NFL Reactions: Week 2

-Jimmy Garoppolo was encouraging in his road match with the Bengals, completing 17-of-25 passes for 297 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. He wasn't sacked, and he did a much better job of getting the ball to his receivers. Rookie second-round pick Deebo Samuel continues to function as the lead receiver with Dante Pettis (groin) conspicuously absent, and in addition to two carries Samuel turned seven targets into five catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. Marquise Goodwin showed some life, but his touchdown reception was in busted coverage, and three catches for 77 yards is a fluky outcome given that he had just three targets.  Matt Breida did great as the lead back (12 carries for 121 yards), but the blazing fast Raheem Mostert ran wild off the bench with 83 yards on 13 carries and three catches for 68 yards and a touchdown on four targets.

-A lot of it occurred in garbage time, but Andy Dalton put together another good fantasy output with 311 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception on 42 pass attempts. John Ross was the main beneficiary of that garbage time with four catches for 112 yards and a touchdown on eight targets. Tyler Boyd was solid the whole game, catching all 10 of his targets for 122 yards. After a big Week 1, C.J. Uzomah saw zero targets while not only Tyler Eifert saw five (three catches for nine yards and a touchdown), but rookie second-round pick Drew Sample saw three targets (two catches for 25 yards). Joe Mixon played through his ankle issue to another brutal stat line, totaling just 17 yards on 11 carries, giving him 27 yards on 17 carries through two weeks. It can't get worse, but his acquisition cost didn't presume this low of a starting point.

-A lot of Austin Ekeler owners are probably in first place after his second straight big game, overruling a lost fumble with 66 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries while turning six targets into six catches for 67 yards. Justin Jackson was explosive again but is clearly far behind Ekeler, as Jackson saw just seven carries for 59 yards and one target for a five-yard reception. Mike Williams played through his knee issue to provide 83 yards on three catches and five targets, and Keenan Allen labored to eight catches and 98 yards on an inefficient 15 targets. With Williams limited and Hunter Henry out, Philip Rivers had little help and struggled to 293 yards and an interception on 36 attempts.

-After huge Week 1 showings, T.J. Hockenson (one catch for seven yards on three targets) and Danny Amendola (no catches on one target) mostly disappeared, but clear WR1 Kenny Golladay was great with eight catches for 117 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets. Marvin Jones was efficient with five catches for 42 yards on six targets, but his lack of volume is concerning through two games. Kerryon Johnson posted 88 yards and a touchdown from scrimmage, but both the rushing volume (12 attempts) and target volume (three) were not great. C.J. Anderson and Ty Johnson both saw five carries, though the rookie was far better with 30 yards to Anderson's eight.

-Dalvin Cook was even more impressive than he was in Week 1, turning 20 carries into 154 yards and a touchdown, adding three catches for 37 yards on three targets. He's quite possibly matchup-proof if he simply stays healthy.

-Kirk Cousins was a drag on the offense, completing 14-of-32 passes for 230 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions while missing at least one long throw to a wide-open Stefon Diggs, who caught a 49-yard touchdown and had another touchdown taken away by the refs on a dubious review-based offensive pass interference call. Adam Thielen was very good despite the modest box score, turning eight targets into five catches for 75 yards.

-Aaron Jones was excellent, taking 23 carries for 116 yards and a touchdown while turning six targets into four catches for 34 yards. Aaron Rodgers came out scorching hot but fizzled out with a final line of 22-of-34 for 209 yards and two touchdowns. He also appeared to have some sort of wrist or forearm discomfort at one point. Rodgers' output hasn't been voluminous enough to support both Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Geronimo Allison, so for the second straight week one of the two was modestly useful (Allison, four catches for 25 yards and a touchdown) while the other did very little (MVS, three catches for 19 yards). Davante Adams was excellent, on the other hand, turning nine targets into seven catches for 106 yards. After leading roles in Week 1, Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis turned three targets into zero catches.

-Marlon Mack suffered through 20 carries for just 51 yards, and Jordan Wilkins made a convincing case for more carries by taking five for 82 yards, including a 55-yard long. Jacoby Brissett couldn't get anything going downfield, taking three sacks and losing a fumble while completing only 17-of-28 passes for 146 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. It was a tough matchup with a good defense, but you'd like to see more. Owners of T.Y. Hilton have to be content with four catches for 43 yards and a touchdown on six targets, but Brissett probably needs to improve for Hilton's early production to prove sustainable. In fairness to Brissett, both the Titans and Chargers are intimidating defenses to face, and both were on the road.

