Andy Richardson

There were 10 early games yesterday, which is to say, it's the perfect time to try to keep tabs on all of them, and the perfect time for a real-time recap column. Away we go....

1:00 p.m. Jaguars send Maurice Jones-Drew out wide and throw a quick slant his way. I swear it's the exact same play the Ravens used with Ray Rice to force overtime against the Steelers last week. Like they say, the NFL is a copycat league.

Touchdown, Tom Brady to Randy Moss off a fake reverse that almost works like a flea-flicker. Great throw and catch, but Brady gets drilled on the play and heads off to the locker room. (He's fine.)

Touchdown for Joseph Addai, a good run. A little bit later he has yet another nice run, followed by his second touchdown. I sure hope I started him in the league I have him in, but I have a sneaking suspicion I didn't. Pierre Garcon is going off in this game -- 99 yards and it's early in the second quarter. No stopping the Colts offense right now, and no chance of Anthony Gonzalez getting his job back this season.

1:15. I honestly don't know what the Eagles are doing with Michael Vick. They bring him in for a play, send him back to the sideline, bring him in again....just seems odd. Falcons fans largely boo Michael Vick, which is interesting. McNabb comes back in and nearly throws a touchdown to Brent Celek, broken up. Eagles settle for field goal.

Matt Forte touchdown, atoning for an earlier fumble. If it weren't the Rams, and he didn't have multiple opportunities, he probably wouldn't have scored. I don't mean to bash Forte, but wow, the guy has sure looked ordinary this year.

Bobby Wade wide open for a 76-yard touchdown down the center of the field, and Matt Cassel throws one that bounces off his hands. Ouch. Nobody started Wade, but I'm sure Cassel is in a lineup somewhere. Somewhere.

Washington in the red zone; Jacon Campbell finds an uncovered tight end Fred Davis. Saints seems to have some problems there, which will perhaps hurt them at some point.

Matt Schaub knocked out; guess we jinxed him by pointing out he was starting his 12th game for the first time in his career. Rex Grossman comes in and immediately throws an interception. Jaguars don't seem concerned about David Garrard's health, running a quarterback draw that gets him blasted by two defenders. (Schaub later returned.)

Falcons fumble the ensuing kickoff back to the Eagles, then Reggie Brown makes a spectacular sideline catch, setting up a little McNabb scramble and a touchdown to Leonard Weaver -- no doubt the only Eagles offensive skill player not being started anywhere this week.

1:30. Titans settle for field goal after a couple of failed shots at end zone -- Chris Johnson run, pass for Nate Washington. Vince Young limps off. He returns, and later throws a pass to Washington that could have gone for a touchdown, but Washington drops it. Not gonna beat the Colts that way.

Tom Brady back in the game. More passes to Wes Welker, who seemingly can't be covered by anyone but the Saints. And you would think the Dolphins would know best that the guy is pretty good. A few minutes later, a touchdown run out of a pass formation by Kevin Faulk, just one of many Patriots running backs it's nearly impossible to start with any confidence.

Jones-Drew gets stuffed twice at the goal line, on 3rd and 4th and goal. On the second one he loses his helmet; I'm relieved to see it wasn't his entire noggin. He was basically met by the entire Texans defense on both plays.

Jay Cutler throws a short pass to Earl Bennett and the Rams have nobody behind him; Bennett goes 70ish yards before having the ball punched out (but it goes out of bounds). Bennett later gets an end zone throw, but next play is a touchdown to Hester. Apparently; turns out he doesn't get his second foot down. It's not even close, really; not sure what the ref, who was right there, was watching.

1:45. In Pittsburgh, a big run for Mendenhall. Steelers emphasizing the run, not surprisingly. It's 4th and short, and I'm watching it saying -- same as Dan Dierdorf, I'm sad to say -- no way the Steelers call a quarterback sneak. But they do! And Roethlisberger gets hit hard, and stopped short.

Vince Young gets sacked by about four different Colts defenders. He limps painfully off. And later returns.

Matthew Stafford to Calvin Johnson, touchdown and a lead at Cincinnati. I didn't like this game from a suicide pool standpoint; others did. (Turns out they were right.)

Lance Long either drops or has a touchdown knocked away from him in Kansas City. Good throw by Matt Cassel; the comparisons to Wes Welker for Long lose a little steam this week. Next play, pass attempt to Jamaal Charles gets broken up. Kansas City squanders a 1st and goal from the 1.

McNabb connects with Weaver, again, on a 59-yard play. It's the longest pass play for McNabb all season -- not to DeSean Jackson, not to Jeremy Maclin, but Weaver. Eagles, though, settle for a field goal attempt. Again. And Akers misses it.

