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Here's a look at Week 3 of the NFL season with a fantasy football twist.
Rehash:
I will start this column by looking back at last week's suggestions.
Randall Cobb and Brandon Marshall were disasters. Cobb got hurt early in the Packers-Bears game on Thursday night and I believe that impacted his use throughout the game. He only had two touches. Marshall only caught two balls compared to nine from the week before and dropped a touchdown in the endzone.
On the positive Alfred Morris continued to be the bell cow for Mike Shanahan.
My entire three down worked out well. Ahmad Bradshaw was injured and only had five carries for 16 yards before he did. Steven Jackson also got hurt, but could have reentered the game and didn't because seventh rounder draft Daryl Richardson was running well. S-Jax did have nine carries for 58 yards, which is actually pretty good. Tom Brady was decent, but not worth where you drafted him. According to the scoring system of one of my league's Brady scored the 15th most points of all fantasy quarterbacks last week. QBs such as Sam Bradford, Brandon Weeden, Andy Dalton, Matt Cassel and Carson Palmer all posted more points.
Three Up:
Washington Redskins Quarterback Robert Griffin III and Running Back Alfred Morris
According to the same league I just used in my Brady stats, Robert Griffin III is the #1 rated QB so far. Washington goes up against the Cincinnati Bengals, whose defense has struggled mightily through two weeks giving up 44 points to the Ravens and 27 points to the Browns. Flacco threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions and rookie QB Brandon Weeden tossed for 322 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Running backs Ray Rice and Tony Richardson combined for 177 yards on 29 carries, 7 receptions for 61 yards and 4 touchdowns. Big game on the way from the Skins offense.
New York Giants Running Back Andre Brown
When Ahmad Bradshaw went down last week with an injury it wasn't rookie David Wilson who took over as the main running back. It was Andre Brown. Brown was the Giants fourth round pick in 2009 and has never really been given an opportunity till this past Sunday. He shined posting 71 yards on 13 carries with a TD. New York is facing Carolina, which has allowed a gaudy 4.7 yards per carry and 147 rush yards per game in 2012.
Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
The Steelers look to improve to 2-1 this week against the Oakland Raiders. Oakland's secondary is a mess. Ron Bartell is definitely out in Week 3 and Shawntae Spencer is most likely going to miss the game. The Raiders are so desperate for corners they brought in four for a workout on Tuesday. Big Ben along with Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown and even Emmanuel Sanders should be in for monster games.
Three Down
Minnesota Vikings Running Back Adrian Peterson
This might as well be a weekly feature, whatever running back is going up against the 49ers defense sit, I don't care who it is. San Francisco is allowing only 3.2 yards per run, the longest run they have given up is 11 yards and opposing teams haven't scored one rushing touchdown.
Green Bay Packers Running Back Cedric Benson
The Packers let Benson run the ball 20 times last week against the Bears. I would be shocked if he got as many carries this week. For the second straight season the Seahawks run defense is phenomenal. Seattle is allowing less than three rush yards per carry.
San Diego Chargers Defense
The Chargers D has been a pleasant surprise early in the season ranked third best in total yardage allowed and second in points. This is where context is needed within the first two weeks - San Diego has played the Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans. Both of those teams have been miserable early in the season. It's time to sit the Chargers defense as they take on the prolific Falcons offense on Sunday.