What an entertaining Raiders/Bills game, with a whopping five lead changes in the fourth quarter alone. The fact it was clear someone caught the game-ending Hail Mary (just not whom) made it even crazier…I'm a Ryan Fitzpatrick believer, and it's hard to argue with his 7:1 TD:INT ratio and 109.6 QB rating while taking just one sack, but the accompanying 6.6 YPA at least needs to be noted. Having said that, another nice game very well could be in store in another possible shootout against the Pats in Week 3. In fantasy sports, volume often matters just as much as efficiency anyway…Darren McFadden remains a very real injury risk, and Michael Bush replacing him at the goal-line at times hurts, but it's hard not treating him as a top-three fantasy asset right now. He's the favorite to lead the NFL in yards from scrimmage on a per game basis…C.J. Spiller certainly looks better this year compared to last, but this is Fred Jackson's backfield for the foreseeable future. He currently leads the NFL with 229 rushing yards…Denarius Moore is the real deal. At least I hope so, since I just blew my FAAB load on him in a dynasty league in which he was mystifyingly dropped last week…I've decided the real contrarian thing to do is pick the west coast teams travelling to play the early game on the East Coast, at least against the spread, because since everyone is in on this theory, it's clearly priced into the line.
I used to be pretty anti-hunting, but this commercial has me seriously reevaluating my views.
If Sunday's game was any indication, the Lions are suddenly legitimate threats in the NFC, and Kansas City is a true league doormat…My condolences Jamaal Charles owners. What a devastating loss. And on a non-contact play too. I know the mascot causing the injury would be a better narrative, but I'm almost positive he tore his ACL right before going down there. Dexter McCluster obviously needs to be added in all leagues as a result, although expectations should be tempered since his touches will be limited…I've always been a Nate Burleson fan, but for some reason, he slipped through the cracks during my drafts this year. Looks like I'm going to regret it…Matthew Stafford owners certainly can't complain, but realize his 599 passing yards and seven touchdowns have come essentially over just six quarters this season, so his year could easily be even bigger. He's also yet to be sacked…I can't believe how many times I've heard or read how the Chiefs lost their best defensive player in Eric Berry. He got a 3.8 rating from Pro Football Focus last year, ranking 20th among safeties. Teammate Tamba Hali got a 51.5 rating – the highest of any defender in the NFL. Berry is good, but the Chiefs still have their best defensive player.
Man accused of stealing Dolphins jersey shows up to court wearing Dolphins jersey.
Make no mistake, despite the poor showing in Week 1 against the defending Super Bowl champs, this New Orleans defense is legit. They get Will Smith back from suspension in Week 3 as well…The Bears' receiving corps is as big of a mess as ever, but Matt Forte racking up 10 catches for 117 yards was pretty eye-opening…I actually like the new rule that every score is subject to booth review, but not sure how seriously we can take it after Darren Sproles' TD was confirmed. He without question stepped out of bounds.
This video of two alligators fighting is pretty intense. I must admit, I personally probably would have stayed a few club lengths farther away while filming.
I'm beginning to think the Colts might not be as good without Peyton Manning…Remember all that talk about how the Browns wanted to limit Peyton Hillis' workload this season? His 54 touches currently lead the NFL…I'm not one to (at least openly) root for failure, and the situation certainly isn't easy, but Jim Caldwell is finally being exposed as one of the worst coaches in the league. What's the Colts' O/U right now? Three wins? Two?
If only this guy was a bit more descriptive of his car accident.
Mike Williams (one catch for -4 yards) owners probably don't want to hear it, but he had a TD catch taken away Sunday thanks to an illegal shift penalty that didn't affect the play at all. He'll remain a red-zone beast, so don't sell low…Speaking of beasts, LeGarrette Blount should probably have more than 18 carries on the season so far…How does Percy Harvin play just 30-of-68 offensive snaps? I've always been a fan, and he still managed seven catches for 76 receiving yards, but in this passing attack with that usage, I'm starting to get concerned.
This footage from the recent Reno air race crash is pretty terrifying.
