Sometimes football just sucks you in. I started my Sunday planning to focus on a couple of games on the schedule: Dolphins-Bills, Jets-Jaguars. And those games were pretty entertaining. But they were overshadowed big-time by Steelers-Raiders, which was one of the best games of the season, and Packers-Panthers (ultimately). Very tough to turn away from those games.
Dolphins at Bills: Sammy Watkins was back, and if the team managed his reps, I didn't notice it. Nearly all of Tyrod Taylor's yards and completions and touchdown went to Watkins. Huge day. He'll face Darrelle Revis next week, which is bad, but how do you sit Watkins down after a performance like this one? He was awesome. Benched him and it will probably cost me a win and maybe a playoff spot. ... LeSean McCoy (after rushing for 112 yards) got hurt, again. He says it's not a big deal, but the big deal is that Karlos Williams had a really big game behind him, too. It's a committee; Williams has got to play. ... Finally, the Bills D looked like the Bills D was supposed to, at least a little bit. ... As for Miami, Tannehill threw for 300, but no touchdowns. You got some nice points out of Miller (2 TDs and a boatload of receiving yards) and Landry (PPR especially, with 11 catches).
Packers at Panthers: Strange game. Carolina totally dominated for about three quarters, lost cornerback Josh Norman to injury, and the Packers came almost all the way back. Big numbers from Aaron Rodgers (ultimately) and Richard Rodgers (2 TDs). Pretty touchdown to Cobb. Touchdown reception for James Starks, who once again looked better than Eddie Lacy. Not sure how you can start Lacy (who also lost a fumble) with any confidence against anyone. ... Ted Ginn was Carolina's best receiver earlier in the year, but in this game three other receivers scored, and Newton also missed an open Jerricho Cotchery for another touchdown. Nice play to Devin Funchess for a score. Strong game for Newton, though he benefited no doubt from a hurting Packers secondary.
Rams at Vikings: Another entertaining game, decided on an overtime field goal. Both Peterson and Gurley held up their ends of the running back battle; Gurley had a cool touchdown run, Peterson had an excellent day, and his team got the win. Teddy Bridgewater had a touchdown run where no one was home on defense; he followed it up with an athletic 2-point run. Left with a concussion after a late hit, something to monitor this week. Anther lesser game for the Rams passing offense, though Kenny Britt caught a bomb and finished with nice numbers. Too bad you can't really start him. Tavon Austin rushed for 66 yards (and I think one of his "catches" was also a lateral, but whatever).
Washington at Patriots: New England mostly dominated this game, but Washington's defense was better than expected. It was their offense that flubbed things up, and it wasn't even all Kirk Cousins' fault. An early INT hit Pierre Garcon in the chest and bounced up. Garcon and TE Derek Carrier dropped other passes, as well; Carrier's would have gone for a big gain. Only thing salvaged from the day was a late, meaningless TD by Jordan Reed. Not meaningless if you started him or faced him, obv. ... Dion Lewis left with a knee injury. Brandon Bolden scored the TD he probably would have, but James White is probably the proper handcuff. Big game for LeGarrette Blount, too.
Titans at Saints: Crazy game to watch, and frustrating if you were a Saints fan and/or started the Saints Defense. One play might have changed a lot in this game; with New Orleans up 14-3, Marcus Mariota threw a horrible sideline ball that should have been picked by one of two different Saints. Instead they collided, the ball popped up, and Delanie Walker took it for a 60-something yard touchdown. With an INT Saints maybe go up 21-3 and it's a different game. Whatever. I counted four Titans completions that bounced off Saints' defenders first. Apologies if it sounds like I'm trying to take something away from Mariota. Takeaways: New Orleans D is horrible, and Mariota wasn't quite as good as numbers suggest. ... Antonio Andrews got a lot of works and mixed in some nice runs. He runs hard, follows blocks, gets what's there. He looks slow and ineffective at times, like on one short-yardage try he tried to take outside, but he was good enough in this game. ... Winning TD in overtime was a nicely designed little play to the second tight end. ... Mark Ingram looked a lot better in this game than his numbers suggested. Just missed a TD chance (looked like he was in, Brees snuck it in on next play), but was involved as a receiver; on one play I had to check that it wasn't C.J. Spiller. Ingram looks quicker than he used to be. Good game for Brandin Cooks and decent for Willie Snead. But, Saints lose.
