So many different angles to take on yesterday's games. Do we dwell on the guys who underperformed in our lineups, or overperformed in other people's lineups against us? I think at the end of the day you're left looking at the huge, huge days turned in by some quarterbacks and receivers, and hoping they happened for you, and not against you. Or worse still, on your bench.
Lions versus Falcons: Ordinarily I don't care much who wins these games, but there was a suicide pool to think of, where those who picked the Lions would have been bounced but for their own miscues and a Lions delay of game penalty. Just a shameful, sad, gut-wrenching loss for Atlanta, and a seeming flaw in the rules that a team can get a second chance at a game-winning field goal due to their own delay of game penalty. ... Talked up Joique Bell, who seemed primed for a big game against a bad defense with Reggie Bush out. Didn't happen. Theo Riddick much better. All in all a crummy game unless you started Golden Tate or, ultimately, Stafford. But I gotta say, I love 9:30 a.m. football. More, please!
Seahawks at Panthers: Tough to figure out why these defenses can only play well against each other. They get pounded for the past month, then play a low-scoring slugfest for the third straight season. Apologies if you lost with Russell Wilson or Cam Newton. Just couldn't conceive they would be shut down by these struggling defenses. ... Best catch I saw all day was a leaping catch of a 50-yard bomb by Kelvin Benjamin, between Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman. Amazing throw, catch, concentration. Great stuff. Week after week, Benjamin impresses. Mebbe offensive rookie of the year. Probably, actually. ... A Wilson pick in the end zone probably should have been caught by Marshawn Lynch. Maybe Lynch distracted by the whole pregame story that Seattle was tired of him. At times Seattle just looks tired. But, they got their first big defensive effort in a while, and got the win.
Ravens at Bengals: Wow, what a game. Back and forth. At one point the Ravens defense took over, with one of 2 Lorenzo Taliaferro touchdowns producing a 24-20 lead. Then Andy Dalton took the Bengals down the field, scoring a fourth-down touchdown with the entire offense essentially pushing him across the goal line. Then Steve Smith nearly had a game-winning TD, erased by offensive pass interference. Smith kind of pushed the defender, but there might have been a bit of a flop there, too. You get the feeling both these teams might find their way into the playoffs and meet again. ... Giovani Bernard hurt in this game, but nothing was said afterward, so evidently he's OK. Jeremy Hill didn't do much and also fumbled late, but he'd probably be a full-time guy, or close to it, if Bernard misses time. But seems like he won't.
Dolphins at Jaguars: I actually picked up the Dolphins defense last week in several leagues to make sure I had them here. They're pretty good, and Bortles is serving up a lot of turnovers these days. There's a lot to be said for just playing match ups with defenses, if your league allows it. In most of mine, teams only roster one while hoarding running backs. Sadly, Miami's defense did so much that its offense didn't do nearly as much as it could/should have. You got burned by any Dolphins offensive players; not much you can do about that one. The matchup was great. That's fantasy football.
Rams at Kansas City: Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis were the whole story here. They just ran all over the Rams, who seemed to physically deflate as the game wore on. Yes I picked Kansas City in my pool, and move on to a week with six teams on byes, a bunch I can't use anymore...right, you don't care. Moving on. ... Benny Cunningham, Zac Stacy and Tre Mason each carried the ball between 4 and 7 times. Thank you, Jeff Fisher. What's the opposite of a three-headed monster? The Rams using three running backs, that's what. Still no touchdowns for Kansas City wide receivers this season, I'm keeping track for you. One of Davis' TDs, by the way, was on a kick return; good week to start KC's defense, as anticipated. ... Travis Kelce was inches and/or a coach's challenge from a touchdown in this game. Looked to me like he was in the end zone before he was down, but they ruled him short and KC didn't challenge. Scored anyway, but that doesn't help those who had Kelce or faced Charles, who got the TD.
Bears at Patriots: Huge game for Tom Brady, rewarding those of us who benched Philip Rivers for him. Huge game for Rob Gronkowski, with all three touchdowns either highlight reel leaping grabs or an after the catch run where he threw off a couple of defenders and dragged one over the goalline. Guess I picked the wrong week not to start him in the SuperLeague. I was facing Brady and Gronk in one league and they got 85 points against me. I didn't win. ... Just as big a story here was Brandon LaFell. You might still be able to add him in some leagues. He was their top wideout in this game by a wide margin, killing those of us (most of us, I suspect) who have Julian Edelman. ... Nice of the Bears to give us some garbage-time points, especially with garbage-time the entire second half. Often you'll just see a team fold up the tents, but not Forte and company. Saving those of us who started them.
