Peyton and Eli Manning, when not quarterbacking in the NFL (the former much more successfully than the latter, lately), enjoy singing bad rap songs to help promote various products. In this case, the brothers are rapping "Fantasy Football Fantasy" to unveil DIRECTV's new, exclusive Fantasy Zone Channel. Fantasy advice 24/7? Not too shabby.
I don't have anything to say about the week in general, so...let's just get to the notes!
-The Broncos/Cowboys game gets my vote for early Game of the Year. Who needs defense, anyway? The combined 99 points were a season high for a single game, and Peyton Manning again kicked butt, throwing for four scores and rushing for one, the first time that's happened in five years. Manning did throw his first pick, so if you're scoring at home, that's 20 touchdowns before his first interception. Romo also threw a fourth quarter interception that set up the game-winning Denver field goal. If you're scoring at home, that's 84,576 fans sighing and shaking their heads simultaneously.
-The Jacksonville Jaguars were actually competitive today! Shockingly enough, they scored first and were even leading 10-7 before finally succumbing to the Rams, 34-20. If you take away Blaine Gabbert's short pass that Justin Blackmon turned into a 67-yard touchdown, the former Mizzou standout (maybe? I don't remember him doing much in college, either) completed just eight of 18 passes, and even including Blackmon's scoring catch, Gabbert didn't reach 200 yards. Unsurprisingly, he was yanked due to ineffectiveness. For both Jacksonville's and my fantasy team's sake, let's hope Chad Henne is the starter for the rest of the year.
-After Michael Vick left the game near the end of the first half, you'd think LeSean McCoy and Bryce Brown would hop on the expanded opportunity. Nope! The duo combined for -5 yards rushing going into the final drive (McCoy with -4 and Brown with -1). Then you remember that they were playing the Giants and you say "Oh, they could have literally ran backwards for 99 yards and thrown the ball straight up in the air, and they still would have somehow completed a pass for a touchdown." The Eagles won, 36-21.
-The Saints look really good. Pierre Thomas had a shocking nine receptions, while Jimmy Graham had a pedestrian 10 catches for 135 yards. The Bears once again could not get anything going on offense, even though Jay Cutler threw for over 350 yards and Alshon Jeffery caught 10 balls for 218 yards.
-Meanwhile, in games that did not warrant watching news, the Bengals bumbled their way to a 13-6 win over the Patriots. The game was a torrential downpour and it made throwing the ball (and watching the quarterbacks trying to throw said ball) dang near impossible. Pathetic.
-Our Worst Team of the Week wouldn't even go to the Jaguars, since, as we mentioned earlier, were at least somewhat competitive. No, this goes to the Carolina Panthers, who just narrowly squeaked out the award against the New York Football Giants. Both of these teams are abysmal and going nowhere fast, but the Panthers can't get a run game established, have a quarterback that apparently isn't good anymore, and have a defense that can only do so much when it has to be on the field 3/4 of the game. It's tough on those big D-linemen!
-Meanwhile, the Stupidest Play of the Week goes to my very own Bears' Lance Briggs. Facing a 4th and 2 in kind of no-man's-land, the Saints were very clearly just yelling random words to draw the Bears offsides. Well, it worked, and N'awlins could milk a lot more clock and essentially ice the game.
-Matt Schaub has thrown a pick-6 in four games in a row. Take a moment to process that. In all but ONE game, Matt Schaub threw a pass that a defensive player not only caught, but then proceeded to return for a touchdown. And in the one game he didn't, his opponent (Philip Rivers) did. Rivers doesn't play till very late tonight--well past my bedtime--so I don't know if the following stat will hold, but Rivers has only thrown two interceptions on the year, and they've both been returned for touchdowns.
-The Colts are playing very well right now, and gutted out a gritty win against the very talented Seattle Seahawks. I can't say I'm surprised, since the Colts are very solid at home and the Seahawks are spotty on the road, but impressive nonetheless. Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch each ran for 102 yards, which is nine more than the two Colts RBs (Trent Richardson and Donald Brown) combined.
