Sunday Recap – NFL Football Week 3

September 27, 2009, Posted by Christopher at 3:01 pm

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Welcome to the week 3 recap of the NFL Football season !

This column has changed slightly from last week in that the “Fantasy Studs” are now listed after each game instead of at the end.

Consider leaving a comment at the end of the post and let all of us know how your Fantasy Football team is doing !

Monday Night Update …

Carolina Panthers 7
Dallas Cowboys 21

OK, so the Cowboys bounced back after last weekend’s heart wrenching defeat. Exciting. Not really. Jake Delhomme (QB, Car) had another “not-so-good” game throwing 2 interceptions and fumbling once (70 rating). The Dallas Cowboys either played good defense or the Panthers are not very good on offense. Nothing against Dallas, but my money is on Carolina not having a very good offense. Dallas had a 15 minute time-of-possession advantage.

Fantasy Studs:
Only one …
* Tashard Choice (RB, Dal) – 82 rush yards, 36 rec. yards, 1 TD, 1 two-point conversion

Cleveland Browns 3
Baltimore Ravens 34

The Ravens are rolling right now. They are looking better and better every week. The seem to be quite balanced on offense (passing and running) and defense. This team could roll right into the Super Bowl … and that bothers me because I am a Steelers fan ! As for the Browns … there is very little positive here. Brady Quinn was benched in favor of Derek Anderson but both finished with QB ratings under 50.

Fantasy Studs:
* Joe Flacco (QB, Bal) – 342 yards, 5 rush yards, 1 TD – (71% completion, 111 rating)
* Willis McGahee (RB, Bal) – 67 yards, 2 TD, 1 fumb.
* Derrick Mason (WR, Bal) – 118 yards, 1 TD

Washington Redskins 14
Detroit Lions 19

Boring ! The Redskins are stinking up the place …. next game …

Fantasy Studs:
OK … OK … there was actually one stud and one decent performance for the losers.
* Jason Campbell (QB, Was) – 340 yards, 21 rush yards, 2 TDs, 1 int. – (97 rating … but couldn’t win the game)
* Santana Moss (WR, Was) – 178 yards, 1 TD

Jacksonville Jaguars 31
Houston Texans 24

Psst … the Jaguars won. Thanks to an awesome effort by Maurice Jones-Drew. Matt Schaub had another good day but it wasn’t quite enough. Anyone running Jones-Drew this week ? If you have him on your roster then I certainly hope you did !

Fantasy Studs:
* Matt Schaub (QB, Hou) – 300 yards, 5 rush yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT – ( 74% completion, 116 rating)
* Maurice Jones-Drew (RB, Jac) – 119 rush yards, 28 rec. yards, 3 TDs
* Kevin Walter (WR, Hou) – 96 yards, 1 TD

San Francisco 49ers 24
Minnesota Vikings 27

The 49ers really should have won this game … even after losing Frank Gore to an ankle injury. Gore is on a lot of fantasy teams … including mine … so keep an eye on the injury updates later in the week to find out how bad his ankle is. Brett Favre threw the winning touchdown with 2 seconds left … but I still wouldn’t want him on my team as he seems erratic .

Fantasy Studs:
* Brett Favre (QB, GB) – 301 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT – (78 rating)
* Vernon Davis (TE, SF) – 96 yards, 2 TDs

Atlanta Falcons 10
New England Patriots 26

Too bad the Falcons couldn’t pull out a win here. Not that anyone of the Falcons offense had a “bad” game, the Patriots were just too much for them. New England controlled the clock with a hefty 2 to 1 Time Of Possession advantage which didn’t leave much time for Atlanta to mount any sort of comeback. Tom Brady had a decent day with 277 yards, 1 TD, and an 87 rating. I guess Fred Taylor is not quite ready for the rest home yet.

