I don't know about anyone else, but I had some pretty high scores yesterday. A lot of players who we thought would do well and were supposed to do well actually did, which is always nice. Says you're doing something right in your takeaways and evaluations, and that sometimes the fantasy world does make sense. Or that you were lucky, whatever. Plenty to talk about, so lets go.
Patriots at Bills: Kind of figured it was a mistake to write off Tom Brady and the Patriots offense a couple of weeks ago. That's two strong offensive performances in a row now, so everyone can put Tom Brady back in their starting lineups. ... Sounds like a major knee injury for Stevan Ridley, which should help Shane Vereen and make Brandon Bolden one of the top pickups of the week. ... Friend asked me what's wrong with Sammy Watkins, I'm going to go with Darrelle Revis and look for better things ahead. As for C.J. Spiller, though, looks like he's just gonna be a fantasy tease. When you've got multiple coaching staffs underusing the guy, you start to think there's a reason.
Panthers at Bengals: Best part about this game, besides I guess the big numbers out of expected top performers like Sanu and Bernard, and points from Newton, Dalton et al, were the post game reactions afterward. Guys not knowing whether to be happy or unhappy. Dalton: "You didn't lose...but you didn't win. It's strange." Mike Nugent should be sad, I just hope (since I've got him in several leagues) the Bengals aren't so frustrated they consider a change. ... Wish I had Greg Olsen in more leagues. Kind of knew he'd be good but not enough to rank him higher, unfortunately.
Steelers at Browns: I remember in the preseason thinking the Steelers were going to be a surprise team. They're surprisingly bad, especially on defense. Yikes. A team to start players against. ... Then there's the Browns, who could easily have won or lost every game. Don't look now but this team could be a playoff contender. Despite not having any wide receivers. Disappointing to see Terrance West a healthy scratch, but the season is young.
Packers at Dolphins: Dramatic win for the Packers, ridiculous loss for the Dolphins. Just no excuse for letting what happened at the end happen; that should stick in their craw (and that of the other NFC North teams) for a while. ... Another dud game from Eddie Lacy. Probably should have traded him after the Vikings game, which I didn't really believe in; just running through huge holes. Oh well. ... Glad Miami got Knowshon Moreno back, right? ... Nice game from Jarvis Landry, sooner than anticipated. ... Jordy Nelson might be my favorite fantasy player right now. Either has a huge game, or turns one catch into a 13-point game.
Lions at Vikings: Lions have a pretty good defense in NFL and fantasy terms. Surprising but no longer can be considered flukey. A D to be avoided. Minnesota's offense, though, is starting to be a concern no matter who is at quarterback. This Norv Turner so he's got something of a resume, but is not using his various players well right now. One positive (or negative, depending which one you have): Jerick McKinnon seems to have moved ahead of Matt Asiata. ... Clearly Detroit isn't the same offensive team without Megatron. Will be interesting to see how the game with New Orleans goes this week. In the preseason we'd have figured shootout, but since Megatron and Graham might both be out, seems far less likely.
Broncos at Jets: I guess I have kind of a soft spot for the Jets; they're local, they're kind of star-crossed, whatever. But I do think it's fair to say their schedule has been awfully unkind. Since Week 2 they've faced Rodgers, Stafford, Cutler, Rivers and Manning, with Brady on a short week this Thursday. Their pass defense and offense would be bad anyway, but asking them to shut down those quarterbacks and score enough on offense to hang with those opponents is quite a stretch. After Thursday their next seven are against Buffalo (twice), Miami, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Minnesota. Not that they'll be good, but that lineup is more their speed. ... Denver's defense is really good, offense great. As expected. Pick up Juwan Thompson. ... Breakout game for Jace Amaro. I'm buying. When you're losing and your wide receivers are weak, you'll throw a lot of passes to TEs. And CJ is getting cut this week.
Ravens at Buccaneers: Once might be a fluke, but now that the Bucs have failed to show up at the beginning of multiple blowout losses, it starts to look like a preparation (i.e., coaching) issue. ... I think I started Steve Smith primarily because of the matchup with a team he used to face twice a year. Worked out. Bucs are really soft against the pass, that much we knew, and it seems to be a steady issue. Saw Joe Flacco as a good spot start, but didn't figure 5 TDs. Running back committee proves why committees tough: one guy goes for 100 yards, other guy scores. ... Not much good coming out of the Martin-Rainey committee, that's for sure.
Jaguars at Titans: This was Jacksonville's chance to win a game, I fear. They still get the Titans at home, but the rest of their schedule looks like road games they'll lose and home game against teams that should be favored. Suppose they'll steal a win somewhere, but... Two rookie running backs debuting as starters in this game. Not much shown by either Storm Johnson or Bishop Sankey. Johnson, well, seventh-round pick, plus the Jaguars seem to have a terrible run-blocking line. Not sure what Sankey's excuse was, beyond he shouldn't have been the first running back drafted, perhaps. ... Nice game for Cecil Shorts, put him back as the No. 1 wideout.
Chargers at Raiders: The main takeaway from this game, besides the obvious that Branden Oliver is going to be hard to get out of the starting lineup when Ryan Mathews is healthy, is that the Raiders, at least, might have some fantasy value the rest of the way. Derek Carr made some nice plays and throws in this game. Andre Holmes is finally flashing the ability he showed down the stretch last year. Oh yeah, Darren McFadden has more game left at this point of his career than the older, more beat up Maurice Jones-Drew. ... And yeah: Branden Oliver. Nice to see guys you like from the preseason get a real chance, and make the most of it.
Washington at Cardinals: Carson Palmer is back, and Arizona's passing offense should be better off for it. Solid games from both Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd. Andre Ellington, the good thing here was how often he was used in the passing game. Caught 6 passes and was thrown to several other times that I saw. Palmer was still a little off/rusty, but he should get better. And he's at Oakland this week, which looks favorable (and maybe he'll have some extra motivation). ... Big game from Jordan Reed and DeSean Jackson. Those look like the guys who will be the most reliable in this offense. Garcon seems more hit or miss.
Bears at Falcons: Matt Forte! The guy is great, the only top-5 running back not to disappoint so far. Love the Bears offense, which doesn't spend a lot of time splitting carries or spreading passes around or whatnot. ... Matt Ryan survived his offensive line for a little while, but it was disturbing the way it got overrun by a not-great Bears defense.
Cowboys at Seahawks: I'll say it, Super Bowl hangover. You wonder if the Seahawks don't feel so comfortable playing at home that they don't bring their best game to the table. After yesterday that shouldn't happen again. But clearly this is a really good team but not a juggernaut. Denver almost won in Seattle, Dallas won, and I think Arizona and San Francisco are good enough to maybe do the same. The NFC West is interesting, except of course for the Rams. ... Can't forget Dallas, who we can say with certainty is for real. This was going to be one of the trainwreck, mass firings teams in the preseason, recall.
Giants at Eagles: Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play. When the Giants put up a clunker, they really don't mess around. Terrible game on offense and defense, plus they lose Victor Cruz for the season. Just a disaster every which way. All of which might mean they'll shock everyone and win in Dallas next week.
Monday, Monday: Frank Gore is the only player in this game I'd be really excited about having in a lineup. Rams offense shouldn't do a lot, although I'll give Austin Davis the chance to surprise me (I just wouldn't want to be counting on it). San Francisco will probably be good but I wonder how much they'll pass the ball. I'll go San Francisco 24, St. Louis 17, and am not sure it will be that close.