This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
-Josh Allen put forth against the Rams what might be the best game of his NFL career to this point, completing 24-of-33 passes for 311 yards, four touchdowns and one interception passing while adding eight yards and a fifth touchdown rushing. Even with the standout Rams corners slowing down Stefon Diggs (four catches for 49 yards and one touchdown on six targets) and John Brown (zero catches on two targets), Allen managed to divert 16 total targets to Cole Beasley, Gabriel Davis and Devin Singletary for a combined 231 yards. The Rams defense is good by most measures, so if Allen can put up numbers like this against a defense like this then it seems that he really has turned a corner as a passer.
-Jared Goff had a big game of his own despite losing to the Bills, completing 23-of-32 passes for 321 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while running for a third touchdown. The bigger story for the Rams offense was probably the breakout game for Darrell Henderson, who took 20 carries for 114 yards and one touchdown in a game where Malcolm Brown took just seven carries for 19 yards. Brown is still capable and Cam Akers (ribs) is too good of a prospect to just disappear once healthy, but Henderson will compel the Rams to give him touches if he keeps playing like that.
-After carrying the Patriots offense on his own in the first two weeks, Cam Newton let the
-Josh Allen put forth against the Rams what might be the best game of his NFL career to this point, completing 24-of-33 passes for 311 yards, four touchdowns and one interception passing while adding eight yards and a fifth touchdown rushing. Even with the standout Rams corners slowing down Stefon Diggs (four catches for 49 yards and one touchdown on six targets) and John Brown (zero catches on two targets), Allen managed to divert 16 total targets to Cole Beasley, Gabriel Davis and Devin Singletary for a combined 231 yards. The Rams defense is good by most measures, so if Allen can put up numbers like this against a defense like this then it seems that he really has turned a corner as a passer.
-Jared Goff had a big game of his own despite losing to the Bills, completing 23-of-32 passes for 321 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while running for a third touchdown. The bigger story for the Rams offense was probably the breakout game for Darrell Henderson, who took 20 carries for 114 yards and one touchdown in a game where Malcolm Brown took just seven carries for 19 yards. Brown is still capable and Cam Akers (ribs) is too good of a prospect to just disappear once healthy, but Henderson will compel the Rams to give him touches if he keeps playing like that.
-After carrying the Patriots offense on his own in the first two weeks, Cam Newton let the rest of the New England backfield do the lifting against the Raiders, with Rex Burkhead in particular posting huge fantasy production in a three-touchdown day with 49 yards each as a runner and receiver. Sony Michel was uncharacteristically explosive, taking nine carries for 117 yards, and even undrafted 5-foot-5 rookie J.J. Taylor took 11 carries for 43 yards.
-The Browns seem somewhat resigned to the conclusion that Baker Mayfield just isn't very good, limiting him to 23 pass attempts against Washington on Sunday, but when the game flow allows it it makes sense for Cleveland to hide Mayfield so that they can display Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt that much more. Chubb took 19 carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns against Washington, while Hunt took 16 carries for 46 yards and caught a touchdown reception.
-Deshaun Watson took an impermissible 12 quarterback hits against the Steelers, undermining what was otherwise an effective game on Watson's part. Randall Cobb (four catches for 95 yards and one touchdown on four targets) and Will Fuller (four catches for 54 yards and one touchdown on five targets) were both effective and very likely would have done more if Watson hadn't been subjected to those 12 hits and five sacks.
-Diontae Johnson leaving early with a concussion didn't help, but Ben Roethlisberger once again struggled to move the ball downfield during his otherwise clean game against the Texans. He completed 23-of-36 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns, but each of JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington, and Eric Ebron averaged less than 11 yards per catch. Ebron and JSS caught a touchdown each, but JSS drawing just five targets at such a low depth of target doesn't reflect well on Roethlisberger's current state. James Conner was strong otherwise with 109 yards and a touchdown on the ground to go with four catches for 40 yards on five targets. Rookie fourth-round pick Anthony McFarland seemed to pull ahead of both Benny Snell and Jaylen Samuels behind Conner, taking six carries for 42 yards and seeing two targets.
