Jay Cutler dominated the Atlanta Falcons in Week One. What does that mean for you?
Chicago-Atlanta
Chicago destroyed Atlanta in every way. So what do we take from it? Not too much we didn’t already know. Matt Forte put up 158 combined yards. Marion Barber didn’t touch the ball. At this point, Forte is probably a top ten back. He will continue to put up numbers on both fronts, and could likely lead all backs in receiving points. Jay Culter had a good day as well, but he spread his throws around too much to figure which of his receivers you can trust. We will have to wait for a closer game to properly evaluate his targets. On the other side of the ball, Matt Ryan did nothing until garbage time. Sure, he won’t be playing a defense like this each week, but he should be on your fantasy bench until further notice. Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones put up significant yardage totals, but again, these are skewed by the blowout. The Falcons won’t typically throw this much. One bright side for the Falcons is the total put up by Michael Turner, despite the fact that they had to throw so much. A lot of it was on one carry, but he still averaged 4 ypc on his other carries against what may prove to be the NFL’s best defense.
Cincinnati-Cleveland
The Bengals came back from Cleveland with a solid win in what will most likely prove to be a basement battle. There isn’t a lot of fantasy goodness here, but you probably don’t have many of these players on your fantasy football team anyways. Cedric Benson showed he is still a viable number two running back with 121 on 25 carries with a touchdown. Peyton Hillis showed why owners wisely doubted his ability to reproduce 2010, finishing with 57 yards. Is it going to get easier then Cincinnati for him? Doubtful. The only other player you might consider starting right now is Jermaine Gresham, who will be a crutch for whoever the Bengals trot out at quarterback.
Indianapolis-Houston
The Texans can run the ball. They can run with Arian Foster, they can run with Ben Tate. They’d probably be ok with someone from the CFL. Pretty much anyone but Chris Brown. Down the road, this will lead to a split between Foster and Tate, making everyone who drafted Foster first angry and everyone who picked up Tate in the last round very pleased. While the Texans continue to run over their opponents, Matt Schaub and his receiving corps will be fighting for scraps. Other than Andre Johnson, the Texan receivers will have to show more to even earn a roster spot. Even Owen Daniels should be put on notice. For the Colts, most of them have had their value sabotaged by the absence of Peyton Manning, most notably Joseph Addai and Dallas Clark. The only Colt to perform today was Reggie Wayne who added a score to his 106 yards. Like Calvin Johnson in past years, Wayne should put up decent numbers regardless of his quarterback.
Tennessee-Jacksonville
Chris Johnson is in serious trouble. He will still break one on occasion, but Matt Hasselbeck has proven no better at taking the defensive focus off his running back than the hodge-podge of scrubs that masqueraded as quarterbacks for Tennessee last year. There is not a lot else of note her. Maurice Jones-Drew produced a workman-like 4 ypc for just short of a century. He is what we thought he was. Mike Thomas looks like he will be the top target in Jacksonville for what that is worth. Kenny Britt on the other hand, should get a lot of looks as Tennessee will be frequently way behind. Even so, I would hesitate to put any stock in Hasselbeck until he does something against a real defense.
Buffalo-Kansas City
The Chiefs got steam rolled in their own building by the might Bills. Sell now on Jamaal Charles. Sell now on Dwayne Bowe. Sell now if you can. There are times to discount week one as just one week. When it confirms what you already thought would happen, that is not the time. The Chiefs look like they are going down hard. For Buffalo, Ryan Fitzpatrick put up solid numbers with help from David Nelson, Scott Chandler and Stevie Johnson, who all caught 60 yards worth of passes. The Bills passing attack may prove to be decent, and Fitzpatrick himself a borderline starter.
Philadelphia-St Louis
The Eagle big three all performed well in what ended up being a blowout of the Rams in St Louis. Any doubts about Lesean McCoy and Desean Jackson should probably be erased outside of an injury to Mike Vick. Jeremy Maclin failed to get a piece of the action, totaling 20 yards worth of receptions. There is no reason to panic yet. For St Louis, Brandon Gibson and Danny Amendola took a small step to being the top target for Bradford, dialing up about 50 yards apiece. The major event for the Rams is the injury to Steven Jackson. The rush for Cadillac Williams is on. The former Buc racked up 90 yards while playing from behind so he has serious value as a handcuff.
Detroit-Tampa
This game was a confirmation of what we already thought. The Lions were all underdrafted, and the Bucs went way too high. Matt Stafford(300 yards, 3 TDS) when healthy, will be a top ten option. Calvin Johnson (88, 2) is on his way to being the top receiver and Jahvid Best(114 combined yards) will be a solid number two back. Nate Burleson(60 rec yards) should be on someone’s bench. On the other side the Bucs are looking like we thought they might. Freeman looked awful, putting almost the entirety of his yards against prevent defenses at the end of both halves. Legarrette Blount netted you 15 yards, and while Mike Williams scored, he did not look impressive.
San Francisco-Seattle
The 49ers took a big step towards the division title by dominating Seattle on a day in which both Arizona and St Louis failed to impress. They did so mostly with defense, holding Mershawn Lynch to 33 yards and forcing Tavaris Jackson to make plays. Given the situation, I would have hoped to see more than 3 ypc and 59 yards from Frank Gore. Somewhere on this 49er team, there is a receiving option but it will take more than 124 yards from Alex Smith to figure out who it is.
Dallas-New York Jets
The ending notwithstanding, this game proved the Cowboys are going to be fantasy beasts. Tony Romo lit up an excellent Jets defense for 50 minutes. His targets were focused on his big three, Jason Witten, (6 for 110) Dez Bryant(72 yards in the first quarter) and Miles Austin.(5,90) There will certainly be enough to go around in Dallas for all three to be priority starts. It was also nice to see that Felix Jones has become established as the feature back with the majority of the carries and the most targets of any back. He is working his way towards the top ten. For the Jets, Plaxico Burress stepped immediately into the role of top receiver. He could still be available in your league.
Quick Hits
New York Giants-Washington
Brandon Jacobs saw a third of the carries for New York.
Jake Ballard may be a decent option at tight end.
Tim Hightower struggled to put up numbers against a depleted Giant defense.
Pittsburgh-Baltimore
Ed Dickson was on my top 12 list before the season. He might be top ten. Pick him up now.
Given how far behind the Steelers were, Antonio Brown’s lack of production was disappointing.
Anquan Boldin looks like a draft day steal right now.
Carolina-Arizona
If you can’t run against Arizona, who will you run against Deangelo Williams?
I wouldn’t start Early Doucet next week, but I would pick him up. I wouldn’t pick up Beanie Wells.
Steve Smith put up 178 and 2 TDs in his first game with Cam Newton at qb. Carolina will be frequently behind. That spells well for the veteran.
San Diego-Minnesota
The Charger defense might be very good. Take away one big run, and they gave up under 100 yards to Donovan McNabb and Adrian Peterson. This is a matchup to avoid.
Mike Tolbert scored three times, this is probably a fluke.
On a day when Phil Rivers had little time to throw, he hit Antonio Gates 8 times for over 70 yards.
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Tags: 2011 fantasy football, adrian peterson, ben tate, chris johnson, Fantasy Football, fantasy football review, jamaal charles, jay cutler, matt stafford, New York Jets, Steve Smith, tony romo