2:00. Interception and defensive touchdown for the Bengals, rewarding us for ranking them No. 1 this week. Good defense at home against a rookie quarterback, often a nice option. (I think we had Denver pretty high, too, and they also have a decent game against Matt Cassel.)

Beautiful touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes. Very precise throw.

Washington stifling the Saints. Pressure on Brees forces him to basically throw it away into the back of the end zone. Thoughts of the Vikings stealing the top seed start to seep in.

Rex Grossman runs into his fullback as he's heading into the backfield. I'm sensing a "C'Mon, Man" segment on ESPN Monday night. I wonder if players live in dread of showing up on that segment. Probably.

Correll Buckhalter nearly breaks a long touchdown run. Tripped up just barely. Later, he carries down to the 1. Are they taking him off the field for Knowshon Moreno? They are. Yes, let's bring in the smaller back near the goal line. Odd. Of course, Moreno scores, but the Broncos have about eight different players who could score against this defense. Gotta make the top draft pick look good.

Rams' Brandon Gibson loses a fumble that bounces into a Bear defenders hands. Bears botch that scoring chance, however, with a fake field goal that doesn't work. People love those plays, but not so much when they cost the team three points.

2:15. Perfect touchdown from Carson Palmer to Chad Ochocinco. Chad does some kind of celebration where he's wearing a sombrero and a blanket. Is he spoofing the team sleepwalking through a loss to Oakland and win over Cleveland?

Touchdown to Jason Avant wiped out by a penalty. Eagles kick a field goal. At least if you started Avant you now know he kind of scored a touchdown, even though it didn't count. .

Marques Colston gets behind everyone for a touchdown. And, he's not exactly fast. He is, however, good. I hope after he scores he'll remove his Saints jersey and show off a Hofstra jersey, honoring the college that sent him to the NFL -- and sadly, scrapped its football program last week. But that doesn't happen. Heard the team's one-time football coach on the radio this week, saying "Every former Hofstra football player bears some responsibility for this." He was pretty upset about it all. Can't really blame him.

Long pass play to Santana Moss. Nice to see every once in a while he comes up with a catch or so. "Another country heard from," as my Dad might say. Shortly thereafter, a nice touchdown play to Devin Thomas -- good effort by Thomas, who's been catching our attention the last few weeks. (He adds a second touchdown later; he'll be a popular add this week.)

Ben Roethlisberger intercepted in the end zone. Tried to force one in to....somebody. More Raiders players than Steelers in the area.

2:30. Chris Redman tries to hit Justin Peelle, but it's broken up. Redman appears to be doing OK, though, based on what I've seen. Falcons near the goal line, Jason Snelling takes a direct snap. Um, I think you want to use a faster, more versatile player in that situation. Snelling gets dropped in his tracks on the next play out of a conventional formation. Crowd boos, and I'm with them. Atlanta goes for it on 4th and AGAIN gives the ball to Snelling. When did he turn into Barry Sanders? Or Michael Turner? He's Jason Snelling.

Washington's defense forces a punt, but then fumbles it. That's why the Saints are 11-0 and Washington has won, I dunno, 3 games? I kind of lost track when them losing started to be a given each week.

Vince Young to Kenny Britt. Touchdown. Will that be a scene repeated many times over the next few years?

In Washington, right before the half, one of the most bizarre plays you'll ever see. On a 3rd and 26, Drew Brees throws up a prayer that's intercepted. During the run back, Robert Meachem takes the ball out of the defender's hands, and runs it in for a 44-yard touchdown. Play was reviewed to see if the defender was down, but it stands. Only the Saints can turn even a desperation play interception into a touchdown, a play sure to cause controversy in fantasy leagues across the country this week. I"m predicting the emails to Ian Allan now. One of my leagues already has a message up saying it's NOT considered a Saints defensive touchdown. A decision I agree with; they're not the Saints defense.

2:45. Johnnie Lee Higgins gets behind the Steelers secondary for what would have been a long touchdown, but Bruce Gradkowski overthrows him. In fairness, he's Bruce Gradkowski.

Long touchdown to No. 3 Sam Aiken. Ball was basically a jump ball that Aiken took away from the defender, came down with, and then took the distance. He'll be a big pickup this week as the clear No. 3 wideout these days in New England's offense (Julian Edelman was inactive).

Little screen pass from Kyle Orton to Brandon Marshall for a touchdown. A few weeks back I turned down a Marshawn Lynch for Marshall trade in my dynasty league. A mistake. I guess I was kind of put off by the off the field concerns. I guess none of these guys are saints (except the Saints), but you've gotta draw the line somewhere.

3:00. Michael Vick touchdown out of Wildcat formation. More cheers than boos, perhaps because the boos have now shifted to the Falcons offense, which is getting blown out.

