You know, as we get deeper into fall, it seems like the week passes by so much faster. Week 5 is already here with the Cardinals and 49ers set to faceoff tonight. It’s a pretty “meh” game for fantasy purposes but there is plenty to get to this week as I set the stage for Week 5. I’m not going to waste any time so lets get right into the “Reality of Fantasy.”

Last week ushered in the start of bye weeks, which is something I hope you all had the foresight to plan for. This week Seattle, Jacksonville, New Orleans, and Kansas City all have the week off. That means most of you will likely be looking for replacements for Russell Wilson, Blake Bortles, or Drew Brees at quarterback. Since QB is a deep position in fantasy you can afford to only carry one signal-caller on your roster, but I’m the type that always likes to keep a deep bench for bye weeks and condense once I have my studs back in the lineup. So if you don’t have a Phillip Rivers or Matt Ryan (what a season he’s having for a guy you likely drafted as a backup) here are a couple of names I would consider as “plug and play” options:

  – Carson Wentz is probably the best option this week, and he should be available to pick up right now (owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues). He has gotten better with each week under his belt and draws a great matchup against a banged up Detroit defense. Wentz also is coming off of a bye week, so the extra time to prepare only makes me like this matchup more for Philadelphia. Hopefully you don’t play in a league with members of the Wentz Wagon, and go scoop him up.

  – Joe Flacco is a popular streaming option most years in fantasy football (I personally went Wacko for Flacco last week). This week he gets the Washington Redskins at home. Playing at home is the important thing to focus on here. Washington isn’t the greatest matchup but Flacco is a much better fantasy play at home. Flacco has scored 20+ fantasy points in seven of his last nine home games. Seriously consider him this week if you are in need.

I’m only focusing on QB streaming this week due to the high caliber fantasy QBs with an off week. In future weeks I’ll look at some other positional streaming options. RB and WR should always be you positions of depth whereas QB, TE, and D/ST can be streamed if you’re in a tight spot.

If you are forced to stream this week at D/ST due to the Seattle or Kansas City bye, consider the LA Rams if you can grab them. Aaron Donald is playing at a Defensive Player of the Year level right now and he’s causing all kinds of problems for opposing offenses. Donald and the rest of the LA defensive line are setting the tone for this defense and paid off big time last week against Arizona, scoring 13 fantasy points. They are owned in about half of ESPN leagues and should be available to pick up in a tight spot.

Let’s take a look at the slate for this week as I identify the best and worst matchups of Week 5.

Best Matchup: Oakland Raiders (vs. San Diego)

You must have thought I was going to lead off with the Patriots here. Nope, this week the Raiders draw one of the best matchups of the week. Derek Carr is playing at a top-five level right now and that’s with Amari Cooper not playing up to his potential. Michael Crabtree is actually the top receiver here, and that was before his three-touchdown explosion last week in Baltimore. San Diego is struggling mightily on defense and just received some bad news yesterday. Top cornerback Jason Verrete tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the season. That leaves San Diego even more vulnerable to this red-hot aerial attack from the Raiders.

Worst Matchup: Houston Texans (vs. Minnesota Vikings)

Look I love the talent that Houston has on offense, but they are running into a buzzsaw against Minnesota. The Vikings are playing some of the best defense out of any team in the league, and they haven’t played any pushovers either. Minnesota has shut down Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, and Eli Manning the last three weeks, so this doesn’t inspire much confidence for Brock Osweiler to have success. The “Brock Lobster” looked skittish in the pocket against New England two weeks ago and this Vikings front-seven is better than the New England front-seven. If Minnesota could get eight sacks against Carolina, how many do you think they can get against Houston?

Good Matchup: New England Patriots (vs. Cleveland Browns)

We can just file this one under the “obvious” category right now. Tom Brady is back and is primed to make a massive 2016 debut. The Patriots have run the third-most running plays to this point of the season, but don’t expect that to hold true with Brady back on the field. We also might get to see the real Rob Gronkowski in this game as the Patriots have relegated him as a virtual decoy in his first two games back from injury. I’m not that great at math, but I can put two and two together. This looks like a monster game in the making for Brady and New England.

Bad Matchup: Detroit Lions (vs. Philadelphia Eagles)

I know its been awhile since we last saw the Eagles in action, but I do feel the need to remind you all that they held Pittsburgh to three points in their Week 3 matchup. Detroit does have the benefit of playing at home but even the magic of the Jim Bob Cooter offense won’t stop the dominant play of Fletcher Cox and the Eagles defensive line. Philadelphia is allowing an average of nine points a game, which doesn’t bode well for a Lions team that only scored 16 points against the Titans in its last home game.

Other Good Matchups: Pittsburgh (vs. NY Jets), NY Giants (vs. Green Bay), Baltimore (vs. Washington)

Other Bad Matchups: Atlanta (vs. Denver), Miami (vs. Tennessee), Buffalo (vs. Los Angeles)

So now with a good base to work off of for the week, let’s shift our focus back to tonight’s game between the Cardinals and 49ers. Like I said before this is a pretty “meh” game on the NFL slate this week, especially for fantasy football. The big news here is that Carson Palmer is likely not going to play tonight for Arizona, which would leave Drew Stanton as the starting QB tonight. His presence lowers the potential value for the Arizona receivers, who finally took a step in the right direction last week. I expect a huge workload for David Johnson tonight with Stanton in at quarterback. If I was forced to pick a receiver to trust tonight, look no further than Larry Fitzgerald, who is the most reliable option of this receiving core and will operate as a safety valve since Arizona doesn’t often feature a receiving threat at tight end.

On the San Francisco side of things, this offense just doesn’t do it for me in fantasy. Carlos Hyde is playing well but something tells me that tonight might be a good opportunity to bench him. Arizona has its back against the wall and I expect this defense to carry them tonight.

Now I know that I usually do this in my “No Huddle” articles but to save everyone some time, I’m going to leave you with my game pick. Vegas currently have Arizona favored by four. I’m going with Vegas on this one so give me Arizona (-4) tonight.

Enjoy the game tonight, whichever one you may be watching. Keep the conversation going in the comments section or social media. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook. I’ll be back tomorrow with “No Huddle” to preview the rest of Week 5 and I’ll be talking MLB postseason as well.