START

Raiders: RB Michael Bush, K Sebastian Janikowski

Chargers: QB Philip Rivers, RB Ryan Mathews, RB Mike Tolbert, WR Vincent Jackson, TE Antonio Gates, K Nick Novak

Quick slants: With Darren McFadden out with a foot injury, Bush will be the Raiders' featured back. He ran for 96 yards on 19 carries and caught two passes for 33 yards and a touchdown last week. ... Janikowski has made 13 of 14 field-goal attempts, is perfect on 19 PATs and has 58 points in seven games. ... Rivers has been disappointing (11 TD passes and 14 interceptions), but he's thrown for 2,469 yards, including 754 in his last two. He had four TD passes and three interceptions last week against the defensively challenged Packers. ... Mathews is expected to play after missing last week with a groin injury. He has rushed for 509 yards and has 30 catches for 342 yards in seven games. He hasn't scored a touchdown in his last four games. ... Even if Mathews starts tonight, Tolbert should get about 15 touches. He has six TDs on the year and has reached the end zone twice in his last two contests. ... Jackson had seven receptions for 141 yards and three TDs last week. ... In three games since returning from a foot injury, Gates has 17 receptions for 223 yards and two scores. He had eight catches for 96 yards and a TD on Sunday. ... Novak has been prolific in place of the injured Nate Kaeding, making 16 of 17 field goals and all 17 of his PATs. He is averaging 9.3 points per game.

SIT

Raiders: QB Carson Palmer, WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR Jacoby Ford, defense/special teams

Chargers: WR Malcom Floyd, defense/special teams

Quick slants: Palmer has thrown six interceptions in two games with the Raiders. ... Heyward-Bey has been productive, but he was shut out last week, and the Raiders' passing attack is too unreliable. ... Ford had five receptions for 105 yards and a TD last week, but he had only 11 catches for 114 yards and zero TDs prior to his breakout game. ... The Raiders' defense ranks 27th in yards allowed per game (386.5) and 30th in points allowed (27.0). ... Floyd is expected to sit tonight because of a hip injury. If he's active, I'd keep him on my bench. ... The Chargers' defense ranks seventh in yards allowed (311.6), but is 27th in points (25.5), tied for 20th in sacks (17) and has forced only 11 turnovers.

Kevin Kolb was impressive in place of Michael Vick last Sunday night, completing 21 of 31 passes for 253 yards and one touchdown in a 27-24 win at San Francisco.

Vick hasn't been ruled out this week, but it seems likely he'll sit for another game because of a rib injury. If that's the case, I'd consider Kolb a starter only in 14-team leagues.

The Falcons, Philly's opponent Sunday, have twice as many interceptions (10) as touchdown passes allowed (five) this season.

Let's take a quick look at some more notable injury predicaments owners are facing this weekend:

-- Raiders running back Darren McFadden is expected to return this week from a hamstring injury, but will be in a limited role. Sunday's opponent, the 49ers, haven't been great against the run -- San Francisco ranks 18th at 111.4 rushing yards allowed per game. McFadden had 392 rushing yards, 16 receptions for 162 yards and two total TDs in Oakland's first four games, but I wouldn't play him this week.

Michael Bush rushed for 104 yards and a TD on 26 carries in McFadden's absence last week, and he caught three passes for 31 yards. He is the better play of the two this week, but should still be considered a flex option at best.

-- Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno hasn't played the last three weeks because of a hamstring injury, and he doesn't seem likely to play Sunday. Until he returns, there isn't a Denver back worth starting. Correll Buckhalter has rushed for 62 yards on 32 carries (1.9 average) this season, and Laurence Maroney continues to disappoint (29 carries for 56 yards, 1.9 average in three games since he was acquired from the Patriots).

-- Saints running back Pierre Thomas likely will sit for the third consecutive game because of an ankle injury, again leaving the rushing chores to Chris Ivory and Ladell Betts. If you have to play one -- and it's better if you don't, obviously -- Betts is the more productive option because of his receiving ability. Ivory has rushed for 106 yards on 22 carries the last two weeks, and Betts has 23 carries for 91 yards and nine catches for 49 yards in that span. Neither has scored a touchdown this season.

