It seems to be a bad year for thinking you know how games will go. Players are getting hurt at a remarkable rate. Players are looking old and washed-up at an alarming rate. And Alex Smith is trotting out Steve Young impressions every few games. Fantasy football is sometimes a war of attrition and that really seems to be the case this year -- not much you can do if your top draft picks all get hurt.
Bills at Bengals: Every once in a while A.J. Green reminds everyone how great he is, and Andy Dalton how lucky he is to have him. They put up big numbers in a game that was otherwise the expected lower-scoring affair. Green had the generosity to be tackled short of the goal line after one long reception to let Joe Mixon score a short touchdown.
Jets at Browns: A winning record for the Jets, who'd a thunk it. Schedule will get tougher. Jets managed to win with neither Bilal Powell (injured) or Elijah McGuire (ineffective) helping people, but at least Austin Seferian-Jenkins delivered as promised. Browns benched DeShone Kizer, ah yes the dreaded vote of confidence last week.
Panthers at Lions: I guess Cam Newton is getting a little more comfortable in the offense, because that was a pretty good Lions defense he ripped up. Some really nice throws by the contrite one yesterday. Lions made things interesting at the end even with Matthew Stafford hobbling around on a banged-up ankle, but couldn't pull it out. There may be more unlikely things than Ed Dickson going for 175 yards but I can't think of any. Ugly day for both running games.
49ers at Colts: Another week, another narrow loss for the 49ers. Hey, it's a process, and you don't go from being really bad to winning a lot of games overnight. Tough game for Carlos Hyde; apparently his hip injury is still an issue. Colts have been good defending the run in more games than bad, and this was another good one. Good numbers from both passing games, but the biggest fantasy development was probably Marlon Mack upstaging Frank Gore with a 91-yard, 1 TD game. Gotta figure it's a committee going forward, with Mack offering a lot more at this point.
Titans at Dolphins: Matt Cassel and then Jay Cutler really brought this one down to their level. Cassel lost a fumble for a touchdown early on, Miami took a 10-0 lead, and things moved at a glacial pace after that. Neither team did much through the air, plus DeVante Parker injured an ankle. Tennessee's offense simply has no chance with Cassel running it. Running games didn't do a lot either. Tennessee will do all it can to get Mariota back for its next game.
Chargers at Giants: Just about the time I'd given up picking the Chargers to finally get that first win, they got it. But it took some doing, notably every Giants wideout getting hurt. Worst was Odell Beckham Jr., in an ugly play that sure looks like there's enough messed up with that ankle that we won't see him again this season. A shame, and look what's next for the 0-5 Giants: at Denver, and home against Seattle the next two weeks. Big game for Melvin Gordon, and an "on" game for Hunter Henry. Quiet game for Keenan Allen, although note he could easily have scored twice -- overthrown by Rivers once, flagged for an illegal touch on another end-zone play. Orleans Darkwa and Wayne Gallman split work and were successful against a soft Chargers run defense, but Darkwa got hurt, so it might be a lot of Gallman next week.
Cardinals at Eagles: So yeah, that Carson Wentz guy. Having a really nice sophomore season. If the running game isn't working, he can sling it around some. Made a couple of beautiful throws in this one, threw TDs to four different guys without having to challenge Patrick Peterson. Impressive. Cardinals can't run and that's going to make everything tougher for them each week. I wouldn't rush out to scoop Nelson Agholor off waivers but the way Wentz is playing he'll have the occasional good game.
Jaguars at Steelers: Nothing like a couple of deflected passes that are intercepted and returned for touchdowns to turn a close game into a laugher. Jaguars have a really good defense, while Pittsburgh has been shaky on offense for most of the season. Couple of 10-catch players, so there's that. but I'm out of my Survivor Pool(s) and so are a lot of others, including at least one angry reader. Sorry man. Jaguars won with Blake Bortles chucking it for 95 yards. Did mention that Pittsburgh's run defense has lost something this season, but still didn't see this loss coming.
Seahawks at Rams: Seahawks very fortunate to win this game. Jared Goff struggled as you might expect against this good secondary, but made enough plays to get a win, with a very good throw to Cooper Kupp in the final minute that Kupp dove for but couldn't haul in. Tough catch but you know Kupp thinks he should have had it. Rams also not helped by Todd Gurley losing a touchdown by having it knocked out as he extended it near the goal line, turning a sure score into a touchback. Apologies if you had Gurley and lost by 5 points and didn't know this. Sweet stat line for Seattle backs: Rawls 8 carries, 20 yards, Lacy 9 carries, 19 yards. When neither workload nor performance can be trusted, you've got running backs that just can't be used.
Ravens at Raiders: Speaking of Amari Cooper. What a disaster. Couple of nice plays for EJ Manuel, but the Ravens defense came to play and the offense jumped out with a couple of early scores. One thanks to a fumble by Jared Cook, who continues to show why he never sticks anywhere for long. Decent game for Marshawn Lynch, who might be second-guessing things in that he might be on the AFC West's 3rd-best team. Ravens featured Javorius Allen in this game, so I guess they're not quite smitten with Alex Collins yet. Little step forward for Joe Flacco, but Raiders pass defense says, we get that a lot.
Packers at Cowboys: Great game. And not at all surprising that the team that got the ball last (setting aside Dallas' last 12 seconds when they actually came somewhat close to pulling off the miracle) won. Big game for Aaron Jones (yes I started him in two leagues), bigger for Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. Big game for Dak Prescott, too, who was really sharp. Not a lot of good things going on in either secondary here, promising another crazy matchup in the playoffs, well if Dallas gets there. But an entertaining game if you didn't care much who won, and a great/terrible game if you did. Yes you can drop Jamaal Williams, Jones is the guy until Montgomery gets back.
Kansas City at Texans: So which was your most impressive Alex Smith play in this game? The scrambling, rollout touchdown to Charcandrick West early on, shades of Young/Elway/Favre/Rodgers? Or maybe the bomb to Tyreek Hill down the sidelines, one of the more surprising passes those of us who have watched Smith for years have seen. Late surge by Deshaun Watson (on my bench, that won't happen again) to make things interesting, but Kansas City just has too much everything right now. Houston loses Watt and Mercilus, Kelce suffers a concussion.
Monday, Monday: Game seems like something of an anticlimax after a big Sunday of games. We saw the Vikings go into Chicago on a Monday night a year ago and shockingly lose, so nothing would be really surprising here. Sounds like Sam Bradford will play, an upgrade to his receivers. I don't expect the Murray-McKinnon tandem to do anything. Bears will lean on Howard and Cohen and try to steal a l0w-scoring win, while we get our first look at Mitchell Trubisky. Vikings 24, Bears 17.