For at least one night, Cutler was not the focus nor his offfensive lineman-slapping ways. The Chicago Bears defense was front and center on this night, creating 5 turnovers and was leading their team in scoring up until the last major Bears drive of the night which, of course, was started by an interception. Bears Offense 20, Bears Defense 14. Overall, neither team ever really got going on offense and both teams were equally impressive defensively. Scary thought? If Bears don’t score two defensive TDs, maybe they only win 16-10 and are in danger of losing on a late fling down the field. For Chicago Bears defensive owners, tonight was your night and I’m sure it won a few leagues in the bold and glorious come from behind fashion. Overall, this game was over before the 4th quarter really got rolling. Every twitter account with a #MNF after it told me what they were doing other than watching the game. That’s what happens when inept offense meets strong defense, I guess. Oh well, it’s their loss not to hear the golden voice of Jon Gruden! In other fantasy football news…
Jay Cutler – Was a’ight with a bag of ‘eh’. Don’t read too much into the end line. Sure he had 2 TD passes on 275 passing yards but was involved with plenty of dead drives. See lede paragraph for why he got not only the shot to get those numbers but why I’m not talking it up. He’s still a bench QB or QB2 for most leagues, all depending on the matchup. He’s still the guy that hung a 28.2k quarterback rating just two weeks ago in Green Bay. That type of atrociousness can only happen once a season or if you’re Blaine Gabbert. I have no reason to keep mentioning his name but I like to think myself a boxer and Gabbert is my punching bag.
Tony Romo – I think Tony needs to change his last name to ‘Oh No’. Five interceptions. True story, ‘Oh’ is Korean for the number 5 so my first line has a double meaning, which is usually my quota for providing meaning in a post. Good night everybody! Scary thing was he completed 72% of his passes on the night. If you include the 5 interceptions, he completed over 80% of them. Word on the sidelines was Romo threw a fit, but the Bears intercepted it. To be fair to Romo, not all of those interceptions were all on him and he had some unhelping hands from some of his guys. One of them popped Kevin Ogletree right in the hands. Anyone remember that guy? Yeah me either. Hope you still have some FAAB left! Bad nights happen, especially against good defenses but I’m sure the media will try and hype up a quarterback controversy for the next two weeks. If you’re worried Kyle Orton will be starting for Dallas in two weeks, I have a bag cashews to share with you…cuz yer nuts! Even Jerry Jones isn’t that crazy…actually don’t hold me to that.
Dez Bryant – There are Dez Bryant rules but something tells me they forgot rule number 72: run the right route. Like I said, Romo still needs to take blame for some but Tillman’s pick 6 at least is partially to blame on Dez. I’m sure his owners at the end of the night are still happy with 8 recs, 105 yards and a 2 point conversion but plays like that get you pushed down on the org chart in your QBs’ mind. It’s a game of trust and I wouldn’t trust Dez with my mom…yeah, I went there.
Jason Witten – Welcome to the 2012 fantasy football season, Witten. In an explosive fantasy scoregasm even the 40 Year Old Virgin would be jealous of, Jason went off for 112 on 13 receptions and scored a TD. For those of you who started Dennis Pitta or Kyle Rudolph this week, you just got out-Witt-ed. He was a top 10 TE coming into the season and still is. I think Romo had a hard time seeing the forest through the Ogletree. Hint, Jason was the forest in that analogy. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
Miles Austin – Is it just me, or am I listing a lot of fantasy worthy Dallas guys despite Romo’s poor line? What a weird night. When the game was still a game, Miles caught Romo’s lone TD pass on the night…well minus his two to the Bears of course. I didn’t put Austin miles above (pun point!) Dez in my initial rankings but I did say I didn’t trust Bryant as much as I did Miles. I think Miles stays in Romo’s circle of trust after tonight and might be in for a bigger role in future weeks. I’m letting my little Nostradamus out for the night. Thankfully, I’m at home; no indecent exposure charges there.
Brandon Marshall – You drafted him to do this: 7 rec for 138 yards and the late TD that put the game completely out of reach. You probably also drafted him because he’s so quotable. Two words: Popcorn Muscles.
Matt Forte – Finally returned to the lineup after missing the last two weeks and may have returned too early. The Bears wisely held him to only 14 touches total on the night. Here’s to hoping for Forte owners they’re smart about how they handle him the rest of the season. Health is forever a risk at running back but it’s surely not a Forte of Matt’s to keep a clean bill of it.
DeMarco Murray – Was shut down on the ground by the Bears (11 carries for 24 yards) but surely surprised his owners with his involvement in the passing game (7 receptions for 57 yards). People drafting Murray surely weren’t expecting a 50+ catch pace for the year but it’s exactly what they’re getting. Sproles Schmoles, I got me ‘The Marco’!
