NFL EZ fantasy provides fans an opportunity to compete against friends and fans throughout Canada during the season, and every week Sporting News Canada will give recommendations of who to play in your lineup. Here are this week's suggestions. Sign up to play here.
Quarterback
Tom Brady, Patriots vs. Raiders (in Mexico). Brady has above-average receivers at RB, WR and TE, so anytime he's playing a mediocre-to-bad pass defense, which the Raiders are, he's a candidate for a top-three QB spot.
Alex Smith, Chiefs at Giants. The Giants are one of those bad defenses that teams can run on just as easily as pass on, but with Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, Kansas City has two elite types of players that give New York the most problems: Tight ends and speedy vertical threats. Plus, Smith will add points with his legs.
Carson Wentz, Eagles at Cowboys. Wentz has 17 TDs in his past five games and has a 63-yard rushing performance in that span for good measure. Like Brady, he's a candidate for a top-three spot against any non-elite pass defense.
Running Backs
Kareem Hunt, Chiefs at Giants. Hunt hasn't scored since Week 3 and only has 129 total yards in his past two games combined, but the Giants have been getting crushed by RBs lately, giving up three 10-plus-point performances in the past two games, including a 100-total-yard, two-TD effort to Todd Gurley.
Melvin Gordon, Chargers vs. Bills. Austin Ekeler stole Gordon's thunder last week, but the latter still had 21 touches. The Bills can't stop anyone right now, giving up seven RB touchdowns in their past two games.
LeSean McCoy, Bills at Chargers. L.A. did a good job holding down Leonard Fournette last week, but it's still allowing the seventh-most fantasy points per game to RBs. McCoy should get on track here.
Wide Receivers
Amari Cooper, Raiders vs. Patriots (in Mexico). For the most part, secondary receivers have been the ones to roast the Patriots this year, and Cooper has been 1B to Michael Crabtree's 1A most of the season.
DeVante Parker, Dolphins vs. Buccaneers. Parker hasn't had a huge game since coming back from injury, but the Bucs allow the fourth-most fantasy points to WRs. Couple that with the Dolphins throwing more since trading Jay Ajayi, and this is a good spot to take a chance with Parker.
Sterling Shepard, Giants vs. Chiefs. Shepard was New York's go-to guy in Week 10, catching 11 of 13 targets for 142 yards. The Chiefs allow the most fantasy points to WRs, so Shepard is in good position for another big game.
Pass Offense
Patriots vs. Raiders (in Mexico). Oakland has given up 300-plus yards and three passing TDs in two of its past three games. Alex Smith and Jay Cutler both carved them up, so imagine what Tom Brady can do.
Raiders vs. Patriots (in Mexico). The Patriots rank last in pass defense, and Derek Carr is coming off three-straight 300-yard passing games, totaling 1,030 yards in that span.
Chiefs at Giants. The Giants rank 30th in pass defense, and they're especially bad at stopping tight ends, allowing at least one TE touchdown in every game this year. Kansas City has arguably the best TE in football in Travis Kelce, so that's enough of a reason to like the Chiefs here.
Run Offense
Bills at Chargers. Between LeSean McCoy and Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo should run early and often against a Chargers defense allowing 4.7 yards per carry.
Saints vs. Redskins. At this point, the Saints running prowess can't be ignored. With multiple upper-tier backs, plus a dangerous weapon like Ted Ginn who's always a threat to break off a big play on a reverse, the Saints should have success at home against a middling Redskins run defense.
Browns vs. Jaguars. It's always risky trusting the Browns run offense, as Cleveland is often forced to pass late in games. But Jacksonville allows 4.6 yards per carry, and Cleveland has two decent RBs and a running QB it can throw at the Jags. A run-heavy game plan makes sense, so you just have to hope this one stays close and Cleveland can continue to pound the ball.
Defense
Jaguars at Browns. Even if Cleveland can run on the Jaguars, it's still going to give up several sacks and allow a couple of takeaways. Jacksonville leads the league in QB takedowns, and Cleveland leads the league in turnovers.
Lions at Bears. Detroit is getting after the QB again, racking up seven sacks in its past two games. Chicago has allowed 15 sacks and scored only 13.5 offensive points per game in Mitchell Trubisky's four starts.
Ravens at Packers. Brett Hundley hasn't been reckless with the football, but he's taking a lot of sacks. Baltimore has at least three sacks in four of its past five games and a takeaway in all but one game this year.
Special Teams/Kicker
Patriots vs. Raiders (in Mexico). The Raiders allow the fourth-most fantasy points per game to kickers, and the thin air in Mexico City could allow Stephen Gostkowski to connect on some long-range field-goal attempts. Plus, we saw how dangerous Dion Lewis is in the return game last week.
Ravens at Packers. Green Bay ranks in the top five in fantasy points per game allowed to kickers, and Justin Tucker is automatic when he gets attempts.
Saints vs. Redskins. Scoring chances won't be an issue for Wil Lutz, and this is a good time of year to play it safe with an indoor kicker.
How to Play
Each week, players will set their lineup across seven different positions and can make adjustments up until kickoff. The player that finishes each week with the most fantasy points in their favorite NFL team’s league wins a Wilson mini football and a New Era hat.
Following the season, one weekly prize winner will be randomly selected for the Grand Prize, which includes a flight, accommodations and ground transportation to the Pro Bowl in Orlando in January 2018.