Darkness has come to the Texans locker room. A fantasy football hero has fallen. Deshaun Watson's magical season has come to a premature end and now the resurgent receiving duo of DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller seem destined to return to the not-so-productive days of yore. Tom Savage returns to the field and fantasy despair is coming with him. Perhaps this week's matchup against the Colts offers a silver lining but the cloud surrounding it is dark indeed.

It was the worst of times. It was the worstest of times. Much like the governor on a luxury tour bus, the Panthers offensive coaching staff has prevented Cam Newton and the Carolina offense from getting up to cruising speed. Instead the quarterback has been boxed into a dink-and-dunk offense that has him mostly throwing the ball within five yards of the line of scrimmage. Now the team trades Kelvin Benjamin in a move that is expected to signal a shift to a more run-heavy approach. Anyone with Cam on their roster now has the sadz.

One could make the argument that Davis has been the best tight end on Washington's roster for much of the year. No one can dispute that Davis will be the tight end of record for the upcoming week. With Reed again sidelined by injury, the veteran steps into a weird passing game that been most successful when targeting running backs and tight ends. Good news! Davis falls into one of those two categories. Pray for production in the Beltway.

Go get Darren McFadden, they said. He'll split carries, they said. It'll be fun, they said. Once again, we were premature in our rush to pick up a Cowboys backup running back. If (or when) Ezekiel Elliott is suspended, Smith slots in as the No. 2 back on the depth chart behind Alfred Morris with whispers that he could eventually become the lead back in Dallas. The velocity at which the events of life occur can sometimes be unexpected.

Speaking of life coming at someone fast ... Blount has unexpected company in the backfield in the form of Jay Ajayi. In the very short term, Blount could still see a decent workload. Alas, the writing is on the wall and Blount appears to be flaming out in Philly. If you're looking for one last hurrah, though, you'll be disappointed with the Eagles facing a Broncos defense that has stonewalled running backs all season.

For anyone in the New York/New Jersey area who suspects they heard joyous singing earlier in the week, you were likely being treated to the hosannas sung by Eli Manning to celebrate the return of Sterling Shepard. As expected, the second-year receiver is likely returning after missing a few weeks with an ankle injury. Big Blue's pass-catching corps is a shadow of itself after being eaten alive by the injury bug. Any help is welcomed in the Giants locker room. Shepard will try to help guide the offense to water.

I'm writing about a Seahawks running back. If you could see the look on my face as I type this, you'd understand that I'm less-than-thrilled about this development. Yet the chatter in the Emerald City is that Lacy could see more work this week as the 'Hawks continue to search for a running game that's been more elusive than a panther in the forest during a new moon. So the good news is potentially more touches for Lacy. The bad news is ... well, the Seahawks running game. Duane Brown? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

The dream of Garcon as a sleeper wide receiver has never quite taken hold the way many of us would have hoped. Poor quarterback play has been an anchor around the veteran receiver's neck in previous weeks. But now Garcon's neck is an actual problem. The team announced that Garcon would go on injured reserve, ending his season. This would seem to make it less likely that we see Jimmy Garoppolo at all this season.

Corey Davis is back, everybody! The rookie wideout is back and practicing fully after being sidelined since Week 2 with a hamstring injury. This would be much more exciting news if the Titans has shown any semblance of a passing game. But, hey, maybe that passing game will be a little more productive if Davis can get on the field and make some plays. That makes me a little more optimistic already.

Maybe it's the squeaky wheel theory. Or maybe it's the Colts realizing it's probably in their best interest to get the ball to their best offensive player as much as possible. Either way, the Colts are saying that they're going to try and get the ball to their best offensive player as much as possible. That's encouraging against a Texans secondary that has been pretty inviting to opposing passing games. Maybe this can be a good Hilton week. That would be nice.