So I'm in this Survivor Pool, and man the carnage in this thing through two weeks is something else. There's been an inordinate number of wild finishes and upsets in games that were seemingly over. Some crazy big (Ravens-Dolphins) and crazy quiet (Bucs-Saints) fantasy outings, too.
Dolphins at Ravens: I questioned the Ravens' status as 3.5 point favorites in this game. Felt pretty silly while the Dolphins were getting destroyed, but with Tyreek and Waddle going wild, they came all the way back. Ravens secondary had problems a year ago, sustained a couple more injuries this year and still don't have things straightened out. Big games for both quarterbacks (6 touchdowns from Tua on benches everywhere) and main pass catchers, comically meager production from both running games. You'd have thought Chase Edmonds would be a busy receiver, but it didn't happen; Raheem Mostert was better as both runner and receiver. Non-Lamar Ravens rushing numbers hilarious: Kenyan Drake and Mike Davis carried 11 times for 12 yards.
Jets at Browns: I'm not hugely superstitious or anything, but it's hard to equate the way the Browns lost this game with any random, impartial world. Browns scored a touchdown with under 2 minutes left to go up 2 TDs. Except they missed the extra point, and the next time their offense got the ball they were losing 31-30. Jacoby Brissett threw a bad pick and that was it. Breakout game by Garrett Wilson (2 TDs) and a long TD by Corey Davis. Jets boo-birds who were all over Joe Flacco last week feeling guilty now, for one week anyway. Nick Chubb scores 3 TDs in a losing effort, while Kareem Hunt reminds everyone who started him off his 2-TD week that last week's points don't matter. Chubb could have won the game if he slid down at the 1 rather than score his final touchdown, but in fairness it was a little tricky...he had to get to the 2 for the first down, then stop his momentum. Should have done it, but I'm not going to hate on Chubb too much. Going up 2 TDs with under 2 minutes should be enough.
Commanders at Lions: I recall saying there would not be much defense in this game. Gonna be a lot of nice fantasy options on these teams this year. There were yesterday, all along. Key moment late where Washington scored a touchdown to pull within 8. They decided to go for 2, which is I'm sure what all the sheets tell them to do. But they didn't get it, which left them down by 9 when the Lions scored again, they scored, but missed the extra point. And that was the ballgame. Big numbers for both quarterbacks, main wideouts did pretty well, D'Andre Swift perfectly healthy and Jamaal Williams shows the risk in counting too heavily on a No. 2. Another dud from T.J. Hockenson. Not entirely surprising they'd pepper Amon-Ra with passes with a record (most games in a row with 8 catches) at stake.
Colts at Jaguars: I think we're done seeing the Colts as big favorites from now on. Yeah, they were missing two of their top three wide receivers, but this is a team that's got other problems, including perhaps their aging quarterback. Jacksonville defense looks a little better this year, Trevor Lawrence is better, Christian Kirk looks legit, the offense looks functional. James Robinson scored again, though skeptics can point out his 23 carries went for just 64 yards. But Jags win easily, and Nyheim Hines disappointed. Like every other Colts except I guess Ashton Dulin (5 for 79), good for him.
Bucs at Saints: Saints D continues to have Tom Brady's number; this game was 3-3 late. But Brady threw a beaut of a touchdown to No. 6 wideout Breshad Perriman, and Jameis Winston starting forcing throws. Bucs win, neither offense helps anyone very much, although at least you got some decent final numbers from Michael Thomas and Chris Olave. The kind of forgettable stat lines you might have expected if injuries forced you to use the likes of Mark Ingram and Russell Gage. Taysom Hill a non-factor, so probably he'll be really good in one of the next two games. Mike Evans and Marshon Lattimore ejected for fighting, and since there's a history you might not have Evans in Week 3.
Panthers at Giants: Last week I pegged this as a game that might feature more field goals than touchdowns. Sometimes those kind of predictions work out. Giants now 2-0, Panthers 0-2, not sure either team is very good. Serviceable albeit disappointing (no touchdowns) outings from the two star running backs. Both quarterbacks passed for under 200 yards, with 1 TD.
Patriots at Steelers: Nelson Agholor was the best Patriots wideout in August. Sometimes that stuff is meaningful, even though it was hard (impossible?) to actually start Agholor. He had a big game, but for that matter Jakobi Meyers also pretty good, and Damien Harris had a good outing and a touchdown. Almost time to start talking about Pittsburgh making a quarterback change? Not really surprising there was more defense than offense in this one, though. Steelers-Browns on Thursday, yay.
Falcons at Rams: Interesting game that was all Rams early, but the Falcons hung around and had a chance to win at the end. Marcus Mariota showed some pluck and Drake London starting to look like the next 1,000-yard rookie wideout. Speaking of 1,000-yard rookies, I don't have a good answer for what's up with Kyle Pitts. I liked him a lot in the preseason and figured his worst case scenario was catching a bunch of short, harmless passes in blowout losses and maybe scoring only 4-5 TDs. Those things could still happen, but right now his worst-case scenario is looking like maybe being on fantasy benches in Week 3. For the Rams, Kupp had his usual big game and Allen Robinson woke up with 1 TD, another near miss in the end zone, and another touchdowns on a play designed for him, which was erased due to a medical timeout called just before the snap. But a nice bounce-back game for Robinson. Rams used Cam Akers more, as they hinted might be the case this week, but Darrell Henderson scored and Akers wasn't so impressive (15 carries, 44 yards) that he's about to be featured.
