Don't start them: five Week 1 traps hiding behind a good name

Nobody loses a week starting a bad player. You already know who those are. You lose a week starting a good player in a bad game, because the name on the jersey overrode the number on the board. Five of those Sunday.

1. THE ENTIRE ATLANTA PASSING GAME (at Steelers). THE FACT: Tua Tagovailoa has been ruled out with an oblique injury and Michael Penix Jr., working back from a knee issue, practiced in full but is not starting. Atlanta is a 6-point underdog in a 41.5-total game, and the offensive line is down Cameron Williams with an ankle injury. THE VERDICT: sit everything. This is not a matchup call, it is a quarterback call - you do not start skill players attached to a passing game whose top two options are unavailable, on the road, in one of the two lowest totals on the board.

2. ALVIN KAMARA, RB, SAINTS (at Lions). THE FACT: Kamara was limited all week with a knee injury and carries a questionable designation into Sunday. New Orleans is a 7-point underdog. Cameron Jordan is out, which matters for how long the Saints defense keeps this competitive. THE VERDICT: sit him if you have a healthy alternative. A limited-all-week back on a seven-point road underdog is the worst combination in the sport - you get the negative game script and the snap count risk in the same afternoon. If he is your RB2 and the bench is bare, play him for receptions and nothing else.

3. THE CLEVELAND PASSING GAME (at Jaguars). THE FACT: Cleveland is an 8.5-point underdog in a 39.5-total game - the third-lowest on the board - with guard Teven Jenkins out and center Parker Brailsford questionable with a thumb injury. THE VERDICT: sit. Two interior line bodies compromised against a heavy favorite is how you get a quarterback throwing from his back foot all day. The only Browns worth starting are the ones who benefit from garbage time, and a 39.5 total says there will not be much of it.

4. ARIZONA SKILL PLAYERS NOT NAMED YOUR RB1 (at Chargers). THE FACT: The Cardinals are 9.5-point underdogs, the largest spread on the entire slate, and rookie back Jeremiyah Love is questionable with an ankle issue. Arizona is also without three defensive starters. THE VERDICT: fade. Nine-and-a-half-point road underdogs throw a lot of low-value passes late, which is fine for a target hog and useless for everyone else in the room. Love in particular is a sit until he practices in full - a questionable rookie running back in a projected blowout is a zero waiting to happen.

5. JETS AND TITANS PASS-CATCHERS (Jets at Titans). THE FACT: 38.5 total, the lowest on the board, with Tennessee favored by 1.5. THE VERDICT: sit everyone except the running backs. A 38.5 total with a coin-flip spread is the market telling you it expects a grind with no lead worth chasing. Breece Hall is startable because touches survive a low total. Nobody catching passes in this game is.

THE PROCESS: the two numbers that decide a sit are the total and the spread, in that order. Under 41 and you are looking for touches, not targets. A road underdog of seven or more and you are looking for receptions, not touchdowns. Every trap above fails one of those two tests, and most of them fail both.