The big news at first sounded like a Willis Reed type of story. Adrian Peterson was named the starter about 30 minutes before game time after hearing all week that he’d be a game time decision to even play. In my head, I thought ‘ok, 5 to 10 touches; get his feet wet’. Well, AP gave us a fantasy football flood of biblical proportions, all things considered, with 17 carries for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns. I fully admit I didn’t think we’d see AP game one and freely admitted it over and over in the off-season and in the preseason. But now here we are in-season and Adrian is sitting back in the top ten in scoring for running backs like December never happened. If you have him and started him today, congrats! I had him in two leagues and didn’t so go stupid me for ever betting against the Purple Jesus but it’s on like Diddy Kong the rest of the way out. That said, I own and will continue to own Toby Gerhart until I can fully trust the situation and I can honestly tell you I don’t know how long that hesitation will last. In other Fantasy Football news…
Michael Vick/Matthew Stafford – Combined for 7 turnovers but both teams won. See how quarterbacks lead teams to wins? Yeah, I don’t either. They were playing against teams that had no business having leads against them and yet both QBs put their teams in danger of losing. But of course, this is a fantasy site so we only care about the stats…yeah, they sucked on the fantasy side too for where you had to draft them as Matt Cassel had a better end line than either. I said I wasn’t buying a top 5 QB this year. Thank you for proving my point today, Matt. And thank you for almost proving my point by being ranked 6th, Vick.
Matt Ryan – Oh Matt, I got you nowhere in my leagues this year and yet knew this was what you’d do. Do you need anything? Backrub with sensual oils maybe? I hope I didn’t weird you out in the hotel lobby. Four total TDs with one as a rush. I told you back in May I liked this kid. Now I’m looking at my original line for him and wondering how I undercut him that much. Yikes, maybe I shouldn’t have shown you that link…
Julio Jones – We had a Fantasy Face/Off between Julio and Roddy White to start the year. It was close and I think the season will balance out in a similar fashion. Julio had the TDs but the remaining lines between the two – 6 receptions apiece 106/87 yards and 9/8 targets respectively – were pretty straight across the board. Enjoy your day, Julio owners, your draft love got instant karma which is much tastier than instant coffee and provides just as much buzz.
Robert Griffin, III – Wanna hear something crazy? Fine, here. Wanna hear something else crazy? His stat line is what you wanted but what you should be glad to hear is he played that game with extreme poise. RGIII did not look like a rookie out there. He was calm and when flushed out of the pocket he made smart decisions with the ball and his feet. I ranked him 11th among QBs this year. I might’ve undercut him by a lot if he can play as intelligently as he did versus New Orleans for the rest of the year.
Michael Turner – Hey, remember when you were wondering why I had Michael ranked so low this year and ‘come on, Sky, he’s a solid and underrated RB2 play’? You don’t? Short term memory, I guess: 11 carries for 32 yards. His team scored 40 points and that’s what you got. Yeah, it’s only one week and he may give you something next week but I said it was a passing team now and he doesn’t catch passes so these weeks won’t be uncommon. If you hate Shonn Greene I don’t know why you’d love Turner this year. You guys are more confusing than my wife *wife walks in* and waaaaay less attractive, intelligent, sweet and kind!
Pierre Garcon– Four targets, four receptions for 109 yards receiving. That line could’ve been much better as he left the game early with a foot problem. I’m assuming an athlete’s foot issue. Rub some tinactin on that and get back in there! In either case, I ranked him as a low-end WR2 for this week in my weekly rankings. It’s like I knew the Saints gave up the 3rd most passing yards last year, defensively. Google, you’re my best friend. In any event, I have a funny feeling I’m going to be writing his name a lot this year so someone’s going to have to teach me how to make that squirrelly mark on the bottom of the ‘c’ for future reference.
Michael Bush – We talked about Michael all week. Loudon made a call on Tuesday in his rush strategy article, I made a call in my weekly rankings that he was a solid flex play, and then finished it off telling you to play him in the weekly FanDuel Freeroll. Were you listening? Did you start him? Good, you owe me a beer and none of that Bud crap either, buddy/buddette. JB – of podcast fame – and I text-talked about him during the game. He said it was fluky and I said he’s the man from 5 and in. Then Matt Forte scored on a 6 yard run…if only he’d been stopped at the 5, how good our day would’ve been!
Kevin Smith – Scored the game winning touchdown to finish off a 91 all-purpose yardage 2 TD day. I love Kevin Smith when he’s healthy and not trying to re-live his glory days. You can hate me all you want but you can’t make me like that movie.
