I actually had Jahvid Best (232 total yards, 3 TD) on my bench (behind Maurice Jones-Drew and Pierre Thomas, in my defense), figuring that the Eagles DT is generally pretty tough and even though the rookie scored twice in Week 1, the Lions running game struggled against Chicago. Well, I think the kid will be in my starting lineup next week. Not only did he average 4.6 ypc en route to 78 rushing yards, he posted 9-154-1 in the passing game. Let’s just hope he can hold up for the entire season. Brandon Pettigrew (7-108) had eight targets to Tony Scheffler‘s (1-5) four. The other lesson we can take from this game is to always start our key guys against the Lions. Michael Vick (284 yards, 2 TD), LeSean McCoy (16 carries, 120 yards, 3 TD), DeSean Jackson (4-135-1) and Jeremy Maclin (3-26-1) all had nice games.
Michael Turner owners were expecting a big week against a suspect Arizona rush defense, but all they got was 75 yards on nine carries and a groin injury. Jason Snelling picked up where Turner left off and racked up 186 yards and three TD on 29 touches. If Turner’s injury is serious (and it doesn’t sound like it is), Snelling becomes a great waiver wire pickup, but there’s a good chance that Turner’s injury is minor and the Falcons elected to shut him down since the blowout was on. Meanwhile, Matt Ryan bounced back from a rough performance in Week 1 to post 225 passing yards and three TDs. On the other side of the ball, Larry Fitzgerald (7-83) put up decent numbers despite dreadful play from Derek Anderson (161 yards, 2 INT), and Tim Hightower (124 total yards, TD) took advantage of another injury scratch by Chris Wells.
Fantasy-wise, the only truly surprising thing to come out of that Ravens/Bengals tilt was the poor game by Joe Flacco (154 yards, TD, 4 INT). The Patriots shredded the Bengals in Week 1 and Flacco looked pretty solid against a tough Jets’ defense, so everything lined up for a good game. At this point, Flacco is not an every-week starter and is better used as part of a QBBC.
