Week 2 is arguably the most important week in the NFL season. It's usually when you get a sense of whether what you saw in Week 1 is real (Cam Newton two years ago) or fake (Kevin Ogletree last season). So pay attention! Most important week of the season coverage here. Let's get to it.
Rams at Falcons: OK, Jared Cook's no-show is going to cost me a game or two this week. I am pretty comfortable saying he is for real, but he isn't Jimmy Graham. I was also wrong about the Rams causing all kinds of problems for Atlanta's offense and, you know, winning. ... Tavon Austin had a nice game. Saw him drop a pass, but he caught 2 TDs and got a bunch of targets. Of course, maybe those balls would have gone to Cook. Anyway. Big story here is that Daryl Richardson isn't doing much. No big plays, not running with the feature job. Sadly, for those of us who have him in dynasty, Isaiah Pead isn't earning, or getting, more work. ... SJax hurt, we will see if it is a big deal.
Browns at Ravens: Game about as expected. Two really good defenses. Another nice game from Jordan Cameron. Marlon Brown rewarded those who picked him up and started him with a nice TD grab. Brandon Weeden struggled and got hurt. On the NBC pregame Peter King had a bit how the Browns had a scout at Johnny Manziel's college game Saturday. All I could think was, c'mon, Peter. You're better than this. I think a lot of teams had scouts at Alabama-Texas A&M. ... Hoping the Ray Rice hip flexor strain (no, I don't have any idea what that is) isn't serious. Bernard Pierce should already be rostered in most leagues.
Panthers at Bills: Stevie Johnson is looking kind of underrated, huh? Had a good game even before getting wide open for the game-winning touchdown. E.J. Manuel is better than expected (granted he's started out facing some coverage-challenged secondaries), and Stevie is quietly a pretty good receiver. Can't believe I've been trying to deal him away in my dynasty league for a year now. I'll stop. ... Fred Jackson is still hanging around annoying C.J. Spiller owners. ... DeAngelo Williams is still annoying those who start him by not catching passes or scoring. ... Tough way to lose for the Panthers, for the second straight week. And they just lost their best defensive back to injury. Gotta think the Giants are going to torch these guys next week.
Vikings at Bears: OK, we owe Martellus Bennett an apology. It looks like the Bears plan to have him plenty involved in the offense. There's receiving ability and athleticism that opponents are going to have to account for (and Minnesota certainly didn't). This changes their offense, but should ultimately benefit Alshon Jeffery and Matt Forte. ... Two really good fantasy defenses here. In NFL terms, though, Minnesota appears to have some problems. It's possible Christian Ponder isn't long for the quarterback job, so they'll hope Matt Cassel can take better care of the football than he did in Kansas City. Unfortunately the defenses don't get easier; a pair of good NFC North groups the next two weeks, followed by a bye.
Washington at Packers: Uh, ouch. The good news here from Washington's standpoint (fantasy-wise, obviously) is that their defense is so awful that their offense should come up with lots of garbage points. I guess you can say they have just faced two really good offenses, but that will continue; they've got five more against strong NFC East passing games. They are definitely coverage-challenged -- they just seem incapable of handling opposing receivers. Interesting that they got blown out but still stuck with Alfred Morris (who had a good game); I figured Roy Helu would get a lot of receptions. Nope. ... Beastly luck for Eddie Lacy, who I think might have gone over 150 had he not been sidelined with a concussion. James Starks will be a hot pickup this week, but he's just a handcuff who faced a terrible defense, so tread carefully.
Titans at Texans: The Titans winning this game would have knocked a bunch of people out of my suicide pool, so it was a bit disappointing they couldn't hang on. What was nice was seeing Kendall Wright have a good game, since I've been beating the drum for him for a couple of years now, mostly to disappointment. I'd like to say nice things about Chris Johnson, but unfortunately the good run defenses are going to just keep on coming -- that's how most teams play football right now. Stop the run and watch quarterbacks put up big yards. ... For Houston, maybe Ben Tate is better right now, but it's still Foster's job this season. Nice game for DeAndre Hopkins.
Dolphins at Colts: Andrew Luck looks kind of like early-career Peyton Manning right now. Great player, but there's not a lot around him right now. Saw him force a couple of throws in frustration yesterday, lucky to escape with just 1 interception. Not much defense out of the Colts, and the offensive line still isn't that good. Irsay wants his franchise QB protected; well, that's going to be difficult. The Colts can't run the ball or play defense, so Luck will need to keep slinging it. ... Squeaky Mike Wallace nearly caught 2 TDs yesterday. I liked Charles Clay a couple of years ago, and now he's really putting it all together. Are the Dolphins going to be a surprise team? The next three weeks are the Falcons, Saints and Ravens. Let's see where we are after that.
