Somebody went through the early slate of games with the ugly stick. Low-scoring battles, significant injuries, underperforming players in lots of games. But salvaged somewhat by a couple of slugfests, top-performing stars, and a striking rookie breakout. On to the games.
Texans at Panthers: Can anyone really be surprised by the Houston Texans coming up small on the road, coming off a bye. Notably frustrating was Dameon Pierce seeming in for a short touchdown, being ruled inches short, only to see the fullback carry it in on the next play. Hey, be glad there aren't more fullbacks these days, it would happen more often. Entire Houston passing game disappointed, Adam Thielen another nice game for Carolina. Panthers featured Chuba Hubbard over Miles Sanders. Why? Hubbard stuffed on three straight goal-line carries at one point, and finished with 15 carries for 28 yards. OK to change up what's not working, guys.
Rams at Cowboys: When Dak Prescott and the Cowboys are on, they sure look good. Funny in that the Rams sacked Prescott three times on the first four plays of the game (one erased by a penalty, but still). After that they sacked him once the rest of the game, and Prescott completed 25 of 31 for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns. Monster game for CeeDee Lamb, bad week to be facing him and Josh Allen, as I was in two leagues. Matthew Stafford injured the thumb on his throwing hand in this game, stayed in, seemed to injure it more. Quiet games for Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, a little unlucky (TD barely broken up for Nacua, and then he was getting a breather when Ben Skowronek came in to catch one on his route). Royce Freeman and Darrell Henderson committee. Stafford missing time not good for the offense.
Vikings at Packers: Kirk Cousins leaving this game with an Achilles injury the big story. Minnesota might need to bring in a veteran considering they're actually kind of in playoff contention. The Packers, meanwhile, look like they may not win any more games; just a wreck right now. Minnesota's defense definitely better than it looked early in the season, but Green Bay's offense simply isn't functional. Another good game for Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson, but let's see who their quarterback is the rest of the way.
Saints at Colts: Another week, another wild Colts slugfest (which they again lose). Not the kind of game I was expecting, but maybe this is what we're going to get with the Colts a lot of weeks. Both Zack Moss and Jonathan Taylor impressive. Pittman and Downs, too. For the Saints, Taysom Hill is big again, as a runner this time. But so was Kamara, Rashid Shaheed, Michael Thomas, Derek Carr -- only Chris Olave disappointed among Saints anyone should have been starting. Each new week a different team looks like the NFC South's best. Today, New Orleans.
Patriots at Dolphins: At one point in this game, Mac Jones arced a pass across the field for an easy interception, leading to Miami taking a 10-point lead that pretty much decided what started as a back-and-forth affair, and I said to myself, well that's it, Belichick is going to bench him. He didn't. But it feels like that will happen someday. Tua Tagovailoa also had a pretty bad interception, but otherwise did his stuff, hitting Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle for touchdowns and cruising to a win. Kendrick Bourne New England's best receiver again, but knocked out with a knee injury, we'll see. Demario Douglas rewarded those who took the gamble in deep PPR leagues with 5 catches.
Jets at Giants: Imagine a game even more low-scoring than the lowest over-under of the season. Despite an overtime. That's what happens when you get Zach Wilson on one side and Tommy DeVito on the other, after Tyrod Taylor got knocked out with a rib injury. DeVito looked every bit of his 2 of 7 for -1 yards stat line; that's what happens when all of your passes are thrown sideways. Taylor passed for 8 yards before he left, yes that's a 7-yard passing day for the Giants. A good chunk of Wilson's offense was a 50-yard catch and run score by Breece Hall, who went nowhere as a runner, but that's what great players do -- score even when nothing is happening elsewhere. Garrett Wilson (7 for 100) also worked out. Darren Waller (hamstring) also sidelined early. Props to Zach for getting the Jets in position to force overtime, that's the praise I'll give him today.
Jaguars at Steelers: Big game for Travis Etienne. Kenny Pickett knocked out with rib injury, but let's be clear, he wasn't playing well even prior to that. Not helped by Diontae Johnson dropping a long pass. George Pickens hadn't even been targeted most of the game and I was literally looking around to see if he was hurt when he turned his only catch into a 22-yard touchdown by hurdling a defender, thank you George. But I guess it will be Trubisky in the lineup next week, or Pickett playing with a protective vest or something, but maybe he could stand to sit for a week or two.
