After a couple of weeks of some brilliant performances from some not-so-brilliant players and some disappointing performances from superstars, Week 3 of the NFL season held pretty true to form in regards to fantasy football.
As for stars being stars, two main names come to mind: Anquan Boldin and Adrian Peterson.
Let's start with Boldin. He's always been one of the league's most interesting receivers. He went to Florida State as a quarterback, moved to wide receiver and is now known as possibly the most physical wide receiver in the NFL. Quite a transformation right there. On Sunday against the Browns, he went off, to the tune of eight grabs, 142 yards and three scores. That's a pretty good fantasy day, I don't care who you are. He was the top scorer in most standing scoring leagues.
Second was Peterson, who hadn't had a stereotypical "AD" day. Until Sunday, that is. In a game that he was supposed to dominate against the Lions, he did just that. He rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
But there were also several performances that made you raise an eyebrow. Most notably that of Browns running back Peyton Hillis. After Jerome Harrison suffered an injury, the Browns were going to their plodding, bruising fullback as a primary back. That spells trouble for an already shaky offensive unit, right? Um, no. Hillis looked like Peterson out there, going for 144 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Hillis has definitely taken that job from Harrison now. Then there's Colts wide receiver Austin Collie. He had a career day, but it wasn't too much of a shock. It never really is when a Colts WR has a big day, and Collie has had his share of big moments in his two years in Indy. But the BYU product was Peyton Manning's favorite target on Sunday, as he caught 12 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Denver.
Another guy to watch for the remainder of the season is Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton. It appears Josh McDaniels had finally installed his New England offense in Denver, and Orton is thriving, while at the same time tossing aside any talk of Tim Tebow taking playing time from him this year. Orton threw for over 400 yards on Sunday, a week after going for 300-plus. He was probably snatched up in most leagues after Week 2, but if he's still out there, go get him fast.
As for the disappointments, one stands out. I hate to keep baggin' on Houston, but Matt Schaub let a lot of folks down on Sunday. Coming off his 497-yard performance in the Texans' Week 2 win over Washington, Schaub and his top-ranked offense apparently ran into a real defense on Sunday. He managed just 241 yards in the Texans' loss to Dallas to go with one touchdown. He also threw two interceptions. Now Andre Johnson's ankle is giving him more problems, meaning there could be some trouble in Houston for the time being. It's definitely something to watch out for.
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