-Two up, two down for Derrick Henry, who took 15 carries for 81 yards and touchdown. Marcus Mariota got nothing going under heavy pressure, taking four sacks against 28 attempts, 19 of which were completed for 154 yards and a touchdown. Predictably, that passing volume couldn't prop up a useful box score for any of Tennessee's noteworthy pass catchers.

-The Patriots offense could easily post 43 points against the Dolphins, but the defense provided two of the touchdowns in this particular instance. Antonio Brown still got off to a fast start with his newest team, turning eight targets into four catches for 56 yards and a touchdown. Even with Tom Brady throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns, there wasn't a ton to go around between Julian Edelman (four targets, four catches for 51 yards), Josh Gordon (five targets, two catches for 19 yards), and Phillip Dorsett (three targets, three catches for 39 yards).

-Although Sony Michel turned 21 carries into 85 yards and a touchdown, most game scripts will entail more than three carries and four targets for James White.

-The Dolphins are legitimately depressing to think about, but at least it can't get much worse than it was Sunday. Ryan Fitzpatrick turned 21 attempts into 89 yards and three interceptions, while Josh Rosen completing just 7-of-18 passes for 97 yards and an interception. Preston Williams really might be the team's best receiver, as the rookie led the team with 63 receiving yards on six targets. DeVante Parker somehow caught none of his seven targets, while Jakeem Grant was featured more than Allen Hurns with seven to two. Kenyan Drake is clearly better than Kalen Ballage, but six carries for 19 yards and five catches for 29 yards (six targets) typically isn't useful either.

-Devin Singletary (hamstring) left after six carries and zero targets, but he was once again highly explosive by running for 57 yards and a touchdown. Although the zero targets was a disappointment after seeing six in Week 1, there's clearly a significant amount of skill with Singletary, and Frank Gore (19 carries for 68 yards and one touchdown) can only do so much. As much as T.J. Yeldon might see his first work of the year if Singletary misses time, the fact that he's seen none to this point is highly concerning.

-Josh Allen had a strong game with 253 yards and one touchdown through the air, adding another 21 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He almost literally was automatic to his two lead receivers as John Brown caught seven of eight targets for 72 yards while Cole Beasley caught all four targets for 83 yards.

-Taking away Sterling Shepard (concussion) didn't make Eli Manning any better, his 26-of-45 for 250 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions more or less sinking the offense. Forty-five passes like that is a long time to not consider the backup, at least when that backup is the most recent sixth overall pick, but maybe they simply wanted Manning to take the punches in a difficult situation. Even Cody Latimer left with a concussion after catching three of five targets for 30 yards. Bennie Fowler was left with 10 targets, five caught for 51 yards, while Cody Core (three catches for 28 yards on five targets) and T.J. Jones (three catches for 38 yards and one touchdown on four targets) got most of the remaining work.

-Russell Wilson was excellent in his road matchup with Pittsburgh, completing 29-of-35 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns. Will Dissly overcame recent knee inflammation – perhaps the lingering effect of his rather remarkable recovery from last year's patellar tendon tear – to catch five passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns on five targets. The recent flareup is concerning, but it's quite impressive that he can produce like this after suffering such a problematic injury in Week 4 of last year. Wilson made a reasonably efficient possession receiver out of Tyler Lockett (10 catches for 79 yards on 12 targets), while D.K. Metcalf continues to look imposing with three catches for 64 yards and one touchdown on seven targets. Malik Turner may be close to displacing Jaron Brown as the third receiver, as Brown saw no targets while Turner caught all of his three for 54 yards.

-Chris Carson lost a fumble but otherwise played well, running for 60 yards on 15 carries while catching his three targets for 27 yards. As much as it's good that Rashaad Penny ran for 62 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, it's also a showing he needed as C.J. Prosise increased his workload to two carries for seven yards and three catches for 13 yards on three targets.

-James Conner left Pittsburgh's game against the Seahawks with a knee injury after struggling to 33 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, four targets going for just three catches and 12 yards otherwise. Benny Snell had just one carry for 23 yards, while Jaylen Samuels ran for 18 yards on three carries and caught his only target for 18 yards.

-Ben Roethlisberger struggled before leaving with an unspecified elbow injury against Seattle, leaving Mason Rudolph to take over and complete 12-of-19 passes for 112 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Juju Smith-Schuster dealt with a dreadfully slow start but finished with five catches for 84 yards on eight targets, his luck improving with Rudolph's introduction to the game. Donte Moncrief was again disastrous, tipping his only target for Rudolph's interception. James Washington didn't exactly capitalize with two catches for 23 yards on three targets, though if Roethlisberger misses time it's interesting that Rudolph was Washington's college quarterback. As much as it would be nice if Vance McDonald showed some downfield ability, it's hard to complain about seven targets resulting in seven catches for 38 yards and two touchdowns.

