FULL NFL RECAP
Broncos 31 Chiefs 24
Eli Manning looked awful at times but found the end zone when his team needed it most.
KC got a big game from their best player Jamaal Charles, but he also cost them with a last minute fumble. Bradley Roby scooped it up to score with just nine seconds left in the game.
Eye popping stat of the game: Three lost fumbles by KC.
Turning point: Charles’ costly fumble with overtime looming.
Fantasy league carnage: If you had Manning, Emmanuel Sanders, and the Denver defense then you could not lose your fantasy matchup this week.
Falcons 24 Giant 20
Full Falcons recap link.
Eye popping stat of the game: Julio Jones 13 catches / targets. #Feeddabeast
Turning point: Falcons strip of Eli in the third.
Fantasy league carnage: OK Beckham outdid my guy Julio in most fantasy leagues, they were about even on DraftKings with the PPR.
Packers 27 Seahawks 17
Aaron Rodgers looked like the best QB in the NFL early. Russell Wilson looked like he could bring his team back from anything once again as the Seahawks scored 14 points in the third quarter to make it interesting.
The Pack answered with a Rodgers TD pass to TE Richard Rogers along with a two point conversion to make it 24-17. Wilson was picked in the fourth and GB added a late FG to win by 10 at home.
Eye popping stat of the game: Wilson averaged nearly eight yards per run. How do you deal with that as a defense?
Turning point: Eddie Lacy leaving the game hurt the Pack, but they have a competent guy in James Starks to take over. He finished with 95 yards on 20 carries.
Fantasy league carnage: Rodgers was the man once again in the fantasy world. He protects the football and is efficient as hell. 2 TDs no INTs
Saints 19 Bucs 26
Did Jameis Winston figure the NFL out in just two weeks? Not likely. More probable is New Orleans having one of the worst secondaries in the NFL. Even so, one would have to think Brees would have outpaced Winston in a passing duel. After all, Mariota made the Bucs defense look like they were hungover in his NFL debut.
The Saints have lost the last six home games for those keeping count. Perhaps a Rob Ryan haircut would remove whatever hex is on the Saints in their own building.
Mark Ingram’s late fumble was costly, but the offense as a whole just did not perform at a level to win the game. Brees is not in his prime anymore and his weapons cache isn’t what it once was with Jimmy Graham gone and Marques Colston now 88 years old.
Eye popping stat of the game: Five fumbles for New Orleans. They recovered two, but you can’t put the ball on the ground like that regardless
Turning point: Hit on Brees that tweaked his shoulder could have affected him the rest of the game.
Fantasy league carnage: You know how many people had Brees versus the Bucs shakey secondary this week? Counting me, about 23 million fantasy players.
Cardinals 48 Bears 23
What’s the most likely scenario in which Jay Cutler would be injured? That’s right, trying his hand at tackling a defender that has just snatched his pass out of thin air. Cutler left the game and Jimmy Clausen was the Bears backup choice. His QBR was 3.2 at game’s end.
Carson Palmer continued his excellent play in 2015, tossing four TDs, one on a flea flicker play for the hell of it. Even “old man” Fitzgerald showed he isn’t ready to be put out to pasture. #11 hauled in three touchdown passes and was a top wide out in fantasy play this week
Eye popping stat of the game: Larry Fitzgerald’s eight catches that turned into three TDs.
Turning point: Cutler’s injury.
Fantasy league carnage: Fitzgerald was at the top in standard leagues, beating out the young bucks.
Steelers 43 49ers 18
Hope Frisco fans enjoyed week one’s win. Pittsburgh brought the Niners back down to the real world with a beat down that involved a couple of early two point conversions.
The only flaw in the Steelers’ game this week was their kicker, Josh Scobee who missed an extra point and could be on unemployment very soon. He missed two FGs in the opener last week.
Big Ben had his way in the air as he was free to operate with no pressure.
Eye popping stat of the game: 0 hits on Big Ben.
Fantasy league carnage: Ben Roethlisberger is leading all fantasy players as MNF unfolds in a low scoring affair so he should end the week at the top.
Redskins 24 Rams 10
If any team knows how to have a week to week let down, it is the Rams. Beating Seattle was great so they needed a downer I guess. Losing to Washington certainly provides the flip side to beating a quality opponent.
The Redskins rolled over the Rams via Matt Jones. The rookie running back rambled for 123 yards on just 19 carries.
Eye popping stat of the game: Zero interceptions for Kirk Cousins. He can be a quality NFL starter if he can keep from turning the ball over week to week. He has too many ups and downs to trust him usually.
Turning point: Jones’ second score that capped a six plus minute drive in the fourth to put the Rams to sleep for good.
Fantasy league carnage: If you had Matt Jones on your team then you’re smarter than me (not saying much). He was second in standard league points at the RB slot.
Jaguars 23 Dolphins 20
Both these Florida teams now stand at 1-1 after two weeks. It took a late drive by Blake Bortles to set up the game winning field goal.
Bortles played well early, but was quiet until his final march that put the Jags ahead to stay. As for Miami, they could not get their rushing game going and Ryan Tannehill led them with just 17 yards on the ground.
