Rain, wind and games delayed by weather conditions (that happens in football?). Comebacks, near comebacks, and sideline fireworks. Yesterday had it all, with some fantastic football and big performances mixed in. And yes, those garish Steelers bumblebee throwback uniforms -- and this from a guy who loves throwback uniforms -- too. Let's get to it.
Jets at Bills: Every so often it doesn't work out, but for the most part, fantasy defenses against Geno Smith are gold right now. The Jets play the Ravens next week, and we assume that Geno will actually get the start, but there's no doubt a small part of Rex Ryan that's a little tired of seeing Smith serve up pick 6s. They bench quarterbacks for those these days. Hope you grabbed the Bills defense a couple of weeks ago with this game in mind. ... EJ Manuel looks pretty good. Not really hurt by having his backup wideouts in there. Touchdown bombs to both Marquise Goodwin and T.J. Graham, impressive given windy conditions. On the one to Graham, the ball was held up in wind, Graham adjusted, defender didn't. Goofy-looking play. ... As if things weren't frustrating enough with the Fred Jackson-C.J. Spiller committee, the Bills let their fullback score a short touchdown. You knew it would be a bad week to start those guys anyway, but still. Good grief.
Ravens at Bears: Game of the day, definitely of the early games anyway. Crazy looking scary weather, had me flashing back to a Monday night Packers-Bears game, uh, almost two decades ago. Dang I'm old. Lengthy delay, you probably noticed it started at 1 and ended, in overtime, midway through the late games. When they did play, though, there was wind and mud and rain and it was pretty awesome. You forget sometimes what it's like to see football uniforms covered in mud, and realize how cool it is when it happens. ... Nice game from Ray Rice, both before and after the lengthy break. Not entirely unexpected, because Chicago has a lot of problems on defense right now, but really nice to see. ... Dallas Clark dropped a touchdown early, but made a big fourth-down grab late. Tough loss for the Ravens, but when all your games could go either way, this is what happens. Probably missed Marlon Brown, they simply don't have enough decent receivers right now. And yeah, Joe Flacco isn't playing very well, either. Costly pick 6, and Baltimore really should have got in the end zone at the end when they settled for a field goal and an overtime loss.
Browns at Bengals: Just when you start to believe in the Browns, well, you know what happens. They started out nice here, had a lead, looking good, getting a nice Joe Haden pick 6, and then a turnover or two later, it all fell apart. And if the Browns aren't playing good defense or taking care of the football, they're not gonna win. Having a one-dimensional offense catches up with you, and yes I realize Trent Richardson has been terrible in Indy, but still. ... Bengals really have some offensive talent. You can't start Mohamed Sanu or anything, but he's a talented guy. Threw a sweet pass to Giovani Bernard on a trick play, setting up... a Sanu TD reception, sweet job of getting both feet down. Cincinnati is the best team in the AFC North, I'm guessing those back-to-back overtime losses aren't going to cost them the division.
Raiders at Texans: Uh, well. I'm not exactly sure what the thought process was on benching Case Keenum for Matt Schaub. I know that the results were about what should have been expected. Schaub was no better than Keenum, and didn't get the job done at the end. Didn't get much help, either, with Ben Tate not getting in the end zone on his chances. and Andre Johnson, I don' t know, not exactly seeming to give his best effort on the final incomplete pass, then arguing with Schaub on the sidelines before leaving early. Argument perhaps: "Why didn't you catch that?" "Why are you in the game?" Ugly in Houston. .... Nice game, finally, from Garrett Graham. He lost an early fumble, setting up a Denarius Moore touchdown, but later sneaks behind the defense and catches a touchdown after a crazy Case Keenum scramble. Good game for him. Interesting week upcoming in Houston. ... QB controversy in Oakland? Matt McGloin (nickname McLovin', heh) threw the ball better than Terrelle Pryor has this season. Interesting week in Oakland, too.
Cardinals at Jaguars: Cardinals have a pretty good team there. Jaguars made a game of it for a little bit, with fourth down gambles and a trick play or two, but they're just hopeless on defense and that being competitive thing isn't going to last very long most weeks. ... Disappointing week to start Andre Ellington; meanwhile every other Cardinal you can name scored. Bad week for No. 2 backs in general, but a reminder that coaches don't care about your fantasy teams. Also, Jaguars are really just as bad against the pass as the run, as they proved by letting Carson Palmer throw for more than 400 yards and displaying comically inept tackling on Michael Floyd's 91-yard touchdown run. Oh, and Larry Fitzgerald scored and Robert Housler had a big day. Don't expect this every week (they don't face the Jaguars again).
Washington at Eagles: This was all Eagles for most of the game, but Washington made a nice little run late. Lots of their games have been like this; sometimes they win. But it's gotta be exhausting for Robert Griffin III -- who by the way needs to get rid of the ball a little quicker if he doesn't want to keep getting clobbered -- to always be playing catch up. ... Clever little Nick Foles touchdown run. Then a Foles to Brent Celek touchdown, little pass that he took the distance. On replay, ruled down near goal line, setting up a LeSean McCoy touchdown. Later, McCoy leaves with hamstring injury, which looked back, but he came back in, and got another short touchdown. Eagles have some things going for them. Including playing in the NFC East. ... Nice late run by Washington, that's something. Not enough to win, but this is a fantasy column after all.
