Week 3 Thoughts & Observations

[Tom Kessenich]

Here are some random thoughts and observations as I wonder how many people benched LeSean McCoy in favor of Joe McKnight this week:

It’s only September and a lot is going to change but be honest, given what you’ve seen so far would you honestly be surprised to see the Chargers in the Super Bowl?

Assuming they don’t run out of running backs.

That’s a good lookin football team in San Diego. However, the Chargers now know what it’s like to be a fantasy football player this year – just trying desperately to find a healthy running back who will give them some production each week.

I think we’ve reached the point in the fantasy season where we’re just hoping to make it through the day without seeing one of our running backs get hurt.

If you sat Antonio Gates and Darren Sproles in Week 2 and then rushed them into your lineups this week … well … ummm … good luck next week?

I realize breakdowns can and will occur on the football field but someone’s gotta explain to me how, I mean HOW, did the Rams leave Dez Bryant of all people that wide-ass open on his 68-yard touchdown. Shouldn’t Dez be the one guy on the Cowboys you never lose track of?

The Rams ended up losing on Sunday to Dallas but I gotta say – the Austin Davis Thing is kinda fun to watch.

LeSean McCoy averaged 1.2 YPC on Sunday against Washington. I had to write that down because I still don’t believe it.

I haven’t done any analysis to find out if I’m right, but I gotta believe most of the people leading their fantasy leagues right now took a wide receiver in the first round. Just an absolutely brutal first three weeks of the season for the five running backs with first-round ADPs this year.

We’ll see if Matt Forte changes that tonight.

Before people rush to put Kirk Cousins in the Hall of Fame (Bill Parcells really should’ve trademarked that line) let’s keep in mind the matchup was VERY favorable for him against Philadelphia on Sunday. That’s why I rushed him into my starting lineup in two of the money leagues where I own him. It would’ve been a huge shock if he didn’t put up QB1 numbers this week. I still want to see how he handles more difficult competition, especially since he can be careless with the ball as we saw with the game on the line against the Eagles.

That said, I overpaid to get him in every league where I got him and I’m not complaining about that right now. That was a whole lotta points he put up on Sunday. Thank you Kirk.

If you’re an Al Morris owner here are the three words you hate more than all others – Hurry Up Offense.

There is no way to know how an injured player will produce if he ends up playing that week. Sometimes they look like Alshon Jeffery in Week 2 and sometimes they look like DeSean Jackson in Week 3. Good luck trying to figure out which one you’re gonna get.

Remember when I was on Twitter telling people not to buy into Andre Williams after the Hall of Fame game in the preseason and continue targeting Rashad Jennings? Hope you were listening.

If you’re a Michael Floyd owner I think we’ve reached the point where you just start him every week even if I’m the Arizona starting quarterback.

Le’Veon Bell is the real deal. Nuff said.

Antonio Brown ain’t half bad either.

I’ve been saying for awhile the first team in the NFC North to build a legitimate defense could rule that division for the next few years. Looks like Detroit’s trying to make me look smart about that.

Steve Smith faces the Panthers this week. How much fun is that gonna be?

The Saints won at home on Sunday but something about their offense still looks off to me. I haven’t seen them really look like the Saints since Week 1 in Atlanta.

Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird when Drew Brees throws touchdowns to lesser name players on the Saints? It’s not just me, right? It’s weird.

My apologies to everyone for recommending the Browns as a solid matchup play this week for fantasy defenses. How was I to know they would struggle so badly against Joe Flacco after terrorizing Drew Brees the week before.

In my defense, I did say you can’t trust ‘em. Well now you really can’t trust ‘em. Or want to start them.

Sometimes I like to pass along some of the wisdom I gained having covered the NFL for nearly a decade. So here is this week’s nugget which I bring to you thanks to nearly a decade of amassing volumes of inside information, analysis and knowledge as an NFL beat writer – the Titans suck.

You’re welcome.

Remember when people thought Jake Locker would be a good NFL quarterback? That was cute.

