Going into the third week, the Patriots-Bills game was ripe with top-level fantasy players. The game included the league’s leader in both passing yards (Tom Brady) and rushing yards (Fred Jackson), and two extremely leaky defenses to boot. It had all the makings of a good ol’ fashioned shootout, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
65 points later the Bills sit alone atop the AFC East, and fantasy owners who started Buffalo or New England players are on top of their league standings as well. There was a ton of fantasy goodness to go around for both teams. The obvious names all played great: Jackson (161 yards, TD), Stevie Johnson (94 yards, TD) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (369, 2 PaTD, 2 INT) for the Bills as well as Brady (387 yards, 4 PaTD, 4 INT), Wes Welker (236 yards, 2 TD) and Rob Gronkowski (109 yards, 2 TD) for the Pats. A couple of Bills receivers even snuck in good fantasy lines as well, as Donald Jones (101 yards) and David Nelson (84 yards) were each solid.
The most impressive part of all of this is that Brady threw four picks (he had just two in his previous 225 attempts against Buffalo), but still managed to have an amazing fantasy day. Depending on your scoring, Tom Terrific put up well over 20 fantasy points. And that’s including the eight points he lost for the four interceptions!
The lesson to be learned from this particular matchup is that if you smell a shootout, you need to throw anyone and everyone you own into your starting lineup for fantasy. Unless of course it’s a Patriots running back, in which case you’ll never get that one right … blast you Belichick!
Game Recaps:
San Francisco 13, Cincinnati 8
49ers tight end Vernon Davis (112 yards) was the only player for either team worth starting in this game. Even Frank Gore (42 yards, fumble) and Cedric Benson (64 yards) had pretty poor outings. One name to watch for future weeks is Jermaine Gresham (51 yards). Especially when the bye weeks start playing a factor, the tight end position will be thin. Gresham seems to have caught quarterback Andy Dalton’s eye, and he will have plenty of balls thrown his way if receiver Jerome Simpson misses time after his off-field problems.
Carolina 16, Jacksonville 10
Somehow the Panthers won the game despite only having one serviceable fantasy player, tight end Greg Olsen (57 yards, TD). I still wouldn’t trust Olsen though, as quarterback Cam Newton seems to like his other options more. Speaking of Newton (158 yards, PaTD), he showed that he is human after all. Don’t jump ship on him yet though; he’s proven that he can rack up huge numbers against both good and bad teams and I still like him if the matchup is right. Jacksonville wide receiver Mike Thomas (55 yards, TD) had a nice day, including a Hail Mary-type touchdown. Blaine Gabbert (139 yards, PaTD, INT) certainly looked his way a lot, targeting Thomas eight times.
Detroit 26, Minnesota 23 (OT)
All the usual suspects had big fantasy days: Matthew Stafford (378 yards, 2 PaTD), Calvin Johnson (108 yards, 2 TD) and Adrian Peterson (97 yards, TD) all showed why you drafted them. Outside of those big names, I was very impressed by Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew’s (112 yards) bounceback game. He didn’t find his way into the end zone, but he did lead the team in targets (13) and yards. He’s a guy to watch in future weeks, and he might be Stafford’s new second favorite target behind Megatron. For Minnesota, receiver Michael Jenkins (88 yards) has carved out a nice spot as the number two receiver. He led the team with nine catches on eleven targets on Sunday.
Tennessee 17, Denver 14
I’m starting to get concerned about Chris Johnson (75 yards). He had 13 carries for only 21 yards, and that came against a very beatable Broncos run defense. Denver was missing defensive end Elvis Dumervil, so CJ2K should have run wild. He didn’t. You probably don’t have a better running back option than Johnson in the near future, but it might be time to grab a couple backups for your team just in case. Matt Hasselbeck (311, 2 PaTD) made up for his running game’s miserable day even after star receiver Kenny Britt left the game with a knee injury. Hasselbeck has been good each week so far, and I’m grabbing him as my backup in every league I can. Britt will be out for the rest of the year, so grab Nate Washington (92 yards, TD) if you need a replacement.
Cleveland 17, Miami 16
Colt McCoy (210 yards, 2 PaTD, INT) won ugly, and he again completed less than half of his passes. He did show that if the matchup is right he can put up some decent fantasy numbers, which is good to know as byes and injuries start to take their tolls. Browns running back Peyton Hillis missed this game with strep throat, but he’ll be back next week – don’t go out and make a panic trade just yet. Miami rookie Daniel Thomas (122 yards, TD) looked great for the second week in a row. He’s the guy you want from the Dolphins running game, and I’d have zero problem dropping Reggie Bush (36 yards, fumble) at this point.
New York Giants 29, Philadelphia 16
I was totally wrong on Eli Manning (254 yards, 4 PaTD). He picked apart the Eagles secondary, although Hakeem Nicks (25 yards) didn’t really get involved. Manning remains a matchup play at best, even with this great game. His go-to guy was receiver Victor Cruz (110 yards, 2 TD), but Cruz was only relevant because of injuries to Mario Manningham and Domenik Hixon. Even with the Giants’ domination, the biggest news came from the opposing sideline. Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick (176 yards, INT, 31 rushing yards), fresh off a concussion suffered last Sunday, may have broken his non-throwing hand in the fourth quarter. It doesn’t sound fatal to Vick’s season, but if these bumps and bruises keep adding up he might not be a good fantasy player, even if he makes it to the end of the year healthy.
