1. Royal is making his presence felt in other facets of the game
After hauling in 91 receptions for 980 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie last year, Eddie Royal has largely been a bust in his second year. But he proved Monday night that he could contribute in other areas, especially on special teams. He returned a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter and a 71-yard punt return in the second quarter. As Denver’s offense sputtered in the first half, Royal provided a major spark.

2. The Broncos’ offensive line has been fantastic
Kyle Orton has turned out to be a great fit for Josh McDaniels’ offense, but he owes a lot of his success to his O-line. They’ve protected him like Fort Knox all season and did so again Monday night. Orton had all day to throw and was accurate when his receivers broke free from defenders. The Broncos’ front five continues to be one of the better units in the league.

3. The Chargers’ defense is a mess
One would have thought Ron Rivera would have fixed some of San Diego’s defensive issues during the team’s bye week. But the same problems that the Bolts had heading into the bye were evident again tonight: They couldn’t generate any pressure, they didn’t tackle well and they couldn’t come up with the big stop when they needed it. The Broncos did whatever they wanted offensively in the second half.

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Since Denver and Cleveland square off on Thursday night, I thought I’d throw out a few recommendations of some Browns and Broncos that you’ll want to start (or sit) this week. My regular “Love ‘Em/Leave ‘Em” post will go up Friday morning as usual.

LOVE ‘EM

Jamal Lewis has a great matchup with a Broncos rush defense that is 26th against the run. On average, they allow 5.1 ypc (2nd worst in the league) and 1.3 rush TD per game. The Browns are likely planning to establish the running game to help Brady Quinn get settled in his first game as the starter. Lewis should gain 80-100 yards and find the endzone at least once…Braylon Edwards is also a solid start against the Denver pass defense, which is 27th in the league…Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal are both worth starting against a Browns secondary that hasn’t been great against opposing WRs. On the whole, the Browns have a pretty good pass defense, but they allow quite a few fantasy points to wideouts…Ryan Torain looks like a sneaky good start against a Browns rush defense that is 28th in the league and yields an average of 148 yards and 1.1 rush TD per game. Be warned, Mike Shanahan is just as likely to pull a free agent off the street and go with a RBBC as he is to give Torain a full load.

LEAVE ‘EM

There are no players that I would bench based on the matchup, but I’m not feeling good about the chances of Tony Scheffler returning this week. He’s listed as questionable and didn’t sound positive earlier in the week when asked about the injury.

We’re only two weeks into the NFL season and some fantasy owners are already lamenting their teams. Nobody – not a NFL team and certainly not a fantasy team – likes to start 0-2, and while some owners are furiously trying to improve their teams, others are no doubt wondering, what if?

As always, I’m here to help. Below you’ll find the team you could have had. The rules? Pretty simple. To ensure the player is available, we have to draft him a round early. That is, if the player has an Average Draft Position (ADP) of 3.02, we have to take him in the second round. The plan is to start one QB, two RB, two WR and a TE, and I’ll leave the K and DT to your imagination. I’ll mow through the first twelve rounds so that we have a starter and a sub at each position.

Keep in mind, this draft is for a 12-team, Points Per Reception (PPR) league, with the Antsports’ High Performance Scoring System.

Off we go…

Round 1 – Reggie Bush (2.07)
Drafted: RB12
Actual: RB3
Someone actually gave me grief about considering Bush in the second round of my Industry Insiders league, and while there are a lot of (Reggie) Bush haters out there, the simple fact of the matter is that in a PPR league, the guy produces. Through two games, he’s averaging 127 total yards, 7.5 receptions, and 0.5 TD per game. He’s on pace for a 120-catch, 2000-yard season.
Alternate: Tony Romo (2.09)