We now have a deep enough sample size to trust that most teams aren't changing up their depth charts or philosophical approach to their base defense and subpackages. So, I'm going to scale back the general overview and not hit every team each week. I'll focus more intently on changing situations due to injury, unexpected snap counts from the previous week and do more detailed scouting reports on some young and developing talents.
If there's a situation you'd like me to cover more deeply, send me an email or tweet (details at the end of the column). The Sunday column will continue to hit the broad highlights for every team, project the depth chart changes due to injury, discuss any game-time decisions and note any key matchups of importance.
ATLANTA
Paul Worrilow has made things very interesting in Atlanta. Sean Weatherspoon has been activated off injured reserve this week and the Falcons have to make a decision. The consensus seems to be that Weatherspoon will replace or rotate with one of the current outside linebackers. I'm not convinced yet. In the offseason, Joplo Bartu was getting a long look in subpackages and, while he hasn't been dynamic in the box scores, he's been a solid player at strong side linebacker. Worrilow has been playing Weatherspoon's weak side spot, but he's become the team's best all-around linebacker over the past two weeks. I don't think he's going anywhere. And Worrilow saw most of his preseason time at middle linebacker. Do not be surprised if Akeem Dent is the odd man out, with Worrilow moving inside. It's even less clear who will see nickel snaps. Hopefully, there will be clarity in time for the Sunday notes column.
Buffalo
The Bills continue to rotate their inside linebackers next to Kiko Alonso. It's a three way rotation with Arthur Moats and Nigel Bradham in the base and Da'Norris Searcy as a hybrid nickel. If you're still holding onto Searcy, he's a strong play only against teams that run frequently from a spread formation. Don't worry too much about Alonso hitting the rookie wall. He wasn't as good on the field as his huge early box scores would suggest and he's not been as poor as his weaker recent box scores suggest.
CAROLINA
The rotation at safety continues. Quintin Mikell is losing just enough snaps to Robert Lester to hurt his value. And the drop in statistical value for Mike Mitchell isn't a big surprise. Such is the difficulty with relying on safeties behind dynamic front seven play. With Luke Kuechly hitting his stride and Thomas Davis playing at a Pro Bowl level in coverage, Mitchell will continue to be a high variance DB2 play.
CHICAGO
Charles Tillman is a big loss for the Chicago defense. Those who have been in IDP leagues for years, however, remember how good Zack Bowman was in his last run as a full time corner. He won't be quite as consistent as Tillman, but he's a must add in corner-required leagues. Major Wright continues to struggle on the field, but he's been a solid every-week fantasy play for those in 3 DB / 2 S leagues. There's no clear timetable on Lance Briggs or Shea McClellin. Jon Bostic was better last week, but the defense could clearly use what Briggs and McClellin bring. The pass rush was abysmal last week with David Bass filling in. Cornelius Washington may grow into a larger role in time, but he's clearly not ready for that role yet. Khaseem Greene looks like he'll need another offseason of seasoning as well.
cincinnati
The loss of Geno Atkins didn't slow the outside pass rush of the Bengals. Carlos Dunlap has been very inconsistent on a per snap basis, but he's dominant when playing well. He's nearly playing every down now and the volume has allowed him to convert even when not playing well. I wrote recently that Michael Johnson was playing much better than his box scores would suggest. He was not as good against Baltimore. I didn't feel that the Ravens focused more attention on him, but it's a trend to monitor with Atkins out. Then there's Vinny Rey. The numbers were there in Week 9, but he wasn't great on film. Last week, he was dominant. He was violent against the run, looked comfortable in coverage and added three sacks as the Bengals did a lot of A-gap blitzing. The Cincinnati coaching staff has always liked Rey, but durability has cost him opportunity in the past. With Maualuga still out with a knee sprain, another good week from Rey could have him threatening to steal snaps from Maualuga.
DALLAS
Here we go again. Sean Lee will miss at least a month with a hamstring strain that looked suspiciously low on his leg. If the strain is near or involves a tendon, Lee could miss more than four weeks. And his likely replacement at middle linebacker and in the nickel, Justin Durant, followed him to the sideline with a major hamstring strain of his own shortly after. The Cowboys will have an extra week to game plan around the losses, but expect Bruce Carter and Ernie Sims (who saw a handful of snaps inside last week) to see every-down duty. Kyle Bosworth is the most likely in-house option to take the other base defensive snaps. It's continued good news for Barry Church, who is now on pace for an otherwordly 107 solo tackles. Dallas will also work hard to get Demarcus Ware ready to go after the bye, but we may see him miss another month with an aggravation of a quad injury that he likely tried to return from too early.
denver
It's coming. The breakout of Von Miller with a monster, multi-sack week is coming. Kansas City and New England are neutral matchups for most pass rushers, but Miller has had three weeks of near misses. Keep him in your lineup.
detroit
With Ezekiel Ansah out with an ankle injury, fellow rookie Devin Taylor is seeing 30-35 snaps a game in a variety of situations. Taylor had my attention as a tall, raw prospect before the draft and his landing spot with Jim Washburn in Detroit put him high on my 2014 watch list. He wasn't very effective in Week 8, but looked more comfortable last week. Taylor will never be a speed rusher, but he showed he can be effective from a Wide-9 technique when he plays with good pad level. His bull rush was effective and he showed a spin counter on a few snaps with good results. The Lions also moved Taylor into a three-technique role on nickel downs, moving Ndaumkong Suh outside. Taylor may never grow into an elite fantasy player, but there's interesting upside in this defensive line rotation, scheme and coaching staff. Watch his second half closely.