Seahawks at 49ers: Trey Lance reportedly out for the year with an ankle injury. I feel bad for the guy and also for the Niners. There was some talk last week about the criticism Lance was getting when he's still just a young kid who hasn't played much football the past two years. It will be the past three years when next year rolls around, and the same questions will remain. I'd say the criticism has to be leveled at the Niners braintrust, for putting so many eggs into the Lance basket, i.e. three first-round picks. Missing on early pick quarterback is one thing, that happens. But the Niners gave away two additional firsts to move up and get him, leaving too much margin for error. Now what? Do they try to bring back Garoppolo, again, next season? I'm talking about this because there's not much to say about the game itself. Seattle's only points were on a field goal block. Tyler Locket had a big game catching short passes, but will be hard to count on that every week. Otherwise the Geno Smith offense is exactly as horrible as expected. For San Francsico, Deebo and Aiyuk were good, Garoppolo will probably be a plus for them. Jeff Wilson had a touchdown vultured by Juszczyk and San Francisco, perhaps stung by criticism of their lousy mid-round running back picks, tried to make Tyrion Davis-Price a thing. 14 carries for 33 yards for TDP, with a 20-yard run in there (so 13 carries for 13 yards otherwise).
Bengals at Cowboys: Many thought the Bengals would win this game, including about a quarter of my survivor pool, but the Cowboys can still play defense, and Cooper Rush made just enough plays to get the win. Nice comeback by the Bengals including some fine throws and catches (good game for Tee Higgins), but not enough. Noah Brown appears to be the Cowboys favorite No. 2 wideout these days, nice game for Tony Pollard. Dalton Schultz was quiet and picked up a knee injury of some sort late, we'll see.
Texans at Broncos: The Broncos won this game, but it wasn't pretty. More struggles near the end zone. More inability to get plays off without a delay of game. Coaching oddities (Andrew Beck jet sweep on 3rd and 1), and out and out miscues (changing mind from going for it on 4th and 1 to attempting a 54-yard field goal, only to let the playclock expire and take a 5-yard penalty, and punt). Denver won, or it's only a little unreasaonable to wonder if Nathaniel Hackett would have made it to Week 3. Russell Wilson did make some big-time throws and Courtland Sutton (as Denver's only healthy receiver) made some big-time catches. Jerry Jeudy left with a shoulder injury, hopefully not serious. Dameon Pierce (15 for 69) with all the running back carries, that's more like it.
Cardinals at Raiders: If the Browns' loss to the Jets was the worst one of the week, this was far and away the 2nd-worst. Maybe the worst. It was all Las Vegas for a half, cruising along at 20-0. It was still 23-7 with just 8 minutes left in the game. But the Raiders didn't put them away, for whatever, reason and Kyler Murray and the Cardinals clawed their way back. Couple of touchdown drives, with some fourth-down conversion, and a couple of successful 2-pointers -- one a true miracle to A.J. Green in the back of the end zone with no time on the clock. And then a fumble-6 in overtime with the Raiders in winning field goal range and Hunter Renfrow fighting for extra yards. I was starting Greg Dortch everywhere so it was nice to see him score, but I won't count on that happening every week (pretty sure he was sitting on a zero into the third quarter). James Conner left with an injury. Tough start for the Raiders.
Bears at Packers: I watch a lot of football, and a recurring theme seems to be officials spotting balls about a half yard short of where they should. The problem appears to be that these guys are a lot slower than professional athletes, so when Justin Fields scrambles for a first down, they're 10 yards behind the play huffing up into the picture without a decent angle to spot the ball in the correct damn place. So Chicago has to waste a challenge to get the ball spotted correctly, and then a few plays later the ball is again spotted short of the end zone (because these days you need to be lying flat on your back in the end zone to get credited with a touchdown as a runner), using another challenge, incorrectly losing, and remaining down 2 TDs in the fourth quarter, ending the game. Don't get me wrong, they could play this game a thousand time and the Bears (with Fields passing for all of 70 yards) wouldn't win, but it's frustrating to see that officials' default approach is to spot balls short, when if you go the other way (spotting it good), it can at least be overturned by an official review without a challenge if somebody screwed up. Whatever. Nice game for David Montgomery, while Aaron Jones looked like Barry Sanders out there -- one of the best running back games you'll likely see all year.
Monday, Monday, times two: So we've got two overlapping games tonight, one probably lousy (Titans-Bills) one compelling (Eagles-Vikings, with these two of the NFC's better teams). Plenty of star power, which will be fun to watch for those not trying to get a Weekly out by Wednesday morning, likely watching these games after the fact to shave out the hour or so of commercials and mindless announcing chitchat. Bills should win easily, but I've said that about a bunch of other games already this season, the other should be close. I'll go Bills 27, Titans 13, and Eagles 30, Vikings 26.