Lots of big fantasy performances yesterday, with guys like Mike Evans, Mark Ingram and Keenan Allen carrying fantasy teams. But for whatever reason, I get hung up on the little things -- the missed kicks, successful goal-line stands, and random injuries that are the difference between a team being 2-1 and full of hope or 1-2 and cursing the stars. Fantasy football can be cruel; the NFL is crueler.
Bengals at Bills: Picked up Dawson Knox on the first day of free agency in TE-premium dynasty league. So I was glad to see him have a breakout day, including a punishing run that was one of yesterday's highlights. Not likely he'll have many days like this this year, but maybe he'll be a weapon for them some weeks. Decent day for Josh Allen, serviceable games for the Bengals you should have been starting, Mixon and Boyd. Bengals have now been competitive in both road games and blown out at home.
Dolphins at Cowboys: I'm not sure we can really talk about the Dolphins right now. They've scored 16 points in three weeks. To put that in perspective, if your team scored 16 points in one week, you'd say, wow, terrible offense. They have had a rough opening schedule, to be sure, but rare is a team even worse than the lowest possible expectations. With Dallas, I kind of suggested that Tony Pollard was a worthwhile play without actually having the guts to start him myself or recommend him too strongly. Hopefully some of you did, though. Cowboys playing well, though alas Randall Cobb and Devin Smith didn't work out.
Broncos at Packers: Building a nice defense around a franchise quarterback, what a concept. Not so great for Aaron Rodgers from a fantasy perspective, but they'll face better offenses in the weeks to come. Don't bail yet. Nice games for running backs; Aaron Jones and Phillip Lindsay with 2 TDs each. Their coaches both want to use a second back just as much; Royce Freeman also good thus far. Classic postgame quote from Emmanuel Sanders about "living in a world of suck." Things should get better, but the offense clearly has to figure some things out. Nice game for MVS, not so much for Davante -- too favorable game script. Still view him as a buy low guy.
Falcons at Colts: Very thoughtful of T.Y. Hilton to have a nice game and a touchdown before getting hurt. Marlon Mack, the other guy banged up coming in, also had a nifty score. And Ian's Jacoby Brissett optimism looked good today. Another big game for Julio, and a huge one for Austin Hooper, glad to have him everywhere. As for Matt Ryan, I'm not sure why he's making some of the bad throws he's making. And it looks like Atlanta's defense is still bad, plus it lost Keanu Neal to injury again. Rough week for the Falcons, who could easily be 0-3.
Ravens at Kansas City: Where to start with this one...how about, Baltimore's leading receiver was Nick Boyle. And a monster game from Mark Ingram, who I underestimated (not this week, but this season). Big games from most of the Kansas City players who should reasonably have been started, disappointing from Sammy Watkins. LeSean McCoy with a nice, 2-TD day even in a committee. Pretty great watching the Kansas City offense right now, just like last year. I still came away kind of impressed with Lamar Jackson and the rest of the Ravens. Right now they look like they're winning the AFC North sometime around Week 13.
Raiders at Vikings: Tough to do much in Minnesota. Big game for Darren Waller and a touchdown from Tyrell Williams, 2 of the 3 guys you should have started. Sadly Josh Jacobs isn't being used in the passing game, and that was going to be key to his value this season. Without those chances on a losing team that won't have a lot of rushing touchdowns, he'll have games like this one. Good games for Minnesota's two best players, Cook and Thielen. Yes you can probably dump Rudolph now.
Jets at Patriots: James White's last-minute absence was a blow to some lineups. Since a lot of us fantasy teams with White also have Damien Williams (I expect), was a rough week. But New England did its thing in workmanlike fashion and you got some good production out of the Patriots who were there. Julian Edelman left with a rib injury so we'll have a week of wondering if he'll play. Not much to say about the Jets, beyond, great for them to have this early bye.