Fantasy Studs:
* Fred Taylor (RB, NE) – 105 rush yards, 4 rec. yards, 1 TD
* Randy Moss (WR, NE) – 116 yards

Kansas City Chiefs 14
Philadelphia Eagles 34

Kansas City just cannot get their offense going. Time of possession was about equal by the Eagles had twice as many yards with the Chiefs only racking up 196 total yards. What is going on with Matt Cassel (QB, KC, 124 rating) only throwing for 90 yards ?? I know that KC doesn’t have much punch when it comes to receivers, but still… Kevin Kolb (QB, Phi) had a very nice day as he filled in for McNabb.

Fantasy Studs:
* Kevin Kolb (QB, Phi) – 327 yards, 3 TD’s (1 rushing) – 120 rating
* LeSean McCoy (RB, Phi) – 84 rush yards, 9 rec. yards, 1 TD
* DeSean Jackson (WR, Phi) – 149 yards, 1 TD
* Brent Celek (WR, Phi) – 104 yards, 1 TD

Green Bay Packers 36
Saint Louis Rams 17

Aaron Rodgers (QB, GB, 126 rating) is finally starting to get going this season … of course it was against the Rams so take it with a grain of salt. On the injury front it was a bad day for the Rams as they lost QB Marc Bulger (bruised shoulder), WR Laurent Robinson (ankle), and S James Butler (knee) during the game. Keep an eye on the injury reports later in the week. While the Rams are “not a good team” someone may need to replace these players and the waiver wire may grant you some “in emergency” players. While Kyle Boller (QB, Stl,) played only an average game with a 75 rating in replacement of Bulger, he seemed to be slightly more effective then Bulger has been. Boller ended with 164 yards, 31 rush yards, 2 TDs, and 1 int.

Fantasy Studs:
* Aaron Rodgers (QB, GB) – 269 yards, 38 rush yards, 3 TDs (1 rushing)
* Steven Jackson (RB, Stl) – 117 rush yards, 46 rec. yards, 1 fumb.
* Daniel Fells (TE, Stl) – 35 yards, 2 TDs
* Donald Driver (WR, GB) – 95 rec. yards, 13 rush yards, 1 TD

New York Giants 24
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0

OMG Tampa Bay is really stinking right now. Only 86 total yards is utterly horrendous ! The Bucs only had 28 total rushing yards and Byron Leftwich (QB, TB) was pulled after compiling a stunning 25 rating. Time of possession … 43 minutes for the Giants and 16 minutes for Tampa.

Fantasy Studs:
* Eli Manning (QB, NYG) – 161 yards, 9 rush yards, 2 TDs – (106 rating)
* Ahmad Bradshaw (RB, NYG) – 104 yards
* Brandon Jacobs (RB, NYG) – 92 yards, 1 TD
* Steve Smith (WR, NYG) – 63 yards, 1 TD

Tennessee Titans 17
New York Jets 24

Many people were picking the Titans to win this one but I had a feeling the Jets would just keep rolling … and they did. The Titans are now an unexpected 0-3 and they are simply being over powered by their opponents. Mark Sanchez (QB, NYJ) played a solid game with 171 yards passing, 10 yards rushing, 3 TDs (1 rush), 1 int, 1 fumb., and a 81 rating.

Fantasy Studs:
Only one real stud in this game … but a few solid performances from others …
* Chris Johnson (RB, Ten) – 97 yards, 8 rec. yards
* LenDale White (RB, Ten) – 27 yards, 1 TD
* Jerricho Cotchery (WR, Ten) – 108 yards, 1 TD

Buffalo Bills 7
New Orleans Saints 27

The Saints are still rolling, but this time they did it on the ground. Pierre Thomas returned from injury to have a very, very nice day … while only playing in the second half. I sat him this week in my yahoo league and now I am banging my head against the wall. I really didn’t think he would have that good of a “first game back”. I am probably going to lose my game and this will be the reason. ARGH ! The Bills … well they just couldn’t really get anything going and Trent Edwards (56 QB rating) was not very effective.

