There has been less scoring in general this year, so yesterday was a nice throwback day. Lots of offense, lots of scoring, lots of multi-TD games by big stars. Kamara, McCaffrey, Henry...Pollard? Nice week if you had these guys on your side, not so much if they were against you.
Broncos vs. Jaguars across the pond: Broncos offense comes to life in the second half, setting the tone for what would end up being a higher-scoring day. Good things happen when you have a good defense and score multiple touchdowns in a game. Russell Wilson's touchdown "pass" to Jerry Jeudy was basically a forward handoff, but Wilson did make some nice throws in the second half, to Jeudy and tight end Greg Dulcich (pictured) primarily, who could have had a much bigger day (a catch a yard short of the goal line, and not seen on another play that could have gone for a score). Both Broncos running backs scored. Huge day for Travis Etienne, but the passing game really struggled, with a couple of bad picks by Trevor Lawrence -- one on 1st and goal at a time when Jacksonville could have gone up 2 TDs.
Panthers at Falcons: In a crazy high-scoring Sunday, this was one of the crazier games. Falcons went up 6 with a field goal in the final minute, only to have the Panthers connect on an unlikely, crazy P.J. Walker to D.J. Moore bomb that traveled some 70 yards in the air for what should have been a game-winning touchdown with 12 seconds left. But an emotional Moore took his helmet off, was flagged 15 yards, the extra point attempt was pushed back, and it missed by inches. Carolina intercepted Marcus Mariota in overtime, ran it back to set up a short field goal -- and Eddy Pineiro missed that one in uglier fashion. Falcons drove down and made their field goal. Huge game for D'Onta Foreman and Moore, big passing numbers for the Falcons (Kyle Pitts sighting), both running backs productive (and still hard to actually use). But my main takeaway is regret that Moore's spectacular catch wasn't ultimately a game-winner, and we don't have 4 3-5 NFC South teams.
Bears at Cowboys: Cowboys offense was on fire early, running and passing at will. Bears hung around and were more impressive on offense than expected against a tough Dallas defense, but they couldn't slow down Tony Pollard, couldn't cover Dallas receivers (Michael Gallup was open for a touchdown early and Dak Prescott missed him, the lone Cowboy not to have a big game), and couldn't get Prescott and company off the field. Great numbers for a lot of key Bears too, with Khalil Herbert the better half of the committee and Justin Fields having another good run-driven game. Darnell Mooney gave you about all you could hope for and Cole Kmet even scored a touchdown.
Dolphins at Lions: Lions jumped out to an early lead, but when you don't play defense (that was Dan Campbell's background, right?) no lead is safe. And Miami kept moving the ball and moving the ball, with Tua Tagovailoa and both wideouts having huge game. Raheem Mostert a little disappointing, in part because they let a fullback score a touchdown. D'Andre Swift scored and had a good fantasy game (albeit with 5 rushes for 6 yards), so welcome back, but Jamaal Williams scored twice, probably on a lot of benches, and was more effective running it. And the Lions couldn't make enough plays on offense late to get a win. Positive is at least their offense did something after a couple of lousy games, but the losses keep coming. Couple of near-misses with touchdown chances for Josh Reynolds, not that helps anyone. Decent PPR game for Amon-Ra.
Cardinals at Vikings: Another week-winning performance for DeAndre Hopkins, and a big game for Kyler Murray throwing to him. Small for Eno, who many started, large for Rondale, who few likely did. Key Vikings were pretty good -- Jefferson, Cook, Cousins, Thielen -- although maybe you wanted a touchdown from Jefferson. Encouraging that the Cardinals offense again moved the ball well, happy to have Hopkins back in the lineup. Nice job by those who drafted him and waited patiently.
Raiders at Saints: I don't have much to offer here. I guess Davante was really sick and so was the rest of the team? Derek Carr, Josh Jacobs, Adams -- nothing doing all day against a Saints defense that has struggled all season. Carr was the main culprit, just turning in a lousy day that pretty much prevented his receivers from thriving and didn't enable the ground game to get anything going. Huge game from New Orleans' lone healthy player, Alvin Kamara. Bad day at the office, which also applies to those of us who thought the Vegas offense would be good.
Patriots at Jets: This was supposed to be the Jets exorcising the demons from the Patriots team that has dominated them. And indeed, they were thisclose to going up 17-3 with a Pick Six on a horrible throw by Mac Jones early on; if that play stands up, maybe the game is almost over. But the Jets were called for roughing the passer (legit call, and extra painful for New York since it didn't affect the actual throw), and the Patriots scored there, and again, and suddenly New York was behind and Zach Wilson had to win it with his arm. It didn't go well. He finished with good numbers and 2 TDs to his tight end, I guess, but a lot of garbage numbers there. No better cure for what ails the Patriots than a matchup with the Jets. Huge day from Rhamondre (especially as a receiver), with Damien Harris the clear No. 2.
