Not the prettiest day of football. An unusual number of teams are starting backup quarterbacks (and these are the guys the NFL is trying to protect, lol), lowering the overall level of play, and some of the better guys also struggled. But there were plenty of upsets, reminding us you can't count on pretty much anything in the NFL.
Ravens vs. Titans across the pond: As expected, a lower-scoring, field-goal driven dud. Ryan Tannehill left with an ankle injury, but he was doing little anyway. Somehow DeAndre Hopkins caught just 1 pass, despite being Tennessee's only notable pass catcher. Malik Willis did not put much of anything good on tape; the bulk of his yards came on a little dumpoff that Tyjae Spears took 48 yards downfield. Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers and Derrick Henry helped fantasy lineups. Mark Andrews did OK, all things considered. The running back committee for the Ravens and the receiving corps for the Titans, both useless.
Commanders at Falcons: Good fantasy numbers from the quarterbacks, excepting the costly Desmond Ridder turnovers of course. The most brutal was during a goal line sequence late in the fourth, Atlanta down 8 points. First they took a delay of game on 3rd and goal from the 2. Then they nearly took another delay on the very next play, got it off hurriedly, but it was completely out of sync and Ridder had to hurry a throw...that was easily picked in the end zone. Kyle Pitts touchdown sighting, and all the running backs people were starting fared OK due to receiving production. Brian Robinson lost another score on a play-action pass to Antonio Gibson on first and goal from the 2, kind of mean. Ridder will probably take more heat this week. Big game for Drake London. Tough to count on these games with big passing performances not being how the Falcons want to play.
Vikings at Bears: I would need to look it up to be sure, but I have a feeling Justin Fields has played some of his worst games against division foes...i.e., the ones who see him the most and maybe have the best feel for how to defend him. In any case, Fields was struggling even before he got sacked and left with a hand injury. Despite neither team being good defensively, neither did much on offense, missing some key starters on both sides. Vikings win, and every Minnesota win is good news for those concerned Minnesota will be shutting Justin Jefferson down early. But Minnesota won't be winning a lot of games, they only face the Bears once more.
Seahawks at Bengals: Surprisingly low-scoring, but at least most key starters on both sides got you decent or good points. Geno Smith with big passing yards, but no touchdowns and a couple of interceptions. I'm not a big Smith fan but he deserved better in this one, under heavy pressure throughout and not getting some help at times. Most notably, you had DK Metcalf expressing dissatisfaction with not getting the football near the end zone, absent on a later goal-line series for some reason, and then stopping his route on a downfield play on which Smith was intercepted. Bengals eke out kind of an ugly win.
49ers at Browns: Speaking of ugly. Christian McCaffrey scored early, then San Francisco didn't get in the end zone again until Jordan Mason scored later, with McCaffrey out of the game injured (oblique). Deebo Samuel (shoulder) also hurt and in streetclothes on the sidelines. Browns, their backfield committee (Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt seemed to split time, with Hunt scoring), and P.J. Walker didn't look great, but their defense was and they managed to pull it out when San Francisco rookie Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field goal at the end. Moody has to make that kick, I get it, but I didn't care for San Francisco spiking the ball on second down and then kicking on 3rd rather than trying to get, you know, 5-6 extra yards. Poor game for Brock Purdy, though he did get the team in position at the end, and there were a couple of pass plays where it looked like Brandon Aiyuk could have helped him out a little by hauling them in.
Saints at Texans: "Quarterback" Taysom Hill caught 7 passes, which I believe was probably a career-high. Everyone will add him off waivers this week, and next week he'll have 2 carries for 7 yards. Saints offense generally pretty painful to watch these days, and indeed it scored only 13 points against what I think is a pretty modest defense. When they're not blowing out New England, this is what you get from the Saints offense. Also painful, the Texans near the goal line. They give the ball to Dameon Pierce, and the entire defense is there to stuff him in the backfield. I'm not sure how that changes, or how much is on Pierce or the offense itself. But it was a committee with Devin Singletary, who was more effective, so clearly the Texans are thinking some of it is on Pierce. Blake Grupe misses two field goals, including a 28-yarder. Another good game for Dalton Schultz, just took a few weeks for Houston to decide to use him.
