree; supermarkets, pharmacies will remain open (including on Sundays when they are usually closed). Separately, government press briefings there have gone online only.
- Olympic organisers in Japan are asking people not to create crowds along the route of the Olympic torch relay and not to gather near the route if they feel sick. A Boeing aircraft flew to Greece on 15 March to bring the torch to Japan.
- France: No movement allowed except for essential work or health reasons. “There can be no more outside meetings, no more seeing family or friends on the street or in the park. We must slow the spread of this virus by limiting the number of people we are in contact with each day to the strict minimum. If we do not, we endanger the lives of those we hold dear.” said the French President Macron.
- Israel’s government has approved emergency measures to track people suspected or confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus by monitoring their mobile phones, immediately raising privacy concerns in the country. The cabinet unanimously approved the use of the technology, developed initially for counter-terrorism purposes, in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said providing the country’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, with new secretive powers was a “dangerous precedent and a slippery slope that must be approached and resolved after much debate and not after a brief discussion”.
- Indonesian president Joko Widodo said on Saturday that he had withheld some information about cases to prevent the country from panicking, the Jakarta Post reported. He has rejected calls for a lockdown to be imposed on hard hit areas.
- Malaysia has announced it's closing its borders prompting neighbouring Singapore's citizens to panic buy (90% of their food is imported from Malaysia).
- New Zealand on Tuesday deported its first unruly traveller flouting the country’s mandatory 14-day self-isolation rule for almost all arrivals, the health ministry said. The tourist, who had checked into a backpackers hostel in the city of Christchurch, was removed from the accommodation by the police after officials learned she did not have clear self-isolation plans.

Economics

Goldman Sachs doesn't think the stock market drops have finished - BusinessInsider says that Goldman Sachs thinks that the S&P 500 might plunge as low as 2,000 before recovering through the rest of the year, the investment bank wrote Friday. The level is the benchmark index's lowest since early 2016 and implies a 20% decline from Monday's open. Such a tumble would also place the index more than 40% below its February 19 peak. The coronavirus outbreak is responsible for "unprecedented financial and societal disruption," the analysts said, and equities have so far served as accurate leading indicators before the release of relevant earnings or macroeconomic data. That said, the analysts pointed out that "The lesson of prior event-driven bear markets is that financial devastation ultimately allows a new bull market to be born,".

U.S. factories are likely to close because of the coronavirus’ supply-chain shock - Marketwatch reports (link) that there is a very real chance that companies from auto makers to electronics manufacturers will soon begin to cease or limit production. With a downed China as the headstream of global manufacturing, mercantile America simply can’t function as it’s accustomed to. We’re starting to see this happen in official reports: The New York Fed’s Empire State business conditions index, released Monday, plunged by a record 34.4 points to minus 21.5 in March. And Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Sunday he expects a contraction in GDP in the second quarter. (Personal note: I expect similar problems across all G20 countries). The article goes on to explain that many supply chain directors may understand their first tier suppliers but often do not have full visibility of the status of their 2nd or 3rd tier suppliers

Supply impact of the coronavirus outbreak is waning, but demand shock will linger, economist says - CNBC says that in January and February, industrial output fell by 13.5% from the same period a year earlier, the weakest reading since January 1990 — when Reuters' record began. China's industrial production is likely to improve in March over a slump in January and February due to the coronavirus outbreak, but consumer demand will take longer to recover both in the country and globally, an economist said Monday. "We will see some recovery, but this recovery, I think, is being undermined by the global spread as well," said Bo Zhuang, chief China economist at TS Lombard. Meanwhile, retail sales in January and February shrank 20.5% from a year ago, compared with a 8% growth in December as fearful consumers avoided crowded places like malls, restaurants and cinemas. "We were worried about supply-side issues, but now it's becoming a demand shock issue," said Zhuang. Smaller outfits like restaurants and service-oriented businesses have "resumed work but there are no customers," said Zhuang. "I think we are going to see a delayed V-shape (recovery), and this V may be a tilted V or W, or even U. We are not sure," he added.

Coronavirus Impacts Every Sector of the Supply Chain - Supply and demand chain executive reports that the global supply chain continues to experience disruption. "We have seen that in the way that it’s spreading across into different hubs where we see alternative routes to be overly burdened, such as the rail system,” says Koray Köse of Gartner. “Now with the crisis and the hubs being closed and product movements are still active to some extent, but not necessarily from those regions, will become crowded and impacted. This means that there’s an additional strain on the overall network to move material.” Some products have experienced significant upticks including Chicken noodle soup (+37%), Hand sanitizer (+65%), Disinfecting Wipes: (+353%) and Cold & Flu medications (+197%) amongst others.

Coronavirus pandemic worse than 1997 financial crisis, Malaysian ex-PM Mahathir warns - The Strait times reports on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former premier who steered Malaysia's recovery from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, expects the current coronavirus pandemic to hit the global economy even harder. "This is worse than the financial crisis," he said in a Bloomberg Television interview. "This is really a terrible blow to the economies of the whole world." Dr Mahathir joins other world leaders in warning that the virus impact may be worse than past periods of upheaval (Personal note: I pointed out yesterday the NZ PM also saying this).

Supply chain news relating to Covid-19

For Global Supply Chains the Worst Is Yet to Come - Supply Chain Management review says (Link) that most industrial companies have 30-60 days of parts and raw materials either on hand, in-transit, or obtainable on short notice. After these supplies run out, we will start to see shortages of finished products as well as parts needed to produce other goods. Shortages will start to become more evident toward the end of March and beginning of April. Production in some non-Chinese factories will have to be put on hold for lack of parts. Partially finished products will remain in suspension until all parts are available to build finished products. Some companies are pressing their engineers to redesign parts that can be sourced in the U.S., or at least outside of China. Other companies are giving 3D printing a serious try for the first time. The article goes on to point out delays in sea freight ex-Asia and extremely high airfreighting costs are exacerbating the situation.

U.S. Suspends Truck-Driving Limits to Speed Coronavirus Shipments - The Wall Street Journal reports as of 2 days ago that maximum working hours for truck drivers in the US have been suspended. This applies to truck drivers moving emergency supplies such as medical equipment, hand sanitizer and food in response to the nationwide coronavirus outbreak. It comes as hospitals report shortages of medical masks and as retailers and manufacturers are straining under surging demand for everything from hand sanitizer to staples such as toilet paper and rice. As anxious consumers stockpile goods, grocers have turned to rationing, imposing purchase limits on disinfectant wipes, cleaning supplies and other high-demand products. The move is the first time the FMCSA has issued nationwide-wide relief from hours-of-service regulations, although regional declarations have waived those rules in response to disasters such as hurricanes. Federal regulations limit most commercial truck drivers to 11 hours of driving time in a 14-hour workday, restrictions intended to reduce accidents caused by highway fatigue.

For supply chain companies, U.S.-Mexico border closures could be catastrophic - Marketplace points out that Mexico’s deputy health minister says he’s worried about people coming into Mexico from the United States; currently the U.S. has far more cases of COVID-19 than Mexico. The Mexican government even said it might consider restricting access at its northern borders. For businesses that operate on both sides of the border, any shutdown could be catastrophic. The article gives a case study of a manfacturer employing 150 people in Texas. The company president says before anyone considers closing the border, President Donald Trump and Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, should discuss a coordinated response to the virus. As for now, he says all of his people can work from home, if the situation calls for it. Everyone here has a laptop, he said. But he says the independent truck drivers and contractors who work on the loading docks, they have to be on site to run things. Those people also only get paid if they show up for work. So, for now, they’re glad the COVID-19 hasn’t shut this part of Texas down, yet.

It won't be long before Coronavirus shuts down local African supply chains - The major Kenyan newspaper daily nation reports that there are imminent difficulties facing Kenyan pharma firms due to the industry importing 70% of its ingredients from India and China, both of whom have restricted exports. Studies show that the Kenyan pharmaceuticals market is worth Sh100 billion ($965m USD), 80 per cent of which is prescription drugs. Although Kenya exports 50 per cent to the COMESA region and 75 per cent to East African Community, most of these exports are re-exports from India and China.

