There were some backup quarterbacks and first-year starters out there yesterday, which resulted in a lot of ugly football. But there was also the kind of drama that only field goals -- made, missed, blocked and returned for touchdowns -- can bring. Crazy day.
Falcons at Panthers: I called this game pretty wrong. Early returns on Michael Penix are not great. Not that he was the only one at fault in this one, but he was a big part of it. Atlanta defense didn't make many plays against Bryce Young, though they also didn't give up much. There was a Pick Six (there were a bunch of those yesterday) that essentially ended the game. New Falcons kicker Parker Romo missed both his field goal chances, one way left and one right, two days after the team released Younghoe Koo. And maybe the Falcons were looking past Carolina. But anyway, bad day at the office. Only Bijan Robinson was decent in the shutout loss.
Packers at Browns: Packers lost tackle Zach Tom early, and maybe that's why Jordan Love seemed to be getting buried on every other play. They couldn't do anything against Cleveland's strong defensive front, which will be moving up some in the rankings this week. Josh Jacobs went nowhere, Love had no time. And yet Green Bay led 10-0 with 4 minutes left in the game. Cleveland field goal, bad Love interception to set up Cleveland near the goal line, Quinshon Judkins touchdown; congrats to those who drafted and will be starting him from now on. And yet still Green Bay could have won, but a blocked field goal later and it was the Browns hitting the clutch kick. Crazy. And not much of value in this game from a fantasy standpoint. Both defenses look like ones to avoid starting players against.
Texans at Jaguars: If not for a defensive breakdown by the Jaguars to give C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins an easy 50-yard touchdown, there would have been nothing at all from Houston's offense. Aside from Collins, I'm not sure who to recommend from this team going forward. Jacksonville wasn't pretty either, with Trevor Lawrence finishing with 222 yards, but no touchdowns, a bad interception, and enough plays to win but not enough to make me feel good about starting him anywhere. The defenses are good, Houston has been good and Jacksonville is improved, but the offenses also deserve blame. Early on, Bhayshul Tuten scored a short touchdown. But just 5 other touches. Travis Etienne scored the game-winner late, but I believe Houston let him score so they could get the ball back (Jacksonville otherwise could have run the clock down and kicked a field goal with little time left). Stroud picked to the end the game (arm got hit). Neither offense looked good, that's the main takeaway.
Bengals at Vikings: Speaking of bad offenses. I'm fairly certain that Jake Browning has looked like he could play football in the pats. But he was down bad yesterday, with a brutal Pick Six, a second interception, and a number of other bad throws. Including one to Ja'Marr Chase (just 50 yards, sigh) where he had scrambled about three yards beyond the line of scrimmage, and then Chase fumbled it (one of 5 Cincinnati fumbles, 3 lost). Props to Vikings corner Isaiah Rodgers, who had the interception return and a fumble return for a touchdown. Game over at halftime. Browning finished with numbers (140 yard, 1 TD) that were actually better than he looked. Gonna have a hard time starting him going forward. One of the better throws I saw was a near-miss to Tee Higgins at the goal line. That's right, near misses were the main highlights. Big game for Jordan Mason, as expected.
Steelers at Patriots: TreVeyon Henderson finished with just 47 total yards, but a good day for him because New England's other two running backs combined to fumble 3 times, including one by Stevenson as he was inches short of a touchdown. Antonio Gibson (who also was in for a series near the goal line) also lost a fumble, as did Drake Maye. So maybe this helps Henderson out of whatever doghouse Mike Vrabel seemed to have him in. Maye did throw a pair of scores to Hunter Henry, also known as the only Patriots receiver you can start these days. For Pittsburgh, Metcalf and Austin caught touchdowns, which was good since otherwise the passing game did nothing. Nor did the run game, and Kenneth Gainwell (who nobody started) scored the touchdown).
Rams at Eagles: Great game with lots of emotional swings, with Rams appearing to have won it early (up 26-7 and dominating), Eagles coming all the way back for the lead, but the Rams lining up a winning field goal...only to have it blocked (their second blocked field goal) and returned for a touchdown. Fantasy wise, I think you got good or great numbers and touchdowns from virtually anyone (except Saquon, ironically enough) you might have started. All it took was falling way behind for the Eagles to pass the ball a little. Tough loss for the Rams but clearly they belonged on the same field with the champs, so there's that.
