Fantasy Football Recap, Week 1: Winners And Losers

Greetings everyone. How did you do this past week in fantasy football? Ed and I won our game in the Big Blue View Wrecking Crew league, but I lost in my other league. That's how it goes in fantasy. I'm kind of peeved that my opponent in the other league had both Matt Forte and Stevan Ridley. If you saw Forte run behind that poor excuse for an O-Line during the preseason, you wouldn't have seen that coming. And has a Patriot RB run for 100 yards ever? Ugh. But hey, one of the things we love about fantasy football is that we get to gripe about it to our spouses. With that, let's have a look at the winners and losers from Week 1.....

Oh, but first....don't forget to check out the SB Nation fantasy football page including the fantasy war room.

Winners--

Robert Griffin III threw for 320 yards and 2 touchdowns, and added 42 yards rushing as the Redskins upset the Saints in the Superdome. Yikes. This kid is the real deal. I didn't want to believe it, and it's just one game, but he is poised and extremely talented.

CJ Spiller of the Bills came in when Fred Jackson's knee was busted up by the Jets, and promptly rushed 14 times for 169 yards and a score. This is significant, too, because the Bills were playing from way behind most of the game, which means Spiller really made the most of the few carries he had.

Adrian Peterson had his knee put back together with Krazy Glue and masking tape late last season. No one expected much of him, as he slipped far from his usual #1 ADP. But AP carried 17 times for 84 yards and 2 TDs, and he ran HARD. Who doesn't have even more respect for this guy after Sunday?

Matt Ryan threw for 299 yards, 3 scores with 0 picks--and added 25 yards on the ground with a rushing score. The Chiefs defense is not supposed to be that bad, but Ryan looked way better than he did in the playoff game against the Giants in January. And he found Julio Jones 6 times for 108 yards and 2 TDs. Julio is gonna have a big year.

Stevan Ridley makes me want to throw up in my mouth because 1) he spells his name funny and 2) he probably won't rush for close to the 125 yards and 2 touchdowns again the rest of the year. Well, maybe he will when I'm up against this same opponent. I'm sure the Pats are playing the Bills that weekend.

Frank Gore rushed 16 times for 112 yards and one hard-earned score. Man, that guy is still tough as nails and we may not hear much from Brandon Jacobs this season.

DeMarco Murray carried 20 times for 131 yards and while he didn't find the end zone, he cut through the Giants' defense like a hot knife through butter and he taught the rest of the NFL one thing--that you have to tackle him when you have him in your grasp or when you have him boxed in.

Reggie Wayne was targeted 18 times by Andrew Luck, and came away with 9 catches for 135. 2011 is a distant memory for Reggie.

Stephen Hill caught 5 for 89 and 2 scores, but comparing him to Calvin Johnson is a tad annoying. Still, when was the last time the Jets had a receiver like this?

Peyton Manning completed 19 passes for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. And the Steelers were swarming the guy. I think he played remarkably well and is going to lift the Broncos pretty high, especially in the mediocre AFC West. He found DeMaryius Thomas 5 times for 110 and 1 of those TDs,

Mark Sanchez threw for 266 with 3 scores and 1 pick. Those are Eli numbers!

Kevin Ogletree caught 8 for 114 and 2 scores. Blah!

I drafted Jimmy Graham in the second round of my draft, and while he caught 6 passes for 85 yards and a score, excellent numbers for a tight end, I kept wanting Drew Brees to find him more than he did. And I saw Brees overthrow the big guy at least once, something I didn't think was possible with Jimmy.

Doug Martin carried 24 times for 95 yards, adding 4 catches for 23. No touchdowns, but this kid is going to have a great season. Hopefully he has a bad game on Sunday though.

Dexter McCluster was targeted 10 times as a receiver, and caught 6 passes for 82 yards. I love that kid, and he and Jamaal Charles on the same offense and Peyton Hillis as the hammer? Those are some strong RBs.

Billy Cundiff nailed 4 field goals with zero misses. I wonder how the Ravens feel about that. Nate Kaeding came back from injury in 2011, and kicked five field goals against the Raiders last night. Blair Walsh, the Vikings' rookie, kicked a 55 yarder to send the game into OT. And David Akers--he of the porn 'stache and finger pointing to the sky--tied an NFL record with a 63-yard doink job in Green Bay. That was weird, but not as weird as the fact that I felt genuinely happy for the guy.

Fantasy Football Week One Stars and Monday Plays - Keepers Two-Minute Drill (via sbnation)

Losers....

Michael Turner carried 11 times for 32 yards. I kept reading about how he's lost a step but of course I still drafted him in the third round of our BBV league. Come on, man, those tree trunk legs can't have slowed down that much.

Chris Johnson carried 11 times for 4 yards, and if he didn't catch 6 passes for 47.....ah, screw it....the catches don't hide the fact that you suck, again. Pundits, stop saying this guy will get back to his form from a couple years ago. He still sucks.

Josh Freeman threw for 138 yards and a TD. But when your defense plays like the Bucs did, and Doug Martin runs like he did, Freeman can play like 2011 and they will win a few games.

Eli Manning, I'm sorry. I know you were under pressure, but 213 yards and one TD not only doesn't bode well for the G-men, but it doesn't bode well for Eli's fantasy owners. I partially blame Kevin Gilbride.

Victor Cruz caught 6 for 58 yards, but was targeted 11 times. I know that 5 of those misses were pure drops, too.

Marques Colston had 4 catches for 71, but he also was targeted 11 times. One time he had a touchdown and inexplicably fumbled in the end zone. Oh man, what a huge bummer for fantasy owners--a lost TD and lost the 50 or so yards that that play was.

Vincent Jackson only had 4 receptions for 47 yards--not quite what the Bucs were hoping for. Let's hope he doesn't find his groove Sunday either.

Torrey Smith had huge expectations going in, and came out of last night with 2 catches for 57 and no scores.

Mario Manningham caught 4 passes for 29 yards, and I don't think he's going to do more than that from week to week on that Niners' team--not with Frank Gore running like that, and not with Randy Moss and Vernon Davis. But we still love the guy.

Jason Witten caught 2 for 10. I know he's hurt, but he usually kills the Giants. Not that I'm complaining.

Random stuff--

Does Cam Newton throw the prettiest deep rainbow in the NFL?

Has anyone else noticed yet that the Redskins, Cowboys and Eagles are 1-0 while our Giants are 0-1? Thanks New Orleans. Thanks Cleveland.