European automotive factories shutting down - Ferrari and Lamborghini have both suspended almost all production (says the Express and Star) whilst Yahoo Finance reports that Fiat Chrysler said in a statement on Monday 16 March that it would halt operations at most of its European plants, from now until 27 March because of an “interruption in market demand.” The Italian-American automotive group said the manufacturing stop includes six factories in Italy, the EU country worst hit by coronavirus. Italy has had over 24,700 infection cases so far, and more than 1,800 people have died from the virus. The PSA group, which includes Peugeot, Citroen, and Opel, said today it will close all its European plants, including in the UK, France and Germany for the remainder of the month too. German car giant Volkswagen is also suspending production at a number of manufacturing bases in Europe, including in Slovakia and Spain. VW-owned Seat has shuttered its main factory near Barcelona for at least the rest of the month. Meanwhile, according to the Financial Times, Volkswagen may also be forced to curtail production at the main factory in its home town of Wolfsburg, because of running low on parts.
Useful parcel courier current operational status links for anyone else in eCommerce:Canada Post, DHL Express, DPD, Fedex, Parcelforce, USPS. If anyone has any other major courier links for service status, please let us all know :)

Good news section
Amazon to hire 100,000 more workers and give raises to current staff to deal with coronavirus demands - CNBC says that Amazon is hiring an additional 100,000 employees in the U.S. to meet the surge in demand from online shopping amid the coronavirus outbreak, the company said Monday. The company is looking to add extra full-time and part-time positions for warehouse and delivery workers. Through the end of April, it will raise pay for these employees by $2 per hour in the U.S., £2 per hour in the UK, and approximately €2 per hour in many EU countries. Amazon currently pays $15 per hour or more in some areas of the U.S. for warehouse and delivery jobs. Amazon encouraged employees in other industries whose jobs were "lost or furloughed" as a result of the coronavirus to apply, including members of the hospitality, restaurant and travel industries. "We want those people to know we welcome them on our teams until things return to normal and their past employer is able to bring them back," the company added.

Educating in denial older relatives anecdote
Personal story time; my 69 year old Aunt is very grumpy because despite me telling her for well over a month, it is finally dawning on her that her dream guided coach bus tour of the West USA national parks in 10 weeks time is rapidly going up in smoke whilst my 75 year old Dad has realised his third cruise of the year (this time around the med) in 5 weeks time is also about to be toast. My Aunt complained on Facebook yesterday that nobody is mentioning the 46,000 people who have recovered from the illness and that "it's just a bit of flu". It isn't, otherwise governments around the world would not be reacting as they are.
If you have an elderly relative like mine who relies far too much on social media anecdotes rather than good quality fact based mainstream media, maybe point them at this businessinsider article here where it points out that 1) flu mortality rates are 0.1% vs. Covid-19 is 3.4% and 2) for 70-79 the mortality rate is 8% and for over 80's it's 14.8%. Hopefully they might just realise the seriousness of the situation; my Aunt dismissed it as "a website I've never heard of and won't believe" despite the article clearly citing CDC figures.

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Donations
Several asked if they can send me $/£/€ via Patreon (in some cases because I've saved them time or money, others for no reason at all). I don't need the cash (that's lovely though) but food bank charities are getting really hit hard with all this panic buying. Please consider giving whatever you'd have given me to a foodbank charity instead:
UK: https://www.trusselltrust.org/
France: https://www.banquealimentaire.org/
Germany: https://www.tafel.de/
Netherlands: https://www.voedselbankennederland.nl/steun-ons/steun-voedselbank-donatie/
Spain: https://www.fesbal.org/
Australia: https://www.foodbank.org.au/
Canada: https://www.foodbankscanada.ca/
USA: https://www.feedingamerica.org/
Thanks in advance for any donations you give. If there's foodbank charities in your country and it's not listed above, please suggest it and I will include it going forward.

EDIT: Missed out virus news in brief, added as of 12:45. EDIT 2: Added in the Dutch foodbank link (hat tip siliconfrontier)

Wednesday, April 15: Trump is toxic

Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Worldwide Double To 2 Million In 2 Weeks. It took four and a half months for the new coronavirus to hit 1 million confirmed cases — and two weeks to double that.
-Huffington Post

French study finds hydroxychloroquine doesn't help patients with coronavirus.
-CNN

Imagine my surprise.

Lawsuit accuses Liberty University of 'profiting' from the coronavirus pandemic
-CNN

Republicans love money. It’s their drug. It’s their God.

Fox News asks court to toss lawsuit calling network a public health risk
-The Hill

Trump and Fox have blood on their hands. Countless Americans are dying because of their lies, disinformation and downplaying the virus for months, to keep the stock market profitable for billionaires for as long as possible.

COVID-19 outbreaks in upper Midwest show virus is not just a New York problem
-MSNBC

I wonder how many of those people got sick because last week Republicans forced the people of Wisconsin to vote in person during a pandemic, or lose their right to vote and let the Republican scumbags win.

Why Dems won in Wisconsin despite GOP attempt to use pandemic to its advantage
-MSNBC

What Trump’s bizarre love of Mutiny on the Bounty actually reveals about him
-Vox
Trump tweeted: “Tell the Democrat Governors that Mutiny On The Bounty was one of my all time favorite movies,” the president wrote. “A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain. Too easy!”

'Jarring, unwelcome, and dangerous': Some conservatives are outraged at Trump's claim that his 'authority is total'
-Business Insider

US coronavirus toll hits new daily high with over 2,400 deaths
-New York Post

Poll: 81 percent say keep social distancing despite damage to economy
-The Hill

Trump backs down after Cuomo, other governors unite on coronavirus response: "I'm not going to put pressure on any governor to open," the president said in an about-face from his remarks on Monday.
-NBC News

What a dumbass.
I wonder if someone told him that the Mutiny On The Bounty didn’t end well for the captain.
The captain was the villain. He was the emperor Palpatine of the story. And Trump sees himself as the Palpatine type. The evil emperor type.
I bet when Trump watched Star Wars, he was rooting for the dark side the whole time.

Trump threatens to adjourn both chambers of Congress
-The Hill
“President Trump on Wednesday threatened to use his executive power to force both chambers of Congress to adjourn if the Senate did not confirm his nominees for vacancies across the administration.”

It’s interesting to watch Trump unmask himself on live TV and turn into a dictator right before our eyes. Interesting and scary. This is what it must have been like when Hitler became the Führer in the Weimar republic. Even the global circumstances were very similar.
If this was Star Wars, this would be the moment when two-faced senator Palpatine reveals his true self and transforms into the evil emperor Palpatine.
If history is gonna remember just one thing about Trump, let it be his sadistic cruelty. He is the 21st century’s version of Caligula.

Caligula
-History Extra
“Gaius (‘Caligula, or ‘little bootee’ – a childhood nickname given him by his father’s troops) is best known for a series of eccentric actions, such as declaring war on the sea and proclaiming himself a god.
His reign actually began quite promisingly, but after a serious bout of illness he developed paranoia that led him into alarmingly erratic behaviour, possibly including incest with his sister, Julia Drusilla, whom he named as his heir.
Gaius took particular delight in humiliating the senate, claiming that he could make anyone consul, even his horse (though, contrary to the popular story, he didn’t actually go through with this). As the son of Germanicus [a prominent general], Gaius was keen to establish his military credentials, though his campaign in Germany achieved little and his abortive invasion of Britain had to be turned into a battle with the sea god Neptune: he is said to have told his troops to attack the waves with their swords and gather seashells as booty.
Gaius declared himself a god and used his divine status to establish what was, in effect, an absolutist monarchy in Rome. He followed Tiberius’s example of using treason trials to eliminate enemies, real or imagined.”

How long until Trump starts locking up journalists and opposition politicians? Think that won’t happen? Remember all those “lock her up!” chants?
Of course Putin’s Operation Infektion is going to amplify those calls on right-wing extremist social media, to create more chaos and damage in the US.
And the way things have been going so far, it won’t be long til we’ll have armed MAGA mobs, demanding that Trump lock up every Democrat who dares to oppose the great leader.

Trumpists Urging People to Leave Their Homes to Own the Libs. There is a growing resistance on the right that threatens to add additional stress to a political system already nearing the breaking point.
-The Daily Beast
“A protest movement is taking hold targeting states that have extended social-distancing rules, closed schools, and restricted access to large religious gatherings. And it’s being fed by loyalists and political allies of President Donald Trump.”

