Up is down and wrong is right. The Rams beat the Broncos, the Bengals beat the Saints, and suicide pools everywhere would be in chaos were it not for the fact that most have already used the Broncos and Saints. A whole lot of surprises, and a crazy day of football, so on to the games.
Falcons at Panthers: Maybe it was karma that the Falcons, badly mistreated by the field goal gods in the loss to Detroit overseas, got a win here with the Panthers not only missing a makeable field goal but a prayer on the game's final play (with 1 second on the clock that there maybe shouldn't have been). ... Big games from Kelvin Benjamin and Roddy White, including an impressive leaping touchdown grab from Benjamin. Cam Newton good-looking numbers by hitting on a couple of long touchdowns, but didn't look good most of the day. Still, maybe they should have tried a Hail Mary at the end instead of a 63-yard field goal? Both ground games disappointed, as they so often do. The NFC South is a sad division.
Vikings at Bears: You got the sense watching this game that Marc Trestman has been reading about how his job is in jeopardy. An unusually aggressive game on the part of the Bears, going for it multiple times on fourth down with a 4-point lead rather than kicking a field goal to go up 7. Worked out. Bad interception to end the game by Teddy Bridgewater, who was also fortunate to avoid a long sack that would have taken them out of field goal range on the previous possession (ending the game even sooner). Rookie quarterback. Can't look for much from this passing game the rest of the way. Presumably Adrian Peterson back next week, so running game becomes a big question mark.
Texans at Browns: And, that's the Browns for you. Just when you think they're ready to impress you, they let you down. Not that they were the only heavy favorite to lose yesterday, but it was pretty ugly. The team decided to feature Isaiah Crowell, who had been in the doghouse for previous fumbles. He lost a fumble in the game. Next week it will probably be West, or Tate, and you can't start any of them with confidence. Frustrating. ... Brian Hoyer threw for 330 yards and a TD, which sounds OK until you see that he threw the ball 50 times! And completed 20 of them. Missed some easy, and important ones, too. Could have thrown for over 400 by hitting a few of those, and maybe the Browns win. Nice game for Alfred Blue, leading to another week of will Arian Foster or won't he be available. Hope you have both.
Seahawks at Kansas City: About as expected. Very impressive defense Kansas City, which has lost some players, is putting out on the field. Big games from both running backs, because they're great. But Charles was bigger, and Kansas City made the big stops. Might have got away with a pass interference in the end zone late in the end game, but perhaps the ball was deemed uncatchable. Anyway, good game, and suddenly Kansas City sneaking away with the AFC West isn't so impossible. ... Two teams whose entire receiving corps -- wideouts and tight ends -- are helping absolutely no one.
Bengals at Saints: Another surprise, and the AFC North is crazy right now. Bengals just went in and dominated on offense and defense; suddenly the Saints have lost two straight at home (but against the Niners, at least, they played well). This was a one-sided affair where all the fun I made of Jermaine Gresham (2 TDs) came back to bite me. Impressive TD grab by A.J. Green. Big day for Jeremy Hill (not quite as surprising). And you've got to feel good for Andy Dalton, who followed up his worst game with one of his best. Not a great day for Mark Ingram, but at least he caught 7 passes, so you had that going for you in PPR.
49ers at Giants: Eli Manning got picked off 5 times in this game, some of which were bad throws, some weren't. And the Giants still almost won. Great grab by Odell Beckham to set up a touchdown, no wait, an interception off a deflection. Should have been touchdowns by Rueben Randle and Larry Donnell (Donnell at least actually did score). Good game for Frank Gore (but no TDs), a little squeaky wheel grease for Michael Crabtree, and a workmanlike, defense-driven win that does make it seem possible the Niners will win the West. Or at least sneak into the playoffs and cause someone some problems.
Broncos at Rams: Uh, didn't see that one coming. The Rams, I guess, play to the level of their competition. That's wins over Seattle, San Francisco and Denver, and 1-6 against the rest of the league. Guess the move of benching Austin Davis for Shaun Hill was a good one. Big games for Kenny Britt and Tre Mason, for the few who started them. Solid receiving games for the usual suspects, but injury questions about both Julius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. (And Montee Ball, but he's just a backup running back.) And it doesn't look likely the road to the Super Bowl will go through Denver.
Buccaneers at Washington: Well, this maybe knocks me out of the suicide pool (what's left of it; we split most of the money three ways). I need Tennessee to knock off Pittsburgh tonight. Possible. Whatever, Washington was a bad pick, the head coach doesn't like the quarterback, the defense is awful (except when it wants to play, I guess), and Tampa Bay has a couple of nice offensive players, or at least one in the awesome Mike Evans. Hope you didn't start any Bucs running backs, I wonder if a team that won by 20 points ever ran for only 48 yards. Not often.
Raiders at Chargers: Game seemed to end with 1 or 2 seconds left, but that's how the season is going for Oakland. They're getting close to winning? They host KC on Thursday. Not much doing with their offense against a San Diego defense that got healthier and maybe made an adjustment or two during the bye. As for San Diego, you would like to see a whole lot more out of them. Ryan Mathews limping after the game, so maybe we get Branden Oliver again next week.
Lions at Cardinals: Well, there wasn't supposed to be much offense in this game, but you kind of thought Detroit would score a touchdown. Arizona defense great, you knew that. Drew Stanton is effective in that he is plenty willing to throw balls up for grabs, and he has a great group of receivers. Looks like Michael Floyd is a beneficiary. I know, I know. I don't know how AZ has gone all year with so few sacks. It's almost like they would rather get interceptions than keep quarterbacks from throwing it. Anyway, looks good for Arizona being one of those defensive focused teams no one expects to get to the Super Bowl, and then somehow they do. Tough to bet against Green Bay, though...
Eagles at Packers: Really impressive touchdown grab and nifty footwork by Jordy Nelson to get inside the pylon in this game. Week after week, the guy is just having a fantastic year. My fantasy MVP, I think. As for the NFL MVP, maybe it's Andrew Luck, maybe it's Aaron Rodgers. Guy is having a great year,,again. And I love those throwback uniforms. Sick touchdown reception by Eddie Lacy, sick in the way people didn't try to tackle him. Geez guys, act like you want to be there. Too cold for the Eagles defense? ... That's the Mark Sanchez we are a little more familiar with. Took a helmet hit early (not flagged) and didn't look comfortable from then on. A lot of off target throws. Finished with good fantasy numbers and salvaged a nice day for Jordan Matthews, that was about it. More goodness from Randall Cobb, near miss on a TD. Can't score every week.
Patriots at Colts: Suddenly the Colts don't look quite so good. You can run on them, you can stuff their running game, and if you can take away T.Y. Hilton, it's a lot tougher for Andrew Luck to get anything done. Probably should have seen the Jonas Gray game coming after the way LeGarrette Blount ran on the Colts in the playoffs last year, but this Colts defense was supposed to be different. Supposed to be. ... Another couple of drops from Julian Edelman. Disappointing. ... Ahmad Bradshaw injured, Trent Richardson his usual ineffective self. Get the Dan Herron train going. Bradshaw dropped a chance at a really big play early, tough to see if you were starting him. Like the guy I told to start him over A.J. Green. Sorry.
Monday, Monday: The AFC North is crazy, and a Steelers win here will make it even wilder. A half game separating all four teams? And probably only the division winner makes the playoffs, with Kansas City and Miami seemingly having the edge for the AFC wildcards. I will be rooting for the Titans but not too optimistically. But they're home, it's Monday night, and Pittsburgh's defense isn't very good. So you never know. I'll call it Steelers 24-17 and hope I'm wrong.