Jaguars at Jets: You have to like way the Jaguars offense moved the ball in this game. Yeah they lost and their defense is terrible, and Blake Bortles had a couple of turnovers -- one not his fault, one that was just poor pocket awareness -- but there's some nice production and fantasy value out of Bortles and his receivers. Both Allens scored and went over 120 yards. One nice long run out of T.J. Yeldon, too. On the flip side, the Jets D doesn't look quite so daunting these days. ... Late TD by Brandon Marshall, early one by Eric Decker. Chris Ivory had a really ugly stat line (23 carries for 26 yards) but scored 2 TDs and caught 3 passes, and he looked better than the numbers suggest; Jacksonville can play some run defense. Seriously!
Raiders at Steelers: As expected, both teams passed the ball up and down the field against each other. But DeAngelo Williams, as a full-time running back, had a fantastic game as well; nearly scored a 3rd TD in the final seconds. But even his huge game was overshadowed by Antonio Brown reminding everyone of how awesome he is, making a real run at Flipper Anderson's NFL record. Encouragingly, some of those numbers even came after Landry Jones replaced an injured Ben Roethlisberger. ... Raiders let Pittsburgh's backup tight end catch a touchdown, not Heath Miller, burning that prediction. ... For Oakland, good games by Amari Cooper and especially Michael Crabtree. Crabtree I actually cut in a league a couple of weeks into the season, alas. His second touchdown was just a beautifully thrown ball by Derek Carr. Shortly before that, Carr was picked in the end zone on a play where it looked like 2nd TE Clive Walford stopped his route, or else he'd have caught his second touchdown. Not a bad throw. Oakland loses, but big game for their passing offense. Latavius Murray also having a big game before leaving with a concussion. Handcuff might turn out to be Jamize Olawale, given than Taiwan Jones fumbled twice in this game (as did Murray, though he can be forgiven for the one during the concussion). Anyhoo, a thrilling game to watch; look for it in replays this week.
Falcons at 49ers: So the Falcons, trailing by 4, drove the field in the final minutes and faced a fourth and goal about about the 5 with 3 and a half minutes left. You go for it, right? Not them; they kicked the field goal, never got the ball back and lost by a point. ... Big game for Julio Jones, though he didn't score. Terrible game on the ground for Devonta Freeman, but he did score. Called Garrett Celek's touchdown this week, you're welcome. And then he scored again. Sadly he wasn't even available in a league I tried to use him in this week.
Giants at Buccaneers: Pretty game effort by the Bucs after falling behind early. Big game from Mike Evans that could have been bigger but for a drop or two. Disappointing game from Doug Martin, typical useless game from Giants running backs, though at least Shane Vereen caught a touchdown. Four-back committee, thanks Tom Coughlin.
Broncos at Colts: As most know I'm a pretty big Brett Favre fan. I didn't watch much of the pregame shows this morning so I don't know if there were a bunch of stories about Manning possibly breaking a couple of Favre records. And since he didn't break them, will all these stories air next week? Will they be repeated? Or does no one much care? Maybe I'm thinking too much about this. Anyway, big win for the Colts, nice games from Luck and Gore. Except for Emmanuel Sanders, though, none of the other guys you thought might do well did well; good games were turned in by Owen Daniels (figured to have a lesser role) T.Y. Hilton (figured to be hurt) and Hippogriff Whalen. Go figure.
Eagles at Cowboys: What better way to finish the day than with another overtime game and another walkoff touchdown pass. Big game, big win for the Eagles, who have finally got that running game going. ... Dallas finally gets its offense on track but gives up 33 points. Nice game at least for Dez Bryant. Cole Beasley, too, though he can't be relied on to do it again. Another workhorse outing for Darren McFadden.
Monday, Monday: A meaningless NFL game, but a lot of fantasy matchups hanging on the likes of Gates, Bennett, Jeffery, Langford and probably one or two Chargers running backs. And both quarterbacks. So watch, we'll get a 13-10 game. But realistically, a shootout between capable offenses and poor defenses is coming. Chargers 27, Bears 24.