'Lock her up!': Anti-Whitmer coronavirus lockdown protestors swarm Michigan Capitol. Demonstrators were supposed to stay in their cars for social distancing. Not everyone did.
-NBC News

Facepalm.
I’m sure infecting the whole country with a deadly virus isn’t enough for these brainwashed Trump cult zombies.
I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before these halfwits start destroying American infrastructure, because that’s what right-wing extremist nutjobs are already doing in other western countries.
There’s this idiotic internet rumor that says 5G cell phone towers are causing the pandemic.
How dumb do you have to be to believe that? This kind of ignorant bullshit appeals to the very dumbest among us. The mouthbreathing yokels who don’t understand the first thing about biology.
You know, the MAGA minions who think evolution is a hoax and Obama is a Kenyan muslim.
Anyway, guess who’s behind that idiotic rumor... Russia of course:

5G Virus Conspiracy Theory Fueled by Coordinated Effort
-Bloomberg

Putin’s Long War Against American Science: A decade of health disinformation promoted by President Vladimir Putin of Russia has sown wide confusion, hurt major institutions and encouraged the spread of deadly illnesses.
-New York Times

Russia trolls 'spreading vaccination misinformation' to create discord
-BBC

Russian trolls fueled anti-vaccination debate in U.S. by spreading misinformation on Twitter, study finds
-CBS News

This too was a part of Operation Infektion. The goal was and still is to kill as many American children with preventable viral infections as possible, by convincing parents not to protect their kids with life-saving vaccinations.
Maybe it’s working. Maybe Russian disinformation is ultimately responsible for the fact that the child mortality rate is 76% higher in the US than in other rich countries.
Nah, that’s probably still our own fault for having the most expensive, least efficient healthcare system in the world:

The most expensive health care system in the world
-Harvard School of Public Health
“The U.S. spends more on health care than all the other wealthy democracies in the world. But in spite of all that spending, life expectancy in the U.S lags behind that of its peer countries. And many Americans struggle to pay for health care.”

And who doesn’t know this? Who thinks universal healthcare is more expensive than the private-for-profit clusterfuck we have?
The MAGA minions!

Examining Quality and Efficiency of the U.S. Healthcare System
-PubMed.gov
“The U.S. healthcare system is characterized as the world's most expensive yet least effective compared with other nations. Growing healthcare costs have made millions of citizens vulnerable.”

New study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage
-The Harvard Gazette

And who loves the fact that our private-for-profit healthcare clusterfuck is insanely expensive and inefficient, and Americans are dying from a lack of proper healthcare?
The MAGA minions!

U.S. Healthcare: Most Expensive and Worst Performing
-The Atlantic

U.S. health spending twice other countries' with worse results
-Fox News
Yeah, even Fox News knows it! And yet they keep telling you that universal healthcare is supposedly evil and terrible. Why? Not because it’s true, but because the healthcare industry and big pharma tells them to lie to you. To maximize their profits.

In the U.S., an Angioplasty Costs $32,000. Elsewhere? Maybe $6,400. A study of international prices finds American patients pay much more across a wide array of common services.
-New York Times

US healthcare is literally killing people
-Financial Times

And who definitely does not want better, cheaper universal healthcare, like they have in every civilized country, including Israel and Russia?
The MAGA minions!
The dumbest fucking people on the planet.
Amazing how well Operation Infektion has brainwashed right-wing extremists, to demand corrupt policies that will ultimately kill them.
That’s why they’re chanting in the streets, demanding to reopen the economy in the middle of a deadly pandemic, so that the billionaires can make more profits at our expense again. Instead of giving back to the community in our time of need.
Republican billionaires don’t believe in sharing is caring. That’s why they’re Republican billionaires.
How much has Trump donated to those affected by the coronavirus so far? Nothing? Yeah, that’s what I figured.
Meanwhile, Trump’s brainwashed peasants demand that he lock up the scientists and politicians who tell us not to gather in megachurches during a deadly pandemic because we’re gonna die.
And this is why:

Russia goes after coronavirus in latest health misinformation push
-Axios

US conservatives spread tweets by Russian trolls over 30 times more often than liberals
-MIT Technology Review

Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to think the coronavirus threat is ‘exaggerated,’ new survey finds
-Market Watch

Conservatives’ Coronavirus Denial Is Going to Get People Killed. By dismissing the disease as a Democratic hoax, right-wing pundits are putting their elderly audience in danger.
-The New Republic

And why do MAGA minions believe windmills cause cancer and cell phone towers give you the cooties? Russia!

Your 5G Phone Won’t Hurt You. But Russia Wants You to Think Otherwise.
-New York Times

So what does Putin’s army of brainwashed right-wing extremist western morons do? They destroy the cell phone towers in their own countries:

These Videos Show People Burning Down 5G Cell Phone Towers Over Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories
-Vice

At least 20 UK phone masts vandalised over false 5G coronavirus claims
-The Guardian

You know, the same cell phone towers that first responders rely on, to save your stupid life. During a pandemic for example.

Verizon cellular outage left Burlington first-responders in the dark
-WCAX
“For first responders, having clear communication can mean the difference between life and death. "If it's a fire, or if it's a medical call, being able to communicate with each other so the best treatment can be given or the most effective means of extinguishing a fire -- everything with it is critical on communication," said Burlington Fire Deputy Chief Peter Brown.”

Putin’s western saboteurs are systematically destroying their own countries from the inside.
You hear that?
Shh... Listen...
If you’re really quiet you can hear Putin laughing.
Operation Infektion is weakening the west, and taking down America.
It’s no coincidence that Trump and Fox News often parrot Russian disinformation.

Donald Trump is the virus: His coronavirus response confirms how toxic he is for the country
-New York Daily News

Trump Can Lie About His Coronavirus Record, But People Remember His Early Inaction On The Threat
-The Late Show

Debunking Trump's dangerous new attack on W.H.O during pandemic
-MSNBC

Fearless Dr. Fauci is more loyal to truth than to Trump
-AL.com

That’s why Trump’s death cult hates Fauci.

CDC Director Distances From Trump, Says Relationship With WHO Has Been ‘Productive’
-Huffington Post

WHO is a "long-standing partner" to CDC, says Director Robert Redfield
-CBS News

Trump's move to strip $400 million from WHO amid coronavirus is just the propaganda windfall Russia, China, and Iran have been hoping for
-Business Insider
“All three countries have piled on the US in the wake of Trump's announcement, accusing it of undermining the global effort to defeat the virus.
Trump has made the US the bad guy at a time when many countries were turning against China.
Public-health experts, former US officials, US lawmakers, and even a top conservative think tank have said that cutting WHO's funding could exacerbate the coronavirus pandemic.”

'We Alerted The World' To Coronavirus On Jan. 5, WHO Says In Response To U.S.
-NPR

A Timeline Of Coronavirus Comments From President Trump And WHO
-NPR

Pelosi says Trump's WHO decision is 'dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged'
-The Guardian
“The President’s halting of funding to the WHO as it leads the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic is senseless,” the Democratic speaker said in a new statement.”

Elizabeth Warren Endorses Joe Biden For President
-Huffington Post

AOC: 'It’s really important that we rally behind our Democratic nominee'
-The Guardian

Sanders warns his loyalists it would be ‘irresponsible’ not to support Biden. Sanders criticizes his supporters who have so far resisted his vow to do whatever it takes to help Biden win the presidency
-The Guardian

And who’s telling Bernie supporters not to vote for Biden and let Trump win? Russia!

Inside the Russian effort to target Sanders supporters — and help elect Trump
-Washington Post

Russia Doesn't Want Bernie Sanders. It Wants Chaos. The point of Kremlin interference has always been to find democracy’s loose seams, and pull.
-Wired

Bernie Sanders blames vicious Bernie Bros on Russian trolls
-Washington Examiner

July 19, 2018: Sanders Introduces Resolution to Protect American Democracy from Russian Meddling
-Senate.gov

Not voting for Biden means Trump will win.
If you’re a Bernie fan, Trump is the exact opposite of everything you believe in. Trump is the ruthless predatory capitalism we all hate so much.
Biden may not be everything you want, but Trump is nothing you want.
By not voting and letting Trump win, you’re only hurting yourself. And isn’t that what we always ridicule clueless Trump voters for? Voting against their own best interest?
Alright, that’s my little rant for today. Let’s get back to today’s headlines:

Japan urges citizens to isolate as reports warn of 400,000 deaths
-Reuters

The Dow Is Falling as Economic Data Show the Damage From Pandemic
-Barron’s

Trump is predicting a rapid economic recovery. Experts say it's not likely. The impact of the pandemic on business and employment will probably be felt for years, according to multiple economists.
-NBC News

Why we’re facing the worst recession since the Great Depression
-CNBC

How Covid-19 Broke the Global Economy
-Bloomberg

Why dairy farmers across America are dumping their milk
-CNN

Retail sales plunge 8.7 percent in March, biggest drop on record
-The Hill

A zoo is struggling so much that it may have to feed some animals to other animals
-CNN

Insane video captures massive paper mill explosion in Maine
-New York Post

Lots of fires lately.

