So...anybody lose a key player to injury yesterday? A tough week for that, I'd need to look it up but I feel Week 2 usually is that way. And considering the number of big names (Thomas, Kittle, Golladay et al) already sidelined, it's been a painful start to the season for some. Lot of fun ones yesterday, so let's get to it.
Jaguars at Titans: Jaguars did a nice job on Derrick Henry, so instead it was your typical 4-TD game from Ryan Tannehill. Nice one for Jonnu Smith, Corey Davis at least rewarded those of us who started him with a touchdown, Adam Humphries also scored. Supposedly A.J. Brown might miss more time, so those are your three main receivers. Big numbers from Gardner Minshew and a 100-yard day from James Robinson. Jaguars aren't as bad as expected, at least on offense.
Panthers at Bucs: Bucs offense and defense played well, with Carolina making things interesting at one point but the game not really in doubt most of the way. Plenty of big fantasy developments, including Leonard Fournette making the most of his opportunities and maybe moving past Ronald Jones? Jones scored early but Fournette finished with a few more carries and scored twice, including the long breakaway that iced it. Mike Evans, DJ Moore and Robby Anderson (again) had big games. Not buying Teddy Bridgewater but the passing game numbers were there. Christian McCaffrey leaving with an ankle injury the biggest development for those who have him, still awaiting an update there. Mike Davis caught 8 passes for 74 yards, the key pickup this week should the injury be serious.
Broncos at Steelers: Evidently all the dirt piled on James Conner in the last six days inspired him to go have a big game, keeping Benny Snell on the sidelines. Eh, give it time. Drew Lock injured, maybe happened when a Steeler bounced off him when he'd already been tripped up. Good game for Conner and Diontae Johnson, also for Ben Roethlisberger, connecting with rookie Chase Claypool on an 84-yard touchdowns. Steelers with another good-looking wide receiver pick. Broncos came within 5 late with backup Jeff Driskel, but Driskel took his sixth sack and that was it.
Rams at Eagles: In all the talk about the Eagles offensive line woes, their secondary woes might have been underestimated. That's six quarters now of Dwayne Haskins and Jared Goff marching the offense up and down the field. Big game for Tyler Higbee, probably climbing in the ReDrafter this week. Cam Akers hurt early, so Darrell Henderson crawls out of the pit everyone dug for him with a nice game (just one more carry than Malcolm Brown, but twice as many yards). Miles Sanders had a costly fumble early but finished with good numbers, Carson Wentz was off, a rushing score but no passing touchdowns, almost like he doesn't have much at wideout right now. Tight ends disappointed, too.
49ers at Jets: Pretty much the entire 49ers team got wheeled off or limped off with injury. Raheem Mostert, Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Bosa etc. Hopefully you picked up Jordan Reed and profited from the faith, a really athletic play by him for his first touchdown. I expressed huge skepticism in Reed being a factor in the league again and happily stand corrected. Jets an absolute trainwreck and I'd say Adam Gase would be fired soon but 1) I don't know if anyone in the organization has both the power and the interest in things to do so, and 2) the roster is actually so bad right now that I'm not sure anyone can say things would be better with a different coach. Following this team around in Survivor Pools, as I have the last two weeks, isn't the worst decision you can make.
Bills at Dolphins: Coming out party for Josh Allen? I drafted him in a couple of best-ball leagues early in the offseason, cooled on him some in the summer, but he's looking like a nice starter right now. Granted, it's just Miami. Huge game for Stefon Diggs, late touchdown bomb to John Brown, not much from either running back committee. Big game for Mike Gesicki, picking up where he left off the second half of last year, and those who started DeVante Parker were rewarded. We always talk about when injured players disappoint ("oh, shouldn't have started him, you knew he was hurt") so gotta mention when they do just fine.
Vikings at Colts: Seasons don't start much worse than the Vikings' first two games. Mauled by the Packers, humbled by the Colts. Defense looked terrible and Kirk Cousins not much better. I came into this year thinking the Colts were going to be really good, so I'm not totally surprised they were yesterday, just that the Vikings look so bad. Dalvin Cook the only useful player. For the Colts, 100-yard games from Jonathan Taylor and Mo Alie-Cox. Disappointing numbers from T.Y. Hilton, I don't know if it will make people feel better or worse that he dropped a touchdown in this one. Parris Campbell carted off with a leg injury.
