The 3M Report: Week One
Welcome to the 2016 edition of the 3M report! I’m excited to have the opportunity to follow all the other great writers who previously recapped the week’s “Mayhem, Magic and Mishaps.” All the hard work we put into preparing our teams for battle this season is about to pay off, so let’s get right into the week one action.
Things kicked off on Thursday with Trevor Siemian coming out firing. His first NFL pass was an 11-yard completion to Demaryius Thomas. John Elway must be happy seeing Siemian lead two scoring drives in the fourth quarter to dispatch of the Panthers for the second straight game. Kelvin Benjamin silenced his fantasy critics with two catches for 31 yards and a touchdown on the Panthers’ opening drive, capitalizing on a fumble by Devontae Booker. Will Booker’s fumbling issues in college continue to haunt him in the NFL? He might not get much of an opportunity to find out after CJ Anderson tore it up as both a runner and a receiver, scoring a touchdown in both phases of the game. In true Shanahan fashion, Gary Kubiak called a timeout before the snap and iced Graham Gano’s game-winning field goal attempt. For the first time in 437 tries, it actually worked and Gano missed his second attempt, giving the Broncos the 21-20 win.
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At least for week one, it looks like the Eagles decision to start Carson Wentz was the right one. The rookie and second overall pick in the 2016 draft threw for 278 yards, two touchdowns and led the team to a 29-10 victory. One of those touchdowns was a nice over the shoulder catch by Jordan Matthews out of the slot. Darren Sproles showed he still has it, ripping off a 40-yard kick return which set up Matthew’s touchdown. Not much to say about the Browns. RG3 was up and down and now he’s hurt. He completed just 46% of his passes but did connect on deep balls to both Terrelle Pryor and Corey Coleman. Isaiah Crowell ran for Cleveland’s only touchdown of the day and performed relatively well with 5.2 yards per carry on 12 totes.
Eddie Lacy is still large and in charge but ran pretty well despite getting his touchdown vultured by Aaron Rodgers who ran one in. Davante Adams continues his inconsistent ways by following up horrible drops with beautiful touchdown catches. It was great seeing Jordy Nelson out there again. He only caught six passes for 32 yards but got open in the end zone for a touchdown in his first game since the 2014 season. Jared Cook did “Jared Cook things” which translated to one catch for seven yards.
Blake Bortles was under pressure from the Packers defense most of the day. He was sacked three times and picked off once. Both Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns were held in check with the latter failing to convert a fourth and one on the final drive of the game, sealing the 27-24 Packers victory. Julius Thomas was the lone recipient of a receiving touchdown for the Jaguars offense. Chris Ivory was a surprise inactive due to being hospitalized with a “general illness” – this vaulted TJ Yeldon into a starting role. While he did get into the end zone, he also managed just 2.1 yards per carry on 19 attempts.
The Raiders and Saints both put on an offensive show in the Superdome but Drew Brees put on an absolute clinic with 423 yards and four touchdowns even though it wasn’t quite enough to win the game. It was the 14th 400 yard game of his career, tying him with Peyton Manning for the most in NFL history. This was an Oprah kind of game with every fantasy relevant player producing for their owners. Coby Fleener owners would beg to differ, but it’s time for people to realize that he just isn’t good at football. Can you blame Brees for not looking his way more than four times even in a game this high scoring? When you have Brandin Cooks scoring from 98 yards out and Willie Snead catching all nine of his targets for 172 yards and a touchdown, there just isn’t enough targets to waste on a player who won’t make the most of them.
Amari Cooper put on a show of his own with six receptions for 137 yards. Latavius Murray got a touchdown for his owners but UDFA Jalen Richard exploded for a 75-yard touchdown on his very first NFL carry. The rookie showed shades of a similar 90-yard touchdown breakout carry from Murray himself as a rookie in 2014 against the Chiefs. Murray remains the clear starter and early-down back, but will continue to cede passing down work to the talented rookies.