-- The news is more favorable for the Colts' top rusher, Joseph Addai. He was limited in practice by a neck injury Wednesday and sat Thursday, but he said he expects to play Sunday night at Washington. The 8:30 start complicates the situation, but the Redskins are a decent matchup for opposing running backs (Washington ranks 19th against the run). If you have Addai and an available roster spot, pick up Mike Hart (who is available in more than 98 percent of the leagues on ESPN.com) as a backup plan in case Addai is inactive Sunday night. Backup Donald Brown has been hampered by a hamstring injury, and Hart had 11 carries for 50 yards and a TD last week.

-- Bears quarterback Jay Cutler is expected to return from a concussion Sunday. He was awful in Week 4 before he was knocked out of the game by the Giants, but he threw for 870 yards and six touchdowns in Chicago's first three contests. I'd start him at home against the Seahawks, who rank 31st vs. the pass and are allowing 302 passing yards per game.

-- Lions receiver Calvin Johnson probably will be a game-time decision because of a shoulder injury. Detroit plays at 1 p.m. Sunday, so it's an easy fix if he's deactivated an hour before the game. I would recommend teammate Nate Burleson as a replacement, but he, too, is hindered by an injury. Burleson has been a limited participant in practice the last two days because of an ankle injury.

-- Peyton Hillis has been surprisingly prolific in his first five games with the Browns, but the combination of a leg injury and Sunday's matchup at Pittsburgh should put him on your bench this week. The Steelers' opponents have rushed 95 times for 249 yards (a 2.6 average) this season. Pittsburgh ranks No. 1 against the run.

-- On a non-injury note, the only winner, if there is such a thing in this case, in the Jerome Harrison-Mike Bell trade between the Browns and Eagles is Bell. Harrison might be the better player, but the reason Bell has done nothing this season is LeSean McCoy (365 yards rushing, five TDs, 28 receptions for 218 yards) has been the No. 1 running back in many PPR formats. Harrison likely will only be a factor if McCoy has a setback with his rib injury.

Bell was effective at times in 2006 with the Broncos (677 yards, eight TDs) and 2009 with the Saints (654 yards, five TDs). He figures to get more chances this season than Harrison.

If you're a Browns fan -- or the biggest LeBron James supporter this side of The Four Horsemen -- you might have been thrilled with the Braylon Edwards trade.

If you're a disgruntled fantasy owner who wasted a fourth-round pick on the butterfingered one, there's hope.

We might never again see the Edwards of 2007. The Jets better hope they don't see the Edwards of '08. I'd expect something in the middle -- think new teammate Jerricho Cotchery, only with slightly fewer receptions and more touchdowns.

If Edwards had stayed in Cleveland, he was destined for your bench after a four-game stretch in which he was good once (six catches for 92 yards in Week 2) and bad on three occasions (a combined four catches for 47 yards in Weeks 1, 3 and 4). Now, I'd be tempted to start him right away with the Jets.

Edwards is expected to open Monday night's game at Miami with the first team, and the Dolphins have struggled against the pass (No. 26 in the league). Following that matchup, the Jets play at the Raiders (No. 13 vs. the pass), against the Dolphins at home and, after a bye week, at home vs. the Jaguars (tied for last against the pass).

With apologies to Mohamed Massaquoi and Jerome Harrison, the Jets have a few more weapons to take the heat off Edwards.

If you have four solid receivers, you can afford to wait and see how much of an impact Edwards makes in the Big Apple. If your fourth receiver is on par with the likes of Massaquoi or Pierre Garcon, I'd take the chance that the former Brown will have a big game on ESPN.

Somewhere Eric Mangini is plotting his next $1,701 fine.

On to the no-huddle ...