HOUSTON
Darryl Sharpton will be volume-sensitive, but he's clearly the best IDP option in the back seven. D.J. Swearinger Sr played better against Arizona, but he's not around the ball enough and his upcoming matchups are worrisome. Keep an eye on him in case he reverses the trend against potential dud matchups against Oakland (if Terrelle Pryor isn't full strength) and Jacksonville at home, but he's not a viable option now. Whitney Mercilus is a very different player over the past month. There's still enough of a surrounding cast to keep him free from many double teams, but he's been handled easily for much of the past five weeks.
MIAMI
I've no idea why the Dolphins aren't giving Dion Jordan a longer look. He played nine snaps against Tampa Bay. He doesn't look limited in any way and was not a liability on any of the snaps I watched closely. And if the Dolphins were still concerned about his shoulder, they wouldn't have him playing 19 special teams snaps. Recent events could well turn this coaching staff over at season's end. I think Jordan will earn more playing time next season no matter who the coaching staff is and I'd hate to see him and Cameron Wake transitioned to a 3-4 front, but a change of coaches could do Jordan well.
MINNESOTA
Andrew Sendejo had 16 total tackles against Washington. He didn't play much better than he had earlier in the season and the numbers were opportunity driven -- 36 rushing attempts faced and 11 completions to backs and tight ends. Jamarca Sanford's return date is still an unknown. But the schedule is amazing over the next six weeks. Erin Henderson, Chad Greenway and whomever plays safety will be very strong fantasy plays.
NEW ORLEANS
Cameron Jordan looked like he was over his ankle issues against the Cowboys Sunday night. But all bets are off in the back seven. Curtis Lofton, David Hawthorne, Kenny Vaccaro, Malcolm Jenkins and Roman Harper are all fighting injuries. Vaccaro has already been ruled out with a concussion. Jenkins wasn't ready to return last week. Harper was inactive again despite practicing all week. Lofton and Hawthorne both saw limited snaps in the blowout and aren't fully healthy. Hopefully, all but Vaccaro return to their usual roles this week, but it's difficult to read the practice reports and predict. With luck, Sean Payton will share something meaningful in this week's press conferences.
new york giants
The Giants continued to say that Ryan Mundy would return to his starting job, but Will Hill was the every down safety next to Antrel Rolle last week. That's likely to continue. Hill will be a high variance play, but deserves a look in deeper leagues. The linebacker rotation has also changed. Spencer Paysinger seems to have given way to a healthy Jacquian Williams. Jon Beason is still the best linebacker option here. The Giants have had surprisingly few tackle chances in recent weeks, but the schedule opens up now.
oakland
Sio Moore finally broke out last week. Snap count and strong opportunity provided by Andre Brown pushed him to an 8-1-1 week with a forced fumble. It was a perfect storm of sorts, but the Houston matchup could set up the same way this week. Don't invest heavily yet, but be ready to move if the snap count trend holds.
PHILADELPHIA
There were two significant injuries to Philadelphia defenders last week. Mychal Kendricks has a knee injury. He's being called day-to-day. It's unfortunate timing, as he seemed to be hitting his stride on the field and statistically. Hopefully, this won't slow him down much. DeMeco Ryans has been very strong competition for tackles. If Kendricks can't play, Najee Goode could play a near every down role. There's little value in him, however, as he played 70 snaps for Kendricks last week and managed one assist. The Eagles will be without Earl Wolff for multiple weeks. That puts Patrick Chung back in an every-down role, but there's little guarantee he'll stay healthy long enough to put up a run of good weeks.
SAN DIEGO
The Chargers had been playing dime subpackages almost exclusively for weeks. Donald Butler hadn't played in a month. Naturally, against the Broncos, San Diego changed their approach. Butler played every down and didn't show any signs of hindrance from his groin injury. Reggie Walker didn't play a defensive snap. There's some risk in plugging Butler back in this week, but if the Chargers trusted him in an important divisional matchup, it's likely that alignment will stay their preferred lineup.
san francisco
Aldon Smith played only sparingly in long down and distance situations last week. The Niners travel to New Orleans this week. That should mean more snaps for Smith. It's a tough matchup, however, so Smith is an option in big play leagues only for now.
TENNESSEE
The Titans' usage of Zach Brown continues to befuddle me. Back out of all subpackages, he's a tough fantasy start in any week the Titans might be ahead or facing a spread base offense. Colin McCarthy didn't stand out against the Jaguars, but he didn't do anything to hurt his case to stay in the lineup when Moise Fokou returns. That likely won't be for another week. Derrick Morgan looked better this week and hopefully will begin putting up more consistent pass rush numbers down the stretch.
Subscribe to The Audible on iTunes or download our weekly IDP podcast here every Thursday for injury updates, player analysis and matchup discussion. Check my article page on Sunday morning for notes on every team's key injuries, depth chart changes and IDP expectations. Follow and ask questions on Twitter @JeneBramel.