Brandon Marshall did okay with 8 catches for 53 yards. Jacksonville has an excellent secondary, so I think Marshall is still an every-week play. This was his floor. Lee Evans is the only Bills receiver worth playing but his upside is extremely limited with Trent Edwards throwing the ball.
The RB situations are more interesting. Ronnie Brown carried the ball a lot more in the beginning, but Ricky Williams got 18 carries to Brown's 13. The lesson is that if you think the Dolphins will get the lead, you can play Williams as a flex. The Buffalo situation is a mess. Fred Jackson had 4 carries for 19 yards, Marshawn Lynch had 3 carries for 13 yards, and C.J. Spiller had the most carries: 7, but the fewest yards: 6. I've tried to temper the Spiller excitement, because Fred Jackson won't go away. Either way, none of them make good starts until we gain clarity.
Lions (14) vs. Bears (19)
Both offenses were storylines I was monitoring closely. The Lions offense took a big hit when Stafford left the game with an injury. Early reports say he could be out for up to 6 weeks. Calvin Johnson had a quiet day, but had a big game-winning TD robbed from him. Nate Burleson did nothing. Tony Scheffler led the Lions in catches with 6 for 43 yards. Scheffler makes for a decent pickup if you had Kevin Boss, who was injured.
The Bears delivered in this matchup. We were disappointed by Johnny Knox's quiet day, but we still think he's the Bears receiver to own, despite the fact that Aromashodu outplayed him today. Cutler had 373 yards and 2 TDs, both of which went to Matt Forte.
Titans (38) vs. Raiders (13)
Chris Johnson got stuffed early, but proved why he's the #1 pick with a 76 yard TD run. Vince Young looked very Vince Young-ish: Not a lot of pass attempts, but the rush yards pat his fantasy points for a good day. Nate Washington led the receivers with a 3-88-1 statline, but I wouldn't count on that consistently.
It was awesome to see Darren McFadden silence his critics today (at least temporarily) with 150 yards and a TD. All the experts love Michael Bush, but we've been championing McFadden as the better value. Bush may have to take a backseat as he transitions back onto the field. Louis Murphy disappointed with only 28 yards, but could have had another long catch.
Patriots (38) vs. Bengals (24)
Brady and Palmer put together excellent fantasy days. It's hard to say week 1 whether Cedric Benson looked bad, or New England's run D looked good. Benson averaged less than 3 yards per carry but added a TD. Fred Taylor is clearly the back to own in New England. Laurence Maroney was inactive, so Taylor had 14 carries for 71 yards. If he's unowned, grab this old man now. Wes Welker proved he's more than healthy with 8 catches for 64 yards and 2 TDs.
Giants (31) vs. Panthers (18)
Eli looked sharp. Matt Moore, who some called a sleeper, looked awful. Jon Stewart cannot produce as a start-worthy RB if he only gets 5 carries per game again. DeAngelo Williams made it hard to justify giving Stewart more carries with his 16 carries for 62 yards. One of our favorite value picks, Steve Smith, proved he's healthy with a 5-75-1 day.
Nicks had 4 catches and 75% of them were for TDs. He might make a great sell-high candidate. Bradshaw struggled early, so Jacobs got more carries, but then Bradshaw had a long run and the 2 backs ended with equal yards per carry. There will be days when Jacobs is the better fantasy back.
Steelers (15) vs. Falcons (9)
Dixon performed well with a 69% completion percentage and 236 yards, but added an interception. Rashard Mendenhall saved his fantasy day with a game winning 50 yard TD run in overtime. He will be a bellocow, with 22 carries today.
On the other side, Michael Turner disappointed with 42 yards on 19 carries. Turner typically excels in easy matchups and disappoints in hard ones (I know that sounds obvious, but it's especially true for Turner). When he gets 19 carries in an average matchup, Turner will get his production. Plus, he has averaged exactly 1 TD for every NFL game he's played (until today actually). Roddy White was a beast with 13 catches for 111 yards.
