Somewhere along the line, in my many years of playing fantasy football, I probably made a lineup change on Sunday morning that benefited me. But I can't remember any at this particular point in time, overshadowed as they are by my decision yesterday to bench Tom Brady for Philip Rivers.
I didn't like Rivers' matchup in Miami, and I felt Brady and Manning would have a typical shootout. But around the time Alex Flannagan was making snow angels on the field during the pregame show, something I wouldn't even have seen had my son's baseball (!) game not been cancelled, I decided the conditions would be too unfavorable for Brady to have a big day against that Denver defense, and made the switch. Cost me 26 points, in a league where I'm unlikely to get in on record but had a nice lead for the final playoff spot on points. Had.
Long story short, the next time you're going to make a Sunday morning change, take a step back and really think about it. Personal experience here, but I truly believe they hurt far more often than they help.
Jaguars at Bengals: About as expected, aside from the huge game from Allen Hurns. Hurns had been so quiet for so long he had probably been dropped in most leagues. Jeremy Hill with Bernard out having a big game was less surprising. Turned down a Hill for McKinnon trade that I am currently regretting, but it depends how long Bernard is out I suppose. Big game for Sanu, touchdown for those who gambled on A.J. Green, big win for the Bengals. And not too shabby for the Jaguars.
Buccaneers at Browns: I am not sure the Browns really know what they want to do with their running backs, and don't think you can count on any. Ben Tate didn't do much early, so Terrance West got more chances and was more productive (although not great). I hope Mike Pettine can be trusted when he talks about West earning his chances, but next week, which is Thursday for the Browns, can anyone promise it won't be Isaiah Crowell, or Tate again? ... Big game for Mike Evans, nice to see. Nice game early for Bobby Rainey, then the Bucs sort of got away from the run. It's almost like the Bucs are poorly coached.
Cardinals at Cowboys: Well, at least there won't be a quarterback controversy in Dallas! Dreadful game for Brandon Weeden, with a lot of inaccurate throws and a pair of interceptions, so I'm sure Jerry Jones is telling friends this week, See, that's why I wanted to draft Johnny Manziel! Anyway, the Cardinals are pretty good, really good defense, nice receiving corps, talented full-time back in Andre Ellington, savvy veteran quarterback who made some sharp throws at key moments. And the Cowboys, well, they have Tony Romo and maybe the league's best running back and some good receivers, although Dez Bryant didn't catch anything all game and only saved those of us who started him for the second week in a row with a touchdown, whew. Seems like Brandon Weeden will need to start one more week, but I'm guessing Tony Romo makes the trip to London anyway, because they really will want to have him back.
Eagles at Texans: Speaking of injured quarterbacks and former first-round pick backups who come off the bench and lead the team to something other than defeat, nice job Mark Sanchez. He did well in the Eagles offense in the preseason, and sounds like he'll need to start for a little while. Philly's offense rolls on, Houston's offense didn't have much once Arian Foster left with injury. Nice game for DeAndre Hopkins, but Houston's not gonna win many games by getting into shootouts.
Jets at Kansas City: Ho hum, Jamaal Charles got his, Kansas City's offense didn't do quite enough to help fantasy teams anywhere else (nobody started Anthony Fasano), Jets lose their eighth in a row. The big story in this one is a big game from Percy Harvin in defeat. I have a sneaking suspicion, have for a number of years, that Seattle's offensive coordinator, who came over from Minnesota, and prior to that Green Bay, is not actually any good. He's had the good fortune to work with Brett Favre (Green Bay and Minnesota) and now Russell Wilson, and rode their coattails to some success. Should Percy Harvin go on to have continued success with the Jets, it will be quite damning if they're the coaching staff to get the most out of Harvin while Bevell was unable to in Seattle. Anyway, Chris Johnson sighting, which was disappointing to those of us who started Chris Ivory. Nice game for Eric Decker, a shutout for Jace Amaro. Ugh.