-- Taylor-made: Just when it seemed as if we had the Patriots' running back situation figured out, news breaks that Fred Taylor will have ankle surgery and be out for an extended period. That leaves those of us looking for bye-week help contemplating the value of Laurence Maroney, Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris.

Of the three, I'd expect Maroney to get the most carries, Faulk to get the most catches and Morris to be the most productive.

The latter rushed for 727 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 4.7 yards per carry, last season. Faulk is worth considering only in point-per-receptions leagues, a format in which he was quite effective as a bye-week flex play last season, when he rushed for 507 yards, caught 58 passes for 486 yards and scored six TDs.

Maroney, meanwhile, is a mystery wrapped inside an enigma covered by a Bill Belichick news conference. The 2006 first-round pick has 55 carries for 171 yards (3.1) and no touchdowns in seven games the last two seasons.

None of the three are good plays this week at Denver (No. 6 vs. the run, No. 4 vs. the pass and the top scoring defense in the league). If I had to pick one, though, I'd go with Morris.

-- McNothin: Darren McFadden has a torn meniscus and will miss 2 to 4 weeks, leaving the vaunted Michael Bush-Justin Fargas duo to do the heavy lifting for the Raiders on Sunday at the Giants.

Bush is expected to start, but I'd rather play a Patriot than one of these two at the Meadowlands. The Giants have been susceptible against the run (No. 27), but playing Bush or McFadden would assume the Raiders (the No. 26 rushing offense, the No. 32 passing offense and the owners of the second-fewest points in the league) know how to do anything offensively.

If you're like me and you made the brilliant move of drafting three running backs who have a Week 5 bye (Matt Forte, Ryan Grant and Reggie Bush), you might have to choose a Raider. If that's the case, Bush, who has 125 carries for 541 yards (4.3) in two NFL seasons, is the better option.

Fargas might rush for more yards (he had 1,009 in 2007), but he's no threat as a receiver and he's scored all of seven touchdowns in his career. In 679 touches since 2006, Fargas has six TDs.

-- WR showdown: Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald, both first-round fantasy picks before the season, go head-to-head Sunday in a battle of players who haven't lived up to expectations.

Fitzgerald hasn't had more than 76 yards receiving in any of the Cardinals' first three games, and he has 181 yards for the year. Johnson, meanwhile, has one huge game to his credit (10 receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns in Week 2) and three mediocre showings (a combined 10 catches for 187 yards and no scores in Weeks 1, 3 and 4).

Both the Texans (No. 10) and Cardinals (tied for 11th) have been effective defending the pass, but here's a hunch: You'll be feeling a lot better about your top receiver after Sunday.

Let's set Sunday's combined over-under for Fitzgerald and Johnson at 16 catches, 220 yards and two TDs.

-- Split feelings: In 2008, we had the DeAngelo Williams-Jonathan Stewart backfield -- a shared workload that actually worked from a fantasy perspective. This year, we present ... the 1-3 Miami Dolphins.

You already know about Ronnie Brown, a No. 2 fantasy back who has rushed for 369 yards, averaged 5.1 yards per carry, caught six passes for 50 yards and scored four TDs. But are you aware that Ricky Williams has only one fewer TD than Brown (three), two more receptions, 12 more receiving yards and 248 yards on the ground, with an average of 5.0 yards per attempt? Williams is an ideal flex play for weeks in which you were dumb enough to draft three backs with the same bye week (no names, please).

-- Closing number: Our stat of the week goes to the quarterback formerly known as Neckbeard.

In four games since being traded to Denver in the largely unpopular Jay Cutler deal, Kyle Orton is 4-0 and is on pace to throw for 3,624 and 20 touchdowns, with a 97.7 rating and zero turnovers. If only his next four games weren't against the Patriots, Chargers, Ravens and Steelers.

-- On deck: Saturday, we'll look at the must-starts, must-sits and other tidbits at the quarter-point of the season in our weekly column, which will be published on our Sports site and include the weekly audiocast. Saturday, I will also have the "big blog," with the expanded playlist and more start-and-sit advice. That will be posted here and on the N-H's Sports site.