New Orleans 40, Houston 33
Drew Brees (370 yards, 3 PaTD, 2 INT, 2 2PT) started slow, but really picked up the pace in the fourth quarter for the Saints. He spread the ball around as usual, allowing five guys to rack up 50 or more receiving yards. Tops on the list was tight end Jimmy Graham (100 yards, TD), who I’m really starting to like. I think Brees will continue to look for him even after injured receiver Marques Colston comes back. The Texans had an injury of their own to deal with, as Arian Foster (hamstring) sat out his second of three games this year. I still believe in Foster, and I’m actively trying to trade for him in all of my leagues. He will be a top 10 running back once he returns to action.
Baltimore 37, St. Louis 7
Whew, finally a call I totally nailed! Joe Flacco (389 yards, 3 PaTD) did most of his work in the first quarter as the Ravens ran up the score against the lowly Rams. Almost half of Flacco’s yards went to Torrey Smith (152 yards, 3 TD). It was Smith’s first NFL start (in place of the injured Lee Evans), and he definitely left an impression. It’s hard to tell if his big day was just due to a lack of Rams scouting on him or if he truly has that kind of talent, but he will be one of the top waiver wire pickups for the week regardless. I need to see at least one more week before I buy it.
Oakland 34, New York Jets 24
The Raiders running game did something that neither the Cowboys nor the Jaguars could do in the first two weeks: they ran up and down and over and around the Jets defense. Darren McFadden (178, 2 TD) did most of the damage, but the Raiders also had two other rushing touchdowns (Denarius Moore, Michael Bush). The main takeaway from this game is that the Raiders are not the pushovers they once were. While their passing game isn’t yet up to snuff for fantasy purposes, it’s apparent that whoever the number one running back is will get plenty of yards no matter the opponent.
San Diego 20, Kansas City 17
The most interesting storyline for the Chiefs is who will replace Jamaal Charles. I expected Thomas Jones (33 yards) to get most of the touches, but he actually had the same number as Dexter McCluster (62 yards). Jones appears to be better suited for between-the-tackles running, but McCluster is obviously a much better receiving threat. Due to the fact that Kansas City will be looking to pass a lot this year (since they will be down by so many points), I’d actually rather have McCluster than the proven Jones. I hit on another one of my week three recommendations, as Chargers running back Ryan Mathews (149 yards, 2 TD) tore it up. San Diego wanted to give Mike Tolbert (43 yards) a chance to rest his injured calf against a bad opponent, and you can expect a more even split in future weeks.
Green Bay 27, Chicago 17
The primary running backs from both of these teams were simply dreadful. For the Bears, Matt Forte (82 yards) had only two rushing yards on nine carries! His day was at least partially salvaged by the 80 receiving yards, but the Packers did a great job of shutting him down in the ground game. I’m still not concerned about Forte though. Look for his weekly production will be closer to the first two weeks than week three. The Packers are another story. Just when it seemed like James Starks (14 yards, fumble) was solidifying his role as Green Bay’s option at fantasy running back, he turned in a negative point day. And it’s not like the Bears were unbeatable on Sunday, because Ryan Grant (92 yards) had a nice game. Stay away from both guys until the situation becomes clearer.
Seattle 13, Arizona 10
If you owned a Cardinals running back on Sunday you were probably panicking just before kickoff. Beanie Wells was questionable all week, and if you grabbed LaRod Stephens-Howling as his backup you were left hanging because both were ruled inactive just before kickoff. Chester Taylor (75 yards) and Alfonso Smith (32 yards) each saw action, but Wells remains the only Arizona running back you should feel okay starting. Kevin Kolb (252 yards, PaTD, 2 INT) had a very mediocre fantasy game in what should have been a favorable matchup, and it made me lose any confidence I had in starting him in future weeks. Sidney Rice (109 yards) returned from injury for the Seahawks and had a surprisingly good game. If he’s the fourth or fifth best receiver on your fantasy team then you’re in good shape.
Tampa Bay 16, Atlanta 13
The week of unexpectedly bad days for elite running backs continued with Michael Turner (20 yards). Sure he probably killed your team if you started him in week three, but he’ll be fine in future weeks. I would look at this as a buy-low opportunity if you are trying to trade. Also for the Falcons, Julio Jones (106 yards) continued to look the part of a developing elite receiver.
Pittsburgh 23, Indianapolis 20
Rashard Mendenhall (46 yards) falls in the same boat as Turner for me and I think now is a good time to try to trade for him. He has a rough schedule for the first six games of the year, but the Steelers’ matchups definitely look up as the season progresses. Colts quarterback Kerry Collins was hurt in the second half of this game, and Curtis Painter came in to replace him. I would never recommend starting Painter, but three of his five completions went to Pierre Garcon (82 yards). I wouldn’t be surprised if Garcon’s value spikes if Collins misses any time.