Cowboys at Kansas City: So yeah, there was no reason to be worried about Dez Bryant after his quiet opener. ... Looks like Kansas City's defense is going to be very good. They shut down Dallas' ground game and took away everything in the passing game but Dez. Their offense is kind of ugly to watch. Eventually Alex Smith will have to throw the ball downfield, right?
Chargers at Eagles: Gotta say I am kind of glad for Philip Rivers, who was kicked around all offseason and then wasn't even drafted in most of my leagues. Still has some game left and looked pretty good moving up and down the field with the immortal Eddie Royal as his go-to guy. We saw some good things out of Antonio Gates in the preseason, so it's nice to see him carrying it over. The crowded committee at running back isn't going to help anyone, but you can't have it all. ... If you drafted Michael Vick as a backup (I did), you pretty much need to start him until he gets hurt.
Lions at Cardinals: Say this for the Cardinals, at least they warned us that Larry Fitzgerald wasn't healthy. Sadly, Arizona's other receivers disappointed, too. Don't give up on Michael Floyd, though. Caught a pass near the goal line last week, caught one out of the end zone yesterday. Just bad luck that his numbers aren't higher. He will come around, maybe against the Saints this week. Andre Roberts also got free for a go-ahead TD in the final minutes, so the defender just tackled him in the end zone, setting up an ugly Rashard Mendenhall TD. Not sure there's a more boring running back in the league, but you take what you can get out of runners in the NFL these days. ... Saw Patrick Peterson complete a 17-yard pass. Do you think the Cardinals were like, man, we could have used him under center the last two years.
Saints at Bucs: Lightning delay! I'm thinking that had maybe something to do with Drew Brees' relatively quiet game. ... Pretty bogus penalty against Adrian Clayborn on a clean hit on Brees' shoulder pad, causing a sack and a fumble. If you can't hit Drew Brees like that, you can't hit him at all. Not gonna go off on a big tangent about how the NFL is too quarterback-friendly, because we all know it. But that's the kind of play that watching it you say, OK, we've really gone too far. ... VJax had a long touchdown called back by a formation penalty. Another tough loss for the Bucs, who are making a habit of it. At least the Revis trade looks like a good one for their defense. Their next quarterback will benefit.
Broncos at Giants: Denver was a little off in this game. Saw some drops by the Thomas boys, Demaryius and Julius. But they did enough to get a pretty comfortable win. No need to worry about any of them. And it's clear that Knowshon Moreno is the guy, a fact cemented when Montee Ball got a goal-line chance early in the game and fumbled it away -- not even a particularly hard hit. That was his rookie season value getting knocked away. Moreno is a fantasy starter. ... Speaking of fumbles, David Wilson didn't! Sadly, though, he didn't run with any authority or confidence either. He's not going to help anyone running like that. ... Saw Brandon Myers fall down after a catch that should have gone for a touchdown, and Rueben Randle have one stripped away. Still, Giants passing game is fine.
Jaguars at Raiders: Didn't watch much of this one yet, 'cause it was Jaguars-Raiders. Nice game for Darren McFadden. Bad things happening for the Jags. Make sure Jordan Todman is on a roster, as he's your Maurice Jones-Drew handcuff.
49ers at Seahawks: Well, you just don't want to mess with the Seattle D, especially at home. I'm never one to bench the hot hand, but wow did the 49ers offense get schooled. Things will be better next week (they could hardly be worse). ... For Seattle, huge game -- as predicted, thank you -- for Marshawn Lynch. Plays big in the biggest games. In the passing game, I saw Sidney Rice drop a touchdown. Perfect throw by Russell Wilson between two defenders. Trying to remember, has Rice ever been particularly good aside from that one great Brett Favre season? I think Seattle should just move on with its younger receivers.
Monday, Monday: A.J. Green and the chance of a breakout game for Giovani Bernard, that's the whole reason to watch this thing tonight. It could be a long season for the Steelers, starting with a tough loss here. Oh, they're hosting the Sunday Night game next week against the Bears, an unappealing bit of scheduling that I bet NBC already wishes it could flex out of. I'll call tonight's game a 23-14 Bengals win.
