The bloody turmoil of Week Three was lifted in spirit by thriving action of Week Four as Quarterbacks reigned supreme, both old and new, a revenge game that everyone could be excited about… and a fantasy football win(?!). I’m celebrating with a knee slide and a praise be to higher powers with no concerns for laundry on the play.
Best Week
Steve Smith
Football fans had this one circled on their calendar when Steve Smith returned to the Panthers, but this time as a player bent on revenge. The Panthers cut Smith in the off-season and he signed with the Ravens wanting to prove he still had it to the only team he’d ever play for. And no this wasn’t a fabricated media storyline, as shown above, he is a man with vengeance in his soul. He pulled down two touchdowns on 139 receiving and got one of the coolest bounce passes you will ever see not on a basketball court. Ravens teammates Torrey Smith and Justin Forsett joined in on the fun and the Ravens piled on a 38-10 win. Run the tape.
JJ Watt
The defensive beast turned a jump in the air into an 80 yard interception and it was so brutal that he got the opposing quarterback benched for the next game. That’s mean, JJ.
NFC North Quarterbacks
Aaron Rogers had to calm the denizens of Green Bay off the roof early in Week Three and backed it up with four touchdowns on 22 for 28 passing and a goose egg on interceptions against rival Chicago.
Teddy Bridgewater got his first start for the Vikings and went 19 for 30 for 317 yards. That’s over 10 yards a pass and he added 5 rushes for 27 yards and a touchdown. His efficiency in the passing game opened up the run which lead to Matt Asiata getting 20 carries for 78 yards and three touchdowns.
Matt Stafford of the Detroit Lions also got in on the divisional race with a cool 293 yards on 24 passes and got two touchdowns as the Lions stuck it to the Jets. Even Jay Cutler in a losing effort wasn’t awful for the Bears; 22 of 34 passing, 256 yards and two touchdowns marred by Culter’s two interceptions and hit like a church bell by the Packers, but against another team that’s a respectable line.
Worst Week
Geno Smith
Caught yelling “frustrations from the field” at New York Jets fans during their loss to the Lions is not a good move. It’s full Chad Pennington. You know, Chad Pennington who was basically the worst brat in a long time? It’s true Geno is suffering from having the coaching staff helmed by Rex Ryan, and the frustration will get to anyone, but bruh, you can never go full Pennington.
Philadelphia Eagles Offense
Here’s a fun stat: In the 54th minute of the Eagles vs 49ers game, the Eagles finally ran an offensive play in the 49ers territory. The LeSean McCoy who ran for over 1,600 yards last year is nowhere to be seen, racking up an average of 1.7 yards on 10 carries in the loss against San Francisco. In last week’s game against Washington, McCoy averaged 1.2 yards per carry. It’s officially panic time in Chip Kelly Land.
Washington Football Club
The same week that the friendly libertarians at South Park decided to take down Dan Snyder and his ridiculousness, Washington was poised with a divisional matchup on a Thursday night. Against eternal derp face Eli Manning and the coach that time forgot Tom Coughlin.
Eli managed to put up 300 yards and four touchdowns against what was already a pretty weak Washington defense and they got no help on the other end of the field when Kirk Cousins blasted his own constituency by giving up four INTs. It was as painful to watch as seeing Redskins fans asked to defend their pride for an insensitive mascot in front of actual Native Americans. Snyder is probably hiring investigators into all other teams in order to take the heat off his franchise, but for fans of sanity, it’s nice shadenfeude.
Fantasy Update: Fighting Impositions
STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM NOW WE HERE. I felt confidant realizing my
opponent only had one defense and they were on a Bye week so at least if I had to squeak it out, it could be to my advantage. I also went with starting Colin Kaepernick at QB since the Philly defense has been inconsistent at best. What I didn’t except was a double whammy of Jordy Nelson’s tw0 TDs and 108 receiving yards and Matt Asiata with three TDs, 78 rushing and 22 receiving yards. Even my Buffalo defense helped out, notching nine points with two interceptions, two sacks and a fumble recovery.
Week 5
Minnesota at Green Bay on Thursday will probably be a blast of offense, even if Teddy Bridgewater is still sore from tweaking his ankle on Sunday. Baltimore at Indianapolis features two teams swiped from their original city, so that’s like some kind of double revenge game? Buffalo announced they are starting Kyle Orton at quarterback and he’ll debut against the Detroit Lions, so the real mystery will be which Orton shows up?