The San Diego Chargers, unfortunately, had a very “Chargerish” week one. Not only did they lose the game in overtime after jumping out to a 21-3 lead, but they also lost star receiver Keenan Allen for the season when he tore his ACL on a non-contact injury in the second quarter. Allen was well on his way to a double-digit reception game – he had already caught six for 63 yards when catastrophe struck. The running backs were the bright spot for San Diego, though. Melvin Gordon scored two touchdowns (which is two more than he scored his entire rookie season). Danny Woodhead also chipped in 120 total yards and a touchdown. Without Allen, we could see an offensive mindset shift with a new focus on running the offense through the backfield.
The generally milk toast Alex Smith had a great game, leading the Chiefs to a 33-27 comeback victory with 363 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown. Remember when Spencer Ware couldn’t catch the ball and Charcandrick West was a better substitute for Jamaal Charles? Ware must have taken the criticism to heart because all he did on Sunday was catch seven passes for 129 yards to go with 70 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The Chiefs have little incentive to rush Charles back from his ACL surgery rehabilitation with Ware playing well and clearly capable of carrying the load.
It sure was nice seeing Dennis Pitta out there catching passes again. The Ravens are kind of a hot mess but did enough to beat the Bills 13-7. Mike Wallace got behind the defense for a 66-yard touchdown and the ghost of Breshad Perriman materialized briefly to haul in a single reception for 35 yards. Remember all the preseason excitement for Terrance West.? Yeah, we can go ahead and temper expectations The former Browns and Titans running back managed just 32 yards on 12 carries (2.7 ypc). Sammy Watkins was held to just four catches for 43 yards on only six targets. He and Tyrod Taylor failed to find the chemistry that made them such a successful duo down the stretch in 2015.
Brock Osweiler had a successful debut in a 23-14 win over the Bears in front of the home crowd thanks to his complement of weapons. DeAndre Hopkins had a touchdown called back early in the game due to a penalty but made his fantasy owners happy with another one late in the second quarter. Rookie Will Fuller impressed as well and actually outscored Hopkins in fantasy with five catches for 107 yards and a touchdown of his own. Lamar Miller didn’t get in the end zone but did reach 106 yards rushing on 28 carries. It looks like Miller will indeed get the volume he was never given in Miami. We’ll see if he can handle that kind of workload over the course of an entire season. Alshon Jeffery was one of the few bright spots for the Bears offense, catching four of six targets for 105 yards. Second year rookie Kevin White caused an interception in the third quarter when he ran an incorrect route. He and Jay Cutler will have plenty of time to work on their chemistry before they face the Eagles next Monday night.
Jameis Winston spread the love with four touchdown passes to four different receivers in a 31-24 win on the road against division rival Atlanta. Mike Evans and Austin Seferian-Jenkins both made spectacular catches on deep balls into the end zone. Charles Sims broke several tackles when he took a short pass 23 yards for the score. Winston’s fourth passing touchdown went to the Bucs’ third tight end, Brandon Myers. Despite not doing enough to win the game, the Falcons passing game made fantasy owners happy as both Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu got into the end zone. The running backs were uninspiring on the ground, but Tevin Coleman was a factor in the receiving game with five for 95, including a 47-yard catch and run. Worried yet, Devonta Freeman owners?
Despite having to start Shaun Hill at quarterback and Adrian Peterson failing to surpass two yards per carry on the ground, Minnesota managed a 25-16 victory thanks to two defensive touchdowns and the leg of Blair Walsh. I’d put more of Peterson’s struggles on the Titans’ defense than on any sort of decline and would be sending out trade offers for the Hall of Famer if you have a playoff caliber roster. Stefon Diggs had a nice game with seven catches for 103 yards.
The Titans were wrecking opposing defenses with their “exotic smashmouth” approach in the preseason, but that never showed up against a great Vikings defense. DeMarco Murray managed just 13 for 42 on the ground with rookie Derrick Henry adding only three yards on five carries. Both fared better in the passing game. Murray caught two touchdowns and Henry contributed with 41 receiving yards on two catches. Fellow rookie Tajae Sharpe was impressive in his debut with seven catches for 76 yards on 11 targets.
