Just a brutal week in so many ways. Big stars getting hurt or underperforming. Favored teams getting beaten by what we all figured were the worst teams in the league. Tough to know where to start and which loss was the most significant -- all depends on whose ox is being gored -- but let's run though the carnage.

Patriots at Bills: Hope you didn't bench Tom Brady even with the supposedly tough matchup. The Bills have a great pass rush and run defense, but are still evidently vulnerable to strong passing games. Julian Edelman off to a great start. Not surprising that LeGarrette Blount barely played while Dion Lewis dominated snaps; next week, against Jacksonville, will be more likely to be a Blount game. ... Even in defeat, an encouraging performance for the Bills offense. Yes much of it came after falling way behind, but Tyrod Taylor didn't fall apart, Sammy Watkins bounced back, and LeSean McCoy had a strong game.

Texans at Panthers: I was kidding when I said on Saturday the Texans might switch quarterbacks every week. Wasn't I? Ryan Mallett was a mess out there, and the running backs aren't good. The less said about Houston the better. Come back, Arian, the team needs you. ... Highlight reel flip touchdown run for Cam Newton. Decent game for Greg Olsen. More of the same from the rest of the offense: wide receivers aren't good, Jonathan Stewart seldom scores.

Cardinals at Bears: You have to love Larry Fitzgerald, a smart, nattily dressed, superstar. On one of his 3 TDs he was getting clotheslined by a defender and still brought it in. Cardinals are really good. Chris Johnson, though, disappointed; I guess this is why he was still unemployed in late August. David Johnson, two weeks in a row with fewer touches, has been better. Young legs. Serviceable game for John Brown, invisible game for Michael Floyd. Can we stop blaming the hand injury and just say he's at best the 3rd-best wide receiver on this team? ... That sound you hear is the once mighty Bears defense falling to last in our rankings. Just terrible. And if Jay Cutler (hamstring/something) misses much time, goodbye Bears offense, too.

Chargers at Bengals: On the positive side for the week, it was really a great week for quarterbacks (except Romo of course). Lots of 300-yard, 2- and 3-TD days, here there and everywhere. Not big yardage here, but two nice days from the quarterbacks, on a Sunday of big days from quarterbacks. Stevie Johnson, he's for real. A.J. Green, he's fantastic. Melvin Gordon, looking like most figured he would be. Jeremy Hill, well, looking like Giovani Bernard is playing his way into more of a timeshare. Good game between a couple of good teams who will be in the playoff picture.

Titans at Browns: You'd think I'd have learned that making pronouncements like Johnny Manziel can't play or the Titans will easily beat the Browns are just kind of foolhardy. If the NFL teaches us anything it's that teams can look great/awful one week and awful/great just one week later. Soon as I heard Manziel would have to start, I wrote off the Browns. You got me, Manziel. Not that he was perfect -- he wasn't -- but he made a couple of great throws and that was good enough. Travis Benjamin lit things up with 3 TDs, so he and Larry Fitzgerald have that in common. ... This was more what was expected out of Tennessee's offense, i.e. that Bishop Sankey can't play and the receiving corps is poor. If you started Anthony Fasano, though, congratulations. His big game is a sign that Delanie Walker, when healthy, will have another strong season.

Lions at Vikings: Good game (no TDs) from Adrian Peterson. Great game from Calvin Johnson. Bad game for basically all the rest of the Lions. Not sure what the problem is with Detroit, but something is missing. Basically six quarters of terrible from them. Rough game for us Abdullah backers, too. And a tough one for those of us who also have Charles Johnson, a non-factor so far.

Buccaneers at Saints: So yeah, this was the game that knocked out half of the Survivor pool. A report out there that Brees injured his shoulder early on in this one, we'll see if there's anything to it. In any case, a bad game for the Saints offense, in a situation that used to be gold: home against the Bucs. Regretting dropping Willie Snead in dynasty; looks like he's going to be a factor there. If you started Mike Evans, well. I hope you didn't. Health not good, chemistry with Winston not there yet. Not a total shock, but disappointing anyway. Played most of the game (it appeared) and still shutout.

