NFL Week Two

Week two was defined by teams that have become accustomed to winning close games (New Orleans, Miami, Pittsburgh, GoodnightMoon fantasy) pulling out rugged wins, teams that have gotten used to losing continuing to find gutwrenching ways to lose (San Francisco, St. Louis, Detroit, Cleveland), and the emergence of three new teams that appear to have bridged that gap (Houston, Kansas City, Tampa Bay).

Fantasy Pickups of the Week

3. Keep a close eye on the Reggie Bush situation. New Orleans won't rely solely on Pierre Thomas, though his value clearly rises.

2. TE Tony Moeaki, Kansas City
Looking like Matt Cassel's favorite target while developing into the shoes of Tony Gonzalez.

1. WR Demaryius Thomas, Denver
Thomas, the first WR taken in April's draft, caught eight balls for 97 yards and a TD in his first game as a pro. He looked excellent.

Power Rankings

32. St. Louis (27)
For three years I've wondered how a team with Steven Jackson could be this bad

31. Buffalo (31)
Still waiting on Chan Gailey to come up with something for this offense, which might be historically bad if he doesn’t.

30. Detroit (29)
The Lions are a flashy bad team with a horrific defense.

29. Oakland (31)
Weren't these the four worst teams the last two seasons?

28. Carolina (21)
The Panthers simply don’t have enough of a passing offense to compete in today’s NFL. Jimmy Clausen did look better than Matt Moore so there is some hope.

27. Cleveland (28)
The Browns are a hair’s breadth from 2-0; instead they have the best shot of any team at 0-16.

26. Seattle (23)
The Seahawks won’t be winning many road games this season, but they’ll put up a fight at home.

25. Arizona (22)
A friend asked me why I liked FALCONS -6.5 over Cardinals so much last weekend. I laughed and said “Derek Anderson.”

24. Jacksonville (24)
Boring.

23. Tampa Bay (32)
I have to admit, Josh Freeman played well against the Panthers. He made a few plays nobody but Michael Vick could make. But that’s not happening every week, and it sure isn’t happening Sunday against the NFL’s best defense. Tampa does look strong on both lines.

22. San Francisco (25)
One of these teams - St. Louis, Seattle, San Francisco, Arizona - is going to host a playoff game in January. Seriously.

21. Denver (26)
Somehow the aggregate AFC West is above .500 two weeks in...

20. Kansas City (19)
After two years of finding ways to lose games they should have won, the Chiefs have won two games they probably should have lost.

19. Minnesota (15)
The recipe for the Season From Hell (possibly spurred by last year’s Favre/Satan Deal With The Devil) is cooking.

18. New York Giants (14)...and the aggregate NFC East is below .500.

17. Philadelphia (17)
It’s hard to imagine the Eagles being better with Kevin Kolb at quarterback.

16. San Diego (16)
Antonio Gates should be a mandatory double-team the rest of the season.

15. Washington (13)
It’s looking like it could be a long, wild season in D.C. Anything is possible.

14. Dallas (9)
The ‘Boys are posterboys as to why the big boys on the offensive line are more important than the pretty boys on the outside.

13. Cincinnati (18)
Ultimately I think the schedule is going to overwhelm them.

12. Chicago (20)
Fresh off a surprise win over the Cowboys, the Bears now face a mammoth test Monday night in Soldier Field against the Pack.

11. Tennessee (10)
Chalk up the seven turnovers to variance and the defense they were facing.

10. Miami (12)
Huge, huge game Sunday night against the

9. New York Jets (11)
The Jets don’t have Kris Jenkins, Troy Polamalu, or a 100% Darrelle Revis, but they still have the league’s second best defense.

8. Baltimore (2)
Sunday in Cleveland we find out if the offense is sputtering or just playing tough defenses.

7. Atlanta (7)
I’m not sure how you give up an 80-yard touchdown run to Tim Hightower, but they didn’t give up anything else to the Cardinals.

6. Houston (8)
The Texans now have a 191-yard single-game rusher and a 497-yard single-game passer.

5. New England (1)
Classic Angry Beatdown Game coming this Sunday vs. the Bills.

4. New Orleans (3)
Just remember not to bet on them in bad weather.

3. Pittsburgh (6)
This defense may be even better than the championship edition of two seasons ago. They are the Super Bowl favorite upon the return of Roethlisberger.

2. Green Bay (4)
Certainly the most impressive team so far. Just have a bad feeling for some reason.

1. Indianapolis (5)
I don’t have anything to say here that hasn’t been said by others a thousand times, so I’ll note the blockbuster trade I made in fantasy last week: I gave up Larry Fitzgerald, Ryan Mathews, Justin Forsett and Eddie Royal for Wes Welker, Joseph Addai, and Vernon Davis.

Week Three Picks:

Lock:

CHIEFS +1 over Niners

Really like:

Steelers -2.5 over BUCS

Also like:

BEARS +3 over Packers
DOLPHINS -1 over Jets
PATRIOTS -13 over Bills
Browns +10.5 over RAVENS
SEAHAWKS +5.5 over Chargers

If forced to choose:

Falcons +6.5 over SAINTS
TEXANS -3 over Cowboys
CARDINALS -4 over Raiders
RAMS +3.5 over Redskins
BRONCOS +6 over Colts
JAGUARS +3 over Eagles
Bengals -3 over PANTHERS
Titans +3 over GIANTS
Lions +11 over VIKINGS

Lock season record: 0-0
Really like season record: 1-1
Also like season record: 9-2-1

If forced to choose season record: 10-8
All games season record: 20-11-1