The Titans don’t have much but I think Delanie Walker as a TE1 is here to stay.

I realize the Packers don’t want their passing game to consist entirely of Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb but Detroit’s pass defense has all sorts of issues right now. Their nickel back was a player they signed off the street last week. That matchup alone screamed for Cobb to have a monster day. Nelson and Cobb should’ve combined for 95 percent of Aaron Rodgers’ targets on Sunday and honestly I wouldn’t have questioned Mike McCarthy at all if it ended up being 100 percent.

Play to your strengths, Mike. Sometimes this game just isn’t all that difficult.

I hope Nate Freese updated his resume today.

Dear Eddie Lacy and Keenan Allen owners: Things will get better. I promise they will. But yeah, they really do suck right now.

The floor is yours Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater. Show me what you got.

Damn Dennis Pitta. Just damn.

Bruce Arians can coach.

After watching him the last two weeks, I’m convinced that if you really need two yards, Matt Asiata will get you one.

I’ve long believed snap count is one of the more overrated fantasy tools around. Case in point this week – Travis Kelce of the Chiefs. He played in more than 65 percent of Kansas City’s snaps on Sunday. Sounds wonderful right? You know what wasn’t so wonderful? The fact he only got four targets despite being on the field so much.

The four targets, by the way, was a season low for Kelce.

Usage, my friends. Always place a higher value on usage than snap count.

Now that’s what we should’ve seen in the Super Bowl from the Broncos and Seahawks.

Rag on his postseason record all you want, but when Peyton Manning retires the NFL is going to be a helluva lot less fun.

At any point on Seattle’s game winning drive in overtime did you honestly believe the Broncos were going to stop them? When Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and Percy Harvin are all dealing, that’s an impossible offense to contain.

Wilson is 7-0 in his career against Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. OK, the fake refs gifted him a win against the Packers but that’s still pretty damn impressive.

Wes Welker looks pretty darn good for a guy who may be one more concussion away from never playing in the NFL again.

Tom Brady has thrown for fewer than 250 yards in five straight regular season games dating back to last season and six of seven if you include the playoffs. Dude’s just not a QB1 anymore.

The 49ers are playing like a team that wants its head coach to be fired today.

Colin Kaepernick sure loves him some Michael Crabtree.

Joe McKnight. Yup. Everybody saw that one coming.

The Falcons and Bucs played four days ago and I’m still not convinced the Buccaneers have figured out they might wanna stop punting the ball to Devin Hester.

I was reading some people on Twitter talking about how Ryan Tannehill has regressed. Not sure how to tell you this guys – but Tannehill’s never been very good. The Ryan Tannehill Could Be A Star storylines have always baffled me. There’s just nothing about him that tells you he has the “It” factor all star quarterbacks possess.

I’m not sure what was more bizarre on Sunday – seeing three safeties or seeing three quarterbacks with a reception.

RIP Rob Bironas.

And finally if you started Austin Davis, Joe McKnight, LaGarrette Blount, Stevie Johnson, Allen Robinson and the Falcons defense this week nobody likes you. Sorry but it’s true. Even your dog is sick of you right now.

[Coach JP]

I haven’t done any analysis to find out if I’m right, but I gotta believe most of the people leading their fantasy leagues right now took a wide receiver in the first round. Just an absolutely brutal first three weeks of the season for the five running backs with first-round ADPs this year.

Unless you took Demaryius Thomas

Finding it very hard to believe that the best WR on team should be the 4th option every week. Maybe someone who has watched these Broncos games can give me more insight, but when I made it home for the 4th quarter and saw Demaryius lined up on the right vs Sherman every play I felt as if he was just out there as bait. Maybe that's why they only scored 3 points through 3? I didn't catch the first 3 quarters so not sure how long he was on Sherman exclusively.

[JETS SB]

I haven’t done any analysis to find out if I’m right, but I gotta believe most of the people leading their fantasy leagues right now took a wide receiver in the first round. Just an absolutely brutal first three weeks of the season for the five running backs with first-round ADPs this year.