Lions at Steelers: Oh, those bumblebee uniforms. Uh, they're really eye-catching. Enough said. ... Steelers offense pretty much moved the ball at will all game. They've got some talent and Detroit's defense really isn't that good. Touchdown for Antonio Brown. Short pass and blown tackle. And then another touchdown. Hope you started Antonio. Saw LeVeon Bell hurdling a defender. Used to do it in college, too. Next play, little screen near goal line clanged off his hands. Should have been a touchdown. Dang, LeVeon. Later, he had a couple of less than impressive goal-line carries. Finished with serviceable PPR numbers, but not a great day. Heath Miller also missed out on a touchdown, unable to hold onto a perfect throw in end zone. Leaps to catch it, pulls it in, but it comes out as he hits the ground and is drilled. Naturally Jerricho Cotchery ends up scoring. Without looking it up I think he has more touchdowns than the Jets receiving corps. ... Things went so well for the Lions early, maybe they got a little comfortable. Because their offense went into mothballs after halftime. Reggie Bush was briefly benched after a fumble (nearly a second), and Detroit tried a clever little fake field goal that didn't work. Still not a fan of Jim Schwartz the coach; he's getting by on one of the game's best quarterbacks and wideouts, but that offense can only take you so far.
Falcons at Bucs: So, I've liked Bobby Rainey since the 2012 preseason. Had him on my dynasty team for a while, cut him loose, picked him up again this year when he landed in Cleveland, cut him again when they did. This past week I could have claimed him but passed because I wasn't sure who to cut. And 163 yards and 3 TDs later, that's what happens. (But at least I still have Fozzy Whittaker!). Disappointing, but I'm glad for him. He was my player, I just didn't happen to have him at thr gith time. Also safe to say the Bucs are doing a pretty good job of run-blocking right now, because Mike James looked awesome pre-injury a week ago. And oh yeah, the Falcons are a disaster. Nice game for Vincent Jackson, too. Falcons host New Orleans on Thursday. It will be a surprise if Atlanta fans have much fun in that game.
Chargers at Dolphins: Saw enough of this game to say it was about as expected. Neither team is very good, and Miami has the kind of pass rush that can give San Diego problems. The second half of the season might not go too well for the Chargers, who have some Denver and Kansas City games coming up. ... For the Dolphins, Daniel Thomas was better than Lamar Miller, which kind of says a lot about what you get starting Dolphins players down. Different players have big weeks and then disappear. Hopefully you're not counting on any of these guys.
49ers at Saints: Entertaining game with a real playoff caliber feel to it. This might actually be a playoff matchup come January, although of course the Niners are going to need to beat a decent team at some point between now and then. They haven't done much of that lately. ... This loss hurts for the Niners, especially when you consider that Frank Gore dropped a little pass late that would have gone for a long touchdown. The ball was a little low and Gore isn't Marshall Faulk, but still, a big play that San Francisco didn't make. And I think they've got to let Kaepernick run the ball more, because just standing in the pocket isn't working that great. Nice touchdown throw to Vernon Davis, but not enough. ... Drew Brees caught kind of a break on a sack/fumble late where it was ruled he was hit high. I guess the right call was made, but it wasn't a blow to the head; tough situation for a defender. Anyway, New Orleans' offense did just enough.
Packers at Giants: As expected. Not sure exactly what turned things around for the Giants, but you can definitely look at schedule -- brutal early, favorable recently, and now they're very much in the hunt in the NFC East. Packers defense played a pretty good game, but it was fairly clear the only way the Giants would lose would be if their offense beat itself, and it didn't. ... Scott Tolzien, at least, moved the offense, although his 3 interceptions were killer. Some good production from Jordy Nelson and Jarrett Boykin, and Eddie Lacy's day was saved by a short touchdown. Not much more you can ask if you were counting on Green Bay. ... Giants offense still doesn't get you enough to be confident starting anyone. Even Andre Brown had a goal-line touchdown vultured by Brandon Jacobs. C'mon, man.
Vikings at Seahawks: Nice, I guess, to be able to count on some things in the ever-crazy NFL. Seattle seemed to get stronger as the game went along and the Vikings pretty much fell apart until Christian Ponder got benched for Matt Cassel. Who will start for the Vikings next week? Who knows, probably doesn't matter. ... Jarius Wright had a good game. The guy can play, he really ought to be ahead of Jerome Simpson at all times. Especially with the team playing for 2014. ... Not great yards for Mzrshawn Lynch, but 3 total TDs. Neither for Adrian Peterson, who watched Toby Gerhart mop up. Ugly game for Minnesota, but it goes that way for most teams who travel to Seattle.
Kansas City at Broncos: The Broncos pretty much controlled this thing, but it wasn't a horrible game for Kansas City. They were competitive enough that I think they can win the home rematch. A couple of plays here and there -- lost fumble by their fullback (this is why you don't make Anthony Sherman a big part of the offense), a great defensive play to keep Jamaal Charles out of the end zone -- and this game goes right down to the wire. ... I was a pretty big Montee Ball fan in the preseason, so nice to see him do some stuff. I think it's just a case of spelling Knowshon Moreno so he's healthy for the playoffs; he's still the guy. Both could be productive against New England next week. Regardless, I am not worried about Moreno's touches down the stretch.
Monday, Monday: Will be interesting to see how the Patriots attack Carolina. I feel like their pass defense has been doing it with mirrors all year, and just maybe the right quarterback and passing game can find the holes. I think New England wins this game and maybe frustrates Cam Newton a little bit. Let's call it 24-14 Patriots.