10 Things You Need to Know: NFL Regular Season Week 2

Because of the posts I had planned for last week, and the Giants/Cowboys game being moved from Thursday to Wednesday night, I did not publish a Things You Need to Know post for Week 1.

Instead, this week will be the first one of the Regular Season, and will be the first to feature a list of 10 things, rather than the 5 I published each week of the Preseason.

Quick note before I start my countdown: the reason the San Francisco 49ers logo is at the head of this post is because they are #1 on my list of Things You Need to Know this week. Every week for this post, the picture will be related to the top item on my list.

10.            Lovie Smith Requests Quiet at Soldier Field

The Bears did more than hold their own at home this weekend. They crushed the Colts, 41-21, picking off the No. 1 overall draft pick, Andrew Luck, 3 times in the contest. Still, Lovie Smith found something to work on, and it has nothing to do with his team.

He felt the fans were too loud when his team had the ball, specifically when the Bears were in the red zone. Jay Cutler felt the same. Interesting that this even needs to be said. Most football fans know that when your team has the ball, you give them the quiet they need to have easy communication. When the opposing team, you bring down the house on them. Smith felt that Chicago fans needed a reminder.

9.            Don’t Hate on the Raiders

Boy did Oakland show up this weekend. I know they lost 22-14 against the Chargers. I still don’t expect them to have a breakout season or make the playoffs. But they are going to make plenty of games exciting, and expect some spoilers at their hands as the season draws toward its conclusion. Carson Palmer looked good, Darren McFadden looked outstanding, and their defense was solid outside of killing themselves with penalties. But penalties are the staple of this franchise. It’s only a matter of time before the coaches except it and gameplan to overcome these setbacks.

8.            RGIII better than Advertised?

It is difficult to answer this question, because Robert Griffin III was very highly touted. He won the Heisman Memorial Trophy, so of course he was nowhere near under the radar. He had a good, but not great, Preseason. But, wow, did he show up in the Superdome on Sunday. RGIII had over 300 passing yards, almost 50 rushing yards, 2 TD passes, and, most importantly, no turnovers! As a Redskins fan who has not missed a game in years, I cannot remember the last time a Redskins quarterback didn’t turn the ball over in some capacity. Rex Grossman threw a pick in ever game he played last year. RGIII is very good, but it’s the turnovers, or lack thereof, that make me thrilled to have him playing for my favorite team.

7.            The Peyton Manning of Lore

The Colts can keep telling themselves that they want to be in rebuilding mode, that they are better off without Peyton Manning. But the Manning who showed up was not the near cripple some might have been expecting. Instead he looked very similar to the Peyton Manning of 2010. I could swear at one point the orange and navy of his jersey melted into the white and colt blue of Indianapolis.

I kid of course, but he played an extraordinary game, especially running the no-huddle. Sure it’s his expertise, but even in his prime it can’t be easy in that thin air at Mile High. Unfortunately, Tim Tebow leading Denver to the postseason last year means that winning MVP may not come particularly easily for Peyton. But if he can take this team to the Super Bowl, that award may be his for an incredible fifth time.

6.            Fantasy Disappointments

• Brandon Weeden: Not that we expected him to put up phenomenal numbers, but he posted -2 points in my ESPN league (yes, minus-two points!).
• Wes Welker had just 2.5 points. By the half-point, you can probably tell it is a PPR league, which generally makes Welker even more valuable. Welker is usually a solid WR2 or Flex player because of those receptions. Not this week.
• Fred Davis, the Redskins TE, had just 4 fantasy points. Don’t expect this to rise too much, either. With Logan Paulsen taking some of his touches away, and the possibility of bringing Chris Cooley back, Davis may not have the numbers he did with Sexy Rexy Grossman as his QB.
• Torrey Smith had a 52-yard reception on the first play from scrimmage, but then finished with just 7 fantasy points.
• Sebastian Janikowski scored only 8 points in Oakland’s loss to San Diego. A lot of his fantasy value comes from banging in long field goals, because he doesn’t usually kick very many. Not to worry, though. His fantasy value should not lower much. Expect him to be around 10 points every week with the occasional outbreak performance.

5.            Fantasy Surprises

• Matt Ryan is no slouch, but to be the leader in points for QBs is not what we have come to expect from him. He had 6 points more than Tony Romo and RGIII, who were tied for second among QBs in my league. He may have more trouble this week against Denver’s defense.
• Kevin Ogletree scored 29 points in my league, tied for second among all fantasy players this week. Don’t expect numbers like that every week, but remember that the Cowboys #3 WR last year was Laurent Robinson and he scored a touchdown in just about every game of the second half of the season. Ogletree is a great pickup for fantasy this week.
• Browns D/ST: They racked up 29 points in my fantasy points, mostly due to picking off Michael Vick 4 times. Don’t jump on Cleveland’s defense though. I don’t expect another game like this in 2012.
•  C.J. Spiller: Fred Jackson went down with an injury in the first quarter of the Bills game against the Jets. Spiller stepped in and scored 25 fantasy points in my league. Be careful going after him, though. Fred Jackson is expected to be back in about a month.

4.            Games to Watch

I’ll be more specific on why these are the games you should keep a close eye on in my prediction post tomorrow. In the mean time, here is my list.

• Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (Thursday Night Football)
• Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia Eagles (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• New Orleans Satins at Carolina Panthers (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• Washington Redskins at St. Louis Rams (Sunday, 4:05 p.m.)
• New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)
• Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers (Sunday Night Football)
• Denver Broncos at Atlanta Falcons (Monday Night Football)

3.            Power Rankings

For the sake of space, I will list just the top 6 and the bottom 6 here. You can see the rest on NFL.com.

1. San Francisco 49ers	27. Jacksonville Jaguars
2. New England Patriots	28. Buffalo Bills
3. Houston Texans	29. St. Louis Rams
4. Baltimore Ravens	30. Cleveland Browns
5. Chicago Bears	31. Indianapolis Colts
6. Green Bay Packers	32. Miami Dolphins

The NFC East saw some of the biggest changes: the Cowboys shot up 7 spots, the Redskins 9 spots, while the Giants fell 9 spots. In the NFC South, the Saints fell 10 spots, the Bucs rose 7, and the Panthers are only one spot ahead of the bottom 6. Most of the other changes were much tamer, though the Cardinals did rise from 31^st to 21^st this past week. Only the Dolphins stayed in place, dead last.

2.            Baltimore Ravens

The Bengals really didn’t look that bad. The Ravens just looked that good. In fact, I think the Ravens deserve a higher ranking than the 4 spot they hold in NFL.com’s power rankings. Joe Flacco looked incredible, Ray Rice was solid, their receiving corps was good and their defense was impenetrable.

1.            San Francisco 49ers

I have to talk about San Francisco since they lead the power rankings on NFL.com. Alex Smith has taken another huge step in his progression. They have a solid group of three running backs. Randy Moss is old, but he showed he can still be a contributor on offense. Meanwhile, San Francisco’s defense looks every bit as good as they did last year, and maybe even better. They held last year’s best offense to just 22 points. I really expected the 49ers to regress this year, but they took a nice step toward proving me wrong this past Sunday.