Buccaneers (17) vs. Browns (14)
Neither QB is a starting fantasy QB. An FFMVP favorite, Mike Williams led Bucs receivers with 5 catches for 30 yards and a TD. Cadillac Williams was serviceable as predicted, with 98 yards.
The real story is the Cleveland backfield. Peyton Hillis surprisingly started the game and got more carries early, but Hillis and Jerome Harrison ended with an even split of 9 carries each. Harrison had 52 yards to Hillis' 41, thanks to a Harrison long run. Hillis had the TD, but also had 2 fumbles. I don't know what to make of this, but Hillis is worth a look as a pickup and it's hard to start Harrison next week. I still think Harrison will end up with the majority of carries, and is a decent buy-low trade target.
Jaguars (24) vs. Broncos (17)
Both QBs had good fantasy days, through yards for Orton and TDs for Garrard. As expected, Moreno looked like a good RB2 and MJD looked like a good RB1.
The receivers are the intriguing waiver wire pickups. Brandon Lloyd had 5 catches for 117 yards, and Eddie Royal had 8 catches for 98 yards, but Gaffney had the TD. The situation is further confused by other WR injuries, as Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker may enter the scene soon. In Jacksonville, Mike Sims-Walker killed owners with a goose egg, while Mike Thomas led the receivers with 6 catches for 89 yards. Thomas is worth a look, as he cemented his status as the starting WR2.
Texans (34) vs. Colts (24)
Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark were awesome as usual. Addai had a typical 70-something yard day, and he'll occasionally get some TDs, so he makes a solid RB2. The surprise was that Austin Collie had 10 catches for 131 yards and a TD. After Alex Smith's horrible day in Seattle, at least Mormon NFL fans have someone to cheer about. Collie is definitely worth a pickup if he's available, as there will plenty of yards with Peyton at the helm.
And how about Arian Foster! He is an every week solid RB1. The passing game disappointed for fantasy purposes, but played fine for NFL purposes. The Texans stuck to the ground game because it worked so well, in part due to a Bob Sanders injury, and to protect their lead. Jacoby Jones makes a good trade trade target, as he led Texan receivers in targets. He and Andre Johnson had about 30 yards today but can get closer to 100 each in future games.
Cardinals (17) vs. Rams (13)
Derek Anderson had 297 yards and a TD, but looked inaccurate and will not replicate that statline frequently. Their QB problems are bad news for Fitzgerald, but D.A. forced him the ball 15 times and Fitz only could pull in 3 catches. Perhaps extra coverage on Fitzgerald will mean continued success for Steve Breaston, but I won't count on that yet.
Mark Clayton looked like the Rams WR to own with 10 catches for 119 yards. Laurent Robinson only contributed 3 catches, but 1 TD.
Packers (27) vs. Eagles (20)
There were two big injuries for fantasy. Kevin Kolb looked bad, and left with a concussion. Michael Vick looked great in replacement duty and added 103 rushing yards. He may push to start even if Kolb recovers soon. Vick gets a juicy matchup against Detroit and is a good pickup if you don't have an elite QB.
Also, Ryan Grant sprained his ankle and may miss time. Coach McCarthy is ready to commit to Brandon Jackson as his workhorse RB in that case. Jackson looked okay today, and will do even better when they're not just trying to run out the clock, and facing easier defenses.
Seahawks (31) vs. 49ers (6)
Wow. What happened to the 49ers? They couldn't score a single TD, even in garbage time. Alex Smith and Michael Crabtree looked awful. Again, it's hard to say whether the Niners offense sucks, or the Seahawks defense is actually good. Vernon Davis was the only Niner who lived up to his reputation, with 8 catches for 73 yards.
