A week full of awful games on paper turned into an intriguing set of contests. With only two true blowouts (the Patriots versus Steelers game was in doubt until the fourth quarter), there is a quite a bit of ground to cover. But sadly, there is a lot less silliness than usual. Hey, don’t blame me. Blame Greg Schiano.

Why him?

Why not?

Dolphins 22, Bengals 20

Ray Rice of the Baltimore Football Ravens is no longer a top-20 running back. Sources close to the situation (and people everywhere with working eyeballs) are saying that he is an abomination, bringing a great, undeserved shame to his owners. More on this story as it develops.

Rice looks awful when you watch him. He is slow to the hole and in and out of cuts, and has almost no burst. He has to be much more injured than the Ravens are letting on. As if you needed more evidence, Rice ranks 39th in NEP/attempt among the 41 running backs with at least 50 carries.

Buy: Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron. This has to be the low point of the season for both.

Sell: Ray Rice as a must start in 10 and 12 team leagues.

Hold: Torrey Smith has had three quiet games following a breakout first month. I still believe in him as a top-15 receiver ROS.

Patriots 55, Steelers 31

I personally bailed on Tom Brady three weeks ago, only getting up the courage to share it publically last week. And fancy that, he goes off for approximately 800 fantasy points. They have a bye in Week 10 and a tough game at Carolina Week 11, but after that it is smooth sailing. Would any of you bet against Brady as a top 6-8 quarterback for the rest of the year? I know I wouldn’t.

The Steelers are bad at football.

Buy: Stevan Ridley is still on fire, bringing his four game totals to 71 carries, 340 yards, 4.79 yards per carry, and six scores. He is a strong RB2.

Bonus Buy: Aaron Dobson has slowly played his way into value for New England. He is not yet startable, but should be owned in most 12-team leagues. The rookie could be a very nice late season surprise for playoff bound teams.

Sell: Kenbrell Thompkins is somehow still owned in 55.5 percent of ESPN leagues. A healthy scratch this week, his value is officially non-existent.

Hold: Le’Veon Bell came back nicely following a poor Week 8 performance by posting a 20-touch, 139-yard day.

Colts 27, Texans 24

Andrew Luck sure did his best Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde impersonation only a few short days after Halloween. For almost three full quarters he ignored wide open receivers, took sack after sack, and made inaccurate throws. But then with five seconds to go in the third, he threw the first of three touchdowns to T.Y. Hilton, bailing his team and his owners out. numberFire’s algorithm was very down on Luck to start the season but has come around in recent weeks, ranking him third at quarterback ROS. I am not quite so optimistic, but I see him in the group just under Cam Newton, with the likes of Philip Rivers and Matt Stafford.

What Case Keenum lacks in talent, he makes up for in moxie. The kid spent the first half showing what he can do, routinely beating single coverage for huge gains (albeit with the help of some fantastic catches from Andre Johnson). I don’t know that this game tells us a ton about Keenum’s NFL future, but it does let us know that Johnson will remain locked in as a WR1.

Buy: T.Y. Hilton as a guy who could win your team a title. He has been inconsistent all year, but now pressed into major duty following Reggie Wayne’s season-ending ACL tear, Hilton is poised to explode.

Sell: The Houston running game. Much less reliable than in seasons past, the injuries are mounting. Arian Foster left the game with a back issue after only a few snaps (this is on top of the hamstring that almost kept him out of the game in the first place) and Ben Tate looked very tentative at times (I would too if I had four broken ribs).

Hold: I am not going to hop back into the Trent Richardson discussion again. (If you want to know my thoughts, read the last game of the Week 7 Recap.) Suffice it to say, I am bullish on his talents, but much, much less so on how he is being used. I am hanging onto hope he has RB2 value this year, but as long as Richardson is seeing only eight carries against loaded fronts with an over matched offensive line, it may be a pipe dream.