Like most football fans, I spend Sunday watching football. I wish I could say I had fixed routines, but I really don't. Sometimes I focus on a couple of games from start to finish, sometimes I'll end up with tickets to see the Giants or Jets, sometimes I'll be glued to the Red Zone channel, and sometimes I'll be watching on my phone (uh huh, yeah). It varies.
On Mondays, I'll zip through the games I was able to see the most and offer up reactions, observations, analysis, and flights of whimsy. If I don't discuss a certain game, it probably means the most I saw of it -- so far -- was the highlights package, and that's information you don't really need. OK, on to the games.
Patriots at Bills: Stevan Ridley being benched for fumbling is exactly why he was a second- or third-round pick and not a first. Where do we go from here? Well, we know Bill Belichick won't helpfully tell us, so we're left to hope that the worst-case scenario is him being on a short leash going forward. I can't take LeGarrette Blount seriously, so probably we're looking at the same Ridley-Shane Vereen split as last week, unless Ridley puts the ball on the ground again. Don't give Ridley away out of nervousness, but I can't say I'd be eager to buy low, either. Regarding undrafted rookies Kenbrell and Sudfeld, well, you've gotta bench 'em. Obviously. Disastrous start for Thompkins, who looked like the game was too big for him, and invisible debut for Sudfeld (apart from helping Brady throw a pick). And yes you should pick up Julian Edelman this week. ... Gotta be impressed by E.J. Manuel. Strong debut. Regarding the Spiller-FJax split, uh, don't know what to say. Coaches lie, and there was no indication FJax would be so busy. I'm remaining on the Spiller bandwagon; don't give him away this week.
Seahawks at Panthers: Regretting taking Cam Newton over Andrew Luck in a recent dynasty draft. A mistake. Newton, though, strikes me as a good buy-low candidate, as that was the best defense he'll face all year. Carolina's defensive front, meanwhile, also looks pretty solid. Marshawn Lynch will be fine.
Bengals at Bears: A.J. Green. Wow. That's the major takeaway here, as the guy looks ready to challenge Dez and Megatron for the title as league's best wideout. Absolutely destroyed Chicago's secondary, and looks like he'll make Andy Dalton a quality fantasy starter all by his lonesome. He would actually have had another touchdown but for being tackled awaiting a pass in the end zone, setting up a short BGJE run. ... As for the guys who struggled in this game, don't worry. Two really good defenses and really good teams here. Cincinnati is 0-1 but I think they might be the favorite in the AFC North.
Dolphins at Browns: As somebody beating the drum for Trent Richardson in August (and spent yesterday in my Richardson jersey, uh huh, yeah), I'm annoyed and mystified by how the Browns handled this game. In one goal-line series they completely ignored him, going play action and rolling out Brandon Weeden and whatnot. If you want to continue to be Cleveland and lose winnable games, keep it up with the putting the game on Weeden's shoulders. Nice game for Jordan Cameron, at least. ... Guess I owe Brian Hartline an apology. This game is also useful in determining which future receivers to start against the Browns. The No. 1 will be covered by Joe Haden, the No. 2 will not. ... Regarding Lamar Miller, well, if you read Index you probably don't have him on your team, so good for you.
Vikings at Lions: This was the most bizarre game I saw yesterday. I think the Lions might have scored 60 points but for repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot. Another controversial non-touchdown from Calvin Johnson in a Week 1 game, that looked exactly like an easy touchdown, but wasn't. Another lost fumble after a reception by Brandon Pettigrew. A Lions defensive touchdown erased by an ugly and unnecessary cheap-shot block by Ndamukong Suh. Another insane day by Adrian Peterson. A receiving day by Reggie Bush exactly as big we expected: he's Marshall Faulk this year. It was all kinds of crazy. The key takeaways I got are that 1) Jim Schwartz coaches the league's most undisciplined team, 2) Detroit's passing offense is going to be kind of incredible, imagine if they had another good receiver or two, 3) the Vikings defense needs to fall some in the rankings this week, they've got issues, and 4) Christian Ponder will not last much longer as Minnesota's starter.
