There are bad weeks and then there are really bad weeks. Really bad weeks are when touchdowns are scored by guys you quite reasonably benched, ala Marvin Jones and Chase Edmonds. And seemingly good starters like say Matt Ryan did nothing and then got hurt. Everyone's got a sob story and I guess for everyone who got jobbed by one of those players, somebody else got a win from facing them. Kind of hurts anyway.
49ers at Washington: What an eyesore this game was. Well, fun for the lousy conditions and scenes of players sliding through water. Not fun if you started anyone. Made sense not to use Washington players, but I had to roll the dice with Terry McLaurin in a league anyway. Not so good. San Francisco is 6-0 with Jimmy Garoppolo doing essentially nothing thus far. Nice defense, there. Washington has 3 TDs in its last four games and 2 were against Miami.
Cardinals at Giants: David Johnson started, got a carry, and then that was his game. Afterword his account and Kliff Kingsbury's didn't quite mesh. He said after the carry he realized he couldn't put weight on his ankle. Kingsbury said Johnson was going to be used to spell Edmonds (he started) and didn't have a setback; he kept Johnson sidelined because of the weather. Whatever; can't trust how these backs might be used until we're confident Johnson is healthy. Rough, ugly outing for Daniel Jones, again. Pretty throw for a touchdown to the unstartable Rhett Ellison. Cardinals can't cover tight ends, but it was Ellison who benefited from that weakness today.
Texans at Colts: Think we can all agree the Colts are pretty good and can win plenty of games without Andrew Luck. Beaten Kansas City and Houston their last two games. How they lost at home to the Raiders, I have no idea, but they're clearly pretty good. Great game for Jacoby Brisseet, beautiful touchdown grab by Eric Ebron and a nice game for Zach Pascal, who I endorsed as the likely No. 2 in a good matchup this week...but didn't actually pick up, opting instead for Darius Slayton. Ah well. Nice game for Hopkins and he even had a touchdown taken away on an in-the-grasp call.
Raiders at Packers: Oakland's lack of a pass rush (Khalil Mack, anyone?) really hurts them in a game against a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers. Get pressure on him or he'll kill you. And so he did. Touchdowns for basically everyone, including washed-up Jimmy Graham and our two weeks ago recommendation Jake Kumerow. Better late than never? Raiders at least got a good performance from Josh Jacobs and a huge game out of Darren Waller. Funny story, I have him in one league where I nominated him in an auction by accident, and got him for a buck. Well, not that funny.
Vikings at Lions: Kerryon Johnson left early with a knee injury in this game. Ty Johnson got the work, he's the guy to add if you can. Adam Thielen left with a hamstring injury, at least scoring first. Minnesota plays Thursday, so start making alternative plans if you have Thielen. I guess those short week concerns are real sometimes, best explanation for the way the Lions defense got rolled in this one. Nobody's complaining about the Vikings offense these days.
Jaguars at Bengals: Another brutal game for Joe Mixon, though at least he scored. Bengals led this game late but then Andy Dalton had kind of a meltdown that included a shovel pass interception. Good game for Leonard Fournette and Dede Westbrook, another of those guys I considered starting this week but didn't. I won't like, not a week I'm happy about. I guess Alex Erickson might be kind of an add this week after his big game, but hard to feel confident it will crop up again. As with Allen Lazard, you don't get credit for last week's points.
Dolphins at Bills: Josh Allen had a good fantasy game and John Brown did too. Otherwise you didn't get as much from the Bills as you'd like, especially the running game in a choice matchup. But the Bills win again. For Miami, Ryan Fitzpatrick gives the team a way better chance to win than Josh Rosen. Which probably means Rosen will be back in the lineup before long. Mark Walton now Miami's lead back, Kalen Ballage the goal-line guy. May as well give Kenyan Drake away, he's not helping Miami.
Rams at Falcons: The Matt Ryan ankle injury is disappointing but he was having a lousy game prior to that. Eventually all those yards and points run out when you're losing every week. Time to line up other quarterback options, a good reminder that having two is a good thing. I had better options on a lot of benches yesterday, as I'm sure everyone else did. Rams win big and Todd Gurley catches a touchdown, but he and some other key Rams didn't actually have great games. Stuff gets covered up when you win easily, though. Another vote of confidence for Dan Quinn by Arthur Blank. He's a goner, but the team is 1-6 so what's the point in rushing the decision.
Chargers at Titans:Not a Chargers fan per se, but I do have a soft spot for Old Man Rivers. So pretty brutal the way this game worked out. Prior to Melvin Gordon fumbling the game away the Chargers had a pair of touchdowns taken away on replay review. I don't want to get in a big argument with anyone here, but one of the overturns was ...a little questionable. It's a team that's made losing in epic fashion fairly routine over the years, but this sure beats a missed field goal here and there. Probably kills their season (and perhaps Gordon's Chargers career, not that it was looking good), too. Oh hey nice game for Ryan Tannehill.
Ravens at Seahawks: Remember when playing in Seattle used to be really tough for visitors? 12th man and all that? Not the case anymore. A defensive struggle for a while, and then Lamar Jackson -- sorry -- ran away with it. His legs were basically the offense. Game over. Guess the Marcus Peters deal was a good one, with his Pick Six proving huge. Ravens defense came to play.
Saints at Bears: What a disaster the Bears are on offense right now. Matt Nagy's an offensive-minded coach, right? Not sure what's going on here, but all the production they managed was late and meaningless. Saints defense is pretty good, no question, they've had other good games along the way. But the Bears are struggling against everyone (even their win over Washington wasn't pretty). Nice games for Michael Thomas and Latavius Murray, that's why you rostered him, even in a tough matchup.
Eagles at Cowboys: Sometimes the Cowboys look really good, and this was one of those nights. Eagles had been stuffing the run all season long but Ezekiel Elliott doesn't get stuffed too often. He was great, and everything Dak Prescott did worked (alas Michael Gallup, the healthy receiver, got left out of the fun...a recommendation that didn't work out). Eagles offense never got on track and I think it's fair to be a bit concerned about Zach Ertz after a dud like this.
Monday, Monday: Like many I imagine, I need a good game from James White tonight to pull out a win or two. Jets are talking upset and I can't help but think that maybe it's not the best idea -- like, GET the upset, and then talk about how you felt great about this game. Why poke the bear with a stick? Anyway, New England defense is great and I'm not sure the Jets have enough to get the win, or that their defense is good enough. I suspect it will be close for a while but that's about it. Patriots 24, Jets 17.