I'd argue Cam Newton is the toughest player to rank in fantasy football right now. The three picks were obviously black marks, but Charles Woodson made really good plays on two of them. And while Newton has played two secondaries that have been torched during each of their games this season, and it's likely he struggles some the more game tape defensive coordinators can study, it's hard to argue against his 854 passing yards to open his career. The fact that's combined with 71 rushing yards and two scores suddenly makes him a QB1 for fantasy purposes. I thought he might struggle to reach a 50 percent completion percentage in his rookie year, but he currently sits at 62.7, with an even more impressive 10.3 YPA mark. Andy Behrens recently offered me Newton for Frank Gore straight up in Yahoo Friends & Family, and I wasn't even THAT insulted (especially compared to other offers I've received in that league this week). Where do you guys have Newton ranked among fantasy QBs moving forward?...Jonathan Stewart has more receiving yards this season than he did while playing 14 games all of last year…John Kuhn is apparently going to cap his upside for the time being, but it's not even close how much James Starks has outplayed Ryan Grant so far…Last week Aaron Rodgers finished the first quarter 14-of-15 with 188 yards and three touchdowns. In Week 2, the team ran three offensive plays total.
It's unclear what this guy's feelings are regarding Jerry Jones.
It was no surprise to see Pittsburgh right the ship against possibly the league's worst team Sunday, but they did so in dominant fashion that made the 14.5-point spread look tiny in comparison. There was never even a threat of Seattle scoring a touchdown…In the long run, maybe it's Pete Carroll having the last laugh trading for Tarvaris Jackson and not taking a QB last draft. Despite playing in the NFC West, the Seahawks look like the current favorites for Andrew Luck…It's too bad about Sidney Rice's injury, as it looks like he's going to have little fantasy impact this season.
Smoking babies in Indonesia has become an epidemic.
With 6:58 left in the 4th quarter, the Ravens inexplicably kicked a field goal on 4th-and-goal down 23-10, keeping their deficit at two scores. Huh? I'm a huge John Harbaugh fan, but this was pretty indefensible. The next time they touched the ball was with 20 seconds left in the game. By the way, my wife disagrees, but I think Harbaugh looks like coach Taylor…Chris Johnson is more buy-low than someone to panic about…No reason not to treat Kenny Britt as a top-10 fantasy wide receiver moving forward (update: he's again dealing with a hamstring injury).
It's funny because it's juvenile.
It's funny because they're Amish.
Tim Hightower got 96 rushing yards with 4.8 YPC Sunday, but he was noticeably absent down the stretch. He has 203 total yards and a touchdown over two games, so he's lived up to expectations, but Roy Helu could become a hindrance sooner rather than later…Rex Grossman threw a couple bad picks, but he's clearly on the fantasy radar now. Over five starts in Washington under Mike Shanahan, he's averaged 287.2 passing yards with 11 touchdowns…Fred Davis should be used as a TE1 moving forward. He's clearly a superior option to Chris Cooley…Kevin Kolb has gotten 9.8 YPA so far in Arizona, and while his 110.3 QB rating would normally stand out, it ranks just fifth in the NFL during a year in which the first two weeks of the season rate as the two highest for passing yards in NFL history, respectively.
Here's an Anti-Coning McDonalds Manager.
Luke McCown completed 31.6 percent of his passes for 3.1 YPA with a 0:4 TD:INT ratio, good for a 1.8 QB rating Sunday. That's not ideal…Maybe Plaxico Burress is going to struggle after all. He might as well have been on a milk carton Sunday, despite the coaching staff's insistence he was constantly double-teamed…Maurice Jones-Drew has made the best out of a pretty dire situation so far…If you can trade Shonn Greene at 60 cents on the dollar, I'm all for it. I'd certainly rather own Ryan Mathews or probably even Ben Tate moving forward.
SpongeBob SquarePants detained by LAPD.
