The Jaunt Fantasy Camp: Fantasy Football Notebook: Week Two

by Thejaunt

Redskins 20, Eagles 12

A mobile, confident, strong armed quarterback -- no, not Donovan McNabb, I'm talking about the Skins Jason Campbell -- was the focal point of this Monday night upset. Campbell, who threw for 209 yards and rushed for another 39, only seemed to get better has the game went on and looked poised in the face of the Eagles blitz packages. Campbell connected with TE Chris Cooley after a ridiculous attempt to ice the kicker by Eagles head coach Andy Reid as the second half came to a close. Oops, there's too much time on the clock. The timeout gave the Skins the time needed to take a successful shot at the end zone. The call was an example of many poor Eagles coaching decisions that have brought them to a 0-2 start. Later in the game, Campbell overthrew a wide open Santana Moss -- who finished with 89 yards -- on a long bomb that nearly yielded a back breaking TD.

McNabb is either not over his knee injury or doesn't trust his repaired knee yet because his footing was off all night. McNabb missed two easy touchdown throws and threw over the heads of his receivers on several other occasions. 46 pass attempts? What happened to the balanced Eagles attack at the end of last season? You know, the one that was winning games. RB Brian Westbrook -- also the best Eagles receiver -- finished with 162 total yards and leads the team in receptions and receiving yards; pathetic. Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis couldn't get an inch of separation against simple man-to-man coverage all night long. Jason Avant appears to be the only WR with a clue. David Akers, who was a perfect 4/4 on field goal attempts, did all the scoring for the Eagles.

Chargers 14, Patriots 38

Another near perfect game from Tom Brady and Randy Moss, who hooked up twice for scores. My predraft day bargain TE, Benjamin Watson, has scored in both games so far. WR Wes Welker is establishing himself as a dependable third fantasy option, even better if your league gives points for return yardage. In all love for the Patriots passing attack Laurence Maroney is quickly being forgotten about, a good buy-low option if you can acquire him via trade.

Philip Rivers continues to look clueless this season. OK, he's played tough defenses, but if you can't play well against these teams now you aren't going to do it in the playoffs either. LaDainian Tomlinson finished with only 43 yards and is averaging an abyssal 1.9 yards per carry. LT has only 68 rushing yards after two games, a total in which his surpassed in all but 3 games last season. The Chargers travel to Green Bay next week against a very sound defense. Yikes.

Raiders 20, Broncos 23

Another Sunday, another game winner from Jason Elam. Jay Cutler, Travis Henry, and Javon Walker all posted good numbers for a second week in a row. Despite being 2-0 the Broncos are living pretty dangerously squeaking out victories against far lesser opponents. WR Brandon Marshall has caught 5 balls in each game and averaging 67 yards per game; he's worth at least a speculative add. Super corners Bailey and Dly each nabbed an interception.

Josh McCown -- 73 yards, 3 INTs -- was awful. Can we please see Culpepper next week? LaMont Jordan rushed for 159 yards, but was a nonfactor in the passing game.

Jets 13, Ravens 20

Kyle Boller was efficient and found Todd Heap and Willis McGahee for touchdowns. WR Derrick Mason has caught at least 7 passes in each game and looks like a good spot start with the right matchup. Mark Clayton's toe injury continues to make him invisible thus far, watch to see if he gets dropped in your leagues.

QB Kellen Clemens was sound for most of the game against a very brutal defense and should continue to help stir the QB situation in NY. Thomas Jones is showing us why no one wanted to draft him, with or without that calf injury.

Chiefs 10, Bears 20

Still no signs of life from the Chiefs offense no matter if it's Damon Huard or Brodie Croyle. Larry Johnson finished with only 55 yards, his average is a sound 3.8 yards per carry but he needs more attempts, something he won't get without a QB who can sustain a drive.

Rex Grossman continues to turn the ball over as the unquestioned starter, it's scary to think how good speedster Bernard Berrian would be if he had a QB with a clue. What happened to this Devin Hester as a WR thing? He's still yet to register a catch, but continues to be a special teams nightmare. Cedric Benson got plenty of carries (24) and yards (101) making owners forget his Week 1 struggles.

Seahawks 20, Cardinals 23

Now this is the Cards passing game we were expecting. Matt Leinart finished with 299 yards and 4 passes of over 20 yards, after 0 last week. Fitzgerald and Boldin were scoreless, but each had over 80 yards a piece receiving. Edgerrin James ran for 128 yards and a score, but more importantly is his carries. In two games Edge is averaging 25 carries, a number he only surpassed 5 times last season.

Deion Branch -- 7 catches, 122 yards -- was apparently as upset as his owners after his shutout last week. Nate Burleson, who will see more playing time with D.J. Hackett on the self, scored but is not reliable enough to add. Shaun Alexander has found the end zone in both games so far.

Vikings 17, Lions 20

Joke all you want about Jon Kitna, but the man is tough. Kitna shook off a concussion and returned to finish out a wild turnover filled game and lead his Lions to a 2-0 record. I'm not sure what to make of the Lions running game expect that none of their backs are worth owning right now. Roy Williams scored again and broke 100 yards after a disappointing 20 yard game last week. Calvin Johnson scored again too. Shaun McDonald leads the team in receptions, sorry for the bad things I said last week.

