Andy Richardson

Sometimes you lose a little faith in football: Players don't play well, the games take too long, there are a lot of sloppy, mistake-filled contests. And then days like Sunday come along, and you remember why you love the sport.

So many incredible things happened yesterday, I'm not sure I can touch on all of them. But I know I can come up with 10.

1. Jamaal Charles' 91-yard touchdown run. So I traded Chris Johnson for Charles in my dynasty league this offseason, a decision that didn't look so hot in August with all the preseason happy talk about CJ having a bounce-back season. But that was only part of the reason why it was so awesome to see a running back coming off a torn ACL find a hole and explode through it for a 91-yard touchdown run, part of a 233-yard day. (At the end, as he hit 30-plus carries, I started pleading for them to take him out of the game; tough to do with Peyton Hillis injured and the game headed to overtime. As was the case with Adrian Peterson scoring 2 TDs in Week 1, it was something great to see. I thought Charles' breakout game would come against Buffalo; alas, I was a week too soon. If you hoped to buy low on him, of course, you're a week too late.

2. Music City Miracle II. You can watch an entire weekend of football without seeing a punt return touchdown, a kickoff return touchdown, a successful onside kick, a successful Hail Mary, and overtime. And this game had all of them, as well as a defensive touchdown, a stunning decision to go for a 4th and 1 that ended the game (later revealed to be a mistake), and some big numbers by big stars (Calvin Johnson), future stars? (Titus Young, Mikel Leshoure) And that crazy punt return touchdown that included a lateral right out of that long-ago playbook that stunned the Bills in the playoffs. That was the game when Wade Phillips benched Doug Flutie for Rob Johnson, which is just as indefensible today as it was then. Eight different receivers put up at least 55 receiving yards in this game. There was a defensive touchdown. A quarterback got hurt trying to make a tackle. And oh yeah Chris Johnson put up another game of rushing for less than 2 yards per carry (14 for 24, 1.7). I should mention that the Titans would have won by 2 TDs in regulation but for a personal foul penalty negating an otherwise game-ending interception. So if you won or lost because of Calvin Johnson's final-minute touchdown, that play shouldn't have even occurred. If there's a crazier game this season, I don't know what it will be. Oh yeah -- Jake Locker had a huge game, too.

3. De-icing the kicker. Will games like this one -- where a kicker misses a kick, but it doesn't count because the opposing team called a timeout, and he then proceeds to make it -- put an end to this icing the kicker nonsense? Probably not, because it's gone down that way before, but maybe it will happen a little bit less. That was just the ending of this game, which saw Reggie Bush get hurt (apparently not seriously), the Jets use Tim Tebow without success on one goal line series, then keep him on the bench the next, Mark Sanchez throw an awful end-zone interception, Shonn Greene run a bunch of plays into the line, and the Jets ultimately win. New York in the red zone was supposed to be dynamic and entertaining with Tebow and the Wildcat; instead they're simply brutal to watch. Will Tebow get sacked, Sanchez get picked, or Greene run into his blockers? Tune in to find out! Jets lost Darrelle Revis to injury, which is gonna hurt.

4. More C.J. Spiller. You may recall that we loved C.J. Spiller coming out of Clemson, so it was disappointing that he struggled so much as a rookie. But he finished strong last year, has been a star replacing Fred Jackson this season, and almost immediately took a screen pass out of the backfield for a long touchdown against Cleveland. Spiller got hurt later, but the good news is that what looked like a major injury when it happened apparently won't keep him out for long; couple of weeks.

5. No-names one day, big names the next. We all hate injuries, but since they happen in football and everyone knows they do, you can't do much but roll with them and hope non one gets hurt too badly. But the fact that they happen makes football, more than any other sport, ideal for fantasy, because each and every week there's some bottom of the roster type of guy who emerges as the top fantasy pickup a week later. Kevin Ogletree, Alfred Morris, Andre Brown, Dennis Pitta, Tashard Choice? You don't get it in other sports, or in other fantasy sports. Today and tomorrow we'll all be getting our claims in for Choice or maybe Lamar Miller. Next week it will be somebody else. Can't wait!

6. Cecil Shorts' long touchdown. I sort of had my eye on Cecil Shorts coming out of college, and he too did absolutely nothing as a rookie, unable to make an impact on the league's poorest receiving corps a year ago. So it was nice, after the Colts had taken the lead, for Blaine Gabbert -- robbed of a dramatic game-winning touchdown to Shorts in Week 1 by a long field goal -- connecting with Shorts for an 80-yarder to win the game. Andrew Luck is going to have a lot of wins in his future, so it was fun to see Gabbert and Shorts, on their second try, get one here.

7. Those incredible Cincinnati wideouts. The Bengals began their win over Washington with rookie Mohamed Sanu throwing a perfect touchdown bomb to A.J. Green. I watched it saying, Wow, nice downfield throw, Andy Dalton! Before realizing oh, that's not him. A little bit later Armon Binns took a short pass for a touchdown, and then slot receiver Andrew Hawkins made another electric TD reception, zipping through the defense. And the Bengals still have rookie Marvin Jones, who might yet emerge. Remember a few years back when the team dealt Chad Ochocinco and figured to struggle at wideout? Now it's tough figuring out which one (or three) is the future No. 2. Exciting receiving corps, and Dalton is looking pretty good in both NFL and fantasy terms.

8. Arizona's defensive touchdown. I picked up Arizona's defense and started them everywhere this week, over regular starters like New England and Seattle. So as I watched Michael Vick drop back near the AZ goal line in the final seconds of the first half, it looked like slow motion as a defender came around to his blindside, clobbered him, and the ball bounced directly to James Sander, who with the help of a great block took it all the way for a touchdown as the half ran out. It was right out of that Steelers-Cardinals Super Bowl. The best thing about it, though, was Larry Fitzgerald, sprinting down the sideline, helmet in hand, to celebrate with his defensive teammates. Fitzgerald is the kind of guy you like to root for, and he's certainly earned it with the quarterbacking he's had to deal with the last couple of years. And after Kevin Kolb's strong game, who knows? Maybe he's finally got something positive there, too.

9. Return of Darren McFadden. McFadden was a guy I tried hard to buy low on last week, without success. He's a tremendously talented guy who -- unlike Chris Johnson -- I thought could turn things around quickly. Didn't really expect it against Pittsburgh, but there it was. Great effort on a second TD that ended up being ruled short on a replay review. Still, good for McFadden, and good for the Raiders. Steelers have a rough entrance to their bye, but they should be healthier coming out, so that's something.

10. Torrey Smith. It's kind of a shame that everyone is talking about the officiating, because it's a lot more enjoyable talking about Smith, who played with a heavy heart and without question was the difference in the game. Baltimore loses by 10 points if Smith doesn't take the field, and no one would have faulted him if he sat out. How many amazing games have the Patriots and Ravens played in the last few years? This was another of them, and you have to think they might well meet again in January.

Monday, Monday: Tonight's game will probably seem anticlimactic after the crazy Sunday that was. I'm thinking more defense than offense (but I thought that about Patriots-Ravens), and maybe another upset. Let's call it Seahawks 24, Packers 23, with some sort of crazy defensive or special teams play deciding it. Because that's the kind of weekend it was. A few weeks from now, we might still be talking about it.

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