Usually, I wake up on Friday and, first thing in the morning, watch the 40-minute condensed version of the Thursday night game. I squint to avoid seeing the final score, because even the edited version can be boring as hell when you know what happens. But today I overslept and had to rush to a doctor's appointment, so I wasn't able to watch right away. Instead, I made the mistake of checking Twitter on the subway and saw from my mentions the game was a Bengals loss (I predicted they'd not only win but cover), and all their key players likely did nothing (I own a lot of shares.)
This made me consider not even watching the game, and just checking the highlights and the box score, but I'm glad I put in the 40 minutes. While it wasn't pleasant, it made me feel better about my pick - and even some of the players I own.
• The Texans played almost the entire game deep in their own end. Until the last drive, they scored all their points on the Jadeveon Clowney long fumble return and the DeShaun Watson 3rd-and-15 scramble for a 49-yard TD. They were also lucky not to have a pick six on a play Pacman Jones jumped in the first quarter.
• DeAndre Hopkins has a high floor with the ridiculous amount of targets he sees. He won't be efficient, but 100 catches should be no problem if he stays healthy.
• Both Lamar Miller and D'Onta Foreman ran well despite their low YPC marks. Miller looked quick, and Foreman powerful.
• Watson is a poor man's Alex Smith with more running ability right now. I'd like to see the Texans take a shot down the field once in a while, but maybe that'll happen when Will Fuller returns.
• J.J. Watt looks healthy again. He had six total tackles (five solo) and was in the backfield all night.
• Andy Dalton played poorly, missing a wide open Brandon LaFell on a deep ball and throwing it away on fourth down with the game on the line. But it wasn't as bad as my Twitter feed led me to believe. I'd pick him up if someone dropped him.
• I knew Erickson was a Bengals fan, but to see him as the third WR was a surprise. I'd like to see the Bengals get John Ross more involved despite his fumble on a carry.
• Joe Mixon looks like the Bengals back to own, but Marvin Lewis - who coached an abysmal game, punting on 4th-and-1 in plus territory - needs to commit to him and give up on Jeremy Hill.