As expected, the Seahawks backfield will be a fantasy deadzone with 3 backs splitting carries: Forsett had 7 carries, Julius Jones had 8, and Leon Washington had 6. Mike Williams looked like a decent future flex option with 4 catches for 64 yards.
Redskins (13) vs. Cowboys (7)
Marion Barber and Felix Jones looked identical with 8 carries each, for 39 and 38 yards. It will be difficult to start either until one pulls ahead. Miles Austin looked dominant - we had him ranked as a top 4 WR above Larry Fitzgerald.
Clinton Portis was decent with 18 carries for 63 yards. As long as he's healthy, he'll get the bulk of the carries and be startable.
17 comments:
U know what's crazy: a QB is top 5 in rushing yards (Vick) and an RB is top 5 in recieving yards (forte). If only a TE could be top 5 in passing yards...
How bout dem Bears!!! You were right, MVP! Knox coulda done better, but I also started Cutler and Forte over guys I drafted earlier, and they were MONEY!
Thanks for the calls on ward, Wallace, brown and foster! It looks like I'll go 4-1 in my five leagues barring any Monday night disasters!
Brett, would you drop Marshawn Lynch, Fred Jackson or Bernard Berrian to pick up Brandon Jackson?
I would drop Lynch. Otherwise, I'd drop Berrian. Hold on to Fred Jackson for now. He started the game yesterday.
It sucks when you're starting Arian Foster in 1 league, and going against him in another. I had such mixed emotions.
I felt so sad for Peyton :(
He had such a great game - and his uni was so cute! - but his team lost!
Hey MVP, how indicative do you think Schaub's performance was yesterday? I know they had the lead and were getting it done on the ground but his numbers were pretty weak and I'm starting to get nervous?
why no feedback on shaub?? also, please give feedback after today's game. Prof. Zatz - enough with the cute uni talk.
(in a high pitch - HAHAHAHA)
Why no Vikings game recap?
"The passing game disappointed for fantasy purposes, but played fine for NFL purposes. The Texans stuck to the ground game because it worked so well, in part due to a Bob Sanders injury, and to protect their lead. Jacoby Jones makes a good trade trade target, as he led Texan receivers in targets. He and Andre Johnson had about 30 yards today but can get closer to 100 each in future games." Schaub will be fine. This was a fluke - he makes a good trade target if his owner in your league is panicking at all.
so what does this mean for the 9ers? this is supposed to be our season! is there still hope obi wan?
That's a great and difficult question about the 9ers. Last year, the Texans offense looked bad week 1. People were ready to call Schaub a bust, before he blew up and we learned that Schaub's poor week 1 performance was actually the result of excellent defense from the Jets and a relatively unknown CB Darelle Revis. I don't know if there's a Darelle Revis on the Seahawks, but the 49ers made solid improvements in the offseason, and exhibited a great offense in the preseason. Maybe the Seahawks are better than we thought, maybe the Niners really will be mediocre again. I think it's most likely (possibly wishful thinking) that this was a fluke. This is still the Niners' division to lose. They don't have an easy bounce-back test against the Saints, but let's see if they can at least score a TD.
Samurai Mike got too cocky going for it on fourth down four times in the first half. He clearly had no confidence in the hawks offense and it bit him in the ass. Had they settled for fgs in those fourth and goal situations they could have maintained some momentum and possibly picked up a victory...fail you once, shame on your offense, fail you four times, shame on you coach
I read that both of the interceptions were Crabtree's fault. On one, he ran the wrong route and on the other, he tipped it. Maybe Vernon Davis was onto something.
Should I drop Berrian for Steve Breaston or Legoland Naanee? Nate Washington, Mark Clayton and Massaquoi are also available.
@Anonymous: That is a really tough question. Berrian, Breaston, and Naanee are all #2 receivers in pretty decent situations. I think I would hold onto Berrian for now. Favre missed camp and couldn't develop chemistry with Berrian. Give him another week, but if he stinks and these guys are still available, I'd grab Breaston.
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