Bills at Jets: Benched Chris Ivory against a tough Bills run defense, so naturally he had a quiet yardage day but scored 2 TDs. Geno Smith and meltdown games go hand in hand, but this one really put all previous Geno Smith meltdown games to shame. Haven't yet seen what Rex Ryan says about who's starting next week, but it's gotta be Michael Vick. Smith threw 3 picks in his first 8 attempts -- yikes. ... Big game for Kyle Orton and especially Sammy Watkins, who's clearly an excellent player already.
Vikings at Buccaneers: Fun game, actually. Sweet touchdown grab by Austin Seferian-Jenkins to give the Bucs a late lead. Sadly, he then had a reception ripped out of his grasp in overtime and taken back by the defense for the game-ending touchdown. So, you know, an up and down week for ASJ. ... Lovie Smith tried those damn icing the kicker timeouts that really ought to be stopped before the half and before the end of regulation. Failed both times, as Blair Walsh made the kicks, and then the Bucs lost in overtime, again. That's what you get.
Texans at Titans: Arian Foster is awesome. Can't believe how much I let him slide in so many leagues, just because of the injury risk. Running backs get hurt -- almost all of them. Won't make that mistake next year. Just a really good running back, graceful and powerful and smart. Yeah, I know, get a room. Anyway, great player. ... You got some good garbage-time numbers out of the Titans, on the off-chance you started any of them. Good enough game from Zach Mettenberger that he should stay in the lineup, touchdowns to Walker (uncovered, oddly) and Hunter.
Eagles at Cardinals: Another great, back-and-forth game between teams who could maybe meet up in the postseason. Huge numbers from the quarterbacks and the receivers. Almost like it's a passing league or something. How many quarterbacks threw for 300 yards yesterday? 400? Just a crazy week. This one was actually slightly more predictable, with a big passing offense against a soft passing defense. Although, 187 yards and 2 TDs from Maclin? 160 and 1 from Fitzgerald? Not a good week to be facing those guys. ... The running games were almost all LeSean McCoy and Andre Ellington, but the NFL doesn't seem to be about running games right now. Ellington scored, so there was that. Stepfan Taylor didn't get a carry. ... Fantastic finish, with Carson Palmer hitting John Brown perfectly in stride for a long touchdown, with Brown making a fantastic grab, followed by Nick Foles driving the field and hitting Jordan Matthews with a prayer on the game's final play, but it was out of the side of the end zone; no chance of him getting either foot down. Might be tough to narrow it down to one game to watch a replay of this week, but this is on the short list.
Colts at Steelers: Top cornerback Vontae Davis was hurt, but it's still hard to imagine this kind of game against a defense that played so well all year. Something about Pennsylvania teams against the Colts, maybe? Anyway, incredible game from Ben Roethlisberger and all his various receivers, including new ones (Martavis Bryant) and previously invisible ones (Heath Miller, guess I picked the wrong week to drop him in half my leagues). Another typical game from Ahmad Bradshaw and the rest of the Colts offensive players; the difference was their defense getting lit up. Just an unpredictable week.
Packers at Saints: Very impressive game from Mark Ingram. Do you think the Saints ever wonder what if they'd given him more of a chance his first few seasons? He just adds a power to the running game that it hasn't had these last few years. ... Nice game for Brandin Cooks, too. New Orleans looks like the clear favorite in the NFC South right now, even with all these teams under .500. They've got a nice stretch of home games coming up. ... A rare dud from Jordy Nelson. Packers enter their bye with some defensive questions, but their offense looks fine. Eddie Lacy played well last night, too. Detroit as a much better defense, but after their performance against Atlanta, hard to see them as the favorite over Green Bay.
Monday, Monday: Scored over 140 in one league and still need 30 points out of Jordan Reed tonight to get a win. Not gonna happen. Only need 4 out of Dez Bryant in another; hope it happens early. Dallas' offense should cruise here, but am hoping Washington makes things interesting (if only to knock a few people out of the suicide pool). Realistically, though, it's gonna be Dallas 31, Washington 20.