An upside down day in Week 1

To quote Steve Martin and Dan Akroyd, it was a wild and crazy Sunday as the NFL opened its season in earnest.

Who'd have thought Cam Newton would be a stud and Ben Roethlisberger would be a dud? Or that Shonn Greene would be invisible while Mike Tolbert looked invincible?

It's never good to panic after Week 1 but that doesn't mean fantasy football owners should sit on their hands and do nothing. Depending on who your back-ups are, it can't hurt to replace some of them with players who looked good Sunday.

Among the quarterbacks who might be attractive are Newton of Carolina (422 yards passing, 2 passing touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown),  Ryan Fitzpatrick of Buffalo (208 passing, 4 touchdowns) and even Washington's Rex Grossman (305 passing, 2 touchdowns).


Some receivers who should be available are Arizona's Early Doucet (3 catches, 105 yards, 1 TD); Devery Henderson of New Orleans (6 for 100, 1 TD) and Seattle's Doug Baldwin (4 for 83, 1 TD).

As for the running backs Houstons' Ben Tate went off in Arian Foster's absence with 116 yards rushing and a touchdown. He's great insurance even if Foster comes back healthy. Cadillac Williams of St.Louis also played well (91 yards rushing, 5 catches for 39 yards) when starter Steve Jackson left with an quadriceps injury.


And don't forget James Starks of Green Bay from Thursday night (57 yards rushing, 1 TD). Even if he hasn't won the starting job from Ryan Grant yet, it looks as if he's going to be a big part of the Packers' offense.


Sunday's top three performing tight ends probably weren't even drafted in your league. Buffalo's Scott Chandler had five catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns, the Jets' Dustin Keller was 5 for 61 with 1 TD and the Rams' Jeff King was 2 for 61 with 1 TD.

There was even news on the place-kicking front as San Diego's Nate Kaeding suffered what is believed to be an ACL injury on the first play of the game and will likely be out for the season. Whoever replaces him with the Chargers should have excellent value.


Catch Tuesday's Fantasy Forum in the print edition for the ramifications of this week's injuries and performances.