Tank Dell. DeVonta Smith. Deebo Samuel. JuJu Smith-Schuster. It was a zero-fest in a lot of my lineups yesterday, and guys who I kind of thought would be pretty good. Hope there were more against you than for you.
Patriots versus Jaguars across the pond: A game that was both predictable and unpredictable. Tank Bigsby went over 100 rushing yards and scored twice, and Drake Maye threw for a lot of yards against Jacksonville's lousy pass defense. That was predictable. Brian Thomas also did well for the Jaguars, including catching a beauty of a deep ball from Trevor Lawrence and an easy touchdown. But Evan Engram didn't do as much you'd like, and DeMario Davis left early due to "illness," which you seldom have as a game-day development, hurting those of us who bet his overs he'd certainly have achieved if he kept playing. Antonio Gibson also left with an early injury, queueing up JaMycal Hasty for a huge PPR day. Start players against Patriots, especially running backs. Thinking out loud, not that it's all his fault, but the Jerod Mayo era might short.
Seahawks at Falcons: Seahawks defense made a couple of late plays in this one, most notably a fumble return touchdown right after one of the more acrobatic touchdown catches you'll ever seen from a running back by Kenneth Walker, to reverse three-game streaks by both teams. DK Metcalf carted off with an injury after a big sideline hit, that will need to be checked out. Good numbers from Metcalf and also most key Falcons, but a win for Seattle. Quiet games from Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Tyler Lockett, though that will change if Metcalf has to miss time.
Bengals at Browns: So Nick Chubb scored in his first game back, that was cool. JaMarr and Tee also scored. David Njoku had a big game. Anything else happen? Right. Deshaun Watson seemed to tear his Achilles, we watched it happen. Not a beloved player or anything, of course, but most of us didn’t want that. Fair to wonder if that was it for his career. On the field, the cold reality is it’s a good thing for the Browns. Jameis Winston worth picking up.
Titans at Bills: Tennessee took an early 10-0 lead in this one, but it didn't last long as Buffalo battled back and did pretty much everything it needed to. Mason Rudolph didn't have much success which wasn't surprising; maybe better than Will Levis, but a low bar. With Josh Allen ultimately putting up big passing numbers, Amari Cooper scored, Khalil Shakir had one of his best games all year, and even Keon Coleman had a good outing. Question is, who will sustain it? Allen won't be throwing for over 300 every week. ReDrafter tomorrow will be interesting as to where the receivers are. For Tennessee, well, they're playing out the string and will be in the quarterback market next offseason, again. Malik Willis reunion? Would be ironic.
Texans at Packers: Speaking of the Packers. One of the better games of the day, with big performances by both transplant veteran running backs, and also by Jordan Love, again, to lead the winning field goal drive. C.J. Stroud threw for only 86 yards in this one against a Packers defense that came in pretty poor against the pass; Stroud missing Collins, Houston running more than expensive, Green Bay being healthier on defense than it's been. Clutch field goal at the end by recently signed Brandon McManus to win it. Quiet game for Jayden Reed (there was a near 50-yard completion that he couldn't hang onto as he hit the ground, not that it makes anyone feel any better). Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks had the best games, reminding us of the preseason fear that the No. 1 wide receiver here will probably be different guys some weeks.
Dolphins at Colts: Not a pretty one. For the Colts, concerns that the passing game would suffer going from Flacco to Anthony Richardson were well founded. Tyler Goodson again better than Trey Sermon, hopefully he'll get more work if the supposed mild high ankle sprain suffered by Jonathan Taylor keeps him out for his fourth straight game. Colts somehow 4-3 on the season. For the Dolphins, big game for Jonnu Smith. That's two in a row for him, and three this year, unfortunately in his other three games he averages 1 catch for 8.3 yards. Tyler Huntley hurt, replaced by Tim Boyle, maybe Tua back next week, which can only help Tyreek and Waddle. Good yardage from DeVon Achane and Raheem Mostert, no touchdowns natch.
Lions at Vikings: Matchup of the day turned out to maybe be the game of the day. Lions took a sizable lead with Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown all coming up big. Lost the lead on a David Montgomery fumble returned for a touchdown and some big plays by Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson (strong day also from Aaron Jones). But Goff brought the Lions back to win with a clutch drive and field goal. Exciting game...exciting division right now.
Eagles at Giants: Games like what Saquon Barkley had against his former team are the kind of stuff the legend of the payback game is built on. Barkley ran for 176 yards and a score and could easily have score 2 more touchdowns (they worked in a pair of Tush Push plays after his first one with Jalen Hurts). A.J. Brown also had a good game with a long touchdown, but not much doing for the Eagles passing game, so nothing doing for DeVonta Smith. Wretched game for Daniel Jones and the Giants offense, with Malik Nabers and WanDale Robinson combining for 84 yards. Serviceable PPR totals but not good. Drew Lock mopped up, but Brian Daboll says Jones remains the starter. Should be a fun week in New York.
Raiders at Rams: I’m going to have a hard time getting past Las Vegas’ late decision to kick a field goal from the 10-yard line while trailing by 8 points with 2:46 to play. Even if they were down 5 or 6 I’d have been against it, but I could maybe understand it. Down 8, needing a TD at some point, it made zero sense. When Antonio Pierce is ultimately fired (not that the team’s struggles are all on him), that choice will be discussed I think. Aidan O’Connell broken thumb, Gardner Minshew led a lot of field goal drives. Good game for Alexander Mattison, clearly ahead of Zamir White, and that be it. Jordan Whittington active, in lineups, didn’t play. Rough.
Panthers at Commanders: Jayden Daniels left early with a rib injury. Too early to say if he'll miss time, but Marcus Mariota did well in relief (because everyone does well against Carolina is part of it, but it's clearly a quarterback-friendly offensive system). Washington still won in a blowout, a shame those with Daniels didn't get to benefit. Chuba Hubbard the only good Panther in defeat.
Kansas City at 49ers: Kind of an eyesore of a game. Brandon Aiyuk left early with a knee injury, reportedly a torn ACL. Deebo Samuel didn't play due to illness, quite vexing to those of us who started him since he was perfectly healthy all week and there were no pregame reports of illness that I saw. JuJu Smith-Schuster left early with a hamstring injury. Patrick Mahomes played poorly but hey, 6-0. Brock Purdy good in fantasy, not so good on the field, though in fairness he was missing his top 3 wideouts. Took a couple of short TDs from Jordan Mason, always fun. Ugly showcase afternoon game.
Jets at Steelers: Not gonna say I'm glad for Russell Wilson, because really, who cares, but I am glad for those of us who agreed with the switch from Justin Fields because being 4-2 and a good runner at quarterback isn't enough of an argument for not switching to a quarterback who, while washed up, does have more passing upside running the offense. Mike Tomlin knows what he's doing, and I think so do the 31 teams with no interest in giving the Bears anything of consequence for Fields. George Pickens now startable again. Kiud of a shocking slide the Jets are on right now; they'll blow out the Patriots next week and get people back on the bandwagon, but it doesn't look like a playoff team.
Monday, Monday, times two: Ravens at Tampa Bay and Chargers at Arizona. Because just one of these games wouldn't be enough. I'm interested in the first game, because both are probable division winners. Not as interested in the second because, well, the Chargers aren't playing interesting football these days. Can't pick against Lamar Jackson (Ravens, 27-23) or Harbaugh (Chargers, 24-17) right now.