Falcons at Giants: Tough start for the Giants, who but for some clock mismanagement could be 2-0 and are instead 0-2. The defense has actually been better than expected, the offense has just messed up in crucial situations. It's the Eli Manning who has cable, evidently. ... Liked Tevin Coleman coming out of college, and assuming he's OK physically, I like him to be this team's lead back the rest of the way. Devonta Freeman has not shown anything running the ball. ... Anybody have any issues with Julio and Antonio being the top two picks in PPR leagues? ... In both this game and the Dallas game, I saw plays that looked like clear touchdowns that were ruled short of the goal line. I guess Julio's knee was down first. The Cowboys play with Gavin Escobar, I still don't understand. Dallas even challenged it and didn't get the call. ... What a disappointment Rueben Randle continues to be. Opportunity isn't everything.

Dolphins at Jaguars: If and when Blake Bortles develops into the franchise quarterback the Jaguars need, maybe this game will be considered the turning point. There's also the fact that the Dolphins and their $100 million defensive tackle do not have a very good defense. Big game by Allen Robinson (where was that all preseason, when I mentally dropped him down and off my draft board after each drop?). Some sick grabs by Jarvis Landry. And a pair of really disappointing running games, and a couple of injured Dolphins (sprained ankle for Miller, groin for Jordan Cameron). Tough game for Miami.

Ravens at Raiders: This is the one that knocked me out of my Survivor pool. Imagining the Raiders hanging 37 points on Baltimore's defense; inconceivable. Fortunately in this pool we can buy our way back in during the first three weeks, so you'll still get to hear me talk about it for the next week at least. Just don't take my advice on picks, obviously, although at least I can say I'm not alone. Of the 90 people in this pool, only 7 have picked correctly in Week 1 and Week 2, which is incredible. As for the game, well, Oakland's offense was surprisingly effective. Baltimore, hope you took Ian's advice on Crockett Gillmore. Steve Smith bounced back, as he always does. Lorenzo Taliaferro looks like a legit future lead back in Baltimore. And the Ravens are 0-2.

Cowboys at Eagles: Like the Survivor Pool, the Cowboys have had about as awful a start (despite winning two games) as you can imagine, losing Dez and Romo to injury. Discussed elsewhere, but I think you can drop Romo (eight weeks seems like a minimum) and I wouldn't be trying to trade for Dez. Brandon Weeden, I think, will be functional enough that Witten and Williams should be OK. Still doesn't seem to be a running game. The even more discouraging thing from this game, I guess, is that the Eagles high-flying offense looks broken. Hand-picked everything from Chip Kelly sure doesn't look too good. They dumped their guards in the offseason, I guess under the idea that anyone could be fine there, and that hasn't worked out. Sam Bradford doesn't look like an ideal fit for the offense, either.

Seahawks at Packers: James Jones has 3 TDs and I think now is the time to trade him away. He caught one pass last night and that was kind of an incredible throw by Aaron Rodgers; won't happen every week. Randall Cobb looks great and I still like Davante Adams as a solid No. 2. Eddie Lacy sprained ankle, we'll see how much time he misses, but it will just mean more passing. ... Our fears about Jimmy Graham are being realized, he's not going to be nearly as good. And Seattle's line is poor enough that Marshawn Lynch won't be as good, either. Seattle will be fine as far as winning games ultimately and stuff (they host Chicago and Detroit the next two weeks), but they don't look better than Arizona in any respects right now.

Monday, Monday: Andrew Luck should come out strong and have a good game tonight. Indy definitely won't run on the Jets. The Jets, I think, will play ball-control on offense and hang around, but I think the Colts should take this one. Let's call it Indianapolis 24, Jets 17, with big games for Luck, Dwayne Allen, and just maybe Chris Ivory in defeat.