Lions at Eagles: Eagles have had some noteworthy injuries on offense, but it's really been their defense letting them down thus far. And I guess special teams, with a kick return touchdown yesterday. But they've simply given up too many points and too many drives, and it's why they're 1-2. And a couple of tough breaks/missed chances on offense at the end of games. For the Lions, hey, they apparently have an improved locker room/chemistry/attitude whatever. Winning helps, and aside from turning a Week 1 win into a tie, they're playing well. Every year you see a 3-0 team fade and maybe Detroit will be one, but congrats to them so far. Ugly 20-36 stat line for Kerryon Johnson, but at least he scored, and the Eagles are usually really tough against the run.
Panthers at Cardinals: Probably should have been a little higher on Kyle Allen, given that Arizona's defense is pretty weak right now -- short-handed at cornerback and not very good at the other spots. Do Bears fans watch Greg Olsen tearing it up week after week and year after year and wonder what if? Anyhoo, nice game for all Panthers, albeit just the one catch for DJ Moore (but it went for a touchdown, and we don't write off players after one-catch games, right Tyler Lockett?). Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk continue to hog targets.
Giants at Bucs: So many things to talk about with this one. Huge game for Mike Evans? Saquon Barkley hurt? The seasons of two teams seemingly impacted by a miss of a chip-shot field goal? But I guess the Daniel Jones breakout is the big one. It's surprising but not terribly so; we knew from the preseason that Jones could play and we knew from basically forever that the Bucs don't play very good defense. With Barkley looking at an absence of like a month probably, and Wayne Gallman a few levels below him, Jones and top targets Shepard and Engram should have some good games ahead of them. For the Bucs, they're gonna need to just scrap the Peyton Barber snaps and go with a Ronald Jones and Dare Ogunbowale backfield. Sorry Peyton but it's true.
Texans at Chargers: Keenan Allen is an underrated guy. He was a monster in this one. But Deshaun Watson is even better -- scary the players drafted ahead of Watson and Mahomes a couple of years ago. Mitchell Trubisky most notably. Houston's running game is non-existent and Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson is maybe the worst committee you can invest in right now. I realize Hyde has scored some but if you can sell him while he still has some value, now's the time. Chargers have plenty of time to go on a little run but these last couple of losses aren't promising; the defense isn't as tough as it should be, down both Derwin James and his backup.
Saints at Seahawks: Didn't see this one coming. Saints wisely said, let's build the offense around Alvin Kamara, and it worked. I think we'll see another month of this, which is of course bad news for Michael Thomas and the rest of the receivers. Huge game for Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett and another good game for Will Dissly. Seattle's defense isn't as good and that's a good thing for the passing offense, a negative for the ground game that carried them a year ago.
Steelers at 49ers: Why the Steelers, now 0-3, traded a first-round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick is an interesting question. It's going to be difficult for them to make a playoff run without Ben Roethlisberger, and that pick seems likely to be an opportunity at a better player than Fitzpatrick. Looks short-sighted, I understand trying to win now, but... Not a pretty game for the Niners, either, and they're definitely a 3-0 team that seems unlikely to keep it going. Disappointing game for Deebo Samuel, some dirt off the grave of Dante Pettis, and this three-man backfield is pretty much unusable right now. How Jeff Wilson went from being cut a few weeks ago to now being the goal-line back and being 2nd in the league in rushing scores is beyond me.
Rams at Browns: I do these weekly offensive line articles for the site, which I know some enjoy and some probably skip right on by. But it's been clear all along that the Browns were going to have a lesser offensive line, and it's killing them right now. Would be one thing if they'd been gutted by injuries, like Cincinnati, but they did this to themselves. But at least John Dorsey got OBJ. Rams emphasized the pass not the run and got a win that was probably a little closer than it should have been. Cooper Kupp showing why he's the best wideout here, Malcolm Brown showing why you can't get too excited about a 2-TD Week 1. Oh yeah, I don't mean to let Baker Mayfield off the hook for his struggles. Humility coming (or if not it should be) to Baker.
Monday, Monday: Can Terry McLaurin keep things going against a good defense? Can Mitchell Trubisky deliver an actual good game? Will David Montgomery breakout in primetime? Those are the main questions in this one. I suspect this will be a Bears defensive showcase, with Washington doing very little. They're home and maybe Jay Gruden will have some tricks up his sleeve; that's about all I can think of to make this one competitive. But probably Chicago 23, Washington 17 (at best).