START FOR SURE
Andre Johnson -- Obviously you're not going to be benching him, even if his ankle is still dinged up. The fact that he'll likely draw a few targets against Antoine Cason should push him over the top if you had any doubt about him.
Phillip Rivers -- The Texans have one of the worst pass defenses in the league, and even if Rivers is throwing the ball to Patrick Crayton, Randy McMichael, and 3 guys who should be in the CFL, he'll still notch top-quality numbers against this bunch.
Arian Foster -- After getting raked over the coals by the Houston press all week, it's my guess that we'll see Gary Kubiak use plenty of Foster this week. Even if he only gets the same amount of carries he did last week, he's still a good bet for 75 yards and a touchdown.
Ryan Mathews/Mike Tolbert - We haven't seen what the Texans run defense will be like yet without DeMeco Ryans. Here's my vote: it will be ugly.
IFFY
Matt Schaub - The Chargers do have one of the better pass defenses in the league, and have proven they can get after the quarterback. The Texans, on the other hand, have been up and down in pass protection the past couple of games. If you have a better option against a weaker defense, take it, but odds are you probably don't. Hope for a shootout to cover up what will probably be pedestrian per attempt numbers.
Antonio Gates - Even if he does start, you have to think that he's so dinged up that he probably won't be even 60%. Of course, 60% of Gates against the Texans defense could equal 100 yards and three touchdowns. That's why he's still up in the iffy column. High risk/high reward.
SIT
Kevin Walter/Jacoby Jones: Both are good players, but they've been splitting snaps so often that it's hard for either of them to accumulate significant fantasy value.
Owen Daniels: He's having hammy problems and hasn't practiced this week yet. Even if he does play, he's not likely to be 100% and the Chargers are one of the better teams in the NFL at defending passes to the tight end.
Both defenses: The Chargers defense is going up against one of the best offenses in the NFL, the Texans defense is so bad that it should probably be taken off the free agent list just to prevent the trauma caused by somebody picking them up by accident. Stay away.
SLEEPER
Patrick Crayton : With the majority of the Chargers receivers dinged up and unlikely to play, look for the ex-Cowboy to get on the field and put up decent WR3 numbers at worst against Kareem Jackson, Eugene Wilson and company.
For more on the Texans, check out Battle Red Blog.
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