Eye popping stat of the game: Allen Robinson of Jacksonville ended up with six catches for 155 yards and two scores.
Turning point: Jason Myers 58 yard field goal right before the half.
Fantasy league carnage: Tannehill had a top 10 day in QB fantasy play.
Eagles 10 Dallas 20
The Cowboys lost in every way except on the scoreboard. They handled the Eagles easily, but lost Tony Romo with a broken collarbone. They are now without their two best players for what could be about 10 weeks.
The Eagles had no run game as DeMarco Murray was mugged each time he touched the ball due to the absolutely pathetic O-line play. Sam Bradford didn’t look much better as he was uncomfortable most of the game with Dallas getting pressure on the former Ram.
Eye popping stat of the game: Seven total rushing yards for the Eagles as a team.
Fantasy league carnage: Dallas’ defense produced fantasy 20 points.
Bills 32 Patriots 40
Tom Brady and his receiving corp are in total sync just two games in so far in 2015. The Bills talked a good game this week, but got smacked from the jump in this game. Buffalo did open up with an impressive score, but it was downhill afterward.
Brady was unstoppable with 466 yards passing and three touchdowns. He had 59 attempts and the Pats’ uptempo style kept the Bills off balance the entire game.
To Buffalo’s credit they did mount a comeback when they could have just laid down.Tyrod Taylor was sacked eight times in this one. “T-Mobile” had a rough day, getting sacked repeatedly and picked off on three occasions.
Eye popping stat of the game: Eight sacks by the Patriots.
Turning point: Malcolm Butler’s interception that set up New England’s third TD to go up 21-7.
Fantasy league carnage: Brady was in the top two in standard league play.
Raiders 37 Ravens 33
Carr was the story of the game in this barn burner, while Joe Flacco searched for a weapon not named Steve Smith.
This game will provide some confidence for Oakland after a nasty loss in week one. Carr found Seth Roberts with just 26 seconds left in the game to get the win over Baltimore. Carr had a career day to get his team to 1-1 on the season.
Eye popping stat of the game: Amari Cooper’s 68 yard TD catch.
Fantasy league carnage: Derek Carr had a top five day at QB.
Vikings 26 Lions 16
Minnesota got a big day out of Adrian Peterson who bounced back after a poor week one showing. Teddy Bridgewater benefited with a healthy run game and turned in a steady performance that got the win for his Vikes.
Peterson had 192 total yards, but did fumble twice.
The Lions fall to 0-2 with three very hard games ahead. They aren’t going to win many games with Matthew Stafford as their top rusher.
Eye popping stat of the game: 38 rushing yards for the Lions.
Fantasy league carnage: Ameer Abdullah was a ghost after a great week one fantasy showing.
Panthers 24 Texans 17
Cam Newton is good enough to win some games on his own and it helps when the opposing QB is Ryan Mallett. Carolina finds themselves 2-0 while Houston is struggling at 0-2.
As Houston tried to come back in the fourth it was apparent that Ryan Mallett is a bottom five starter in the NFL. His throws were so off the mark it looked like he just arrived in the League yesterday.
Eye popping stat of the game: 4.2 yards per pass attempt by Mallett.
Fantasy league carnage: Drop Houston if they are your primanry defense. JJ Watt can’t do it all.
Bengals 24 Chargers 19
Andy Dalton could be headed for a career year. He torched San Diego for three TDs on just 26 attempts. The Bengals got a lot of help from Giovani Bernard with 123 yards. Tyler Eifert added a TD catch along with AJ Green finding the end zone erly.
The Chargers were the same old team, up and down. Week one saw them come back for a big win only to falter the very next week. Melvin Gordon did provide a spark at running back with 88 yards on just 16 runs.
Despite the loss, Philip Rivers did pass Dan Fouts for franchise touchdown throws.
Eye popping stat of the game: Three different Bengals receivers found the end zone.
Fantasy league carnage: Keenan Allen went off in week one but was in the negative fantasy column this week.
Browns 28 Titans 14
Marcus Mariota had a rough outing, as Cleveland sacked the rookie seven times and pressured him constantly.
Johnny Manziel fared much better than last week as he heaved two long TD passes to Travis Benjamin. Manziel was impressive enough to make McCown sweat a bit as he plans his return after week one’s concussion.
Eye popping stat of the game: Seven sacks on Mariota.
Fantasy league carnage: Travis Benjamin tallied 29 points.
Jets 20 Colts 7
Not hard to figure out the difference in this game. NY had five takeaways, with Darrelle Revis ripping three of those from the Colts. Andrew Luck or no, a team can’t overcome that turnover factor.
Luck struggled for the second straight week and was kept out of the end zone for three quarters of this game. The Colts’ leader had three interceptions to boot.
The Jets offense did their job with Ryan Fitzpatrick having a solid outing along with Marshall and Decker at receiver. Decker did leave the game with a knee injury however and an MRI is scheduled for Tuesday.
Eye popping stat of the game: Five turnovers for the Colts.
Turning point: Too many to count, turnovers 1-5 and a missed FG are good starting points though.
Fantasy league carnage: Brandon Marshall wrapped up the fantasy week with a decent standard league game and a big total on DraftKings.