Negative thing with watching a lot of football is sometimes things happen that make you feel worse about losses. Kenneth Walker, Josh Jacobs and Javonte Williams were just a few of the guys I started in various leagues and saw them lose touchdowns to penalties, replay reversals, or near misses. We want to know everything, but knowledge isn't just power. At times it's frustration.
Lions at Ravens: Shocker of the week I think, not that Baltimore won but that it was the least competitive game of the day. Lamar Jackson had a huge day throwing it, lifting the team to a huge lead and then enabling the defense to tee off on Jared Goff. Jahmyr Gibbs had a huge game, mostly in lengthy garbage time, I'm pretty sure I didn't recommend him very often. Did not expect Baltimore to put up that kind of number. Big game for Amon-Ra, as usual. Gus Edwards took a short pass 80 yards downfield, that won't happen again.
Raiders at Bears: Over the weekend there were some questions involving marginal or unknown quarterback ranked down in the 20s. The wrong answer (by Josh McDaniel, too) was Brian Hoyer, who probably made his last NFL start. A disastrous day for everything connected with the Las Vegas offense. Our recommendation in the Weekly of Roschon Johnson, assuming he'd clear the concussion protocol, was instead lived up to by D'Onta Foreman, who had 3 total touchdowns. Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs didn't help Hoyer much, with Adams failing to catch a touchdown he normally catches and Jacobs not controlling another end-zone throw before stepping out of bounds. So it didn't have to be quite as bad, for whatever that's worth (not much).
Browns at Colts: This was a bonkers game, with Gardner Minshew using his legs (which he hasn't done much the last few years) and arm to help the Colts sustain drives and put up a lot of points against one of the league's best defenses. (And that defense also put up some points, making up for a mostly struggling offense.) Zack Moss and Jonathan Taylor split carries, Taylor finally got the touchdown. For Cleveland, Deshaun Watson floated an early should-have-been interception, hit his head on the turf after being hit, and was ruled out with a concussion. P.J. Walker had a mostly rough day throwing it, but he made a couple of late throws, a couple of really questionable late calls went the Browns' way, and their own running back tandem pulled out the win. Big game for Josh Downs, good for Michael Pittman, helped by some shoddy tackling on a long touchdown.
Bills at Patriots: Pretty big upset here, but we did note the Patriots can still play defense. Most of the Bills people started still did their thing, but Mac Jones had a career day -- perhaps the injuries have caught up with Buffalo's defense -- and it ended up being a seesaw battle late with New England scoring last. Good game for Kendrick Bourne, just the latest disappointing loss for a now 4-3 Buffalo team that was fortunate to beat the Giants a week ago.
Commanders at Giants: When the Giants defense played great against Buffalo, I sort of figured it was just a one-time thing. But here they were shutting down the Commanders, and an increasingly careless Sam Howell (a spot start that didn't work out, obviously). Big game for Saquon Barkley. Big game also for Darren Waller, who's come on nicely the last few weeks. New York still isn't going anywhere, but doesn't seem like Washington is either.
Falcons at Bucs: Lower-scoring game that the Falcons were a little unlucky not to win more comfortably. Late in the game Desmond Ridder seemed to be running in a touchdown that would have probably been an insurmountable lead, but he had the ball knocked out as he crossed at the goal line, and it ended up being a touchback, giving the Bucs the chance to come back. Big story from this one was Bijan Robinson getting only one carry, apparently due to illness. A tough blow to those who started him, fantasy football can be cruel.
Steelers at Rams: Speaking of cruel. Steelers have pulled out a couple of fortunate wins this season, and this was another one, at the Rams expense. Rams moved the ball pretty well (via the pass), but didn't defend the run well, and then weren't able to challenge an iffy spot late because they were out of timeouts. In general when I watch the Rams I'm impressed with their offense. Another great game for Puka Nacua; nearly even better, with a couple of acrobatic catches erased by not getting his second foot down in-bounds. But the defense isn't great. They still ran the ball pretty well (a Freeman-Henderson tandem, Schefter had a good source). Both Steelers backs and George Pickens had good games.
Cardinals at Seahawks: Survivor pick worked out, but it was a lot closer than it needed to be. Arizona offense did very little, but the Seahawks gave them two short fields on muffed punts and fumbled snaps, and it ended up being close most of the way. Geno Smith offset an otherwise good day with a bad goal-line interception, too. But Seahawks took care of business, and their defense looks better that it did early in the year (and the Cardinals offense looked worse). Maybe we get Kyler Murray back next week.
Packers at Broncos: Somebody went through this game with the ugly stick. I'm not sure what Packers fans are saying about Jordan Love these days, but he's definitely struggling. He threw 2 touchdowns in this game, but one was tipped and intended for someone else. Aaron Jones played about a third of the time, seemingly having suffered a setback with his hamstring injury. Denver got nice production out of both Javonte Williams (touchdown called back) and Jaleel McLaughlin, and both wideouts too. Those running backs look good, the only thing Denver seems to have going for it right now. Green Bay doesn't look like it's going to win a lot of games.
Chargers at Kansas City: Another higher-scoring loss for the Chargers. The defense is struggling and the offense makes too many mistakes in key situations. Some of that is on Justin Herbert, plus Kansas City's defense is looking like one of its better editions. Couple of frustrating near-miss touchdowns for both Keenan Allen and Joshua Palmer -- big game, but could have been even better. I'm not sure what the Chargers need to change, but looks like they're headed for another .500 type season despite loads of offensive talent.
Dolphins at Eagles: Game was a little bit lacking, with both defenses stepping up, perhaps annoyed by the suggestion (which I bought into) that it would be a wild shootout. It happens. But the Eagles had a little more going for them on offense and their defense is definitely better, better than it looked early in the season certainly. A modest game for DeVonta Smith who has a weird case of the drops lately, but I was encouraged by his involvement early on, despite A.J. Brown lighting things up again. If these teams were to make it to the Super Bowl, it'd be a pretty great game with a lot of interesting storylines.
Monday, Monday: Do the Vikings have enough on offense to make a run at San Francisco in this one? I doubt it, but maybe Kirk Cousins steps up with a big game. Unlikely Alexander Mattison does much, but maybe Hockenson-Addison-Osborn come through. In general should be more offense out of San Francisco, assuming Christian McCaffrey is something close to healthy, with Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle benefitting from Deebo Samuel's absence. I'll call it San Francisco 27, Minnesota 17.