April 5: Fort Myers Fire Destroys 3,500 Rental Cars
-Auto Rental News

April 7: Rise in searches for 'How to set fire' a sign insurance fraud beckons as economy crashes
-Washington Examiner

April 10: San Antonio firefighters investigate suspicious fire at strip club
-NBC News

April 14: Fire rips through La Jolla nail salon
-Fox 5

April 14: Fire tears through commercial building in St. Paul, leaving it a total loss
-Twin Cities Pioneer Press

I wonder if there has been a significant uptick in the number of fires in businesses that were struggling due to the lockdown. I’m gonna have to google some nationwide insurance statistics in a few weeks.

CDC estimates more than 9,200 health care workers have been infected with covid-19
-CNN

Two US sailors on French carrier test positive for coronavirus
-The Hill

Pentagon to extend troop movement freeze past May 11
-The Hill

Russians, Iranians hassle U.S. military in separate incidents
-Politico

Coronavirus: Concerts, sports may not return until fall 2021, expert says
-Mercury News

Universities begin considering the possibility of canceling in-person classes until 2021
-CNN

Women leaders are doing a disproportionately great job at handling the pandemic. So why aren't there more of them?
-CNN

So far, on average, female world leaders have been doing a much better job handling the coronavirus pandemic than male leaders. But to be fair, Trump is really bringing down the male average.

House Democrats introduce plan to pay Americans $2,000 a month until economy recovers from COVID-19
-Business Insider

This would save a lot of lives and save the economy. It’s what other countries in Europe and Asia are doing. It’s the best option.
So of course the Republicans are going to do everything they can to stop it. In their minds, money is for rich people. In Trumpistan, only rich people get billions in free money from the government. Fuck the peasants.

“Let them eat cake.”
-Marie-Antoinette

'Beyond Predatory': Trump Treasury Department Gives Banks Green Light to Seize $1,200 Stimulus Checks to Pay Off Debts
-Common Dreams

Unparalleled crisis leads to unprecedented federal spending
-The Hill

And almost all of that money is gonna end up in the pockets of Trump and a handful of his billionaire buddies.
Don’t be Putin’s useful idiot. Vote for Biden, even if he’s nowhere near as good as Bernie. He’s still a thousand times better than Trump.
Instead of admitting his failure to act, Trump is busy trying to blame everyone but himself for the 32,000 Americans who were killed so far.
In the past few days, Trump and his henchmen have been ramping up the anti-China rhetoric, just as I predicted. Let’s see how much longer it takes before they accuse China of deliberately infecting America.
I think it’s only a matter of time, before Trump and his sniveling henchmen are going to call this pandemic an attack on America. To rally Trump’s brainwashed minions behind him, and to demonize liberals as traitors, just like Hitler demonized jewish Germans as traitors.

Pompeo, Joint Chiefs chairman raise concerns about China over coronavirus
-CNN
“Top government officials, including the secretary of state, are raising concerns about China’s involvement with the beginnings of the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that without China providing transparency, the US cannot discern where the virus originated. Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark A. Milley could not completely deny reports that the virus originated in a Chinese research lab in Wuhan, merely calling the evidence “inconclusive.”

Donald Trump’s 3-Month-Old Tweet About China And The Coronavirus Comes Back To Haunt Him
-Huffington Post
“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!” -@realDonaldTrump, Jan 24, 2020

Trump says something, and then a few days later he says the exact opposite. And then he blatantly lies and screams “fake news” when someone points out that he’s a liar.
Everyone knows this, except for his brainwashed cult members. They take every word he says as the gospel truth, and willfully ignore that he constantly contradicts himself.
Trump vs Trump on Coronavirus: the US President's changing tone in just a few weeks
-Channel 4

Week 14 Matchup Strategy Guide - Part 3

Part 3 of 3

Part 1 Right Here: https://dfaroto.com/nfl/week-14-matchup-strategy-guide-part-1

Part 2 Right Here: https://dfaroto.com/nfl/week-14-matchup-strategy-guide-part-2

GLOSSARY

DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) calculates a team's success based on the down-and-distance of each play during the season, then calculates how much more or less successful each team is compared to the league average.
DVOA Pass/Run Defense Rank: Team’s NFL rank in DVOA pass or run defense so far this season. #1 means best DEF against the pass/run, #32 means worst DEF against the pass/run.
ATS = Against the spread
DVOA from https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef/2019

Los Angeles Chargers (-3) at Jacksonville Jaguars

Chargers ATS: 3-7-2 Jaguars ATS: 5-7-1
Projected Team Totals: Chargers 23 Jaguars 20

Chargers

Opp (JAX) Pass DVOA: #16
Opp (JAX) Run DVOA: #31
Injuries to Watch DEF (JAX): S Ronnie Harrison (Q)
Injuries to Watch OFF (LAC): None
Key WCB matchups: Mike Williams vs. A.J. Bouye (Rotoworld)
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): Keenan Allen (25%) Hunter Henry (21%) Austin Ekeler (15%) Mike Williams (15%) Melvin Gordon (9%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Melvin Gordon (65%, 22, 3) Austin Ekeler (53%, 13, 5)
QB/WTE Breakdown
The Chargers continue to find new and more disappointing ways to lose games, and Philip Rivers (downgrade) has been more a part of the problem than a part of the solution. His job security is at an all time low as well, as reports have him in danger of losing his job to Tyrod Taylor if he continues to struggle to finish the season. The Jags have unsurprisingly struggled more against the pass since trading Jalen Ramsey away, ranking 16th by pass DVOA and giving up the 14th most FPPG to QBs on the season, so the matchup isn’t intimidating. But Rivers simply doesn’t have the ceiling to be an option in 1QB leagues (over 22 points just twice this year), and should be viewed as more of a low-upside but solid QB2 this week. There are likely better streaming options unless you are in a deeper or superflex league.
After struggling through a scoreless streak from week 4-10, and failing to go over 100 yards during that same stretch, Keenan Allen has been on a nice bounce-back the past two weeks. While Rivers hasn’t been great, it would be hard to argue that a switch to Tyrod Taylor would be anything but a downgrade for Allen considering his longstanding chemistry with Rivers. The matchup is encouraging, as it is likely Mike Williams (slight downgrade) who will draw the majority of A.J. Bouye’s shadow coverage. The Jags have given up the 13th fewest FPPG to WRs and have the 16th ranked pass DVOA. Allen can be returned to firm WR2 status and should be in all lineups, while Williams gets a slight downgrade due to Bouye’s presence. The #2 WR in this offense doesn’t get great volume, but makes a big catch at least one or twice every game. He’s more of a risk-reward WR3, but does feel due for a TD sometime soon. Owners will have a tough decision to make with him. Hunter Henry disappointed in Week 13, posting 2 catches for 10 yards. Still, his target share is among the best for TEs during his active weeks, and his talent gives him weekly upside. The Jags are just above league average against TEs (11 fewest FPPG allowed). Get Henry in your lineup as an elite TE1, albeit one with a lower floor than you’d like.
RB Breakdown
This Chargers backfield has started to settle in and provide consistent value to both Melvin Gordon (upgrade) and Austin Ekeler (upgrade). Obviously Gordon is a slightly more valuable asset in standard leagues, and Ekeler is a more valuable asset in PPR leagues. This week, they’ll face a Jags squad that has been quite vulnerable to the run - 31st ranked run DVOA and 9th most FPPG allowed to RBs. Both are in play as high-end RB2s, especially in their preferred format. Get these guys active as you head into playoffs.