On the other hand, Round 2 (ADP) running backs, Demarco Murray, Gio Bernard, Le'veon Bell, and Marshawn Lynch.... not too shabby..

[The Franchise]

DT is playing injured so rather than waste a healthy Sanders on Sherman they just let Thomas take the hit.

I also think Mike McCarthy is one of the worst coaches in the NFL, but he gets away with it because Thompson is very good at acquiring talent.

I know the first 3 weeks have been bad match-ups for Lacy, but after watching him and Starks I can't help it think that he could be this years TRich.

2 things 1. Redskins run D is actually very good 2. The Eagles O-line went from one of the best to one of the worst with the suspension to Johnson and all the injuries. So it doesn't surprise me that Shady struggled to run the ball

I think the Seahawks got lucky. They almost gave that game away

[Tom Kessenich]

Looking at my 3 money leagues the current Top 2 teams in the standings did the following:

League 1
First place team - Green/Julio
Second place team (me) - Dez/Cobb

League 2
First place team - Calvin/Lynch
Second place team - Graham/Ball

League 3
First place team - Dez/Jordy
Second place team - Forte/Murray

Every first place team went with a WR in the first. All of the second-place teams (sans one) went with a WR. I consider Graham to be a stud WR. Yes this is a small sample size and it's obviously early in the season but three leagues where the first place team went WR in the first and two of the teams went with a WR-WR start isn't a surprise to me at all. Greg and I preached this approach throughout the offseason on our Sirius show.

[Tom Kessenich]

I also think Mike McCarthy is one of the worst coaches in the NFL, but he gets away with it because Thompson is very good at acquiring talent.

On offense. Thompson's work with the defense since the Super Bowl win has been nothing short of deplorable.

[The Franchise]

I also think Mike McCarthy is one of the worst coaches in the NFL, but he gets away with it because Thompson is very good at acquiring talent.

On offense. Thompson's work with the defense since the Super Bowl win has been nothing short of deplorable.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. McCarthy calls the plays

[Tom Kessenich]

I also think Mike McCarthy is one of the worst coaches in the NFL, but he gets away with it because Thompson is very good at acquiring talent.

On offense. Thompson's work with the defense since the Super Bowl win has been nothing short of deplorable.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. McCarthy calls the plays

True but I disagree with the blanket assumption Thompson is very good at acquiring talent. He's done a putrid job of acquiring defensive talent. The Packers' D since the Super Bowl has been a joke. I place most of the blame for that on Thompson. I'm not a Dom Capers fan at all but I don't think he has much talent to work with.

[BillyWaz]

DT is playing injured so rather than waste a healthy Sanders on Sherman they just let Thomas take the hit.

I also think Mike McCarthy is one of the worst coaches in the NFL, but he gets away with it because Thompson is very good at acquiring talent.

I know the first 3 weeks have been bad match-ups for Lacy, but after watching him and Starks I can't help it think that he could be this years TRich.

2 things 1. Redskins run D is actually very good 2. The Eagles O-line went from one of the best to one of the worst with the suspension to Johnson and all the injuries. So it doesn't surprise me that Shady struggled to run the ball

I think the Seahawks got lucky. They almost gave that game away

Agree on all of that, Nelson.

I have said for years McCarthy sucks at calling games, but like you said, the talent keeps him afloat.

Lacy looks awful. I said back in January that LeVeon Bell was better than him, and most disagreed. Starks does look like he Donald Brown to Lacy's "TRich".

If Denver wins the coin toss.....they win that game on the first drive.

[Tom Kessenich]

Not seeing the Starks love. I'm not arguing that Lacy looked good but I didn't see anything from Starks that made me want to see more of him. I wanted to see much less of him than we did. The Packers need to involve Lacy in the passing game. Run some screens, some checkdowns, get him in space, especially if he's being bottled up between the tackles as has been the case the first three games.