Fantasy Studs:
* Pierre Thomas (RB, NO) – 126 yards, 2 TD – (9 yard rushing average)

Chicago Bears 25
Seattle Seahawks 19

Jay Cutler (QB, Chi) had a a good game for Chicago and Julius Jones ( 5.2 yards per rush) had a good game for Seattle. Really, what it it boiled down to is that Chicago had just a little more spring in their step. Seneca Wallace (QB, Sea) had an average game for Seattle and while he did a decent job of spreading the ball around, he really didn’t do much after the first quarter.

Fantasy Studs:
* Jay Cutler (QB, Chi) – 247 yards, 3 TDs, 1 int, 1 fumb. – (126 rating)
* Julius Jones (RB, Sea) – 98 rush yards, 38 rec. yards, 1 TD
* Devin Hester (WR, Chi) – 76 yards, 1 TD

Pittsburgh Steelers 20
Cincinnati Bengals’ 23

The Steelers are just not playing very good right now. They should have won this game after a 9 minute time of possession and a 100 total yard advantage … but they let it slip away in the 4th quarter. I have been all over the Steelers message board and there are a lot of varying opinions on the Steelers right now … defense playing poor, wide receivers dropping passes, bad play calling, no killer instict, turnovers, and more. The fact is that the Steelers have many little problems that they need to fix immediately in order to make the post season. They are currently 2 games behind the red-hot Ravens and will need to be at the top of their game in all asspects in order to turn this season around. Third in the division does not look good on the Steelers.

Fantasy Studs:
* Ben Roethlisberger (QB, Pit) – 276 yards, 3 rush yards, 2 TDs (1 rush), 1 Int
* Willie Parker (RB, Pit) – 93 rush yards, 36 rec yards, 1 TD
* Cedric Benson (RB, Cin) – 76 rush yards, 5 rec. yards, 1 TD
* Mike Wallace (WR, Pit) – 102 yards
* Andre Caldwell (WR, Cin) – 52 yards, 1 TD, 1 two-point conversion

Denver Broncos 23
Oakland Raiders 3

Another real boring sounding game. JaMarcus Russell (QB, Oak) put up another pathetic game … 61 yards, 2 Int, 23 rating as the Raiders as a whole only had 137 total yards. Is it time to bench Russell ? If I was the Raiders’ coach I would be heavily leaning that way !

Fantasy Studs:
Only one that even comes close …
* Knowshon Moreno (RB, Den) – 90 yards, 1 TD

Miami Dolphins 13
San Diego Chargers 23

I don’t know what it is but there is just something about the Chargers that is bothering me. I am just not buying into the “good” team talk I have been hearing … they seem softer than that. I just don’t really know WHY I feeel this way. For Miami the loss of Chad Pennington to a shoulder injury might be a problem, but to be honest their passing attack has been lacking greatly for some time. For the second week in a row the Dolphins won the Time of Possession battle but this week they had 100 yards less then San Diego.

Fantasy Studs:
There really were no studs, but we have to mention SOMEONE …
* Philip Rivers (QB, SD) – 303 pass yards, 5 rush yards, 1 rush TD, 1 fumb.
* Ricky Williams (RB, Mia) – 55 rush yards, 29 rec. yards, 1 TD
* Vincent Jackson (WR, SD) – 120 yards

Indianapolis Colts 31
Arizona Cardinals 10

This was really just the Peyton Manning show. Add to that either a stout Indy defense or a weak Arizona offense (your choice) and you have the result of this game. The Colts rolled up 505 yards on Arizona while completely shutting down the Cardinals’ rushing attack.

Fantasy Studs:
* Peyton Manning (QB, Ind) – 379 pass yards, 4 TDs, 1 Int. – (130 rating)
* Reggie Wayne (WR, Ind) – 126 yards, 1 TD

Wanna talk fantasy football or push your favorite players / teams … comments and thoughts ALWAYS welcome ! ( leave a comment here )