It was a week that highlighted the importance of making the right early picks. Austin Ekeler, Joe Mixon, Cooper Kupp, Justin Jefferson -- nice to have those guys on your side. It was also a week where both injured (Lazard) and recently traded (Hockenson, Wilson) players were better in your lineup than on the bench.

Chargers at Falcons: Kind of a weird game, with the Falcons doing some good things early on, and Cordarrelle Patterson scoring twice, but not doing quite enough -- Mariota missed a wide open Kyle Pitts for a potential big play, Drake London got stripped (of the ball) to kill another potential scoring drive. And Austin Ekeler had a big game, plus he lost an additional touchdown on a replay review. Had a late fumble that almost prevented the Chargers from kicking the winning field goal, but the Falcons defense fumbled it back. Good game for Josh Palmer, and serviceable if you gambled with DeAndre Carter's health. Atlanta probably should have won this one, but Mariota didn't make any plays. Three-back committee for Atlanta; Allgeier and Patterson both good.

Dolphins at Bears: Another shootout involving the Dolphins. Their defense doesn't travel well; at home their games are lower scoring. Big games and touchdowns, again, for Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and another fine week for Tua. Monster rushing week for Justin Fields, plus he threw 3 TDs -- congrats if you were patient with Cole Kmet (2 TDs) and Darnell Mooney. Weird that Miami didn't run more with Raheem Mostert, but I guess that's not how they're wired these days. And I underestimated Jeff Wilson, who had a big role and good numbers, including catching a score. We'll see what the snap counts say, but perhaps a committee going forward, which might have been the original plan with Chase Edmonds.

Panthers at Bengals: Tough week to be facing Joe Mixon and his 55 PPR points. He was the offense, with Joe Burrow and the passing game able to call off the dogs early. Carolina getting blown out early was a killer for D'Onta Foreman, and Baker Mayfield ultimately came in to mop up, throwing a pair of scores. We'll see what this means (beyond, Carolina's little run of relevance appears to be over).

Packers at Lions: Kind of a shocking game throughout, highlighted by Aaron Rodgers throwing 3 goal-line interceptions, and then apparently targeting Sammy Watkins on the game-ending incompletion, which is nearly as bad these days. Injuries loomed large, let's get to them: D'Andre Swift didn't play much, was a good decision if you benched him. Allen Lazard looked fully healthy and not only had a good game but was a play or two from having a great game, so benching him (as I did) was the wrong call. Of course Lazard's role might have been affected by Romeo Doubs getting hurt early on, leaving Rodgers with little else to force the ball to. And Aaron Jones got hurt. A stinging loss for the Packers; I saw all the interceptions and am not sure who gets the most blame for each, but Rodgers certainly earned a chunk (these weren't balls bouncing off receivers' hands or anything). A week after trading T.J. Hockenson the Lions naturally throw 2 TDs to tight ends.

Raiders at Jaguars: This one was more bizarre than Falcons-Chargers, in that the Raiders were all over Jacksonville early, with Davante Adams running free in the secondary on play after play and Vegas taking a 20-7 lead. And then, like the earlier Cardinals loss, it all just stopped happening for them, and Jacksonville took over and won. Hard to figure and hard to watch for Raiders fans. Easiest explanation has to be that the Raiders missed Darren Waller, since Adams was the only noteworthy receiver for them. Nice games for Travis Etienne and Christian Kirk, a dud for Evan Engram; might have been an injury issue, he was getting worked on on the sideline late. Small comfort, I realize.

Colts at Patriots: So when the Colts named Sam Ehlinger starter "for the rest of the season" did they just mean until the team is eliminated from likely contention? This team doesn't look likely to win a game the rest of the way. Tough row to hoe playing at New England lots of weeks, but they didn't rise to the occasion. Nothing happening for the offense, and Michael Pittman (among other Colts) is killing lineups these days. Workmanlike win for the Patriots offense; AFC East not quite over yet, even though it should be.

Bills at Jets: Yeah I don't know what to say about this one. Certainly, the Jets have some defensive ability. Sauce Gardner can play (though I think he got away with interference on the final incompletion), and maybe Buffalo took New York a little lightly. Credit to the Jets offense, with Garrett Wilson and Michael Carter playing well and Zach Wilson doing some good things. But I think Buffalo managing just 17 points is the big story here.

Vikings at Commanders: Gotta be grudgingly admiring of the Vikings, who keep winning these close games. They don't seem great, but they're better in the fourth quarter each and every week. Impressive. Washington seemed to have this one, going up 17-7, but Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson especially brought Minnesota back. Big game for T.J. Hockenson, just days after being traded. Kind of liked him already, really like him now.

Seahawks at Cardinals: NFL kind of dropped the ball with scheduling, giving us just 2 later slot games. This one had some highlights but wasn't exactly a great game, and the other was a low-scoring dud (which also got interesting late) -- neither one had entertaining first halves. Anyway, ended up being a great game for both offenses and defenses (in fantasy terms), with lots of passing production, a serviceable game for James Conner and a great one for Kenneth Walker (after a really slow start). Zach Ertz touchdown came immediately after DeAndre Hopkins' 2nd touchdown was erased by a Robbie Anderson penalty away from the ball; Anderson also killed a drive with a bad drop. Costly. My son and I were debating whether Kyler Murray is good enough for the Cardinals to win. I think he is; he's good enough that the team should be looking to upgrade around him, and you can't say that about every NFL starter. Half of them? Maybe, maybe not.

Rams at Bucs: Had dinner at a point in this game when it seemed like the Rams had won with a goal-line stop in the final two minutes. Saw to my surprise the Bucs won and rewound to watch the win. Rams failed to get a first down (looked like Cooper Kupp maybe could have picked it up, instead focusing on staying in bounds), punted, and a few big plays later (Cade Otton emerging), the Bucs won. All but sticks a fork in the Rams season, I think, and reaffirms the Bucs as a pretty iffy likely division champ. I shouldn't criticize Kupp of course what with him accounting for nearly 80 percent of Stafford's yards and his only touchdown. Nobody else a factor (Van Jefferson dropped an easy one). Mike Evans picked up an injury of some sort but presumably not serious, he continued to play.

Titans at Kansas City: Kansas City won, but I came away kind of impressed by Tennessee. They were just a play or two from winning this game even while being totally unable to pass the ball at all. Big game for Derrick Henry, but even bigger for Patrick Mahomes and his main receivers (which lately includes Mecole Hardman), and Kansas City pulled out. Looks like a near-certainty that these teams are winning their respective divisions, probably by several games, and a playoff meeting is also very possible.

Monday, Monday: Should be an entertaining game, with both teams kind of in the playoff picture (Baltimore more likely). Kenyan Drake, Isaiah Likely and Lamar Jackson all look good for Baltimore, while the Saints should get production out of Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave. In general though, I expect the Ravens defense to make Andy Dalton look like the journeyman veteran backup he is. Baltimore 27, New Orleans 19.