Steelers at Eagles: Eagles are just dominating these days, looking like they can take apart anyone. And the schedule doesn't hurt, with them not facing a lot of good teams these days. Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown played pitch and catch, Miles Sanders and Dallas Goedert had good games, DeVonta Smith kind of got left out of the fun (it happens). For the Steelers, really nothing good at all. Their only touchdown was a trick play pass from Chase Claypool to Derek Watt. George Pickens got shutout. Since the Lions put up big numbers back in Week 1, there have been a lot of bad offensive outings against the Eagles. Best avoided with suspect offenses like Pittsburgh. Even garbage-time doesn't always work out.
Titans at Texans: I was concerned that Malik Willis might just spend the game handing it off. That's what happened, he attempted only 10 passes, making the passing game entirely useless. Derrick Henry was awesome, and that was all Tennessee needed. For Houston, I advised against Dameon Pierce because of the quality of the run defense he was facing. That proved accurate, the ground game went nowhere, but Pierce salvaged his day by catching a touchdown. He is the offense right now. Titans started out 0-2 but look like they're going to wrap up the AFC South by the end of November.
Commanders at Colts: Sam Ehlinger recommendation didn't work out so great. He didn't run enough, and the offense kept shooting itself in the foot with turnovers and drops. A critical one late by Michael Pittman on a perfect throw that would have put the Colts on the outskirts of game-winning field goal range, and 2 lost fumbles (I think that's why Matt Ryan was benched) by Jonathan Taylor and Ehlinger to kill drives. It's been a strange year for the Colts who seemingly can compete with anyone and lose to anyone. Antonio Gibson, all he had to do to become fantasy relevant was to get demoted, apparently, nice game for him (and not Brian Robinson). Sweet goal-line catch by Terry McLaurin, taking it away from the defender, to set up the winning quarterback sneak. Washington 4-4 and 2 games behind everyone else in their division.
49ers at Rams:Cooper Kupp left this one (after having a big game of course) with an ankle injury, that will need to be looked into. Van Jefferson returned and played more than half the game without having a pass thrown his way, but perhaps helping prod Allen Robinson into a usable game. San Francisco got Christian McCaffrey worked into the offense you might say, with him involved in 3 TDs, including a passing score that was as good as any quarterback threw yesterday. Ronnie Rivers split time with Darrell Henderson, but whatever -- Rams aren't running the ball on anyone right now, and doesn't look like they'll be going back to the playoffs, either.
Giants at Seahawks: Ground games didn't do nearly as much as expected in this one, either team. Saquon scored, so there's that, but running room wasn't there, and the Giants passing game was even more disappointing. Salvaged some late production, but not enough. I do think Darius Slayton has made a pretty firm case for that No. 1 receiving job, wish I'd picked him up rather than Sammy freaking Watkins, who I will never start again. Geno Smith wins again, throwing touchdowns to his two main targets -- actually threw 2 to Tyler Lockett, but Lockett dropped one so he had to do it all over again. I won't rip Smith again this year.
Packers at Bills: Watching Aaron Jones run roughshod all over the Bills, I wondered again why the Packers have underutilized him in so many games. He's the best thing the offense has going for it. Otherwise Green Bay's lone highlight was a really great touchdown grab by Romeo Doubs. Bills offense had a couple of uncharacteristic turnovers and Josh Allen passing numbers a little down, but basically Buffalo did its thing and the game wasn't much in doubt. Nice game for Devin Singletary too. Watkins, mentioned above -- never again. Either wasn't fully healthy or got hurt during the game, whatever. Can't be trusted, and this applies to the passing game in general. Green Bay plays the Lions next week, but I personally will not be using Sammy.
Monday, Monday: The Bengals are simply the much better team right now, so they should be all over the Browns with both the run and the pass. If you're winning but facing either Burrow, Mixon, Higgins and maybe Boyd and Hurst, don't count your chickens. Defense is good; I'm not betting against Nick Chubb, but we'll see. If the Browns do lose this one, trading away Kareem Hunt tomorrow would make a lot of sense, cause they're not going to be in playoff contention much longer. And might not be anyway. Hopefully there will be some cool costumes in attendance. Bengals 27, Browns 17.