If Tony Romo's performance Sunday didn't prove he's not soft or incapable of performing in clutch situations, not sure what other than a Super Bowl victory will. And even the latter coming to fruition might not convince some, as he appears to have quite a bit of haters, which is odd since he seems like a nice enough fellow. Seriously, I've bruised my ribs before playing intramural basketball in college, and I couldn't take my shirt off without help, let alone return to an NFL game. Now some who know me may point to me having something of a less than strong pain tolerance, and while I didn't have the benefit of cortisone, I also didn't have a punctured lung as well, which no doubt just by the sound of it would have required a month stay in the hospital. Romo is the man…It's frustrating Felix Jones is already hurt and not performing all that well, but it's worth noting he's faced a Jets and 49ers defense on the road (and on grass) who have allowed 3.3 YPC and (an NFL-low) 2.5 YPC through two games this season…As someone who parlayed the Cowboys -3 with the Mayweather/Ortiz fight going under 11.5 rounds (+150), let me say watching Jesse Holley getting tackled at the 1-yard line in overtime was an event in which I may never recover…Tough break for Miles Austin owners, although as a big Dez Bryant backer, admittedly it's crocodile tears…Some very interesting coaching decisions by Jim Harbaugh, who decided not to take points off the board after David Akers made a 55-yard field goal while Dallas committed a 15-yard penalty. I can understand the sentiment with the 49ers' struggles in the red zone and the game situation, but even more interesting was his decision not to try an onside kick from the 50. The risk/reward there kind of made it a no-brainer. Although really, Harbaugh's biggest mistake was not going for it on 4th-and-1 from the 38 before the FG attempt.
Speaking of Mayweather/Ortiz, while I obviously would prefer more than four rounds of entertainment for a $69.95 bill, that ending was without question more exciting than a boring 12-round decision, and while Ortiz wasn't completely dominated, it was clear he was totally outclassed and the outcome was inevitable either way. His intentional head butt was one of the worst I've ever seen, and as for the controversial knockout (I fully blame referee Joe Cortez. Why was he looking at the clock starters and not the boxers? Ridiculous), if any boxer can't complain, it's Ortiz. I understand why everyone hates Mayweather, but he's easily one of my favorite athletes. His interview with Larry Merchant afterward was absolute gold. I especially liked Dana White's take on it. Let me repeat, if Mayweather/Pacquiao never happens, someone will be murked.
Andy Dalton (who better do my name proud) has somehow completed 66.1 percent of his passes with 7.4 YPA and a 3:0 TD:INT ratio over his first six quarters in the NFL after a preseason in which he looked completely incompetent…I'm normally all about youth over veterans in football, especially when it comes to the running back position, but I honestly might prefer Willis McGahee over "Noshow" Moreno over the rest of the year…He'll lose some value once Brandon Lloyd returns, but with Eddie Royal (one of my worst fantasy calls ever back in 2009) out, Eric Decker needs to be one of the top waiver priorities in Week 3. He could make a major impact from here on out…I'm an idiot and didn't end up with A.J. Green on many of my fantasy teams this year, but at least I have solace that I bet my friend Adam $100 that he'd have a better career than Julio Jones (I'm obviously kidding that it's a done deal after two weeks, but this is the same guy I recently bet Tiger Woods wouldn't surpass Jack Nicklaus in majors, which clearly reveals his incompetence).
This team was down 29-0 before ever touching the football.
Mike Tolbert is obviously a huge part of the Chargers' offense and will continue to rack up the catches. But he's gotten 2.1 YPC this year, including a couple of questionable runs in short-yardage situations in which he hasn't hit the hole hard (he's also fumbled three times over the past three games, dating back to last year). There's little doubt Tolbert is the better blocker than Ryan Mathews, which is extremely important considering Philip Rivers is one of the five most important players in the NFL, but there's as equally no doubt Mathews is the superior rusher and receiver with the ball in his hands…New England is known for keying on stopping opposing teams' best player, which speaks volumes about Antonio Gates. He'll be better moving forward, whereas Vincent Jackson will rarely benefit from single coverage like that also. Still, VJax is going to be a monster this year barring health – Week 1 was a fluke…Horrible injury news for Aaron Hernandez owners. Obviously Rob Gronkowski's value gets a boost as a result. Both were top-five options beforehand, so it's not a stretch to call Gronkowski the No. 1 fantasy tight end until Hernandez returns…Words can't describe how good Tom Brady has been. He's gone from being known as a great player who won Super Bowls to one who's team hasn't won a playoff game since 2007, but he's easily been the best player in the NFL over the past two-plus years.