Jaguars

Opp (LAC) Pass DVOA: #22
Opp (LAC) Run DVOA: #24
Injuries to Watch DEF (LAC): LB Nick Dzubnar (Q)
Injuries to Watch OFF (JAX): TE Seth DeValve (D)
Key WCB matchups: DJ Chark vs. Casey Hayward (Rotoworld)
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): D.J. Chark (22%) Leonard Fournette (20%) Chris Conley (17%) Dede Westbrook (14%) Seth DeValve (7%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Leonard Fournette (89%, 23, 11) Ryquell Armstead (11%, 0, 1)
QB/WTE Breakdown
It looks like the Jags may have acted in haste when they decided to replace Blake Bortles with a high-priced Nick Foles in the offseason. His struggles since returning from injury got him benched in favor of rookie Gardner Minshew (slight downgrade) in the second half last week, and the move looks permanent. Minshew was named the starter for the rest of the year, so Foles becomes an obvious drop in all formats, and the rookie is back in play as a potential QB1/2 down the stretch. This week, he’ll face off against the Chargers - LA has given up the 7th fewest FPPG to QBs but has a bottom-third pass DVOA ranking. It’s best to view Minshew as a high-end QB2 this week; he’s capable of a big game and established a solid floor during his half season of starts, but the Chargers tend to limit shootouts and are more vulnerable to RBs than QBs for fantasy purposes. Don’t be surprised if the Jags pound the run rather than look for a gunslinger performance from Minshew Mania.
Jacksonville’s stud receiver DJ Chark (auto-start) has been removed from the injury report heading into Week 14, so he looks ready to re engage his connection with Minshew. Chark has been a TD machine this year, and regularly makes big plays with his speed as well, and Minshew targeted him heavily during his first starting stretch. Chark will likely face Casey Hayward in coverage most of the day, but the stud CB has been vulnerable at times and last week got burned for two TDs. Consider Chark ** on the WR1/2 borderline, and make sure he’s in all lineups. **Dede Westbrook (downgrade standard) and Chris Conley (downgrade PPR) have been solid supporting receivers in this offense, but neither has been able to carve out consistent fantasy value. Westbrook is the preferred play, as his slot role can lead to higher percentage throws, whereas Conley is much more big-play dependent. The Chargers have given up just the 4th most FPPG to WRs, so it’s tough to trust either in fantasy playoffs this week. Westbrook is a borderline WR3, with a bump in PPR leagues, and Conley is just a dart-throw WR4.
RB Breakdown
Always at the top of the weekly leaderboard in snaps, touches, and targets, Leonard Fournette (upgrade) is the definition of a volume-based RB1. That’s not to say he isn’t a talented back, but rather that the volume is what gives him the floor to stay in the RB1 range regardless of game flow or opponent. The Chargers are more vulnerable to the run than the pass, and give up the 8th most FPPG to RBs, so get Fournette active for what could be a week-winning performance.
Score Prediction: Jaguars 20, Chargers 17

Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots (-3)

Chiefs ATS: 7-5-1 Patriots ATS: 7-5-0
Projected Team Totals: Chiefs 22.75 Patriots 25.75

Chiefs

Opp (NE) Pass DVOA: #2
Opp (NE) Run DVOA: #7
Injuries to Watch DEF (NE): S Patrick Chung (Q) DT Byron Cowart (Q) CB Jason McCourty (Q)
Injuries to Watch OFF (KC): RB Damien Williams (OUT) RB Darrel Williams (OUT)
Key WCB matchups: Sammy Watkins vs. Stephon Gillmore (Rotoworld)
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): Tyreek Hill (26%) Travis Kelce (23%) Sammy Watkins (18%) LeSean McCoy (11%) Demarcus Robinson (15%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Darwin Thompson (36%, 11, 0) LeSean McCoy (36%, 8, 3) Darrel Williams (27%, 7, 2)
QB/WTE Breakdown
The fireworks from likely MVP Lamar Jackson this season have served to overshadow almost all other QBs so far this year. While Patrick Mahomes (slight downgrade) hasn’t been as dominant as last year, and missed two and a half games to injury, he is still putting up big numbers when it’s required of him. Last week against the Raiders his defense and running game did the heavy lifting, leading to a disappointing final line. The Patriots will be a tough matchup - 2nd ranked pass DVOA and fewest FPPG to QBs - but he’s more likely to be called upon for a big game as the Patriots should be able to score points and potentially shut down the Chiefs run game. It was encouraging to see Deshaun Watson do serious damage to the Pats last week, and Mahomes should be given the benefit of the doubt as an auto-start QB1 in almost all leagues. He gets a slight matchup downgrade, but shouldn’t be benched unless owners have a top-3 elite QB1 alternative.
The Chiefs receivers were victim to game-script last week, as Tyreek Hill (auto-start) disappointed, and Sammy Watkins (downgrade) went catchless. Travis Kelce (auto-start) led the way with a solid 5-90-0 line, and should obviously continue to be plugged in as a top-3 TE1. Watkins has been a tough own this year, breaking out early and then fading hard before bottoming out last week. He’s likely to see a lot of Stephon Gillmore this weekend, and the Patriots give up the fewest FPPG to WRs, so Watkins can’t be viewed as more than a big-play dependent WR4 this week. Hill may not get Gillmore, but will likely see some creative defensive schemes from Bill Bellicheck to try and limit his production. While this strategy could work to force Mahomes into feeding Kelce and looking more at Watkins in 1 on 1 with Gillmore, Hill has too much talent and upside to be benched in any format. When Mahomes is throwing him the ball, Hill is an elite WR1 every week. No other Chiefs pass-catchers can be considered fantasy relevant at this point, especially in such a tough matchup.
RB Breakdown
If you thought this backfield was a mess early in the season, it was absolute chaos in Week 13. However, we have reached some unfortunate clarity, as both Darrel Williams (IR- out for season) and Damien Williams (likely out) have moved out of the way. That leaves LeSean McCoy and rookie **Darwin Thompson. Thompson led the backfield last week (11 touches), and should be heavily involved again this week. McCoy saw only 8 total touches. Both backs are in a tough spot against the Pats, who have given up the fewest FPPG to RBs this year. Consider McCoy a risky RB2/3, and Thompson an upside but risky RB3/flex option. Both backs should probably be avoided in this awful spot with limited information about their role, but with only the two fighting for snaps, both should be universally owned in all leagues. Thompson has some intriguing end of season upside considering his fresh legs and impressive pre-season showcase.

Patriots

Opp (KC) Pass DVOA: #6
Opp (KC) Run DVOA: #30
Injuries to Watch DEF (KC): CB Morris Claiborne (OUT) CB Rashad Fenton (OUT) DE Frank Clark (Q) S Jordan Lucas (Q)
Injuries to Watch OFF (NE): OT Marcus Cannon (Q) WR Julian Edelman (Q) C Ted Karras (Q) WR Mohamed Sanu (Q)
Key WCB matchups: None
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): Julian Edelman (26%) Mohamed Sanu (16%) James White (14%) Phillip Dorsett (12%) Jakobi Meyers (12%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: James White (78%, 22, 11) Sony Michel (17%, 10, 0)
QB/WTE Breakdown
The Patriots lack of trustworthy receiving weapons is finally beginning to cost this team in terms of wins and losses. There are other factors in play, but Tom Brady (volume upgrade) has slowed down through the middle of the season (until last week) and is definitely missing Rob Gronkowski (retirement) and Antonio Brown (retirement..?). This week, he’ll get a Chiefs defense that is much improved from last year, and now ranks as the #6 pass defense by DVOA. They give up the 12th most FPPG to QBs on the year, and their offense is capable of creating shootout conditions, so this isn’t exactly a shy-away matchup. Consider Brady on the QB1/2 borderline, and hope that Mahomes is able to be as successful as Watson last week in piercing the Pats defense, so that Brady is forced into a high-volume passing day.
So let’s talk about those “mediocre” pass-game options that seem to be the main weakness of this Pats squad. Julian Edelman (auto-start) has continued to be a consistent fantasy force this year, and is a no-doubt WR1 at this point (especially in PPR leagues). Mohamed Sanu (downgrade, injury) is questionable to play, and in his return last week played only a part-time role and went 3-14-0. If closer to 100% this week, he looks like the best #2 option the Pats have, but it’s tough to trust that will actually be the case. He’s no more than an upside WR4 this week, unless we get more clarity on his injury status (unlikely in Bellicheck’s world). Sanu’s limited snaps led to increased time for Phillip Dorsett (71% snaps) and Jakobi Meyers (70%), while N’Keal Harry (25%) took a backseat (Rotoworld). None of these three are appealing fantasy options, especially with Sanu possibly increasing his snaps. The Chiefs are much improved against the pass - 6th best pass DVOA and 3rd fewest FPPG to WRs - so only Edelman should be in lineups as owners enter fantasy playoffs.
RB Breakdown
Playing from behind most of last week’s game, the Pats turned to James White (upgrade) for a majority of the snaps. He predictably shined in the passing game, but some of it was due to prevent defense in the fourth quarter. Sony Michel (upgrade standard) took a backseat once again, and this highlights the risk of starting a player so game-script dependent. The Chiefs should have some success offensively, so White is the safe option, and in PPR leagues he’s the only option. Michel has some value in standard leagues, but is just so tough to trust.. The Chiefs have given up the most FPPG to RBs on the season, so both Michel and White can claim a matchup upgrade. Consider White a solid RB2 with an upgrade in PPR leagues, and Michel a risk-reward RB3/flex, with an obvious downgrade in PPR leagues. Rex Burkhead is not on the radar at this point.
Score Prediction: Chiefs 21, Patriots 17

Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5) at Arizona Cardinals

Steelers ATS: 8-4-0 Cardinals ATS: 7-4-1
Projected Team Totals: Steelers 23 Cardinals 20.5

Steelers

Opp (ARI) Pass DVOA: #29
Opp (ARI) Run DVOA: #16
Injuries to Watch DEF (ARI): DL Jonathan Bullard (IR) S Jalen Thompson (Q) CB Kevin Peterson (Q) CB Byron Murphy (Q)
Injuries to Watch OFF (PIT): WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (OUT) RB James Conner (OUT)
Key WCB matchups: James Washington vs. Patrick Peterson (Rotoworld)
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): Jaylen Samuels (19%) James Washington (16%) Diontae Johnson (15%) Juju Smith-Schuster (15%) Vance McDonald (14%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Jaylen Samuels (55%, 9, 2) Benny Snell (37%, 17, 1)
QB/WTE Breakdown
Without their starting quarterback, running back, and star receiver, the Steelers are still in the playoff hunt. It’s truly impressive, and Mike Tomlin deserves a ton of credit for reworking the offense to his personal’s strengths. Devlin Hodges (upgrade) as looked decent through two games, and it appears the Steelers will ride with him the rest of the season. A glaring issue for those looking to use this passing game is the lack of volume. Hodges has attempted just 20 and 21 passes in two games, and that doesn’t look to be changing as the Steelers will attempt to limit his mistakes. He’s not an option even in the deepest of formats.
James Washington (downgrade) has crushed with Juju Smith-Schuster sidelined, but again, the glaring issue is volume. He’s been targeted just 11 times the last two games, turning the limited opportunities into 7-209-2. It’s a completely unsustainable pace, and he’s due a down week. There’s a chance that CB Patrick Peterson isn’t asked to shadow him, brightening his outlook, but no matter which way it’s looked at, volume and matchup are working against him. Consider him an upside WR3, he’s still the No. 1 passing option for the Steelers. Diontae Johnson and the other wideouts can be safely faded. Vance McDonald has disappointed over recent weeks, but now he finds himself in a dream matchup. He needs to be locked into all lineups - Arizona literally cannot guard the position - hemorrhaging 14.7 FPPG to tight ends.
RB Breakdown
With James Connor injured, the Steelers have turned to a RBBC featuring Jaylen Samuels (upgrade PPR) and Benny Snell Jr. (upgrade standard). The Cardinals have been much better against the run than the pass, but this isn’t a world beating defense and it’s likely the Steelers find the end zone via the ground. Snell makes for a good bet to find paydirt and should be considered a volume based RB2. Samuels is a riskier proposition, his volume has waned in recent weeks as Snell has become more involved. Still, he saw 55% of snaps last week, and should be considered a decent flex option in PPR formats. Just don’t start him over established options.

Cardinals

Opp (PIT) Pass DVOA: #4
Opp (PIT) Run DVOA: #5
Injuries to Watch DEF (PIT): None
Injuries to Watch OFF (ARI): OL A.Q. Shipley (Q) OL Max Garcia (Q)
Key WCB matchups: None
**Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): Christian Kirk (25%) Kenyan Drake (17%) Larry Fitzgerald (16%) Damiere Byrd (12%) Chase Edmonds (12%) Pharoh Cooper (10%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Kenyan Drake (80%, 15, 5) David Johnson (23%, 6, 2) Chase Edmonds (0%, 0, 0)
QB/WTE Breakdown
Last week was the worst football this Cardinal team has played, outside of the first half of Week 1. Kyler Murray still managed to find his floor with a rushing touchdown. He’s been solid all year, and is deserving of a pass. Still, the matchup this week doesn’t get much better. PIT cedes just 14.7 FPPG to QBs and 21.1 FPPG to RBs. Consider Murray a low-end QB1, he’s been good enough against elite defenses (49ers) to be considered matchup proof. There is some concern with the offensive line, as they were completely destroyed by the Rams pass rush, and Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt is no slouch.
Murray only completing 19 of 34 passes for 163 scoreless yards in the loss last week, so obviously the rest of the offense busted as well. Christian Kirk saw 7 targets, but only managed 23-yards. He’s due for a bounce back, but the matchup is working against him - the Steelers are near the top in a number of defensive metrics including DVOA (No. 4), interceptions (No. 2), and net yards allowed per pass attempt (No. 4) (Rotoworld). Larry Fitzgerald has a massive size advantage over slot CB Mike Hilton (Rotoworld), but it’s still an extremely tough matchup for the veteran wideout - Hilton is PFF’s No. 31 coverage corner. Consider both boom-or-bust WR3’s this week, it’s more likely that they bust in the tough matchup, but stranger things have happened. The auxiliary passing game options in this offense shouldn’t be considered, including tight end’s Maxx Williams and Charles Clay.
RB Breakdown
I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around David Johnson’s demotion. His fall from grace was swift, and I still think there’s something going on behind the scenes that Kliff Kingsbury isn’t letting the world in on (injury). Either way, he simply cannot be trusted in fantasy playoffs while Kenyan Drake (downgrade) continues to dominate snaps and touches. However, DJ received his highest snap count since the Drake trade, and it appears the backfield may be headed for a RBBC. Neither Drake nor DJ are good options in the tough matchup - PIT gives up just 14.7 FPPG to RBs - but Drake gets the edge due to volume, he’s a back-end RB2.
Score Prediction: Cardinals 24, Steelers 20

Tennessee Titans (-2.5) at Oakland Raiders

Titans ATS: 6-5-1 Raiders ATS: 6-6-0
Projected Team Totals: Titans 25 Raiders 22.5

Titans

Opp (OAK) Pass DVOA: #28
Opp (OAK) Run DVOA: #26
Injuries to Watch DEF (OAK): LB Kyle Wilber (OUT)
Injuries to Watch OFF (TEN): WR Adam Humphries (OUT) WR Tajae Sharpe (Q)
Key WCB matchups: None
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): A.J. Brown (18%) Jonnu Smith (15%) Corey Davis (14%) Adam Humphries (12%) Anthony Firkser (12%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Derrick Henry (75%, 29, 3) Dion Lewis (18%, 1, 1)
QB/WTE Breakdown
Somewhat surprisingly, Ryan Tannehill (upgrade) is quietly playing himself into being the Titans QB of the future, at least on a short-term basis. Since taking over as the starter in Week 7, the Titans are 5-1, and Tannehill himself has put up efficient and quality statistical performances. This week he gets a juicy matchup with a leaky Raiders secondary giving up the 4th most FPPG to QBs on the year. It’s also a positive that the Titans are on the road and only a 2.5 point favorite; a close game where the Raiders can put up points is the best case for a big Tannehill fantasy day. Consider him a solid QB1 this week, and plug him into your lineups unless you have an auto-start option ahead of him with a similarly good matchup.
The fact that we’re recommending Tannehill as a great option this week means there must be some value to squeeze out of the pass-catchers, right? A.J. Brown (upgrade) and Corey Davis (drop) form an extremely athletic WR duo, but neither has been able to fully break out this year. But of the two, Brown has become by the more appealing option. Davis has only two games over 7 points (.5 PPR) all year, and has all but disappeared over the past few weeks. Brown has been inconsistent as well, but showed his upside in Week 12 with his 4-135-1 line. The matchup is a plus this week - the Raiders give up the 14th most FPPG to WRs but have a bottom-tier pass DVOA. Considering the target distribution the past 6 weeks, Brown can be viewed as a risk-reward WR3, and Davis is a low-ceiling WR4. Normal slot WR Adam Humphries has been ruled out for Week 14 with an ankle injury, so Tajae Sharpe should see some extra run, but he’s not on the fantasy radar. At TE, Jonnu Smith (TE2 streamer) gets a boost with Humphries out, and Delanie Walker out for the year. The Raiders are vulnerable to TEs as well - giving up the 6th most FPPG to the position this season. Consider Smith an upside TE2 streamer, albeit a risky one considering his floor is a big fat goose-egg.

