Week 2 Thoughts & Observations

[Tom Kessenich]

Here are some random thoughts and observations as I wonder what the Patriots will get for Wes Welker at the trade deadline:

I've never been a big Michael Vick fan but I thought yesterday's game was one of the finest I've ever seen him play. Yeah, he made a couple of terrible throws but he stood tall in the pocket against a pass rush that repeatedly pulverized him and made a number of huge plays in leading the Eagles to another win. And from a fantasy perspective, he's just a stud when he's on the field. You worry about how long he can hold up but as long as he's healthy you'd have to have crazy QB talent to sit him regardless of the opponent.

Dear Baltimore, when Brent Celek is running wide-a** open at the start of the game, you may want to ... oh I don't know ... fix it so it doesn't keep happening the entire game. Or you can do nothing and let the guy tear you up. Up to you.

RG3 - yeah, he's kinda good.

Speaking of talented rookies, you can see why the Browns wanted Trent Richardson so badly in the draft. He's an enormous talent and he's looking every bit the Top 10 RB some predicted he would be in the offseason.

Meanwhile in Kansas City, unless we receive word that he died during the game I can't think of a logical explanation for how the Chiefs (mis)utilized Jamaal Charles yesterday. Baffling. Absolutely baffling.

I know he mostly did his damage Sunday in Garbage Time but I still maintain Dwayne Bowe is one of the best WRs in the NFL nobody ever talks about.

Boy you fumble one time for Tom Coughlin and there sure is hell to pay. Right David Wilson?

On the other hand, I think Coughlin likes Wilson more than he likes Greg Schiano.

Hakeem Nicks - 10 receptions for 199 yards and a touchdown. Not bad for a guy with one good foot.

The Titans are a mess. An absolute mess.

Plenty of players have gone to hell after signing big contracts but I'm not sure anyone has done it more spectacularly than Chris Johnson. He's a shell of his former self and there's no reason right now to think things will ever change.

Remember all those stories last week about how improved Blaine Gabbert was? Well ...

I love you Fred Jackson but you've been Pipp'd. C.J. Spiller is studly.

Impressive job by the Raiders of holding Reggie Bush under 200 yards rushing on Sunday.

I said at the time of the Carson Palmer trade it was an idiotic move by the Raiders considering all they gave up for a QB who was clearly in decline. Nothing's happened since to make me alter my opinion. Palmer's not leading that team anywhere.

Brian Hartline had his one big game for the season. Don't go chasing his Week 2 stats. Andrew Hawkins on the other hand? That kid looks legit.

Ryan Fitzpatrick hasn't topped 200 yards passing in either game this season but leads the league in TD passes going into the Monday Night affair. Pretty sure we all saw that coming.

If you think you have the Panthers' backfield rotation figured out, good luck with that. DeAngelo Williams and Mike Tolbert (and Cam Newton) had rushing TDs and Jonathan Stewart had a TD catch on Sunday against the Saints. All three RBs were used near the goal line. There's no question the Panthers badly missed Stewart in Week 1, though. He's their best RB and they clearly function better offensively when he's able to play.

Of all the people I thought would miss Sean Payton, Drew Brees was never on the list. But he looks lost at times on the field so far this season. He made a horrible throw for an INT late last week and made another on Sunday trying to force the ball to Jimmy Graham which sealed the win for the Panthers. The Saints' defense is awful but their offense should be much better than it has been so far. For that to happen, Brees needs to play better. Simple as that.

Not only did the sure-handed Lance Moore drop an easy TD catch on Sunday but on the very next play Graham dropped one too. I'm not sure we'll see that again all season long.

Sometimes I watch Kevin Kolb and I think I could play quarterback in the NFL too.

That being said, the Cardinals are 2-0 and Larry Fitzgerald has only five receptions in those two games. There's no way anyone predicted that.

I know the matchups have been tough the first two weeks (and don't get any easier in Week 3) but Ryan Williams is making it awfully difficult for me to keep the faith in him. I'm not sure there's a worse RB in the league right now.

Hey New England, what the heck was that? Seriously, what the heck was that?

Darren McFadden. Ugh.

Think Mike Williams likes having Vincent Jackson around in Tampa Bay? He's on pace for 16 TDs this season. Life sure is easier when you're not the main guy defenses are focusing on.

If you were wondering why the Bucs wanted VJax so badly he averaged nearly 26 yards per catch on Sunday against the Giants. He remains one of the preeminent big-play WRs in the league. Now he just needs Josh Freeman to find some consistency and the two of them could be lights out together.

I'll say it again but the Steelers need Rashard Mendenhall back badly. Yeah, they beat the Jets on Sunday but they have nothing in the running game without him.

Speaking of the Jets, that's more of what I expected to see from them this season.

Jackie Battle had more rushing yards than Darren McFadden and Jamaal Charles combined on Sunday. Just like everyone predicted.

I'm not sure what was going on in St. Louis with Steven Jackson, whether his groin injury is legit or just Jeff Fisher's way of covering up Jackson being benched but Daryl Richardson looked damn good. The Rams may have found their eventual SJax replacement.

I've been saying it for awhile and I'll say it again - the Seattle defense is legit. It will be very interesting to see how Aaron Rodgers handles it next week. Tony Romo and the Cowboys imploded badly against the Seahawks on Sunday.

That was more like it, Russell Wilson.

