I don’t normally lead with talking about the referees but I seriously have to wonder if this is what it’s like to watch an Oakland Raiders practice. F(lag) this and F(lag) that from beginning to end. Did the refs sign up with the Buffalo Wild Wings guys? I’m sure they know the real ones are coming back so I guess I can’t blame them for trying to make money on the side. But of course, that’s just boring to talk about so let’s move on to something more titillating: Peyton Manning and his three INT. Pretty sure he was just trying to best Eli there and I have to say the attempt was admirable. I think he just missed the 510 yards by about 300 and was just two short on the TDs. Hey, everyone was putting him in their top 10 in their preseason rankings, I’m doing my best to give him a pass here. To be fair, I said he was old and coming off a serious injury. Those were my only two concerns. I did not think being terrible was going to be an issue too and still don’t. Bad game, throw it away if you’re a Peyton owner and turn your eyes to next week. In other fantasy football news…
Michael Turner – Finally did what owners were expecting him to do last night and scored a touchdown. Oh you wanted 60 to 80 yards to go with that too? Sorry, only 42 on 17 carries and a nearly lost fumble at the goal line to boot. Speaking of that fumble, let’s take a look at the first three plays of that drive together shall we? M. Turner to the left for no gain/M. Turner rushed to the left for no gain. M. Turner fumbled. M. Turner recovered fumble/M. Turner rushed up the middle for 1 yard touchdown. So Atlanta had a chance down at the one later in the game and guess what they did? Tony Gonzalez caught a 1 yard TD. Did I also mention he only had 16 yards on 11 carries going into the 4th quarter as well? My issues with Turner coming into the season were plentiful: how he finished last season, the wear and tear on his 30 year old frame, how Atlanta was now a passing team and how he’s not an RB who catches the ball and he was still being priced in with guys like Ahmad Bradshaw and Reggie Bush. My mind was officially boggled, did not compute, CTRL+ALT+DEL restart.
Roddy White – Remember when I said last week the line between Julio Jones and Roddy wouldn’t be as drastic as it may have seemed in the box score in week one? You don’t? It’s because I didn’t say it like that. I’m paraphrasing here, if you really wanna know what I said you can go read it. In essence, targets were pretty even across the board in the last game so to see Roddy be the star of the two this week is no surprise. That’s what happens when two top 10 WRs play on the same team, y’all and by ‘y’all’ I mean you and that creepy guy staring over your shoulder in the subway as you read this because y’all is plural.
Willis McGahee – Broke the century mark and scored two touchdowns. Still not a back I’d trust on a week to week basis as Atlanta set out to humble Peyton early, in turn putting the ball in Willis’ hands more than what is typical. Again, not a scathing slant against McGahee here, just a word of caution that you got more than you should expect tonight so I hope you enjoyed it.
Eric Decker – Did bupkis. Also did bupkis in week 1. Two wrongs don’t make a right and two bupkis’es don’t make a lot. Still think he’s a good WR to have with Peyton around but somehow he seems to be competing with Brandon Stokley for catches. Not good. I’d still hold onto him, of course, and put in my bench WR for him until this wackiness gets resolved.
Demaryius Thomas – A very un-Decker like 7 receptions to go with 67 yards and a TD and he’s the Denver WR I didn’t like heading into the season. So I guess what I’m trying to say is there’s absolutely nothing right I’ve nailed about the Broncos. I didn’t even have Matt Prater in my top 10 kickers. Did I even realize they were still a team in the off season? Someone fire me, NOW.
Matt Ryan– Didn’t have his best day but still threw for 2 touchdowns and totaled a little under 240 yards on the day. Don’t worry, I still heart you Matt. Can’t score 48 every week folks, especially against Denver’s defense. Speaking of which…
Denver Broncos DEF – I have to say these guys aren’t that bad. Look past the final score for a minute and realize this: after three Peyton INTs in the first quarter, they were only down 10-0. Realize further that all my talk about Turner above with regards to his fumble and 3 carries for a 1 yard TD means Denver held it’s ground pretty well. In the end, they held down a high-powered offense for most of the night even if the stats don’t show it and actually kept their team in the game. If you’re shuffling through defenses like I go through kleenex when watching Fried Green Tomatoes, Denver might be a team to stop on to see what you get.
