This was probably the first Sunday in 10 years I wasn't in front of my TV for the early games. I did watch most of the London game which aired at 3:30 in the afternoon Central European Time. Watching it as a standalone on a chilly fall day, I was half expecting to go to someone's house for Thanksgiving dinner afterward. Instead we went to the home of the US Ambassador, an invitation Heather had scored for us courtesy of her well-connected aunt, and one I couldn't refuse even though it was in conflict with the early games. The danger of learning you can catch up on the Sunday, Monday and Thursday night games (which start at 2:30 am my time) on Rewind the next day is you realize you don't have to watch any of the games live. Based on the results for my Survivor pools, spread picking and fantasy teams, I wish I hadn't watched them at all.

Here's a photo taken in their entryway after dinner:

On Heather's right is Katarina Witt (two-time gold-medal-winning skater), and on my right Donna de Varona (two-time gold-medal-winning swimmer.) I have won more fantasy football titles than all of them combined, however.

• We're not sending our best product over to the UK. Even during the two-minute drill at the end of the first half it was dink and dunk, penalty, penalty. The entire game I felt like I wanted to fast forward to the action.

• Blake Bortles showed why he's a much better fantasy QB than real-life one. He runs, the Jaguars don't use their backs much at the goal-line, and his receivers make big plays after the catch.

• The Colts need to do a better job of protecting Andrew Luck, or he'll get hurt again. Six sacks and 5.6 YPA on a neutral field against the Jaguars is not okay.

• T.J. Yeldon actually ran well and caught four passes, but that was against a weak defense, and you can forget about touchdowns on this team.

• I dismissed Frank Gore due to his age and last year's second-half fall-off, but he looked okay, getting 4.3 YPC, scoring and catching five short passes. I still think the end is nigh, but he hasn't collapsed just yet.

• I faded Julio Jones in my drafts because he always seems to be nicked up, he doesn't score enough TDs and last year's 203 targets were bound to regress. After last week's one catch on seven targets I was feeling pretty smart. Then he hung 300 on Carolina. Still, only one TD though! Jones was a great DFS tournament play based on his high price, perceived tough matchup (though it's actually an easy one) and no-show last week. I imagine whoever won the million stacked him and Matt Ryan (500 yards) this week.

• Devonta Freeman is pulling away from Tevin Coleman as the feature back in Atlanta.

• Fozzy Whitaker got nine catches in a shootout, but there's little reason to invest in a Carolina RB.

• Kelvin Benjamin caught a TD, but he no longer looks like the potential top-10 wideout from Weeks 1-2.  Greg Olsen is steady as ever.

• So much for Matthew Stafford under Jim Bob Cooter. Facing a depleted Bears defense, he managed 5.9 YPA, no offensive touchdowns and two interceptions.

• After doing virtually nothing in the first half, Golden Tate was benched in the second for a route miscommunication that resulted in an interception. He's obviously unstartable right now and he'll need to have a good game (which you'll necessarily miss) before you can trust him again.

• Dwayne Washington's injury forced Theo Riddick back into a feature back role, and once again it did not work.

• Jordan Howard had a strong game and is the team's unquestioned feature back going forward. Odd how he had a good deal of buzz in early August, but was buried after that. It's so rarely the touted "sleeper" backs (Derrick Henry, James White) who make the biggest impacts.

• Eddie Royal had a big game, but Kevin White led the team in targets for the second straight contest. You can't knock the Bears for trying to get last year's No. 7 overall pick involved, no matter how raw or inefficient he currently is. Meanwhile, Alshon Jeffery saw only five targets. Maybe he's still not entirely healthy.

• Brian Hoyer is a high-end backup. There's virtually no fall-off from Jay Cutler.

• The Patriots were due for a game like this. You can't lose arguably the greatest player of all time, lose his well-prepared backup and play as if nothing's amiss.

• LeSean McCoy is a top-seven back. He's still good enough, and the volume as a runner and receiver is huge.

• Martellus Bennett was the go-to receiver for the Patriots while Rob Gronkowski saw only two targets. That should change next week when Tom Brady comes back.

• Jimmy Graham had his second-straight 100-yard game. Not too many tight ends have done that the last several years. I suppose he's still an injury risk, but it's hard to rank him outside the top-five at TE right now.

