As I sit here watching my roommate, Matt, switch back and forth between belligerently rooting for the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets and less belligerently rooting for Rafa Nadal (whose last name he continues to pronounce with a long "a"-- *shudders*), I figured it would be a good time to look over yesterday's (OK, Thursday's too) NFL slate for any interesting tidbits, both real and fantasy. And since I'm making up the format of this blog as I go along, here goes the first several games:
Saints 14, Vikings 9
ESPN hype machine fail. Favre looked rusty, but will get better with reps. Moral of the story, Brett? Give Adrian the ball. 'Nuff said.
Fantasy:
Visanthe Shiancoe: 7 targets, 4 catches, 76 yards. Vikes' top 4 receivers total: 12 targets, 4 catches, 56 yards. I think he should be a top-8 tight end while Rice is on the shelf.
Dolphins 15, Bills 10
Yawn. Bills INTENTIONALLY GAVE UP A SAFETY JUST TO KICK IT OFF TO THE DOLPHINS AND LET THEM FAIR CATCH. Glad that was my Eliminator pick for the week; the Bills are terrible.
Fantasy:
Trent Edwards/Bills O-line are not good. Extrapolate that as far as you want in terms of their running game. However, the run defense did not look THAT bad, which is at least an itsy-bitsy thorn in the side of owners of guys like Shonn Greene, MJD, and Benson.
Bears 19, Lions 14
OK, Calvin Johnson caught the ball and maintained possession until his knee hit the ground. Why, again, does that not count as a touchdown? I understand "the letter of the law" says it doesn't count, but come on!
Fantasy:
Matt Forte puts up the best receiving performance of the week! I can't say that's likely to happen again, and it's not like he ran the ball very well. Don't get too excited. If I had to pick a Bears receiver to have for the rest of the year, I think I'm going with Aromashodu. He's got good size and speed, and has the targets to keep getting him numbers.
Titans 38, Raiders 13
So much for the Raiders being a sleeper team... In other news, Chris Johnson is Chris Johnson.
Fantasy:
Vince Young could actually emerge as a top-15 quarterback if the offense opens up a little. He averaged almost 15 fantasy points per game from weeks 8-15 last year, and after all, teams are worried about that guy behind him in the formation.
Patriots 38, Bengals 24
Carson Palmer does an amazing job of giving both Batman and Robin their action, although apparently it wasn't enough for them to want to stay on the field for the end of the first half. The Patriots O looks gooooooood.
Fantasy:
Good to see that Benson still got 16 touches and a short touchdown despite getting blown out, but the 9 touches and generally more effective performance for Bernard Scott worries me as a Benson owner. By Week 5, I'm not sure this isn't a 60-40 timeshare.
Giants 31, Panthers 18
Hakeem Nicks explodes (and I think he might keep it up), and the Carolina passing game is in trouble. This looks like another fast start for the Giants-- beware what happened last year.
Fantasy:
Neither of these running games look like pure timeshares, but I think Stewart fans should be more worried and Williams fans relieved. At least Jacobs is getting first crack at goal line scenarios in Jersey.
Steelers 15, Falcons 9
Looks like a defensive struggle, but really it was more of an offensive struggle on the Pittsburgh side. Steelers defense (thanks to Polamalu) is back in business, and Roddy White gets thrown to 23 TIMES.
Fantasy:
The loss of another Steelers lineman makes me think that Mendenhall is going to have some tough sledding the next several weeks with Roethlisberger out and then getting back into the swing of things. That 50-yard touchdown run made his day look a lot better. Also, Mike Wallace might not be the consistent contributor people thought he would be, at least not until Big Ben gets back.
All right, 7 down, 9 more to go! I don't see myself doing anything this lengthy again. What I might do is give a week-by-week look at my fantasy teams instead, and look at some non-football topics. You know, appeal to the masses and all.
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