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Andy Richardson

A quick whirl around the league at the highlights and lowlights of the games I paid the most attention to on Sunday…

Falcons-Titans: Not a lot of good quarterbacking here, with Vince Young, Joey Harrington, and Byron Leftwich (the end zone is right there: run it in!) setting the position back a few decades. Leftwich will probably be starting here before long, obviously, not because he’s so good but because Harrington isn’t. Of greater concern is Young, who not only played terribly but seemed to shrug it off after the game – and in fairness, his team did win. In any case, Young has been a huge disappointment as a fantasy starter this season, and things probably aren’t going to get much better. That’s because the Titans defense, surprisingly, is a pretty good group; last year Young was a star in part because he had to keep generating points while his team kept giving them up. Brandon Jones, by the way, dropped a TD, his second critical drop in three games for the Titans.

Jets-Giants: Chad Pennington could probably create a football-sized hole in my chest with one of his throws, so when I say he has a weak arm, I’m speaking in relative terms: “Weak” compared to other NFL quarterbacks, rather than, say, me. But just like the Bears with Rex Grossman, how long can the Jets leave Pennington in the lineup? His arm isn’t strong enough to scare defenses downfield or keep defenders from jumping in front of receivers, and that’s killing the Jets right now. (His judgment on an end-zone interception into double-coverage can also be questioned, but most quarterbacks have one of those every once in a while.) Besides which, the Jets are 1-4. Look for Kellen Clemens to get his shot soon. As for the Giants, Brandon Jacobs (injury risk and all) gives the offense a spark, and Plaxico Burress has now scored in each of the first five games, his latest one the result of the sorriest attempt at tackling I’ve seen in a while. The Giants are 3-2, and it may be ugly, but it’s pretty enough for a beat-up team that hasn’t even played all that well yet.

Bucs-Colts: Remember the early ‘90s, when the entire season was prelude to a Cowboys-49ers conference championship game that also determined the Super Bowl winner? That’s the feeling I get right now, only the Patriots and Colts are in the role of Cowboys-Niners. Maybe Dallas will knock off New England next week (I doubt it), but for right now, after the way the short-handed Colts crushed a fairly typical NFC team and the Patriots continued their buzzsaw through the league (albeit a lot of lesser teams, plus San Diego), that’s how things looked. The other thing about the Colts is, this is why fantasy owners have no choice but to put in waiver claims for every backup running back that emerges as a possible starter during the season. Because if you don’t pick up Kenton Keith, it’s all but guaranteed that the owner who DOES pick him up will be facing you that week.

Broncos-Chargers: Anyone want to talk about how great that Broncos defense is today? Didn’t think so. That’s a rough game to enter a bye on, especially when you consider that Denver could easily be 0-5; its two wins came thanks to a last-gasp field goal against Buffalo with time running out and the judicious use of a timeout against Oakland. Maybe – just maybe – Mike Shanahan has been the head coach here just a little too long. Doesn’t look like a team that’s outsmarting anyone anymore. San Diego saved its season, and the schedule looks pretty manageable for the next month or so. And congratulations Vincent Jackson, you’re the first wide receiver that’s done anything against this secondary all season.

Dolphins-Texans: Ron Dayne can’t play. Ronnie Brown can. And for all you fans of kickers, here’s the scoring summary for this 22-19 thriller:

TD - Ron Dayne, 1 yd run

FG - Jay Feely, 23 yd field goal

TD - Ronnie Brown, 3 yd run

FG - Jay Feely, 40 yd field goal

FG - Jay Feely, 33 yd field goal

FG - Kris Brown, 54 yd field goal

FG - Kris Brown, 43 yd field goal

FG - Kris Brown, 54 yd field goal

FG - Jay Feely, 48 yd field goal

FG - Kris Brown, 20 yd field goal

FG - Kris Brown, 57 yd field goal

Seahawks-Steelers: Santonio Holmes injured a hamstring in pregame warmups. In fantasy leagues across the country, owners started him and took narrow defeats when he didn’t play. That’s fantasy football. As for Seattle’s shutout loss, well, there’s not much to be said beyond, the Seahawks had the ball for only 5 minutes of the entire second half. Tough to get fantasy points when you don’t get the ball.

Bears-Packers: As with Patrick Crayton a week ago, it looks like I picked the wrong week to drop Greg Olsen. The Bears have new life and clearly Olsen will be a part of it; he was a major difference-maker last night. At halftime I couldn’t help but think how much better Brian Griese seemed when he was standing on the sideline, but Griese ended up doing enough to get the win … as he did for a short spell in Denver and even Tampa Bay. Safe to drop Grossman; Griese will keep the job here for a little while. As for the game itself, Green Bay came out like a house afire, shot themselves in the foot repeatedly while opening up a 17-7 lead that should have been about 24-3, and made it clear that while they’re pretty good – better than Chicago – they’re far from great. Great teams don’t commit as many turnovers and penalties as the young Packers did, and they also close out road teams when holding a 10-point lead. DeShawn Wynn is the best running back here and Greg Jennings is a legitimate fantasy starter.

And finally some random notes….

Lions-Washington: Jason Campbell isn’t bad. Before you rush out to add him to your fantasy team, remember that he was facing the Lions yesterday. … Ravens-49ers: Before you give Trent Dilfer too much grief for leading the Niners to just one touchdown yesterday, consider that Dilfer has now thrown as many touchdowns in one start as Alex Smith threw in four. … Browns-Patriots: Kellen Winslow’s last-minute fumble that was returned for a touchdown gave the Patriots defense 9 points against me in a matchup I lost by 5. I realize no one else cares, but that one’s going to stay with me for a while. At the end of the day, what do we remember more about our fantasy football matchups: The dramatic wins, or the heartbreaking losses?

Andy watches as many games as he can each Sunday. If you do the same, feel free to add your own observations from the previous day’s games below.

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