How high should the fantasy panic meter be on Chuba Hubbard? (1:00)Stephania Bell explains her high level of fantasy concern for Chuba Hubbard with Rico Dowdle also in Carolina. (1:00)
Mackenzie KraemerCloseWorks at ESPN Stats & InformationFollow on XNov 5, 2025, 12:00 PM ET
Congratulations on making it more than halfway through the Eliminator season. Only 6.4% of remaining entries are still alive through Week 9. Last week featured the two biggest upsets of the season with the Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings upsetting the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions respectively.
With the season over halfway done, strategy becomes more important. Start to map out the second half of the season and make sure you leave yourself options each week as nine teams are already gone.
Since this column has used those teams, it’s a difficult choice between the Panthers and Buffalo Bills. The Bills are the safer choice but have several appealing matchups down the road. The Panthers are riskier but have no future value.
Due to the Panthers’ projected high selection rate, the official column pick will be the Bills. The Panthers are a below average team in a division game, so if they will be popular, I would lean towards pivoting elsewhere and hoping for the upset.
The Broncos are the biggest favorites of the week according to both Mike Clay and ESPN Analytics’ models. It’s also their easiest remaining game of the season. While “Thursday Night Football” has featured a few upsets this season, historically big favorites win at a higher rate on Thursday than Sunday or Monday. They are the top choice if you still have them available.
This is the Colts’ highest win probability in any remaining game according to ESPN Analytics. It’s also their second-most lopsided matchup of the week. The Colts have only one more relatively soft matchup (Week 17 vs. the Jaguars), so their future value is limited but more than Denver’s. Coming off a game with six turnovers against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Colts are due for some positive regression against a Falcons team that is below average on both sides of the ball.
The Jayden Daniels injury opens up an opportunity. The Lions have several remaining games with similar win probability (Weeks 12, 14 and 16), but Mike Clay has this as the Lions’ easiest game of that group. The Lions are coming off a bad loss, but they have won and covered 12 straight after a loss. With the Lions being lightly selected this week, they are a very strong choice if still available.
The Panthers make a ton of sense as one of the bigger favorites this week with virtually no future value. However, they are still the seventh-worst team according to ESPN Analytics, and they project to be popular. This is the first time the Panthers have been favored all season, and in each of the past nine times they’ve been favored, they’ve lost. If they win, it will put you in better shape down the road, and they are the fourth-biggest favorites according to both ESPN Analytics and Mike Clay. But if I have one of the top-4 teams above them, I would try to gain leverage on the field and fade a chalky Panthers squad.
How high should the fantasy panic meter be on Chuba Hubbard? (1:00)Stephania Bell explains her high level of fantasy concern for Chuba Hubbard with Rico Dowdle also in Carolina. (1:00)
Stephania Bell explains her high level of fantasy concern for Chuba Hubbard with Rico Dowdle also in Carolina. (1:00)