Well Week 9 crept up on us out of nowhere. It's fantasy crunch time in leagues everywhere, and with six teams on bye this week and next week the waiver wire is growing thinner than ever. A lot of you probably need wins right now, and don't have the luxury of building depth for a playoff run like that dude in your league who's stashing Josh Gordon. Must be nice.
Anyway, the action begins tonight in North Carolina when the Panthers host the New Orleans Saints. Carolina is looking for a rebound game after a crummy loss against the Seahawks, while the Saints will try to keep it going after a big win on Sunday night against Green Bay. If the Panthers want any chance at keeping pace with Drew Brees and his high-powered offense, they'll need some of their playmakers like Greg Olsen and Kelvin Benjamin to really step up. So buckle up kids, it's about to get real.
Don't forget that you can catch all of the Thursday Night Football action only on NFL Network.
Matt Franciscovich is an associate fantasy editor at NFL.com. Follow him on Twitter @m_franciscovich. He's making it a point to incorporate the word "crummy" more in his daily vocabulary and articles. Deal with it.