• Russell Wilson's healing water must be for real.

• Ryan Fitzpatrick now has nine picks over his last two games. That has to be close to a record.

• Jordan Reed finally got into the end zone. He's got to be the top TE on the board right now with Gronkowski still working his way back.

• Terrelle Pryor had nine targets and scored a touchdown, but no pass attempts and only one carry. If he's going to be a garden-variety WR, life isn't worth living.

• Terrance West started and looked like a No. 1 RB Sunday. It'll be interesting to see how Kenneth Dixon's likely return affects his status next week.

• Steve Smith, unbelievably, is the Ravens No. 1 WR again at 37 after coming back from an Achilles' tear.

• Michael Crabtree saw 12 targets (and caught three TDs) while Amari Cooper saw six and caught none.

• DeAndre Washington outproduced Latavius Murray, but saw only five carries to Murray's eight.

• DeMarco Murray continues to have a monster season with two more scores and another 119 YFS.

• Lamar Miller continues to have high-volume without scoring. DeAndre Hopkins (six targets, one catch, four yards) probably misses Hoyer.

• Don't mess with the Denver defense. Jameis Winston, Mike Evans and Charles Sims were simply overmatched.

• Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch - either way. The Broncos' narrow tree benefits three players, Emmanuel Sanders, Demaryius Thomas and C.J. Anderson, and the offense is clearly better than last year's thanks to the quarterback upgrade.

• If the Cardinals plan was to sell out to stop the run and let Case Keenum beat them, it worked like a charm. They stopped the run, and Keenum, with Brian Quick and Kenny Britt, beat them. In fact, he would have beat them even worse, but two big plays (one a run and one a pass while scrambling) were called back due to penalties.

• Todd Gurley got nothing on the ground, but his five catches for 49 yards were encouraging.

• Michael Floyd scored the TD, but John Brown saw 16 targets and converted them to 10-for-144. You never know which AZ WR will go off in a given week.

• David Johnson had another 124 yards from scrimmage but failed to score and lost a fumble. He also left the game briefly with an injury, but returned. On the broadcast, the announcers said no running back has ever opened the season with four straight 100-YFS games before Johnson. I find this hard to believe, but I'm noting it nonetheless.

• The Cardinals cost me two of my four survivor pool entries. It seems like it's often the week after a near miss (the Dolphins losing to the Browns would have put me in great shape) that the wheels come off.

• The Saints-Chargers game was a terrible beat if you had the Chargers minus four. San Diego was up 13 with six minutes left and had the ball, but lost fumbles on successive drives to lose the cover and the game. Then again, it's the Chargers.

• Drew Brees was again pedestrian on the road with 5.8 YPA, two TDs and two picks.

• Melvin Gordon keeps scoring TDs, but he's not a good running back. He averaged only 1.9 YPC vs. the Saints and fumbled while trying to close it out. He's plainly not the power back you can count on in the fourth quarter. If anything, he's more of a pass-catching third-down back, but even then he's no Danny Woodhead. I'd sell as quickly as I could.

• Tyrell Williams was second on the team with eight targets, but once again saw no work in the entire first half. Dontrelle Inman had a big game, making this a three-way WR timeshare between him, Travis Benjamin and Williams. And tight end Hunter Henry is also involved.

•  Brandin Cooks is not likely to be the 145-target WR for whom you paid. Still, he'll light it up again once the Saints go back home. One issue, however, is two of the Saints remaining six home games are against the Broncos and Seahawks.

• Dak Prescott still hasn't thrown a pick.

• Ezekiel Elliott had a big day against the Niners, but I wasn't especially impressed. He had huge holes to run through, and he doesn't seem especially shifty. This isn't a Melvin Gordon situation as he's in a far better environment, and you can't argue with 6.0 YPC against anyone - Elliott is a top-five back. I'm just saying I don't see the No. 4-overall-pick talent when I watch him.

• Le'Veon Bell looks just fine after the layoff. He runs with more patience than any back in the league. DeAngelo Williams got the TD in garbage time, but he's no threat to cut into Bell's workload.

• Sammie Coates doesn't see a lot of targets, but he's constantly making big plays. He's already had four catches of 40-plus yards in four games. To put that in perspective, Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham tied for the league lead with eight last year.