RB Breakdown

It’s time to stop calling Derrick Henry (upgrade, good) a “boom-bust” or “TD-dependent” fantasy option, even in PPR leagues. Yes, he can struggle when the Titans go pass-heavy, but that hasn’t happened much since Tannehill took over. Henry was once again dominant last week, and has pushed Dion Lewis to minimal usage. The Raiders give up the 11th most FPPG to RBs, and have been abysmal as a team the past two games. It looks like Henry could once again face neutral or positive game-script, so get him fired up as an RB1 this week. Lewis doesn’t need to be rostered.

Raiders

Opp (TEN) Pass DVOA: #24
Opp (TEN) Run DVOA: #4
Injuries to Watch DEF (TEN): LB Daren Bates (OUT) CB Adoree Jackson (OUT) CB LeShaun Sims (OUT)
Injuries to Watch OFF (OAK): RB Josh Jacobs (Q, likely to play) OT Trent Brown (OUT) WR Hunter Renfrow (OUT)
Key WCB matchups: None
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): Darren Waller (20%) Hunter Renfrow (17%) Tyrell Williams (16%) Jalen Richard (11%) Zay Jones (9%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Josh Jacobs (57%, 17, 0)
QB/WTE Breakdown
Week 13 was rock bottom for Derek Carr (downgrade), and his pick-6 meant that he gave the Chiefs as many points as he gave the Raiders (one offensive TD). Carr had been having a nice bounce-back year through the first 12 weeks, and was leading the Raiders into a surprising potential playoff spot. He’s regressed significantly the past two weeks though, and the Raiders offense is suddenly a liability. The Titans aren’t stout against the pass - 24th ranked pass DVOA and 14th fewest FPPG to QBs - but Carr is not on the streaming radar. Leave him on the wire.
We hope you sold high on Tyrell Williams (downgrade PPR) while you could, because he’s likely sitting on waiver wires at this point in the season. He hasn’t scored since week 8, and has gone over 50 yards just three times this year. He’s still technically the “#1 WR”, but TE Darren Waller (upgrade) is getting a much higher target share on the season. The matchup isn’t imposing for Williams - bottom-third pass DVOA and 13th most FPPG to WRs - but he can’t be viewed as more than a TD-dependent WR3/4. Waller is an easy elite TE1, and the Titans giving up the 8th most FPPG to TEs gives owners an extra boost of confidence. No other Raiders pass-catcher is on the radar at this point.
RB Breakdown
News broke this week that Josh Jacobs (upgrade standard) may be playing through a fracture in his shoulder. While that is an impressive show of toughness, it may be a part of why he still cedes all passing down work to Jalen Richard, and loses a few carries to DeAndre Washington each week. Still, Jacobs has shown impressive strength, speed, and balance, and is the Raiders best hope for a home win to break their recent skid. Expect him to get the ball early and often assuming he’s not limited by the injury. The Titans are solid against the run - 4th best DVOA but 13th most FPPG to RBs - but the bigger key is that the Raiders just play better football this week. View him as a high-end RB2 in standard leagues, with a downgrade in PPR leagues. Monitor the injury reports, but if he’s out there he should likely be in all lineups. Richard and Washington are off the fantasy radar, unless Jacobs ends up missing the game.
Score Prediction: Titans 24, Raiders 20

Seattle Seahawks (-2.5) at Los Angeles Rams

Seahawks ATS: 7-5-0 Rams ATS: 8-4-0
Projected Team Totals: Seahawks 24.5 Rams 22

Seahawks

Opp (LAR) Pass DVOA: #12
Opp (LAR) Run DVOA: #3
Injuries to Watch DEF (LAR): None
Injuries to Watch OFF (SEA): FB Nick Bellore (D) TE Luke Wilson (D)
Key WCB matchups: Tyler Lockett vs. Jalen Ramsey (Rotoworld)
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): D.K. Metcalf (24%) Tyler Lockett (22%) David Moore (10%) Chris Carson (9%) Josh Gordon (6%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Chris Carson (52%, 24, 2) Rashaad Penny (47%, 19, 5)
QB/WTE Breakdown
Don’t bet against Russell Wilson (downgrade) and the Seahawks at home. You will lose. A week 17 showdown with the 49ers for the NFC West looms in the distance, get it circled on your calendar, it’s must watch TV. On tap is a matchup against a defense that just shut down the probable rookie of the year at home. Russell is a must-start regardless of matchup, but keep expectations tempered - the Rams defense gives up 17 FPPG to QBs and 20.6 to WRs.
Tyler Lockett (downgrade) was goose egged last week, and now has three disappointing outings in a row since going supernova against TB. Things aren’t getting easier, as he’ll face shadow coverage from stud CB Jalen Ramsey. You likely are starting Lockett regardless of matchup, but again, temper expectations. He’s more of a back-end WR2 this week. D.K. Metcalf has played an every down role along with Lockett, and continues to thrive. With Lockett shadowed, Metcalf may be the recipient of a few extra opportunities, he’s an upside WR3. Josh Gordon simply isn’t playing enough to warrant fantasy consideration (38% snap rate). Jacob Hollister has taken over as the full time TE for this potent SEA offense. Only Metcalf saw more targets last week, Hollister is an every-week TE1. Fire him up, but be aware the matchup isn’t great - LAR cedes just 7.3 FPPG to TEs.
RB Breakdown
Many thought that Chris Carson (downgrade volume) might be relegated to a backup role due to his fumbling issues, but both he and Rashaad Penny (downgrade matchup) received monster touches last week. It’s unlikely that SEA is able to run 39 times again, so it’ll be interesting to see how the touches are divided in this RBBC. Penny deserves flex consideration, and has looked solid the last few weeks. Carson continues to thrive and find the endzone, but with Penny in the picture, he’s no longer a sure-fire RB1. The matchup isn’t good this week, as the Rams boasts a top-3 Run DVOA and only give up 18 FPPG to RBs.

Rams

Opp (SEA) Pass DVOA: #13
Opp (SEA) Run DVOA: #18
Injuries to Watch DEF (SEA): CB Neiko Thorpe (OUT) LB Mychal Kendricks (D) DE Ziggy Ansah (Q) DE Jadeveon Clowny (Q)
Injuries to Watch OFF (LAR): T Rob Havenstein (D) TE Gerald Everett (OUT)
Key WCB matchups: None
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): Robert Woods (26%) Cooper Kupp (19%) Josh Reynolds (15%) Gerald Everett (14%) Tyler Higbee (12%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Todd Gurley (68%, 20, 1) Malcolm Brown (23%, 6, 1)
QB/WTE Breakdown
The Rams turned back the clock in a blowout win against ARI, looking like the 2018 super bowl contender they once were. Jared Goff (upgrade) put together his second best outing of the season, throwing for 424-yards and two touchdowns. On tap is a fantasy friendly SEA team that will possibly be missing their top pass rushers in DE Ziggy Ansah and DE Jadeveon Clowny. If either or both were to sit, it improves Goff’s outlook considerably. He has been abysmal under pressure. SEA cedes 18.1 FPPG to QBs and 21.6 to WRs.
It was Robert Woods (upgrade) who saw massive targets last week (18), not Cooper Kupp (upgrade). This will likely even out moving forward, and both can be considered WR2’s in the good matchup. Brandin Cooks has remained a big play away from breaking out, but due to that and his low target’s, he’s hard to trust as more than a feast-or-famine WR4. Fade him if you can. Only ARI and TB allow more points to the tight end than SEA, so with Gerald Everett sideline, Tyler Higbee can be considered a true TE1. Consider streaming him if you are weak at the position - SEA cedes 9.7 FPPG to TEs.
RB Breakdown
Todd Gurley was back to receiving the lion's share of touches after barely seeing any against BAL on MNF. Chalk the BAL game up to anomaly as the Rams were forced to abandon the ground game in a failed comeback bid. As long as Gurley is seeing the volume, he’s a back-end RB1. SEA gives up 17 FPPG to the position, get him active.
Score Prediction: Rams 24, Seahawks 21