-Michael Gallup will undergo an MRI after picking up a knee issue from Sunday's game against Washington. He posted strong production otherwise, catching 6-of-8 targets for 68 yards.

-A slow start for Dak Prescott was quickly forgotten thanks to a strong second half, overwhelming Washington both through the air and on the ground. He completed 26-of-30 passes for 269 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception as he took five carries for 69 yards. Amari Cooper caught four of five targets for 44 yards and a touchdown. Randall Cobb was less explosive than in Week 1 but stayed involved, catching five of six targets for 24 yards. There's probably not much to it, but it's cool to see Devin Smith of all people pop up with three catches for 74 yards and one touchdown on three targets – he was a good prospect before injury burnout.

-Ezekiel Elliott ran well with 111 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries, but you'd like to see more than two targets. Dallas' suddenly deep group of receivers, and maybe even the return of Jason Witten (four catches for 25 yards and one touchdown on four targets), might be a problem for Elliott's fantasy value.

-Even without scoring a touchdown, Kyler Murray probably played above expectations on the road against Baltimore. Possibly held back in that regard by the field goal-chasing of his coach Kliff Kingsbury, Murray at least moved the ball by completing 25-of-40 passes for 349 yards. Larry Fitzgerald turned a team-leading 11 targets into five catches for 104 yards, while Christian Kirk went off for six catches for 114 yards on eight targets. Damiere Byrd is awfully fast to use as an underneath receiver, but it worked Sunday as he caught six of seven targets for 45 yards.

-David Johnson missed some time with a wrist issue, but it's still disturbing that he saw only seven carries and one target.

-Lamar Jackson posted more big fantasy numbers, running for 120 yards on 16 carries while completing 24-of-37 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns. It's a tad concerning that the passing production tailed off as the game went on, but it's more so extremely promising how Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown combined for 16 catches for 198 yards and a touchdown on 22 targets. As much as the Chiefs defense looked better in Week 2, Jackson and the Baltimore passing game head into a potential shootout as they face Patrick Mahomes next week.

-Although the Arizona run defense was somewhat tough on Mark Ingram (13 carries for 47 yards), he at least easily held off Gus Edwards (three carries) and Justice Hill (one carry).

-Patrick Mahomes might not regress much after all. The Raiders defense had no answer for the Chiefs passing game. With Mahomes throwing for 443 yards and four touchdowns on 44 attempts, Demarcus Robinson stepped up big with six catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns on six targets. Mecole Hardman had four catches for 61 yards and one touchdown on six targets, and he would have had a 75-yard touchdown if it hadn't been negated by a holding call on LeSean McCoy.

-Damien Williams left the game with a knee injury, and McCoy picked up an ankle issue. They both struggled on the ground Sunday, combining for just 31 yards on 20 carries. Darwin Thompson might need to play more next week.

-Derek Carr's drastic regression Sunday didn't affect Tyrell Williams (five catches for 46 yards and one touchdown on seven targets) or Darren Waller (six catches for 63 yards on seven targets) too badly, and Josh Jacobs managed another strong game with 99 yards on just 12 carries, including a 51-yard run.

-Mitch Trubisky was awful, completing 16-of-27 passes for 120 yards and making things hard on both Allen Robinson (four catches for 41 yards on seven targets) and David Montgomery (18 carries for 62 yards and one touchdown). The good news for Montgomery is that Mike Davis was pretty much out of the picture with just three carries and no targets.

-Emmanuel Sanders was remarkable against Chicago, especially given the injury he's returning from. He caught 11 of 13 targets for 98 yards and a touchdown, while Courtland Sutton turned seven targets into four catches for 40 yards. Royce Freeman otherwise outproduced Phillip Lindsay, totaling 102 yards from scrimmage compared to Lindsay's 66.

-Drew Brees hurt his thumb and left Sunday's game against the Rams early, forcing the Saints to turn to Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback. Bridgewater struggled, completing only 17-of-30 passes for 165 yards. Michael Thomas somehow managed to catch 10 of 13 targets for 89 yards. Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray badly struggled otherwise, combining for just 83 yards from scrimmage.

-Todd Gurley was less explosive than in Week 1 yet appeared more established in the backfield, seeing 16 carries and four targets compared to six carries and one target for Malcolm Brown. Jared Goff started a bit sluggishly but got the Rams offense going in the second half, thanks in large part to the big-play efforts of Cooper Kupp (five catches for 120 yards on nine targets) and Brandin Cooks (three catches for 74 yards and one touchdown on four targets).