Bears near the goal line. Forte gets stuffed twice, so they go four wide, with three receivers on the left side. Rams cover only two of them as one defender bumps into another one. Easy touchdown for Earl Bennett, I believe his first of the year. Good for him. Sorry I dropped him six weeks ago.

3:15. End zone throw for Roddy White. He's having a nice day, but kind of gets hung up on a defender on this one. Still, he's clearly the most talented Falcon on the field.

Interception return touchdown for the Eagles. Later, Redman floats one that's intercepted. It's now clear that Redman is not, in fact, having a good day.

Touchdown to Brian Hartline, Dolphins within 2. Something about this Miami team, there's no quit in them.

3:30. Michael Vick passing touchdown to Brent Celek. Vick is now in full-time because the Eagles are crushing the Falcons.

Texans are in the hunt, it's 23-12. And they run a halfback option play near the goal line with Chris Brown, where he gets hit and floats it up to a space with no Texan in the area for pretty much a game-ending interception. Brown is smiling goofily as he leaves the field. (Yes, just like Goofy.) Perhaps thinking, no, I can't make good decisions or good throws, that's why I'm not a quarterback.

Brady intercepted in the end zone, going for Moss. Bad decision, bad throw. And he IS a quarterback!

Bruce Gradkowski rolls out and makes a nice throw for a touchdown to Chaz Schilens. Impressive little play. Later he hits Louis Murphy for a 75-yard touchdown. Unbelievable! Raiders party like it's 1978. I owe him an apology.

3:45. Andre Johnson gets dragged down 1 yard short of the end zone, so they go back to him with a play action touchdown on the next play. The kind of thing you don't see very often; normally it's some running back or, worse, a fullback who gets that touchdown. It's nice, and I'd like to put in a good word for Gary Kubiak even knowing he'll probably get fired after the season. Bottom line, nobody has to be bummed about Andre being stopped just short.

Roethlisberger runs to the 11 yard line, diving for a first down. Protect your cranium, man! Touchdown to Hines Ward.

4:00. Touchdown Raiders. Bruce Gradkowski, who I was apparently out of line to rip, drives the length of the field. It should be noted that the Steelers dropped an easy interception in the final minute, then drew a roughness penalty on an incomplete pass, to help the Raiders out. Steelers have 9 seconds and get a Hail Mary attempt that was actually pretty close to being completed...but isn't. They lose, in one of the shockers of the season.

Field goal, Dolphins. Tom Brady intercepted in the final minute. Dolphins win. Another shocker. A lot of uncharacteristic stuff being done by the Patriots these days. They aren't who we thought they were.

Missed field goal Washington -- 23 yards. Don't need to be a genius to predict Shaun Suisham being out of a job this week. Touchdown Saints -- Drew Brees to Robert Meachem for a 53-yard touchdown with one minute left. Game goes to overtime. Saints get a turnover after a replay review, quickly move into field goal range. My wife smirks at Garrett Hartley's haircut. Then we realize it's one of those funky new hats that looks like someone stepped too close to a paintball game. Saints win.

Quick late game thoughts: Eli Manning is definitely off his game; maybe the foot is bothering him. But Hakeem Nicks, who seems to do nothing but make big plays (Manning to Nicks is probably a better long-term bet than Young to Britt, although both look pretty good), made one big play for him, and Brandon Jacobs made another, taking a short pass for a long touchdown down the sideline. Steve Smith dropped an easy touchdown. As for Dallas, well, 2 TDs for Roy Williams, so I can stop ripping him for a week. And it will be another week for Tony Romo to hear about his and the Cowboys' late-season fade. The Giants' win at least makes things a lot more interesting in the NFC, particularly the East, the rest of the way. There are basically 4 teams vying for 2 wild card spots and the NFC East right now. ... In Cleveland, the Chargers made things a little bit more interesting than those of us who picked them in suicide pools would have liked. But I'm not getting all excited about Brady Quinn throwing 3 TDs, and I assume whoever is running the Browns six months from now won't either. The Chargers went to sleep, and asleep or awful seem to be the kind of defenses Quinn has the most success against. Not that he can't develop into a decent quarterback; the guy really hasn't started many games. But I won't be using him against Pittsburgh next week. I mean, he's no Bruce Gradkowski.

Monday, Monday: Aaron Rodgers doesn't have to prove anything to anyone -- he can play, he can beat a good defense, and he can sling it around the yard as well as most of the league's other young quarterbacks. Still, I tend to think the Ravens defense will come through with a good game here and maybe give the Packers offense some trouble. (Keeping in mind I thought the same thing about the Patriots defense against Drew Brees last week; yuh.). But I'll go big on Ray Rice (primarily as a receiver) and the rest of the Ravens offense, and give their defense a chance to slow the Rodgers-led machine. Let's call it 23-20, Ravens.

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