I (and many others) believed AJ Green to be a likely candidate to finish as the number one fantasy wide receiver in 2016. He got off to a great start in week one with 12 receptions on 13 targets for 180 yards and a touchdown and he did it against All-World cornerback Darrelle Revis. Despite suffering through seven sacks, Andy Dalton and his 366 yard, one touchdown, one interception performance willed the Bengals to a 23-22 victory over the Jets. On the New York side of the ball, Matt Forte shined while the rest of the offense sputtered. All preseason there was talk of Bilal Powell earning a near 50/50 split with Forte. At least for week one, that did not come to fruition. The veteran out-touched Powell 22-4 as a runner, 5-2 as a receiver and had triple the yardage output 154-48.
Victor Cruz was back salsa dancing in the end zone on Sunday when he caught what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown in a 20-19 win for the G-Men. This was his first NFL game action in 700 days after tearing his patellar tendon in 2014. Fun fact: This was the first game that Cruz and Odell Beckham have ever both started and finished together. Rookie Sterling Shepard also caught a touchdown for those who trusted him enough as a play in week one. Perhaps it actually is too early to crown Dak Prescott. After stirring up the kind of hype in the preseason that led to the rookie quarterback being traded for first round rookie picks, Prescott managed just 227 yards on 45 attempts in the loss. Fourth overall pick Ezekiel Elliott logged only 51 yards rushing on 20 carries, but he did get into the end zone to save his fantasy day. Dadrunner Jason Witten was the security blanket for Prescott. He was targeted a whopping 14 times, hauling in nine of those for 66 yards. What about Dez Bryant? He caught just one of five targets for eight yards. Dez did catch a 24-yard touchdown that was later ruled incomplete when the ball made contact with the ground as he slid out of bounds. There must be some kind of unwritten rule that Dez has to be involved in some kind of catch / no-catch controversy every single season. Terrance Williams gets the WOAT award of the day as he caught a ball on the final drive that would have set up Dan Bailey for a game-winning field goal attempt, but instead, Williams failed to get out of bounds and the clock expired before Prescott could spike the ball.
You would have been hard-pressed to find an analyst who gave Miami a chance to win in Seattle, but the Dolphins played the Seahawks tough and took the lead 10-6 with four minutes left in the game. Russell Wilson led his team to victory on the final drive, culminating with a two-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin, who finished with nine catches for 92 yards to go with his game-winning touchdown. Prior to that drive, Ryan Tannehill orchestrated an 86-yard touchdown drive of his own. Despite the loss, Miami should come away from this game optimistic about their season. Surprisingly, Jay Ajayi was a healthy scratch and didn’t even travel with the team to Seattle. This will certainly be something to watch going forward.
With both teams lacking in the defensive department, we expected an offensive explosion from Detroit at Indianapolis and neither team disappointed. Andrew Luck and Matthew Stafford combined for seven passing touchdowns but the Lions pulled out a 39-35 victory on the road. Both Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick finished with over 100 yards from scrimmage and a receiving touchdown for the Lions. Riddick also added a rare rushing touchdown. Dwayne Allen (aka “Robocop”) was heavily involved in the offense and showed off what he can do without Fleener around to mess things up. Despite losing the game, Andrew Luck squashed all the talk of him being closer to what we saw in 2015 from him than what we saw in 2014. Luck finished with a fantasy pleasing 385 yards and four touchdowns and solidified his spot atop the dynasty quarterback rankings.
The Patriots escaped with a 23-21 victory Sunday night when Chandler Catanzaro missed a 47-yard field goal that would have given the Cardinals the win. Jimmy Garoppolo did just enough to move Bill Belichick to 5-0 when his team is a 10-point underdog. His lone touchdown pass was a 37-yard strike to Chris Hogan. For the Cardinals, David Johnson picked up where he left off in 2015 with 132 total yards and a touchdown. Earlier in the day, news broke that Larry Fitzgerald plans to retire after the 2016 season. Fitz is one of my favorite players of all time and it will be sad to see him go if that’s indeed true, but it is going to be fun watching him close out an amazing career. He single-handedly kept the Cardinals in the game with eight receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
That will do it for the week one wrap up! I hope the ball bounced your way, but if not, don’t worry. We have 12 more weeks to get it right before the fantasy playoffs begin.
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Creator and Co-host of Dynasty Game night, the fantasy football game show.
Creator and host of the Zookeeper Stories podcast.
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