I wanted no part of Frank Gore this year because he looked to be in serious decline. I was wrong. He looks great and has been one of the early season's best value picks.

The Vikings may have lost, but Percy Harvin played a man's game against the Colts. What a weapon he is. If he stays healthy, he could catch 100 passes this season.

If you drafted Dennis Pitta or snapped him up off the Waiver Wire after Week 1 you may have just hit on one of the PPR pickups of the year. Joe Flacco likes that guy more than I like bikinis at the beach. And I really like bikinis at the beach.

Stephen Hill and Alshon Jeffrey. This is why you don't trust rookie receivers who aren't clear the No. 1 options in their passing attacks.

Hold on, Danny Amendola just caught another pass.

And finally, the 49ers are looking like the premier team in the NFC after two weeks. The AFC is a bit more muddled but a win tonight and the Broncos could stake a claim to the top spot in the conference.

[OrCal Crapshooters]

Unfortunately Amendola caught all of those passes sitting on my bench in 3 leagues. I had him starting in one league because of the Chris Johnson uncertainty.Unfortunately someone had to post CHRIS JOHSON WILL PLAY! I replaced him just before kickoff.

[particra]

The reason why no one talks about Dwayne Bowe as one of the best WRs in the game is precisely because of games like yesterday. No impact until garbage time.

[Tom Kessenich]

The reason why no one talks about Dwayne Bowe as one of the best WRs in the game is precisely because of games like yesterday. No impact until garbage time.

I think that's more a product of the offense and his QB than Bowe. I think he's extremely talented. Cassel is not, though, and that can come back to haunt Bowe.

I think the Chiefs are trying to be too cute right now. They have a lot of pieces to the pie and they're trying to mix and match too much instead of just putting their best players on the field and attacking defenses. What happened yesterday with Charles was nothing short of insane. I think they should be focusing more on establishing Charles and Hillis on the ground and then working play-action off it. I realize their poor defense could make it tough to stick with the ground game but Charles and Hillis are also good receivers so you can use them in the short-passing game as a replacement for the running attack.

Instead, they keep coming in with different sub packages and alignments. They're not the Saints or Packers. They need to pull back the reigns a bit and simplify things.

[Tom Kessenich]

One thing I'll point out with regard to Welker - two years ago Randy Moss went from being a starter the first two games of the season to coming off the bench in Week 3 and then not catching a pass in Week 4. He was traded the next week.

Plenty have tried - and failed - to read Bill Belichick's mind, but it sure seems like history is repeating itself here with Welker. The Patriots clearly seem to be preparing for life without him and it may happen this season.

[particra]

Agree 100% on Charles. Marginalizing your best player is generally a poor idea. I don't get the fascination with Hillis. If he's getting the most touches on your team, your team stinks.

[Tom Kessenich]

Agree 100% on Charles. Marginalizing your best player is generally a poor idea. I don't get the fascination with Hillis. If he's getting the most touches on your team, your team stinks.

I think Hillis is a good back but I agree he shouldn't be your bell cow. That needs to be Charles. Charles looked real good in Week 1 so it's baffling they refused to use him more yesterday. I've said many times that this game isn't always very complicated. Sometimes it's real simple but coaches try to make it more complicated than it needs to be. This would be one of those examples. It's not difficult to look at the Chiefs and figure out who their best playmakers are. So the intelligent thing is to make use of them, not bury them on the bench. That really shouldn't be very difficult to figure out.

[The Franchise]

I have some random thoughts:

1. I SUCK at FF!

2. Rodgers & Brady in 1st Rd. Nice strong safe pick, right? Ha ha joke is on us! You know things are bad when your just hoping they throw for 1 TD

3. Hernandez and Gates owners, hey injuries are part of the game. We just need to take the bagel and move on I guess

4. Does anyone know WTF is going on in KC and Carolina?!? It's quite obvious that Tolbert is a superior athlete compared to D-Will, but last I checked Charles looks fast and can catch the ball. Why not use him?

5. B.Marshall, A.Johnson, L.Fitzgerald.............. My anger has turned into sadness

6. Is it possible for a team to have Eli and Bush and not score over 100 pts this week?

7. Blackmon and Meachem have great measurables.................. That's all I have, next

8. DMC and CJ2k............see above

[greenwichsttavern]

So much for being able to rely on number one receivers this year, Andre Johnson,B Marshall, LARRY FITZ, Dez Bryant all with 5 points or less yesterday, brutal. How would you like to own those 4 on a day like yesterday in a bunch of leagues ?? oh wait, that's right I do... Also,Titus Young is looking like a nice bust so far esp after all the hype he got this preseason. Special thank you to A. Gates for sitting yesterday after practicing Friday and getting slapped in the face when his backup scores 3 tds that would of been his. And Ben Tates 25 pts looking nice on my bench in 3 leagues after sitting him for R.Cobb in all 3 leagues..... God I love this hobby of ours

[Tom Kessenich]

And Ben Tates 25 pts looking nice on my bench in 3 leagues after sitting him for R.Cobb in all 3 leagues.

This is one of those where you did the right thing but it turned out wrong. I think starting Cobb over Tate was the way to go this week without question. But it obviously didn't work out. Does that mean you made a bad call? I don't think so. It just didn't work out. This is one that wouldn't frustrate me. I think the right decision was made but the football gods had other plans in mind. It's tough and it sucks and we've all been there but this is one I wouldn't get upset about.