The standings have sorted themselves into layers, and this week’s schedule sets most of the layers against themselves. Jonathan is alone at 7-2. mike and Jeff are 6-3 and play each other. Sean, Michael, Timothy, Anthony and Kevin are 5-4; sorted by points, the first three are inside the six playoff places and the last two are outside, and Sean plays Kevin. Jonathan plays Timothy, the team in the sixth place. John E. and Josh, 4-5 and one game back, are the two hottest teams in the league outside of mike — four straight wins and three — and play Nick and John P., both 3-6. The other two games, Tim–Michael and Anthony–Owen, pair a 5-4 team with one that has lost five straight, and in both the team on the losing streak had a dead quarterback slot on Thursday morning.

Which is the other number this week. The Bears, Broncos, Eagles and Buccaneers are off, and when this newspaper pulled the lineups, sixteen starting slots across seven rosters were set to score nothing — the most of the season, after counts of five, seven, ten, twelve and ten. Ten are bye-week starters: Josh has four (J.K. Dobbins, Colston Loveland, Chase McLaughlin and the Bears defense), Tim two (Rome Odunze, Chris Godwin), Kevin two (Bo Nix and Jaylen Waddle, who is also Out), Nick one (D’Andre Swift) and Timothy one (the Broncos defense). Sean has Josh Jacobs, Out, and Michael Wilson, on injured reserve. Owen won C.J. Stroud on waivers, released Michael Penix, and had nobody in the quarterback slot, for the second time in three weeks. And Tim has Lamar Jackson, on injured reserve, TreVeyon Henderson, Out, and Nick Folk, a kicker Sleeper lists without an NFL team — five dead slots in a nine-man lineup that projects to 37.00 points. Lineups lock by game; all sixteen can still be fixed. Teams that left a slot dead at kickoff are 2-11 this season.

The slate

mike (6-3) vs. Jeff (6-3). mike leads 10-8. Both have 108 regular-season wins, so the winner takes sole possession of something; they have scored 1,037.48 and 1,035.24. mike has won six straight since starting 0-3, and does it this week without Puka Nacua, who is Out, or Bucky Irving, who is on a bye — both are on his bench — and with George Pickens and Bhayshul Tuten questionable in the lineup. Isaiah Likely and Rachaad White play tonight. He won Tyler Higbee and Konata Mumpfield on waivers, the latter two weeks after releasing him, and the Texans defense starts for a second straight week. Jeff has Josh Allen coming off 8.86, Derrick Henry and Cameron Dicker on Monday night, Dalton Kincaid questionable in the flex, and the larger projection, 114.44 to 101.80. The loser is 6-4 and back among the 5-4 winners.

Sean (5-4) vs. Kevin (5-4). Sean leads 11-4 and has the most points in the league, 1,077.66; Kevin has the third-fewest, 835.90, and has beaten his projection once in nine weeks. Both lineups had two dead slots Thursday morning, described above: Jacobs and Wilson for Sean, Nix and Waddle for Kevin, whose bench has Jaylen Warren back from his bye. Hunter Henry is questionable. With those slots as they stood, the projection is Sean 94.46, Kevin 68.27.

Jonathan (7-2) vs. Timothy (5-4). Jonathan leads 11-9 and the Magic Castle by a game, and has three starters in tonight’s game: Jayden Daniels, Cam Skattebo and Stefon Diggs. Audric Estime, signed Saturday, starts at running back; Amon-Ra St. Brown is questionable. Timothy starts Jordan Love for the first time since Week 7, after Love out-scored Dak Prescott from his bench in consecutive weeks, 21.52 and 33.18. Saquon Barkley and Emeka Egbuka are on byes and on his bench; Alvin Kamara and Garrett Wilson are questionable; Dalton Schultz is in the flex; the Broncos defense, on a bye, was still in the lineup. He won Corey Kiner on waivers.

Josh (4-5) vs. John P. (3-6). Josh leads 14-8, has won three straight, and reached 100 wins on Monday. His four bye-week starters are listed above; with them in, he projects to 76.04. Ladd McConkey, questionable, plays Monday night, and T.J. Hockenson is questionable. John P. has no flagged starters. He starts Kirk Cousins again, a week after Bryce Young out-scored Cousins from the bench, and won the Bills defense on waivers with the Buccaneers defense on a bye. He has lost three straight and is one win from 110 for the fourth week.

Nick (3-6) vs. John E. (4-5). John E. leads 12-8 and has scored 146.98, 145.60 and 142.38 in his last three. Luther Burden and Jonah Coleman, both on byes, are on his bench; Zach Charbonnet starts at running back and Omar Cooper, questionable, in the flex. Nick has Swift on the Bears’ bye, Jared Goff questionable after 2.3 and 5.04 in his last two starts, and Christian McCaffrey healthy. John E. is the projected favorite, 116.13 to 94.43.

Anthony (5-4) vs. Owen (2-7). Anthony leads 13-3, the same record he carried into last week’s game with John E., which he lost by 65.12. He won the Packers defense on waivers and starts it; Malik Nabers plays tonight; Mike Gesicki starts at tight end again with Dallas Goedert on a bye. Owen’s empty quarterback slot is described above; he also won Xavier Hutchinson. Zay Flowers and Omarion Hampton play Monday night. Owen has lost five straight.

Tim (3-6) vs. Michael (5-4). Tim leads 6-5; a Michael win levels the series. Tim’s five dead slots are listed above. He has started Jackson, Out or on injured reserve, in four straight games and lost all four; the Ravens play Monday night, so that slot is open until then. He has lost five straight and has been one win from 75 since Week 4. Michael has Davante Adams on his bench for the first time since Adams went on injured reserve, and no dead slot in his lineup for the first time since Week 4. Tre Tucker starts at receiver and Juwan Johnson in the flex; Harold Fannin is questionable; Rhamondre Stevenson is doubtful, on the bench. The projection is Michael 110.46, Tim 37.00.

Records and points through Week 9. All-time series include playoffs. Injury designations and lineups from Sleeper as of Thursday morning, November 12: O = Out, D = Doubtful, Q = Questionable, IR = injured reserve; bye = Bears, Broncos, Eagles or Buccaneers player in the starting lineup; empty = no player in the slot. Projections are Sleeper’s, scored with this league’s settings, for lineups as they stood Thursday morning. Transactions are the league’s completed moves since Tuesday’s recap. Thursday night: Commanders at Giants. Monday night: Chargers at Ravens.