-I just discovered NFL.com has a "RedZone" feature that showcases all of the touchdowns from any given week. Enjoy.
Recently it occurred to me that, since I'm picking games every week for my NFL Pick'Em league, I might as well post about 'em, too. We only do straight up in this world, and my record thus far is 34-14. Let's do dis (home team in caps):
San Francisco over ST. LOUIS
These Thursday night games always terrify me. San Fran looks terrible, as does St. Louis. This one is really a tossup, but I'd like to believe the Niners are better than they've shown, and maybe they'll rally around this terrible Aldon Smith distraction to get a win.
Baltimore over BUFFALO
This is maybe one of my most confident games for the week, and I'm still not very confident in it. Baltimore's coming off a huge win over Houston, and Buffalo has looked shaky in its three games, but they've also been within a touchdown in their two losses, so they could easily be 3-0.
Cincinnati over CLEVELAND
I'm not buying the Browns as a good team, though they're better than people realize (and maybe even better with Hoyer and Gordon back and Richardson gone). This'll be a close one, but I think Cincinnati can pull it out, since they're very good at beating teams worse than them, and the Browns fit that bill.
Chicago over DETROIT
Nate Burleson breaking his arm is actually a big deal. He was emerging as the second receiver for the Lions, and now they'll be relying on Ryan Broyles and his balky knees. The Bears are on a roll, and they usually rock the Lions, so let's ride them.
KANSAS CITY over New York Giants
Kansas City is one of the surprise teams of the year (except I expected them to be good, BOOM!). I don't know if anyone predicted the Giants would collapse like this, and I'm sure they'll win a game at some point this year. I just don't see it happening this week.
Pittsburgh over MINNESOTA
This will be a disgusting, pathetic game played in London. I honestly have no idea which one of these 0-3 teams is less worse. They've both lost to the Bears, and the Vikings have fallen to the Lions and Browns, while the Steelers lost to the Titans and Bengals. They've each looked both pathetic and great in the same game, so it's a real toss up.
Arizona over TAMPA BAY
Tampa Bay's Josh Freeman is completing like 4% of his passes, and his (and my fantasy team's) best receiver is day-to-day with a rib injury. Give me 'Zona and the painful missing finger.
Indianapolis over JACKSONVILLE
Maybe Indy's not too bad after all. The Richardson trade helps them in the short run, although I'm not entirely sure he's really that good. But it definitely looked like Ahmad Bradshaw was rejuvenated by this move, so may as well ride the Colts, especially against arguably the worst team in the league.
HOUSTON over Seattle
This may be a risky play, but with Houston coming off an embarrassing loss, expect them to put up huge numbers at home. Seattle looked rusty in their lone road game this season (a really boring 12-7 win over the Panthers in Week 1), and I'm banking on the same happening.
TENNESSEE over New York Jets
The Titans are better than people think, while the Jets have somehow stumbled their way to a 2-1 record. With the Titans at home, I'll pick 'em.
DENVER over Philadelphia
The Broncos look like the best team in the NFL right now, and I can't imagine Philly's offense doing well in the altitude. Let's go Broncs!
OAKLAND over Washington
Ugh, both of these teams have looked atrocious over the season. If Terrelle Pryor plays, I'm leaning towards the home dawgs. If he doesn't, I'm switching this to Washington before Sunday.
Dallas over SAN DIEGO
I don't believe Dallas is that good, and San Diego has been right there in every game, only managing to eek out one win. This does have all the makings of a 23-10 Dallas loss, so I fully expect to be wrong on this one.
ATLANTA over New England
The Falcons have to be better than this, right? And the Pats can't keep skating by with all this subpar play, right?
NEW ORLEANS over Miami
Both of these teams are better than folks imagined at the start of the season, and I like the Saints at home. Should be a very entertaining matchup.
And that'll do it! Our first week of byes is upon us, and I'm guessing about everything. Here we gooooo!