Chargers at Dolphins: I don't even really want to talk about the Chargers here. On the one hand it's a tough loss to enter a bye on, but on the other hand that's three straight losses and San Diego needs to step back and figure out how to get to back to playing the way they were when they were winning. First off, their defense isn't very good, especially while missing a couple of players. They seem to need Ryan Mathews back, as Branden Oliver probably shouldn't be a full-time guy. And that Dolphins defense is pretty good, too. Chargers will bounce back, but this was pretty ugly. ... Lamar Miller injury, at least he scored beforehand. We'll see if it's significant, but (right now) I think Damien Williams is the better pick up than Daniel Thomas. ... Charles Clay has two nice games sandwiched around a 1 catch for 1 yard game. Helpful.
Washington at Vikings: At least in the other two games where Matt Asiata scored 3 TDs, people actually started him. Here, he wasn't even rostered, I suspect, in most leagues. Asiata has a big game, Jerick McKinnon gets OK yards but none of the scores, Cordarrelle Patterson was missed on a big play chance early and disappeared from then on in. ... Nice game for Alfred Morris, decent game from Robert Griffin III. Big story pregame was that the mandate to start RGIII was given by management, not the coaching staff. With all due respect to Colt McCoy, I'm with management. ... Another fine game for DeSean Jackson, but yeah, the Eagles cut him for football reasons.
Rams at 49ers: Wow, that's a tough loss. This is why you steer clear of divisional rivalries in suicide pools, well this and the Dallas-Washington game on Monday. Tough to figure San Francisco could only score 10 points at home against a team as downtrodden and banged-up as the Rams, but the 49ers are confusing at times, and it seems to happen plenty against St. Louis. ... Tre Mason got most of the work for the Rams. Wasn't great, but maybe we'll be spared the Zac Stacy-Benny Cunningham triumvirate going forward and see more from the son of the guy from De La Soul.
Broncos at Patriots: OK, so, Broncos-Patriots, you just start all the key guys on both teams. Sometimes you'll get let down, but trust me you won't feel as bad as when you bench them. That is all. ... Patriots did a little running up the score in this game. Whatever. Broncos won't need any extra motivation, I wouldn't think, to play better in the playoffs. Surprising the way their defense got lit up here, though. ... Julian Edelman returns to the map. Brandon LaFell could have had an even bigger game, he and Brady just missed at least one long bomb. Should be an enjoyable bye week for the Patriots, while the Broncos get their second bye against the Raiders. Or do they?
Raiders at Seahawks: There's some fight in these Raiders. I mean, they don't have a lot of talent, particularly on offense, but they've got a few serviceable players. I'm not trying to save the GM's job or anything. Let it be known that I did talk up the potential of Mychal Rivera this week, given the matchup, with Seattle having allowed a lot more touchdowns to tight ends this season than wide receivers. But I didn't have the guts to actually start him myself, flailing away with the likes of Jordan Reed and Jared Cook, while Rivera scored 2 TDs. ... Big game for Marshawn Lynch. Not so much for any other Seahawks. The Raiders just suck the life out of opposing passing offenses at times.
Ravens at Steelers: Big Ben, whoa. The Ravens missed Jimmy Smith, sure, but coming up this small in a division battle is shocking. If the Steelers hadn't somehow blown a game against the Bucs they'd be 7-2 and up by a game and a half in the division. All four AFC North teams have division record, I don't know when that last happened. ... Steve Smith has tailed off, Torrey Smith has picked things up, Lorenzo Taliaferro was on his way to a productive game, maybe, before a costly fumbled that got him benched for most of the rest of the game. Ugly outing for Baltimore, which is why you can be sure they'll win big next week, while the Steelers will probably flop at New York against the Jets. Or Roethlisberger will throw 6 more TDs against a defense allowing more touchdown passes than anyone. ... Gave up on Martavis Bryant a bit too soon in dynasty.
Monday, Monday: I initially viewed this as a high-scoring type of game, but I'm not sure anymore. The Colts have played strong defense in most of their games, they've got Vontae Davis out there, the Giants are always capable of turning in a real offensive stinker. I expect the Colts to win by something like 27-17, and probably Luck, Bradshaw and Hilton are the reasons why.