Call it the week of the franchise wide receiver. Call it shootout week. Botton line is that one week after most of the games were low-scoring and hit unders, we had a week where they were high-scoring. And so were a lot of fantasy matchups.
Browns at Ravens: Ravens decided not to mess around in this one, rolling up huge numbers on the Browns. You'd think that would be great, except Derrick Henry carried 11 times for 23 yards and Lamar Jackson threw 3 of his 4 TDs to guys who aren't even rostered in any but the deepest dynasty leagues, let alone in starting lineups. Don't cut Mark Andrews yet, but you probably can't start him right now either. Browns wasted no time making Quinshon Judkins their lead running back. Six different players caught 3-5 passes for Cleveland, making it hard to profit.
Jaguars at Bengals: Painful one since most of us have Joe Burrow somewhere (or everywhere). I guess we should have protected the pick with Jake Browning, who did a pretty fair Burrow impression in leading a comeback win. Personally I have Trevor Lawrence as my Burrow backup in several leagues, so it was nice to see him join the season. Bhayshul Tuten did the same, with it appearing that the trade of Tank Bigsby will benefit him plenty. Monster game for top pick everywhere JaMarr Chase. Even without Burrow for most of it, which is reassuring (since Burrow might be headed for a three-month absence).
Giants at Cowboys: And another wild game. Dallas' frankly miraculous win in this back-and-forth shootout kept me and many others alive in our Survivor Pools. Both defenses were a disaster of coverage, penalties (especially the Giants) and the like, but offensive stars also made some pretty amazing throws and catches. Yes even Russell Wilson, though his late interception enabled Dallas to win. Huge game for Malik Nabers in a lost cause. Giants don't seem to like Tyrone Tracy much, electing to give more work to Cam Skattebo. New York hosts Kansas City next week, headed for 0-3.
Bears at Lions: Will Dan Cambpell and Ben Johnson still be friends after this one? There was some running up of the score here, with the Lions opening up a can of whoop ass after their bad loss in Week 1. Giving Johnson and the Bears now two bad losses. Real nice game, at least, for Rome Odunze (not so much DJ Moore). And pretty much all the Lions except for Sam LaPorta. Running game, as well as Jared Goff, sure looked good. Game also makes Green Bay look even better. since they shut down these guys.
Patriots at Dolphins: I'm not sure what TreVeyon Henderson did to fall out of favor this week. But in close questions on Saturday I generally advised against him versus similarly ranked players, because you just never know with committee backs. Yesterday it was Rhamondre Stevenson's turn to lead the offense, even though the really big story was back to back punt and kickoff return touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The league is happy. Also happy are those invested in the Dolphins passing game, including DeVon Achane, big numbers there. And Kayhson Boutte saved those who started him with a late touchdown (his only catch). Maybe Mike Vrabel hates your fantasy teams, or maybe Rhamondre can still play some.
49ers at Saints: Mac Jones, interesting story. Supposedly Kyle Shanahan wanted him when the team traded up and instead drafted Trey Lanee. I believe the story, because Jones makes a lot more sense running this offense. Anyway, early indications are that indeed, the team will get by without Brock Purdy the next week or four. Of course, the Saints aren't very good. But decent numbers out of the Saints you had to start, including a pair of touchdown receptions. San Francisco's two replacement tight ends combined for a nice George Kittle stat line. Better than I expected, but still hard to start either player. Safe to say Jauan Jennings (5 for 89, TD) returning hurt Ricky Pearsall (4 for 56). But not awful, and I think I still like him better the rest of the way.
Bills at Jets: Bills win in a start to finish blowout. Jets big week against the Steelers didn't happen again. Justin Fields in the concussion protocol, so we may need to see a Tyrod Taylor start. The stats put up by both teams (more running than passing from Buffalo, not much good from the Jets) were a little more what I was expecting before both teams lit up the scoreboard in Week 1. Nice game for James Cook and his favorite book and a pretty cool touchdown run.
Seahawks at Steelers: Seahawks looking good on both sides of the ball, helped in this one by a Steelers miscue on a kick return. That's not gonna earn Kaleb Johnson more work. Revenge game touchdown for DK Metcalf, but Jaxon Smith-Njigba had the big game. Steelers passing game mostly funneled through Jaylen Warren. I know Mike Tomlin has never had a losing record and I know they won last week, but he's got his work cut out for him this year. Kenneth Walker truthers enjoyed this one, as he was slightly more productive with his 13 carries (105 yards, TD) than Zach Charbonnet with his 15 (10 yards).
Rams at Titans: Rams offense did its thing, with Stafford spinning it and Nacua and Adams lighting up the night. Kyren Williams didn't score, that was the negative, Blake Corum did while getting all the work on a fourth-quarter series (not garbage time, since Williams was in for the next series). Pretty amazing scramble and touchdown throw by Cam Ward who kept Tennessee in the game and made things interesting at times. Not quite enough for Calvin Ridley, but Elic Ayomanor looks legit.
Panthers at Cardinals: Nice stat line for Bryce Young. Most of it came after Arizona went up 27-3, so it's debatable if he's proved anything to doubters (I'm one of them). But a nice day in fantasy, particularly for Hunter Renfrow (7 catches, 2 TDs). Arizona built its big lead with field goals and a fumble return score (coughed up by Young), so not great numbers from those guys unfortunately. NFC West looking not so bad in the win column (a combined 7-1 right now).
Broncos at Colts: Crazy game and a heartbreaker for Denver. They had a missed field goal, a Nix red-zone interception, and a lot of defensive breakdowns, but had still seemingly done enough to win when the Colts missed a 59-yard field goal that wasn't close (which curiously the Colts seemed to settle for strategically, which was weird). But a leverage penalty on a Bronco jumping over the line gave the Colts another chance from 15 yards closer, which he nailed. Painful when mental errors decide games, not that Denver didn't make other mistakes. Big games for Troy Franklin, Jonathan Taylor, Bo Nix (error aside) and Daniel Jones. Colts spread things around, not really avoiding Pat Surtain it didn't seem, so no big receiving games, but everyone was good. Props to Jones, not crazy about the late call though.
Eagles at Kansas City: Eagles just win, Kansas City just looks a little out of sync. Defenses led the way in this one, with the big play a Travis Kelce drop at the goal line, which ended up being intercepted and run back near midfield, with the Eagles ultimately scoring to go up 10. Not a pretty game for anyone and not great offensive numbers. Kansas City has been playing like this for a while. Hopefully this isn't what we'll be getting out of the Eagles (especially A.J. Brown and DeVonta), but...
Falcons at Vikings: Woof. Two weeks in a row when the Sunday night game is completely different from the rest of the day's slate: low-scoring day followed by shootout, high-scoring day followed by this field goal fest. I thought Atlanta's defense would be better but did not anticipate this. And then there's the J.J. McCarthy outing that was a lot more like his first three quarters of Week 1 than his last. Those of us who selected Justin Jefferson rather than, oh, any other mid- or late-first round wide receiver aren't feeling too hot right now.
Monday. Monday times two: Does anyone need two Monday night games? I don't think so. At least they're good ones, I think, with interesting teams, two division champs, a wildcard team, and a plucky Pete Carroll Raiders offense with some star power. I like the Bucs over Texans, 24-17, and the Chargers to handle the Raiders, 27-20. But I'd rather have guys like Jeanty and Meyers on my side tonight than against me.