Andrew Luck – He was just as impressive as Stafford and Vick, killing plenty of drives with his own 4 TOs but you got 300 yards passing and a passing TD. Let’s just say you’re very thankful your league doesn’t calculate QB rating. He was chucking the ball late as the Colts fell behind early. This just might be your life as a Luck owner this year. Lucky you!
Buffalo Defense – I’m calling them out because I just can’t fathom writing about Mark Sanchez,Stephen Hill, and Greene. Some places had these guys in their top ten for defenses. I think too many people stare at the touchdowns the defense scores and don’t actually look at what else they do. They just gave up 41 points to that Jets offense. Well I’m gonna go old school Verizon guy upside your head: are you looking now? Good!
Fred Jackson/C.J. Spiller – Combined for 184 yards rushing and a touchdown vs the Jets. Unfortch for Jackson owners, 169 of those yards were Spiller’s as was the touchdown as Fred’s left knee went wrong and has an MRI scheduled for Monday. This could be really bad news for Jackson owners and really good news for Spiller owners. Of course, if you had both then you are probably having mixed emotions for which I suggest a mixed drink. Alcohol fixes everything!
Jermichael Finley – Scored the first of just two offensive touchdowns by Green Bay IN Green Bay. It feels weird typing that but it’s just further proof that San Fran’s defense is really special. He also dropped enough passes to fuel the anger people have for him despite finishing the day as a top 10 scoring TE. Just because he can be more doesn’t mean you should hate what you have. That sounds like a bumper sticker. I hate bumper stickers.
Chris Johnson/Maurice Jones-Drew – I paired them because people said MJD was a CJ rehash. Looks like CJ is a CJ rehash – 11 rushes for 4 yards – and MJD is going to be fine with his 105 all-purpose yards and 23 touches. We’ll be doing a buy/sell on Wednesday. Guess which side of the / Johnson’s going to fall on.
Randall Cobb – All-purpose dynamo this week netting over 100 yards in returns while scoring a touchdown as well as reeling in 9 catches for 77 yards. He was a preseason darling in sleeper circles and considering he did it against the top defensive team, there’s nothing to discredit what he did (though you could discredit him for the punt return TD that was sprung by a non-call block in the back). Just remember he’s the WR3 and on a team that has Finley so quiet weeks are gonna happen. Just enjoy the moment while it’s here.
Marshawn Lynch – Started and performed well, back spasms and all. Totally blew up my Robert Turbin FanDuel Freeroll but hey, I gave you that Bush call. Fine, I’ll give you your beer back.
Frank Gore– Scored a touchdown to go with 112 yards rushing on just 16 carries. I’m pleasantly surprised to see him starting off well. Just wish he’d done this game one for me last year when I drafted him nearly everywhere. I see what you did there, Gore, and I’m not happy.
Stevan Ridley – Turning in an RB1 line when I thought he’d just get a few few goal line dives. Well I’ll admit, with the Gore post above and the Turbin post more above, I’m eating some crow here. Could someone pass the rooster sauce? This isn’t going down well.
Peyton Manning– Proved the naysayers – and yes I am one of them – wrong for his first game. Hard to go 19/26 for 253 yards and 2 TDs vs the Steelers. I’d nod my head to him but worry he might try to do the same in return and re-injure himself.
Demaryius Thomas – The Steel Curtain has nothing on this kid. Five recs, 110 receiving yards, and a 71 yard TD reception that looked too easy. I still hold that Eric Decker is the one to own in Denver if you’re pursuing a Bronco receiver but Thomas surprised me tonight and by that I mean he jumped out of a dark room and said ‘boo!’. I’m not gonna lie, a little dribble of pee came out. That was a Peyton SNL skit reference for those of you too young to realize Eli isn’t the only Manning to star on there. Gosh I’m old.
Heath Miller – Four recs on 7 targets to go with 50 yards and a touchdown. It was clear that Ben was willing to get rid of the ball tonight as RBs, TEs, and Emmanuel Sanders were all highly involved in the passing game. It looks like you might want to find out what a Heath Bar tastes like. I’m foreshadowing my buy/sell/hold for Wednesday here, not suggesting you buy a candy bar you’ve probably never heard of.
Antonio Brown – Had two endzone shots swatted away as he finished with 4 catches for 74 yards and a TD goose egg yet again. I’m still interested in what Brown can do for you and you should be too.