Jets at Bucs: I wasn't sure the Bucs were going to win this game, but nor was I expecting this. Jets used a couple of Tyrod Taylor touchdown passes and a blocked field goal returned for a score to erase a big deficit (built in part by a really ugly Tyrod Pick Six) and take a late lead. But the Bucs moved down field late, as they've been doing each week, for the last-minute win. Emeka Egbuka fine, I regret benching him. Mike Evans left with an injury of some sort. Good game for Garrett Wilson. Not a great Bucky Irving game but at least he was a workhorse.
Colts at Titans: Colts offense kept on doing its thing. Cam Ward hit his yardage over with his team getting blown out. Too bad he also kicked off Indy's scoring with a really awful-looking Pick Six (rookie mistake) and also went just 1 of 7 targeting Calvin Ridley, who, sigh, I don't imagine I'll be recommending again. Big game for Jonathan Taylor. More strong play for Daniel Jones. Colts looking like AFC South's best team at present.
Raiders at Commanders: Washington wins by blowout, they fared a little better with their backup quarterback than one or two other teams. Huge game for Tre Tucker, probably not starting anywhere, a lot of it in extended garbage time (but not all). The biggest discussion to have about this game, I think, is Washington's full-on committee backfield. Chris Rodriguez, inactive the first two weeks, started and was playing near the goal line when Marcus Mariota scored. The actual rushing touchdowns were by Jacory Croskey-Merritt (1 yard) and Jeremy McNichols (a longer one, but I also saw him playing near the goal line at one point. So yeah. Messy backfield. But Washington wins. Ashton Jeanty, 17 carries and no targets in the passing game in a one-sided loss.
Broncos at Chargers: Outplayed at the end in the key moments again, Broncos fall to 1-2. Big game for Courtland Sutton and a nifty touchdown for J.K. Dobbins (in the books as a run, but it was a pass play ruled a lateral). But Denver's offense largely misfired, most notably with Bo Nix just missing Marvin Mims (twice) and then Sutton at the end on a deep ball that would have won the game. Chargers made the plays, Najee Harris left with an injury that seemed to be a season-ender, big outing for Keenan Allen again, one of those guys I and I suppose many others wrote off too soon.
Saints at Seahawks: Seattle took the mystery out of this one early for all those who picked them in Survivor Pools. The bottom line outcome wasn't a surprise, but the quickness with which it was determined was. Saints defended the run well, that was about it (but still 2 TDs for Kenneth Walker). Some garbage production (as in, the whole game) from Juwan Johnson and Chris Olave. Tyler Shough played the final series. If you can't get your rookie second-rounder some reps in a 44-13 loss, when can you.
Cowboys at Bears: Warnings about Dallas' defense, down a cornerback and a pass rusher or two, were given. Not trying to take anything away from Caleb Williams, who had a great game, but it was definitely one you could see coming. Dallas also lost CeeDee Lamb early to an ankle injury, accounting for his zero. The offense missed him. All things considered, you at least got decent, scoreless production from Javonte, while both Pickens and Ferguson were good to great. But that's two weeks in a row that Dallas' defense has been torched. Good for offensive numbers at least.
Cardinals at 49ers: James Conner knocked out of this one with an injury they didn't want to replay on TV. Things didn't go much better for Arizona, but they were in position to win a lower-scoring game when their gamble near midfield in the final two minutes was oh-so-close to being completed, but a defender broke it up and forced a punt, and the Niners pulled it out on a last-second field goal. I haven't done a count but it feels like 5-7 games were decided on made or missed field goals at the end yesterday. And the rest were blowouts. Nobody needs help to start Trey Benson going forward.
Kansas City at Giants: I saw some excitement about the Giants offense here last week, I assume this one will cool that enthusiasm. I don't know if Jaxson Dart will be starting in Week 4 (may as well let Russell Wilson get beat up by the Chargers), but it's coming soon. Kansas City's offense didn't do much, which is becoming a pretty familiar story. Just an eyesore of a game and a good one not to be starting anyone but new Giant top back Cam Skattebo (Tyrone Tracy left early with a shoulder injury; he was leading the backfield until then, but that's probably over now). Kansas City made a point of not letting Malik Nabers be a factor, something we'll probably see again, Giants are going to have to figure that one out or it's going to be a long season.
Monday, Monday: Entertaining matchup here, assuming the Lions are able to crack a Ravens defense that totally humbled them two years ago. With that in mind, I've shied away from starting Lions beyond the obvious (Gibbs, Amon-Ra, maybe LaPorta) this week. But the Lions also have at least some defensive ability, so maybe it's a closer, defensive struggle type of game. Ultimately though, I'll call it Baltimore 27, Detroit 17.