Will (2-2) enters Week 5 looking to knot up this series. His team ranks second in the league in scoring this year despite being the lowest scorer in the season opener.

Meanwhile Evan (3-1) was the league’s lowest scorer two weeks ago and hasn’t finished higher than fifth in scoring in any week so far.

Will would probably deserve to be favored in this game if this weren’t the first bye week of the year. He’ll be without both Kenneth Walker and Rachaad White, while the only started Evan will have to do without is Tyler Lockett, arguably the weakest of his six starting skill position players.

The good news is that injuries aren’t a factor for either manager this week, so at least they don’t have to contend with players missing time and bye weeks.

Current Coaching Risks

Evan picked up Robert Woods off waivers this week and plans to start him, but he already had a better option, Romeo Doubs, to start in Lockett’s place.

Will has Zack Moss slotted into one of his FLEX spots, but current projections have Christian Kirk slightly ahead of him.

This is going to be a tough task for Anthony (2-2), who has had the second fewest points scored against him so far this year. Only Evan, whose opponents have scored 10.7 fewer points per game against him, has had an easier schedule than Ant. He may bump up a few spots after this week considering he’s playing our league’s highest scorer.

Stephen (3-1) is scoring at a clip more than 10 points per game higher than anybody else in the league and is currently on pace to further ahead of the league average than any team has been in the AFL’s history. It took a Tom Brady Award for Brandon in Week 4 to beat him, and the margin of victory was less than two points!

The good news for Anthony is that the only player of note he’ll be without due to a bye week or an injury is Amari Cooper. Stephen will have to do without Justin Herbert and Cameron Dicker this week thanks to the Chargers bye week and he’s planning to pivot from Tee Higgins who has a rib injury and has been remarkably ineffective save for Week 2 this season.

Current Coaching Risks

Stephen is starting Jared Goff in Herbert’s absence, but projections suggest it would be wiser to activate C.J. Stroud from his taxi squad to make the spot start at quarterback. Additionally, to replace Dicker, Stephen picked up Ka’imi Fairbairn off waivers but Greg Joseph was also available and has a higher projections.

Anthony often rosters two kickers and has to make choices between them each week. This week FleaFlicker disagrees with his preliminary lineup where he has Jake Elliott slated to start over Nick Folk.

Eric (1-3) has been on the struggle bus, finishing 11th in scoring each of the past three weeks, and it doesn’t appear to get any easier this week. He likely would have missed this week anyway, but Austin Ekeler is on bye along with DK Metcalf while Sean (3-1) doesn’t have a single rostered player whose team will be resting this week.

The only player Sean has to keep an eye on is Davante Adams who is questionable with a shoulder injury. Even without him, Sean would be favored by a few points to extend his winning streak in their series to four games and take the all-time series lead.

Current Coaching Risks

Eric has no coaching risks based on his lineup and FleaFlicker projections as of Thursday afternoon.

Sean currently has three coaching risks. FleaFlicker believes he should swap Daniel Jones into his lineup to replace Brock Purdy and replace Michael Wilson with Tyler Allgeier in his FLEX. Additionally, Sean added Logan Thomas to start at tight end with Pat Freiermuth expected to miss this week’s game with a hamstring injury, but Zach Ertz remains available on waivers and has a higher projection.

If I waited until Thursday when I create my weekly preview to select the game of the week, this might well have been my selection. Though it projects to be a low-scoring matchup, with both managers projected to finish among the bottom six scorers, this is the closest spread of the week in the AFL.

It’s honestly surprising that Alex (2-2) isn’t a larger favorite considering the only starter he has to replace in his lineup is Mike Evans, who is on bye and likely would have missed this week with a hamstring injury anyway.

Andrew (2-2), meanwhile, is in bye week hell. Keenan Allen and Chris Godwin are both on bye and one of his options to start in their stead, Elijah Moore, is also on bye. He’ll also be watching Deebo Samuel’s status nervously as the 49ers receiver is dealing with dual knee and rib injuries. The knee injury is new and is concerning considering the rib injury is likely what led to him only getting three touches and no receiving targets in San Francisco’s Week 4 win against Arizona.

Current Coaching Risks

Andrew has no coaching risks based on his lineup and FleaFlicker projections as of Thursday morning.

Alex appears poised to start Tyler Higbee in his FLEX for the third straight week, but FleaFlicker is giving him as many signs as it can that Gus Edwards should replace him in the lineup this week.

No, that wasn’t a mistaken copy/paste; both Alexes lead their respective all-time series by the same margin entering this week.

Cory (1-3) would be in a bit of bye week hell this week with the Browns and Chargers on bye, but with both Nick Chubb and Mike Williams done for the year, this bye week is moot. His biggest concern is Amon-Ra St. Brown’s status as the Lions star receiver continues to deal with an abdominal injury.

On the other side of the matchup, Alex (2-2) has been an active participant on the waiver wire this year and has already used nearly 70% of his budget for the year. One of his big pickups, Chubb’s replacement in the Browns backfield, will be subject to his team’s bye week. Another waiver addition, though at the cheap cost of just $2, is slated to make an appearance in Alex’s lineup as he currently has Sam Howell starting over Kirk Cousins.

Injuries to watch for Alex include Saquon Barkley (ankle), Rhamondre Stevenson (thigh), and Jerry Jeudy (knee).

Current Coaching Risks

Cory has no coaching risks based on his lineup and FleaFlicker projections as of Thursday morning.

Alex has three coaching risks as his lineup and FleaFlicker projections currently stand. In addition to his preliminary decision to start Howell over Cousins, he has Adam Thielen and Jahan Dotson in his wide receiver slots over DeAndre Hopkins and Jerry Jeudy. If Jeudy is inactive or his projection drops by more than a quarter point, the decision to start Thielen will no longer be considered a risk.

The first head-to-head matchup to reach the 20th game of the series, William (0-4) and Brandon (3-1) have only faced off in the playoffs twice over the AFL’s 11-year history. They spent six consecutive years as division rivals from 2016 through 2021 and then still faced off twice in 2022 thanks to their Sabol Bowl X matchup. And since our scheduling rules include two meetings between the defending champion and runner up, this will be their second meeting of the 2023 season.

Brandon got the better of William in Week 1 by a 30-point margin. He had a huge Week 4 outing, but his team totaled less than 110 points each of the first three weeks, so it hasn’t been an unbeatable team.

William, meanwhile, has suffered two straight unlucky losses as his team has gone from 11th in scoring to 8th to 6th to 4th over the course of the season so far. He’ll try to break through this week and extend his series lead.

The great news for all of us invested in this matchup is that both teams will be essentially at full strength. David Njoku will be on bye for William, but the step down to Dalton Schultz, if there is one, isn’t significant. And while Brandon has to keep an eye on injuries to Kyren Williams (hip) and Miles Sanders (groin), William also has to track Dameon Pierce (knee), so the two managers will be on pretty equal footing this week.

Current Coaching Risks

Brandon is planning to start Michael Pittman at FLEX in place of Miles Sanders, but if Sanders is inactive that decision will no longer be a risk.

William has Tank Dell starting opposite Terry McLaurin at wide receiver, but projections suggest he should swap Dell out for Jayden Reed.