Colts at Jaguars: Two more touchdowns for Travis Etienne. Another score for Christian Kirk. Another touchdown for Zack Moss, in a committee with Jonathan Taylor (neither did much on the ground). Gardner Minshew was not great, he has his fans and I'm one of them, but NFL teams aren't and 3 interceptions won't help. Jaguars offense not great but good enough (and those Colts turnovers helped).
Panthers at Dolphins: Carolina jumped out to a surprising 14-0 lead. It didn't last long, with Tua Tagovailoa and especially Raheem Mostert and Tyreek Hill roaring back with huge numbers. Jaylen Waddle and Salvon Ahmed also scored. Another monster week for Adam Thielen, looking like an automatic start right now. Carolina won't always be in this negative game script situation, but there will be plenty more of them. Chuba Hubbard is a modest talent but had a really nice game, rewarding those who took the gamble...something to be said for a featured role. Or in Ahmed's game, a clear No. 2 in an offense like Miami.
Patriots at Raiders: Game was largely as expected, although New England's offense was somewhat respectable. Both running backs scored, Kendrick Bourne had a 10-catch game. But ex-Patriot Jakobi Meyers scored, and ex-Patriots quarterbacks Jimmy G and Brian Hoyer teamed up to throw for enough yards to get the win. Another good game for Michael Mayer (killing it in October...hmm). Mac Jones might have deserved better; prior to his game-ending sack/safety he threw a perfect 40ish-yard bomb out of his own end zone that clanged off both of DeVante Parker's hands.
Lions at Buccaneers: Bit of a defensive struggle, and David Montgomery left due to I believe a rib injury; X-rays negative. But Jared Goff made some plays, and both his receivers (Amon-Ra St. Brown and yes, Jameson Williams) helped him out on a couple of touchdowns. Bucs had some near misses and lost, but I came away kind of impressed by them. They look like legitimately the best team in the NFC South -- good defense, some good skill guys. If they're thinking about trading Mike Evans, they shouldn't. Negative is they can't run the ball at all.
Cardinals at Rams: Rams took care of business, as Joshua Dobbs' limitations are showing up, plus they miss James Conner. Keaontay Ingram was the lead back without impact. Most disappointing was Puka Nacua, taking a clear back seat to Cooper Kupp this week, although some of it was the Rams leaning on the ground game, with Kyren Williams having yet another big game. I think I'll still be starting Nacua next week, but not a sure thing anymore.
Eagles at Jets: Ugly game by the Eagles. I'll give the Jets defense plenty of credit, but it was also a case of Philly playing bad. Mistakes by Jalen Hurts. A bad drop by DeVonta Smith that would have gone for 30-plus yards late. No ability to run the ball, aside from Hurts. Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall finished with good numbers (Eagles let Hall score so they could get the ball back). No unbeaten teams, and clearly none without vulnerabilities.
Giants at Bills: In a day of upsets, the Giants did everything except actually get the win. Two goal line fails, most notably at the end of the first half when they had no timeouts but veteran Tyrod Taylor audibled to a running play that got stuffed, so they only got one play off and no points. And then they got to the goal line at the very end, but ran a play that required Taylor to make a perfect throw under heavy pressure and it didn't happen. Bills escape, but not at all pretty. Saquon Barkley healthy and running well, Stefon Diggs is awesome, those are the main takeaways.
Monday, Monday: I doubt I'm the only one who needs points out of Justin Herbert, Josh Palmer, Austin Ekeler, or a couple of different Cowboys to pull out a win. Game should be higher-scoring, but there were a couple of other games this weekend that I thought that about, so we'll see. In general Chargers don't have much going defensively, and they're solid on offense and have a motivated coordinator (Kellen Moore) drawing up plays against his former employer, they should be fairly aggressive. I'm calling it Chargers 27, Cowboys 24; would be nice if we actually got a game that entertaining.