-Joe Burrow played well against the Eagles (31-of-44 for 312 yards and two touchdowns) but was subjected to an offensive number of hits, withstanding eight sacks and a preposterous 18 hits. The right side of the Bengals line is utter trash and the depth of its rot is almost impressive. Joe Mixon was again unimpressive, on the other hand, with just 49 yards on 17 carries and two catches for 16 yards on three targets. Rookie second-round pick Tee Higgins was a mixed bag, scoring twice but catching only five of nine targets for 40 yards.
-Dalvin Cook was superb against Tennessee, running for 181 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, but it was rookie first-round pick Justin Jefferson who stole the show for the Vikings on Sunday. Drawing a team-high nine targets, Jefferson caught seven receptions for 175 yards and a touchdown. The Vikings were stingy with Jefferson's playing time in the first two weeks, and that was clearly a mistake. Jefferson might be inconsistent as a young rookie in a dysfunctional offense, but his long-term outlook is exceedingly positive.
-Mitchell Trubisky was benched after going 13-of-22 for 128 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Falcons on Sunday. Nick Foles (16-of-29 for 188 yards, three touchdowns and one interception) took over and led the Bears to a comeback win. Jimmy Graham was surprisingly dominant, catching six of 10 targets for 60 yards and two touchdowns, while Allen Robinson was unsurprisingly dominant with 10 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown on 13 targets.
-Mike Davis wasn't exactly efficient against the Chargers on Sunday, but he did a surprisingly good Christian McCaffrey imitation for PPR owners by running for 46 yards on 13 carries while catching eight of nine targets for 45 yards and a touchdown.
-Justin Herbert was only passable against the Panthers, completing 35-of-49 attempts for 330 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also lost a fumble, though fumbles lost by Joshua Kelley and Keenan Allen arguably overrule the blame on Herbert's part. Allen was otherwise highly productive Sunday, drawing 19 targets and catching 13 for 132 yards and one touchdown. Austin Ekeler continues to prove himself one of the league's truly elite running backs, running for 59 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries while catching all 11 targets for 84 yards.
-Dak Prescott wasn't as good as his fantasy point volume implies -- he had an interception dropped by Tre Flowers that turned into a Michael Gallup reception, and fourth wideout Cedrick Wilson supplied Prescott with an unsustainable amount of YAC, but Prescott was also under a good amount of pressure in both the game flow and pass rush senses. Wilson will probably disappear after this game, but it wa a heartening breakout performance for the WR4 all the same.
-Chris Carson suffered a knee sprain on a dirty play from Dallas defensive tackle Trysten Hill, casting his short-term availability into some doubt. Russell Wilson was exceptional again, completing 27-of-40 attempts for 315 yards and five touchdowns. Tyler Lockett caught three of those and DK Metcalf one, but Metcalf should have had another touchdown earlier on a play where he fumbled out of the end zone.
-Ronald Jones (13 carries for 53 yards) ran ahead of Leonard Fournette (seven carries for 15 yards) despite the latter posting the much bigger numbers in Week 2. It's a rotation that figures to continue frustrating fantasy investors. Things are simpler for Tampa at receiver, where Mike Evans (two one-yard touchdowns on four targets) and Chris Godwin (five catches for 64 yards and one touchdown on six targets) are more automatic.
-The fact that Washington cut Adrian Peterson to make room for Peyton Barber didn't dissuade Matt Patricia from immediately installing Peterson as the foundation of Detroit's offense, even after Detroit spent two second-round picks to acquire D'Andre Swift (zero carries, two targets) and Kerryon Johnson (three carries, one target). Peterson, by contrast, was given a whopping 22 carries, which he thudded into 75 yards for Detroit against Arizona. It's an embarrassing spectacle and an obvious terminal failure – every second Patricia remains in charge of that team is a second wasted in the most meaningless way. At least Kenny Golladay was back, catching six of seven targets for 57 yards and a crucial touchdown.
-You can't throw three interceptions and still beat a good team, or most bad ones either in the case of Kyler Murray vs the Lions on Sunday. Murray threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns in addition to running for a third touchdown, but those three turnovers were the difference as Arizona lost at home. DeAndre Hopkins was once again automatic, catching 10 of 12 targets for 137 yards. Second-year second-round pick Andy Isabella perhaps earned a bigger role going forward after catching all four of his targets for 47 yards and two touchdowns.