These TV stills are pretty funny.
I expected Reggie Bush to remain a productive fantasy player until he got hurt, so I for one found it surprising Daniel Thomas replaced him Sunday due to performance. The rookie had been criticized heavily throughout the preseason for running without authority, but he's suddenly firmly on the fantasy radar…It's not entirely clear if Houston is an extremely legitimate team because they have faced the Colts and Dolphins – the former now looks like a true doormat, whereas the latter showed some fight against the Patriots in Week 1…Ranking the Houston backfield from here on out is a guess, but I'd personally treat Ben Tate as a top-20 fantasy asset right now (and he's a top-three fantasy start any week Arian Foster is inactive)…If I hear how Foster "reaggravated" his hamstring injury one more time I'll go crazy. He either aggravated or re-injured it. Reaggravated is redundant and not a word…Miami is now 1-10 over its past 11 home games.
These people are out of their minds.
Jon "Bones" Jones is my favorite MMA fighter, but I have no clue why he's jumped from a -200 to -700 favorite over Rampage Jackson this weekend.
It didn't feel great watching Jeremy Maclin go absolutely off Sunday night having benched him in my home league, but it's obviously good news for his fantasy owners that he clearly appears to be back to 100 percent. Last year's 10/70 TD/reception ratio doesn't seem repeatable, but Maclin has a high pedigree, is still just 23 years old and is just now entering his third year in the league. DeSean Jackson isn't a high volume guy and injury prone, whereas Maclin is clearly the team's No. 1 option in the red zone. If Michael Vick can stay healthy, a huge season could be in store for Maclin in such a high-powered offense. He was targeted 15 times Sunday…Tough break for Vick owners, especially since he got hurt in the pocket (and by his own teammate no less). The team seemingly fell apart after his departure, but it's not like Mike Kafka played poorly (77.8|PERCENT|, 8.0 YPA). Good thing I have Vince Young stashed in a couple of leagues…Pretty awesome TD catch by Tony Gonzalez. Atlanta sure did set a blue print on how to attack this Eagles defense.
Real life "Weekend at Bernie's."
I somehow lucked into ridiculously good seats for a "TV On The Radio" concert Tuesday night. Couldn't be more pumped.
I was rooting hard for the Giants on Monday night having them on the back end of a teaser, but I fully admit the Rams mostly outplayed them and the score was highly misleading. Of course, red-zone efficiency is a skill, and turnovers are always the great equalizer, but still, St. Louis dominated a lot of facets of that game, especially during the first half…The difference between the Giants' front four and back seven on defense is beyond drastic. That secondary looks brutal. Especially once Osi Umenyiora returns, it's possible the D-line can compensate…If you're going to tear your ACL, at least Domenik Hixon did so in style…Talk about adding injury to insult, not only did Mario Manningham tripping cost him a sure 53-yard touchdown, but he got himself concussed as well…Good to see the NFL retroactively reward Hakeem Nicks a 23-yard catch. I had Nicks in a close battle down to the end, so I was going nuts when the refs ruled it incomplete at the time, as it was a clear (and nice one-handed) catch, and the Giants had no incentive to challenge because there was pass interference on the play…It's safe to say it wasn't Steve Spagnuolo's best coaching night. Not only did he inexplicably punt down 12 points with 1:34 left with no timeouts (meaning all this affected was where on the field the Giants would kneel), but even as someone who generally thinks teams go for two too early in games, I can't figure out why the Rams kicked an extra point down 28-15 with 1:18 left in the third quarter. A two-point conversion there brings them to within two scores opposed to three, and even if it fails, there's not a huge difference being down 13 compared to 12 at that time (it's still two scores even if the Giants kick a FG)…Two Giants clearly faking injuries at the same time was high comedy (although I would have been livid if I were a Rams fan).