New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles (-8.5)

Giants ATS: 4-8-0 Eagles ATS: 4-8-0
Projected Team Totals: Giants 19.25 Eagles 27.75

Giants

Opp (PHI) Pass DVOA: #15
Opp (PHI) Run DVOA: #8
Injuries to Watch DEF (PHI): LB Kamu Grugier-Hill (OUT) DE Derek Barnett (Q)
Injuries to Watch OFF (NYG): QB Daniel Jones (OUT) TE Rhett Ellison (OUT) TE Evan Engram (OUT)
Key WCB matchups: None
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): Sterling Shepard (22%) Darius Slayton (21%) Golden Tate (20%) Evan Engram (18%) Saquon Barkley (17%) Kaden Smith (13%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Saquon Barkley (96%, 22, 7)
QB/WTE Breakdown
On the verge of getting all of his offensive weapons back, in a cruel comedic twist, Daniel Jones is now injured and will sit for MNF. Enter Eli Manning. He’s on the verge of retiring, so it’s likely this is the last, or one of the last times we see Manning play. He’s not an option, even in a great matchup. We simply don’t know which Eli will show up, although his teammates have mentioned that he’s been crushing in practice (what else are they supposed to say?).
Evan Engram has been ruled out along with fellow tight end Rhett Ellison, leaving Golden Tate (upgrade), Sterling Shepard (upgrade) and Darius Slayton as the main targets. Shepard and Manning have a connection going back a few years, so he’s likely going to be the main target - consider him an upside WR3. Tate will man the slot and likely be the beneficiary of Engram’s absence. Still there are a lot of mouths to feed, so he’s more of a low-end WR3 with an upgrade in PPR. Rookie Slayton has filled in admirably with the injuries to the receiving corps, but with everyone healthy, he’s a feast-or-famine WR4. The matchup is exploitable, look at what DeVante Parker did to PHI secondary last week - they cede 27.4 FPPG to WRs. That being said, the Philly secondary was dealing with a myriad of injuries in the early going, so this isn’t the smash spot it once was. Kaden Smith will play an every down role with Engram and Ellison out, but with everyone healthy demanding targets, he’s just a middling TE2.
RB Breakdown
Saquon Barkley’s (downgrade) campaign of disappointment continued last week in a blowout home loss to the Packers. Although he put up one of his better performances in 2019, rushing for 83-scoreless yards, it’s still not what we’ve come to expect of the beast running back. On tap is another difficult matchup, PHI boasts a top-10 Run DVOA, and gives up just 15.9 FPPG to RBs. You aren’t sitting Barkley, but don’t expect a world beating performance. We can hope with Manning under center that he’s utilized more in the passing game.

Eagles

Opp (NYG) Pass DVOA: #30
Opp (NYG) Run DVOA: #11
Injuries to Watch DEF (NYG): CB Corey Ballentine (OUT)
Injuries to Watch OFF (PHI): RB Jordan Howard (Q) WR Nelson Agholor (GTD)
Key WCB matchups: None
Relevant Target Share %’s (Last 6 Weeks): Alshon Jeffery (28%) Zach Ertz (24%) Nelson Agholor (18%) Dallas Goedert (16%) Miles Sanders (10%)
RB Snap %/Touches/Targets Week 13: Miles Sanders (87%, 22, 5) Jay Ajayi (13%, 2, 0)
QB/WTE Breakdown
The Giants secondary is a great get right spot for Carson Wentz, who hasn’t performed at the same level since his season ending knee injury during the 2018 season. Consider him a rock solid QB1 - the Giants cede 21.2 FPPG to QBs and 28.4 to WRs.
Outside of Alshon Jeffery (upgrade), the auxiliary wideouts for PHI can’t be considered, even in the great matchup. Jeffery himself is coming off his best performance of the season against MIA, but he’s largely been touchdown dependent, only clearing 100-yards once. He’s a good bet to find the end zone again against a hapless NYG team, so consider him an upside WR3. Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz have been the main targets in the passing game, and both can be considered TE1’s in the great matchup. Ertz is still dealing with a nagging hammy, but he still managed to post a 75% snap rate last week (Rotoworld). He’s due a big week, so fire him up - but be aware that NYG cedes just 5.5 FPPG to TEs. Ultimately, that stat may be irrelevant as the Giants haven’t faced a pair like Goedert and Ertz.
RB Breakdown
It’s expected that Jordan Howard sits again this week, leaving rookie Miles Sanders (upgrade volume) and recently signed veteran Jay Ajayi to carry the load. Sanders has vaulted himself into the back-end RB1 conversation when handling the lion's share of the work. He’s looked great in both the running and passing game, and should be locked into most lineups - NYG cedes 17.9 FPPG to RBs. Ajayi can be left on the wire.
Score Prediction: Eagles 30, Giants 20

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Week 16 NFL DFS Picks: Best value players, sleepers for DraftKings, FanDuel daily fantasy football lineups

Week 16 NFL DFS Picks: Best value players, sleepers for DraftKings, FanDuel daily fantasy football lineups

Ranking all 32 NFL teams in tiers pre-2020 season

Super Bowl contenders:

Playoff contenders:

Fringe playoff teams:

Around .500:

Covid-19 update Tuesday March 17th

Wednesday, April 15: Trump is toxic

Week 14 Matchup Strategy Guide - Part 3

Part 3 of 3

Part 1 Right Here: https://dfaroto.com/nfl/week-14-matchup-strategy-guide-part-1

Part 2 Right Here: https://dfaroto.com/nfl/week-14-matchup-strategy-guide-part-2

GLOSSARY

Los Angeles Chargers (-3) at Jacksonville Jaguars

Chargers

Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots (-3)

Chiefs

Patriots

Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5) at Arizona Cardinals

Steelers

Cardinals

Tennessee Titans (-2.5) at Oakland Raiders

Titans

RB Breakdown

Raiders

Seattle Seahawks (-2.5) at Los Angeles Rams

Seahawks

Rams

New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles (-8.5)

Giants

Eagles

kenyan sure bet prediction video

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Sure Bet Kenya Buy Accurate Betting Tips » Betwise

kenyan sure bet prediction

kenyan sure bet prediction - win

Week 16 NFL DFS Picks: Best value players, sleepers for DraftKings, FanDuel daily fantasy football lineups

Week 16 NFL DFS Picks: Best value players, sleepers for DraftKings, FanDuel daily fantasy football lineups

Ranking all 32 NFL teams in tiers pre-2020 season

Super Bowl contenders:

Playoff contenders:

Fringe playoff teams:

Around .500:

Covid-19 update Tuesday March 17th

Wednesday, April 15: Trump is toxic

Week 14 Matchup Strategy Guide - Part 3

Part 3 of 3

Part 1 Right Here: https://dfaroto.com/nfl/week-14-matchup-strategy-guide-part-1

Part 2 Right Here: https://dfaroto.com/nfl/week-14-matchup-strategy-guide-part-2

GLOSSARY

Los Angeles Chargers (-3) at Jacksonville Jaguars

Chargers

Jaguars

*Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots (-3) *

Chiefs

Patriots

Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5) at Arizona Cardinals

Steelers

Cardinals

Tennessee Titans (-2.5) at Oakland Raiders

Titans

RB Breakdown

Raiders

Seattle Seahawks (-2.5) at Los Angeles Rams

Seahawks

Rams

New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles (-8.5)

Giants

Eagles

kenyan sure bet prediction video

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Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots (-3)