Fantasy Football: Monday News and Notes

After two weeks, it feels like we don't know any more about any of the better teams or players than we did two weeks ago. Problem is, we need to try and make some sense of it all. So, that's how we'll try to pose this week's Monday updates. It's time to figure out exactly what we know. 

• We KNOW that Peyton Manning missing time in the preseason has been more of a problem than we expected. Sure, you can only keep him held down so long, but he's been slow in his decision making and off-target on his passes. The lack of a truly healthy Jeff Saturday and missing Tony Yugo has severely limited the running game. The Vikings had the worst pass defense in football, and looked awful against the Packers. Manning should have been able to do much more than he did. I think he'll recover. Hard to believe that with the numbers he's put up, we've come to expect more.
• We KNOW that the Chargers defense is either completely over-hyped, or the Broncos offense is going to be scary good through the air. I'm more inclined to think the former than the latter. The Chargers were absolutely torched. They couldn't get any pressure on Cutler, and he was able to sit back and wait for plays to develop. Eddie Royal has given the Broncos another dimension, and Tony Scheffler is developing into a fine tight end. I just don't see four touchdowns a week from Cutler.
• We KNOW that a few owners are probably just as irritated at the officiating in the Denver-San Diego game as the players were. Think about this: that fumble by Cutler is negative points in many formats. Even two points can make a huge difference in these games. Even when the call was ruled a fumble, it wasn't lost because of some crazy rule (that I thought had been eliminated when a definite recovery could be determined). The same is true with a fumble by Chris Chambers. Chambers was clearly down, but loses points for a fumble, while the Denver defense, in most formats, would gain them. In a rare instance, that could be a four point swing.
• We KNOW that the return of Steve Smith to the Carolina offense can only help. Jonathan Stewart, who was out-played in Week One, looked much better this time around. Delhomme, however, needs some help in his receiving core. Steve Smith should provide that, as well as open up opportunities for Muhammad. Rosario could take a step back though.
• We KNOW that Seattle is in trouble until people get healthy. They struggled against a BAD 49ers team. They've given up an inordinate number of points in the first two weeks, meaning the defense can't be as good as we hoped either. We know they're desperate, especially where they're willing to use Seneca Wallace as a receiver. We know that Julius Jones can carry the load when the opponent can't stop the run. Other than that, they have a lot going for them...oh, except that Hasselbeck injury.
• We KNOW the Jets need to let Favre be Favre. How, on the one yard line, do you run the same play three times? The New England defensive line is no slouch, so running smack into it with an offensive line that was struggling to get any sort of push doesn't add up. Favre improvises well, but still doesn't know the playbook. At some point, they need to open it up. Conservative is not in the gunslinger's nature.
• We THINK that Aaron Rodgers is going to be ok. He's looked very relaxed throwing the ball and has been able to be successful in two opening contests. Then you look and realize that one was against the pass defense-challenged Vikings and a really bad Lions team. We still don't know how he'll react against a good defense. That answer could come next week against the Cowboys.
• We THINK Eddie Royal is going to be the waiver wire steal of the season. Royal was awesome again. Give Mike Shanahan credit, the guy knows how to utilize skill players like that. He's doing in Denver what the Dolphins should be doing with Ted Ginn.
• We THINK Matt Leinart is going to enjoy the bench the rest of the season. Kurt Warner's arm is too strong to have Arizona fans wondering if Leinart can do the job. Coming out of that St. Louis offense, Warner knows how to use his surrounding talent. He has a motivated Anquan Boldin (who is looking for a payday), and a stud in Larry Fitzgerald. If they can establish a better running attack...
• We KNOW that the Tennessee defense is better than we thought. They've had two solid games in a row. Grab them now and enjoy it. They'll get Houston next week at home, a team that could have put on some rust in their week off. They bye week likely came a little early for them.
• We THINK that Justin Fargas just lost his job. Sure, it was the Chiefs, but McFadden ran very well and Fargas had to leave with a groin injury. Even before that point, McFadden had been too tough for the Chiefs front to handle. Add in the fact that Michael Bush was able to toss in 90 yards, and we have a rough situation for Fargas. Especially with a team that can now nurse him back to health.
• We THINK we KNOW that the Browns offense is in trouble. Two bad weeks, does not a season make, but we haven't seen close to the same type of offense that had everyone jumping on the Browns bandwagon. Derek Anderson was drafted high based on the momentum from last season carrying over, same is true for Braylon Edwards. Something needs to happen, and quickly. Right now, there is no real second or third receiver in the offense.
• We KNOW Detroit is going to be playing from behind a lot. That being the case, we need to bring down expectations across the running game and anticipate Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson seeing more balls thrown their way. They may not catch them, but Kitna is going to be unloading. From a fantasy perspective, that could be good, but could be bad. He'll be hit or miss every single week.
• We have NO IDEA what the running game is going to look like in Kansas City. The Chiefs had to come out of their run-first mentality in order to keep up with the Raiders, but, even before that, Larry Johnson hadn't been really used. His main backup, Jamaal Charles, was used even less. Damon Huard should give the Chiefs more options throwing the football, and open up the running game as a result.

I'm sure there's plenty more, so let's hear from you. What do you know and what do you think?