Lions at Packers: Detroit jumped out to an early lead, but we all knew better. Packers roared back with a monster game from Aaron Jones. Negative was that the passing game didn't have to do much so a quiet game from Davante Adams and just so-so from Rodgers. Marvin Jones scored, D'Andre Swift and T.J. Hockenson had decent receiving games, the least likely Detroit running back to be started anywhere got in the end zone. Swift caught all 5 passes sent his way, for those keeping track/ still lamenting last week's game-ending drop.
Falcons at Cowboys: This was the game of the day, at least until the Sunday night game. Falcons passing game dominated most of the way -- a reminder that the team scored 39 points and its starting running back, Todd Gurley, did almost nothing -- until Dallas came roaring back with the Dak Prescott-Ezekiel Elliott-Cooper-Lamb (that didn't take long) combo. Dallas recovered one of the cooler onside kicks you'll ever see and Greg Zuerlein made the clutch field goal to win it. Brutal loss for Atlanta, who knows from brutal losses.
Giants at Bears: Watching one of the postgame shows, there was some nice stuff said about Mitchell Trubisky. Might be a heckuva nice guy, but if the Giants had finished their last drive with a touchdown and won by 3 points, no one would be talking about Trubisky leading the Bears to 17 points against a really lousy defense. Great game for David Montgomery, who I'd have on way more teams but for that stupid preseason injury. Speaking of injury, oh yeah, Saquon Barkley. If you happened to draft 2nd in any league, you probably had him on your team. Unfortunate. We'll discuss more going forward, but my early guess is a Dion Lewis and Wayne Gallman committee running behind a lesser offensive line on a team headed for 4-12.
A Football Team at Cardinals: That Kyler Murray is pretty good, and looks like he's going to lift the Cardinals to contention this year. NFC West looks like it might have four playoff contenders, as unlikely as that may seem (remember, 3 wild cards this year). Wahington offense dreadful but Terry McLaurin overcame it with a big game and those who had faith in Antonio Gibson are feeling good today. Those who insanely blew the waiver budget on Peyton Barber last week are not.
Kansas City at Chargers: Pregame chest pains for Tyrod Taylor, so Justin Herbert came off the bench and very nearly led the upset. Anthony Lynn says Taylor will start if healthy but it doesn't seem particularly likely. Herbert made plays with his arms and his legs and the Chargers defense gave Patrick Mahomes trouble, as it often does. But his final numbers were strong and he made all the plays at the end. Best (for those of us who absolutely hate the last-second timeout to disrupt field goals thing) was Harrison Butker making a 58-yard field goal twice to win the game (plus a 53-yarder erased by a penalty). Damn impressive. If they could stop allowing coaches to call those last-second timeouts it would be good.
Ravens at Texans: Outclassed seems like a good description of this matchup. What a ridiculous opening schedule for Houston, which travels to Pittsburgh next week. Anyone who thought they knew the Ravens backfield was corrected, as Mark Ingram scored (out of a play where he took a direct snap), Gus Edwards led the team in carries and yards, and J.K. Dobbins killed lineups. Baltimore passing game did very little, with Will Fuller not even being targeted. He may have picked up a hamstring injury (sigh) but note that he actually played two thirds of the snaps, so it's not like he left very early or anything. Jordan Akins (7 for 55) looking viable in TE-premium leagues, even though Darren Fells the one who scored. Brandin Cooks led the way for the wideouts, Keke Coutee delivered the costly fumble to give Baltimore a defensive score and basically the game.
Patriots at Seahawks: Game somewhat overshadowed by James White's father dying in a car accident just prior to the game. Puts a tough fantasy loss in perspective. The game itself was simply awesome, with big players making big plays -- Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf (burning Stephon Gilmore repeatedly), Tyler Lockett, Chris Carson for Seattle, Cam Newton and Julian Edelman and to some extent N'Keal Harry for New England. Was a good statistical game for Harry but I think the jury is still out on him; just didn't jump off the screen on his catches. Newton was the real star for New England; I can't believe the rest of the league let this happen, since New England with Jarrett Stidham at quarterback might be borderline unwatchable. Seattle got bold with a 3rd and 1 deep ball at the end when a Russell Wilson run/scramble would probably have made more sense. But it worked out on a final-play goal-line stand -- pretty great game to watch.
Monday, Monday: Hard to imagine this game living up to last night's. I like the matchup with the Raiders defense, but am not sure Drew Brees can take advantage of it these days. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. I like Kamara and Emmanuel Sanders, and think the Raiders offense gets a tough matchup, especially for the ground game. We'll see, but I'm going with New Orleans 24, Las Vegas 17.