Are reinforcements on the way?

A host of injured players are poised to take the field for the first time in several weeks (especially in tonight's game) – players who could alter the course for JSFL playoff ambitions.

Cooper Kupp was back at practice this week and Matt Pringle hopes he is in the lineup tonight as the Rams take on the Vikings in Thursday Night Football.

Topping the list of players on the “Welcome Back Tour” is none other than Matt Pringle’s Cooper “F&*king” Kupp, who is tentatively scheduled to take the field tonight for the Los Angeles Rams in our featured “Game of the Week.”

Now, whether Kupp remains a Ram is a hot topic of debate around the NFL as the Pittsburgh Steelers have expressed an interest in a trade, and I would not be surprised if a certain team up the U.S. 101 freeway in California, gutted by injuries and illness in the wide receiver room last week, does not sniff around as well.

Kupp will take the field tonight (allegedly as of this writing) at Sofi Stadium for the first time since his Week 2 ankle injury.

The other big name expected back this week is free agent QB Tua Tagovailoa of Miami. While not currently rostered, his return is expected to be a boon to the other Miami stars, most notably Spread Beaters star WR Tyreek Hill, who has struggled in his absence.

The injury updates have almost been buried by the flurry of WRs being traded around the NFL, the latest being former Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins, who lands in the much more offensive friendly confines of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Other big stars who were traded in the last weeks were Davonte Adams, who reunited with Aaron Rogers in New Jersey; and Amari Cooper, who was freed from the Cleveland graveyard by Buffalo.

As the NFL has its own trade deadline to deal with, so, too, does the JSFL as its deadline looms at the end of November (midnight November 29).

Another Early Start This Week

The Thursday night kickoff remains on the schedule but the European starts are on hold now until November. The NFL starts the week Thursday with the Vikings travelling to Sofi to take on the Rams. Thankfully, we only have one Monday Night game this week (the NY Giants at Pittsburgh).

All 32 NFL teams play this week before two teams take a powder in Week 9 (the 49ers and Steelers). Four teams take Week 10 off (Cleveland, Green Bay, Las Vegas and Seattle) and Week 11 off (Arizona, Carolina, N.Y. Giants and Tampa Bay) before byemaggedons looms in Weeks 12 (Atlanta, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, New Orleans and N.Y. Jets) and Week 14 (Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, New England and Washington). Adjust accordingly.

Here's a look at the week eight matchups.

Game of the Week

Spread Beaters (3-4) vs Tirades (4-3), Tirades favored by 2: It is easy to speculate that both Ron and Matt need this win desperately. As Ron pointed out in the Week 7 summary two days ago, the Tirades are one game back of Bob’s Band Aids in the Shitty Teams Division and Matt is three back of the 6-1 Rangers and Recliners in the Silent Circuit. It might not be the end of the world if the Tirades lose this week, but we might start to hear whispers of a “fire sale” if the Beaters go down and potentially fall four games behind one of the leaders. The saving grace is that this game, more likely, could be a tiebreaker if these two teams finish the season in a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot. Question marks dot both starting lineups. David Montgomery left early last week, Aaron Jones has been running on one leg all season and Jordan Mason still carries the “questionable” tag for Ron. For Matt, all eyes will be on the ankle of Cooper Kupp tonight and the stat line for Tyreek Hill. The Beaters carry the advantage in the backfield with Derrick Henry and J.K. Dobbins and WR1 (Hill). The Tirades are favored at QB (Josh Allen), Ja’Marr Chase, TE Kyle Pitts and flex (the aforementioned Mason). Take the Beaters and 1.

The Close Ones?

Gerbils (3-4) vs Who Dey (2-5), Gerbils favored by 7: ESPN is all over the board on this one giving slight edges to Who Dey with five starters (QB Jordan Love, WR Justin Jefferson, TE David Njoko and flex James Cook) while the Gerbils get the edge in four others (RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and Josh Jacobs, WR Tee Higgins and the 49ers defense. This one smells like an upset. Take Gerbils by 1.

Invaiders (3-4) vs Rangers (6-1), Rangers favored by 4. Talent always wins out. The Rangers are better, across the board, and the Invaiders still have too many question marks (will RB Jonathan Taylor ever retake the field this season and will WR Ceedee Lamb ever reconnect with Dak Prescott?). ESPN evenly casts the potential scoring between most of the starters with the Rangers getting an edge with RB Breece Hall, TE George Kittle (questionable tag) and flex DJ Moore. The Invaiders get a slight edge with the 49er QB and Lamb. If the 49er/Dallas game is a shootout Sunday night, Vern might have a narrow path to victory.  Take the Rangers and 5.

Recliners (6-1) vs Packers (0-6), Recliners favored by 7: Is this the week Jeff gets rid of the doughnut? He comes into this one as “only” a 7-point dog to Chris but this one could get ugly quickly as “questionable” tags still hang over the heads of Pack starters RB Kenneth Walker III and WR Deebo Samuel. The Recliners get positional edges with four starters (the Bears’ QB, RBs Bijan Robinson and Joe Mixon and flex Javonte Williams), while the Pack gets an edge with WRs Samuel and Darnell Mooney, TE Jake Ferguson and the Broncos’ defense. Take the Recliners by 5.

The Blowout?

Band Aids (5-2) vs WTNE (3-4), Band Aids favored by 15: Can anyone stop the Band Aid scoring juggernaut? ESPN sure thinks not in this matchup. The Band Aids come into this one heavily favored at four of the nine starting positions (QB Lamar Jackson, WRs Amon-Ra St. Brown and Terry McLaurin and flex Kareem Hunt). WTNE gets the nod at RB Saquon Barkley and the Lions’ defense. We think the Band Aids have too many bullets in the chamber this week for Jordan. Take the Band Aids by 10.