Raiders at Colts: Andrew Luck is awesome and the Colts offense was about as expected. There is going to be much more to be mined from the passing game than the running game. As for the unexpected, since everyone thought the Colts would win this game easily, it is a lesson about assuming even the lesser-talented NFL teams won't offer strong resistance, especially early in the year (when everyone still thinks they're Super Bowl contenders). Raiders could have easily won this game, and Terrelle Pryor looks like a functional NFL quarterback. He actually made a couple of good red-zone throws to Denarius Moore, too.
Kansas City at Jaguars: Uh, Blaine Gabbert is what we thought he was. Kansas City is going to be legit.
Falcons at Saints: Saw an impressive 50-yard run by Steven Jackson where he looked like a much younger player. But, our concerns about Atlanta's offensive line were realized when they struggled in protection and looked far softer against a bad Saints defense than they should have. Boo to the Falcons for clearly lying to us about Roddy White's ankle injury, although I noticed him leaping to celebrate with Julio Jones after a touchdown, so he couldn't have been too helpless out there. Am assuming (hoping?) this won't limit him for too long. We did think the over-under would be too high on this game, though I'm not sure who you should have realistically benched. Well, Mark Ingram, but again, not surprising. The guy cannot play, if you read Index, you don't have him anywhere near your roster.
Bucs at Jets: Pretty tough loss for the Bucs. Takeaways here: Jets defense better than expected. Kellen Winslow can still play, when healthy. Geno Smith will start every game this season. Josh Freeman will not.
Titans at Steelers: Brutal start to the year for the Steelers, who apparently are going to bring back Jonathan Dwyer after Isaac Redman was predictably awful. Not sure it matters; with Pouncey gone, this offense is just about toast, certainly the rushing offense. I have LeVeon Bell in a couple of leagues, and the nice thing, I guess, is that when he comes back he should be pretty much full-time (since Stephens-Howling is also out for the year). Maybe Felix starts next week? Can't rule it out. ... Chris Johnson had a quiet debut, but we could see that coming against a still-tough Steelers defense. The bad news is he did have a couple of carries where he just seemed to duck and crumple. The good news is he had a heavy workload, the defenses will get softer, and he's the best thing this offense has going for it.
Cardinals at Rams: Haven't watched any of this game yet, but am happy to see my third-round selection of Larry Fitzgerald is looking good so far, as is the fact that I have Jared Cook pretty much everywhere. Nice start, guys.
Packers at 49ers: Another season, another awesome Packers-49ers game to kick things off. Am trying to think of another player who had a late-career dominant season or two after everyone had written him off like seems to be happening with Anquan Boldin, but can't off the top of my head. What a game, though. Colin Kaepernick and Vernon Davis, the sky is the limit. ... For Green Bay, no real negatives here, although you're bummed if you started James Jones. With a lot of pass catchers, somebody is always going to get left out, as with the Saints. Don't cut him. Still feel very good about Eddie Lacy, too. Both of these teams are going to win a lot of games this year.
Giants at Cowboys: Watched all of this one at a get-together, and it was pretty much the nightmare for David Wilson you'd feared. Two fumbles. Missing a block to get Eli sacked. Stuffed at the goal line. Short of punching Tom Coughlin in the mouth, I'm not sure the game could have gone worse for him. Where do they go from here, well, I think Wilson is back out there as the starter next week, no matter who they sign. But he doesn't even have a leash at this point. Unfortunate. Hey, uh, Cruz and Nicks looked great! All the Brandon Myers production was in garbage time, don't buy into it too much. ... Dez will be fine.
Monday, Monday: Can't wait to watch Washington-Philly, which should be a crazy shootout. If you have guys going in this one or against you, don't assume your matchup is over. As for Houston-San Diego, as mentioned on Saturday, that thing is just too late for us on the East Coast. Will be interesting to see how the Foster-Tate thing shakes out, that's the main reason to be interested in this one. And I hope J.J. Watt doesn't break Philip Rivers.