Falcons at Titans: Fear of the Unknown is something that perhaps we could stand to do less of. So perhaps I should have had more faith in Will Levis, who stepped into the NFL with 4 touchdown passes, 3 to DeAndre Hopkins, who yes I benched in the league I have him in, ouch. First touchdown was a laughable non-call on an offensive pass interference, but nothing wrong with the next two. I think Levis will be starting from here on out. For Atlanta, Desmond Ridder either was benched or checked for a concussion or both, I haven't yet seen the definitive answer. But he was struggling with turnovers, again, and a switch to Taylor Heinicke has seemed kind of inevitable for a while. Either way, rough game for Atlanta's offense.
Eagles at Commanders: Washington seems to have a knack for playing the Eagles tough. This was close throughout, but Terry McLaurin uncharacteristically couldn't hang onto a couple of balls he normally catches late, and the Eagles were able to pull away. Both passing games put up big numbers, with Sam Howell in particular exceeding expectations with 397 yards and 4 TDs -- where was that last week when I needed it, Sam. Yet another monster performance from A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith also got his. Jalen Hurts with a 4-TD game as well. Kenneth Gainwell lost a fumble near the goal line, I'm thinking I can probably drop him, if Swift gets hurt it's not a given he'll be featured.
Browns at Seahawks: Fast start for Seattle, but the Browns settled in. Quieter game for Kenneth Walker, which I'm thinking the injury he battled last week factored into. Tyler Lockett also battled an injury during the week and it made sense to downgrade him, but he proceeded to have one of his best games. You never know. Ironic that the Browns, which gave up so many picks and so much money for a quarterback, currently have that as their biggest weakness. Committee backfield for Cleveland, hard to recommend any of the options at the moment.
Ravens at Cardinals: Briefly at the end, while the Cardinals were recovering an onside kick and scoring a flurry of points to turn a 24-7 dud into a game that ended 31-24, I wondered if I'd be seeing the most unlikely comeback in history. But no, the Ravens went to sleep a little late, but had done enough to hang on. Big 3-TD game for Gus Edwards, with Lamar Jackson wisely opting not to run as much in a game the team could win without him doing so. Joshua Dobbs had one of the uglier 3-TD games you'll ever see, with a couple of really bad turnovers during his outing. Maybe Kyler Murray next week.
Kansas City at Broncos: They kept calling this the stunner of the week, but I don't know, it wasn't totally far-fetched. The Broncos showed they could run the ball on Kansas City in the earlier meeting, their defense has been playing better of late, and then we heard that Mahomes was battling a flu bug. I don't think anyone could reasonably sit down Mahomes, and definitely not Kelce, but there was a chance they'd underperform. Isiah Pacheco wasn't helped by game script. Nice upset win for the Broncos, who may start to have illusions of competitiveness. At least we won't have to hear any more Jeudy-Sutton trade rumors after the deadline comes and goes tomorrow.
Bengals at 49ers: The NFL is weird, which we're reminded of by the 49ers losing three straight games after being a Super Bowl favorite. Their defense suddenly isn't shutting anyone down, and the Bengals turned in arguably their best offensive performance of the season. Joe Mixon for sure (could have scored 2-3 TDs on plays that ended near the goal line), Joe Burrow and his receivers too. Three more turnovers for Brock Purdy, raising the question of whether he maybe returned from the concussion protocol too soon, or defenses have found some flaws in his game.
Bears at Chargers: This was a good old-fashioned butt-whipping, with the Chargers offense moving down the field like a hot knife through butter, Justin Herbert very sharp and Austin Ekeler finally looking like Austin Ekeler. Bears offense didn't do a lot but I thought Tyson Bagent looked decent -- not fully certain he can't emerge as a better quarterback than Justin Fields. Most notably, Bagent threw what should have been a 40ish-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Velus Jones, but Jones fell down with no one around him and then failed to haul in the pass even when it landed on his chest. But seems like the Bears' little two-game run of offensive excellence against Denver and Washington is over, and now we'll get a running back committee and more questions about the coaching staff. Nice win for LA, which really should have a better record than 3-4.
Monday, Monday: Should be a bounce-back game for Detroit after their disaster in Baltimore, but the Raiders, with Jimmy Garoppolo back, have the talent to make things interesting. Jahmyr Gibbs will be featured and I like him here, but Detroit's defense hasn't been good enough that I wouldn't use the Raiders' key starters. I'm calling it Lions 27, Raiders 20. And hoping the stands are filled with cool Halloween costumes, one of the best things about NFL games this time of year.