Maybe Adrian Peterson can play QB? Because no other Viking can. Peterson leads the team in rushing yards and receiving yards, not that anyone can name a Vikings WR. Tarvaris Jackson finished with 4 picks and wasted yet another good Vikings defensive performance. Brooks Bollinger replaced Jackson late in the game. Maybe we'll see him next week, not that it matters.

Cowboys 37, Dolphins 20

Julius Jones looked awful, Marion Barber III looked great. Does that sound familiar? Romo and TO are looking great, but still haven't played anyone. Look for the Cowboys offense to hit a snag as they travel to Chicago next week.

How's that Trent Green Band-Aid fitting? 4 INTs. Ouch. Somehow Chris Chambers topped 100 yards despite Green's awful play. Ronnie Brown is showing us why his draft value slide big time as we got closer to the season. Brown has more receiving yards (76) at this point then rushing yards (65).

Saints 14, Buccaneers 31

At this point I think I could throw for at least a buck-fifty against the Saints defensive backs. This is a secondary that is in complete disarray. Jeff Garcia and Joey Galloway connected on two long scores. Cadillac Williams found pay dirt twice, his first touchdowns since 9/24/06. The Bucs host St. Louis next week; Garcia is a great spot start for anyone in need of a QB. LB Barrett Ruud needs to be owned in IDP leagues, he's tied for the league lead in tackles.

Bengals 45, Browns 51

Defense is optional. Nearly every league had someone who started the Bengals defense, myself included. Ouch. Derek Anderson threw 5 TDs (Braylon Edward, Kellen Winslow, and Joe Jurevicius twice) and has put the Brady Quinn stuff to rest for the time being. Jamal Lewis ran for over 200 yards for the first time since 2003, but I'd still use him only as a reserve RB. Winslow is emerging as the best TE not named Gates.

All the major Bengals had huge days. Carson Palmer threw for 6 scores, 2 to Chad Johnson (11 catches, 209 yards) and 2 to T.J. Houshmandzadeh (8 catches, 69 yards). Rudi Johnson is becoming more active in the passing game and had 4 catches -- which actually ties a career high set in 2003 and 2004) -- and a score.

49ers 17, Rams 16

Alex Smith (126 yards, 0 TDs) is killing Darrell Jackson and Vernon Davis owners. Frank Gore, who recently lost his mother, broke off an impossible 43 yard run for one of his two scores. The 2-0 49ers will travel to Pittsburgh, making Gore the only start-worthy Niner.

Marc Bulger's 368 yards show he can play behind a battered offensive line. But Steven Jackson's 60 rushing yards show the number two fantasy back from last season is in for a long year. Left tackles aren't made, their born. And without Orlando Pace the Rams rushing attack is going to be MIA. Can someone check Isaac Bruce's age again? The ageless player maker grabbed 8 balls for 145 yards. Teammate Torry Holt got 5 balls for 74 yards and a score, but lost a key forced fumble in the end zone which resulted in a touchback.

Packers 35, Giants 13

Rookie DeShawn Wynn scored twice and is going to be a popular add. We will have to see what role he takes on going forward, but he's worth adding if you have the room for him. Someone has to emerge as the Packers starting running back at some point. So much for my Mason Crosby prediction, but the Packers kept scoring TDs! Oh well, he's still a guy to watch out for.

Eli's shoulder and Derrick Ward (90 yards) looked fine, but that's about it for the G-Men. Plaxico Burress (32 yards, 1 TD) fell back to Earth. The defense is still a joke and allowed 21 4Q points.

Colts 22, Titans 20

Peyton Manning finished with 312 yards, but "only" 1 TD. Harrison and Wayne were their typical selves. TE Dallas Clark, who was passed on by most on draft day, had 7 catches for 69 yards, and a score.

Vince Young finished with just 184 yards passing, but added 53 on the ground. Young outrushed Week 1 rock star Chris Brown. As I said in the Notebook last week I think Brown's 175 yards were an aberration against an unprepared defense. LenDale White is getting slightly more carries and also gets the goal line looks. Third year receiver Roydell Williams had 72 yards and a score, but it's hard to add him given the Titans lack of pass attempts.

Falcons 7, Jaguars 13

A defensive battle? More like bad offense. Maurice Jones-Drew needed X-rays and has looked all-around bad this season. I wouldn't apply the bust tag yet, but there's plenty of reasons why I didn't draft this guy; namely the lack of receivers to open up any sort of passing attack.

Joey Harrington -- 7 sacks -- was eaten alive and still hasn't figured out he needs to get rid of the football to have any sort of success. Warrick Dunn discovered that there is indeed an end zone. Jerious Norwood got the carries early on, but did nothing with them. The Falcons have added Byron Leftwich and 47-year-old Morten Andersen to solve their issues at QB and place kicker. Good luck with that.

Bills 3, Steelers 26

Willie Parker is looking fine coming off two 100 yard games to start the season. Ben Roethlisberger (242 yards, 1 TD) got three of his receivers over 50 yards. Kicker Jeff Reed leads all kickers in points (24) and is a perfect 6/6 in field goals attempted, but has not tried anything over 40 yards yet.

I'm going to stand by my J.P. Losman predictions, but starting the season off against the Broncos, Steelers, and Patriots is murder for a young QB. Rookie RB Marshawn Lynch has been strong out of the gates and averaging 4.2 yards per carry. Try to turn the Bills early stumbles into a trade for Lynch if you need better RB depth.