It’s Monday, so it’s time to get going on our weekly routine of looking at targets from the previous day’s NFL action.

- Owen Daniels, Houston Texans: Daniels was targeted nine times in Houston’s 24-21 win over the 49ers on Sunday, and he caught seven of those throws for 124 yards and one score. Daniels has been targeted 56 times this season, which is ninth in the NFL and more than any other tight end in the league.

- Sidney Rice, Minnesota Vikings: Rice was mentioned in this space last week when he had seven targets. He deserves special mention this week for getting double that amount, 14, and catching 11 of those passes for 136 yards. Percy Harvin was targeted 10 times but caught just three of those passes, and Bernard Berrian was targeted only three times. Rice has now crept past Berrian in targets for the season, and is 11th in the NFC with 48.

- Michael Crabtree, San Francisco 49ers: Crabtree was targeted six times in San Fran’s loss to the Texans, and he came up with five catches for 56 yards. Vernon Davis led the way for the Niners with 11 targets, but Crabtree’s six were tied with Isaac Bruce for the second-most on the team, and two more than fellow wideout Josh Morgan.

- Devin Hester, Chicago Bears: Hester was targeted nine times on Sunday as Chicago was blown out by the Bengals, 45-10. He wound up with eight catches for 101 yards and one touchdown. Hester has received 18 targets over his last two contests after not getting more than seven looks in any other game this season.

Other Week 6 target numbers of interest: Larry Fitzgerald, 13; Roddy White, 11; Antonio Bryant, Lee Evans, 9; Ted Ginn Jr., Miles Austin, Mohamed Massaquoi, Bobby Wade, Pierre Garcon, Sammie Stroughter, 8; Hakeem Nicks, 7; Bernard Berrian, 3; Braylon Edwards, 2.

Warning – a good start to a fantasy season is not always what it seems. It’s great to have a quarterback on your squad who is outperforming expectations early in the season, and it’s even better if they continue to play well throughout the year. But as any veteran fantasy owner will tell you, that doesn’t always happen. One reason why? Schedule. A player who has faced a beer-belly soft schedule can take advantage of that, only to run into stiffer competition later in the season. Here are some players who fall under that category. By no means is this proof that these players will completely fall off the grid as the season progresses, just don’t be surprised to see their numbers ebb somewhat.

Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings: Favre has surprised many with the outstanding play he’s shown thus far. He’s currently third in the NFL in quarterback rating, completion percentage and touchdown passes, yet he hasn’t faced the league’s most daunting pass defenses. Through Minnesota’s first six games, he’s faced a pass defense ranked better than 20th just one time, and four teams who are 17th or worse in passing touchdowns allowed. Things will get a bit more difficult as the season progresses, as the Vikings play six teams the rest of the way who are ranked 14th or better in pass defense, including the Panthers and Giants, who are first and second in the NFL in that category.

Matt Schaub, Houston Texans: Schaub is excelling, leading the league with 14 passing scores and is second with 1,810 passing yards. His schedule has not consisted of the highest quality pass-defense, though. In fact, of the six games Schaub has played, four have come against the five worst pass defenses in the NFL, and just one has come against a team in the top half of the league in defending the pass. Over the rest of his season, Schaub will still face some easy competition in the form of division foes Tennessee and Jacksonville, but he’ll also go up against four teams who are in the top-10 in pass defense.

Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens: Flacco is currently fourth in the NFL in passing yards, third in completions, and tied for sixth in touchdown throws. Yet four of the six teams he’s gone up against have ranked 23rd or worse in pass defense. Moving forward, seven of his remaining ten games are against teams who are in the top-half of the league in pass defense, and five are against teams who rank 12th or better in that category.

Overview

Matt Schaub and the Houston Texans are struggling to get their third win of the season, having neither won or lost consecutive games this season. Their 12th ranked scoring offense has been just good enough to get the team two wins, and in their only wins of the season Houston scored at least 29 points. Already the Texans are three games out of first place in the AFC South while ranking 10th in the AFC standings.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, is tops in the AFC North with wins over Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Baltimore the past three weeks. The Bengals are on a hot four game win streak but haven’t won any games by more than seven points. Their margin of victory the past three weeks has been three points.

Injuries

Houston: No major relevant injuries, though DE Mario Williams (shoulder) has been limited in practice this week.

Cincinnati: Carson Palmer (sprained left thumb) is probable.

When Houston has the Ball

When the Texans have won this season their offense has been responsible. In their three lowest scoring games, in which they scored 7, 21, and 24 points, Houston is 0-3.

Their offense is powered by Matt Schaub and the passing game. Steve Slaton and the running backs have been largely unsuccessful this season and rank 30th in rushing yards. No running back is averaging at least 4.0 yards per carry; Slaton and Chris Brown, the two primary backs, are averaging a combined 3.1 yards per carry, and both have just one rushing touchdown this season.

Fortunate for fantasy players that drafted Slaton high, Houston’s leading back is making a significant contribution in the passing game. He is the third leading receiver on the team with 17 receptions for 180 yards and one touchdown. He’s netted 411 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns this season, and in the past three weeks he’s racked up 300 yards and one score. Those are unexpected numbers for a projected first round back, but things could be worse.

Where the team has not struggled for the most part is when passing the ball, especially when Andre Johnson is involved. The Texans are ranked 5th in passing yards this season, and Matt Schaub’s 10 passing touchdowns are enough to tie him for second in the NFL. Johnson is the team’s clear leading receiver with 28 receptions for 437 yards and four touchdowns this season. Most of those numbers have come in the past four weeks, during which he has accumulated 402 yards and all four scores.

The other key contributor to the passing game, tight end Owen Daniels, isn’t far behind Johnson in receptions. In fact, among fantasy tight ends, Daniels is sixth in receptions and fourth in yards. Unfortunately, he has has just one receiving touchdown this season and is tied for 20th in that category. As things go, he’s a lower-end TE1 in many leagues but especially PPR leagues.

Considering Cincinnati’s defense this season, which ranks 23rd in passing yards allowed, Houston should be able to play to its strengths. Cincinnati even allowed an otherwise hapless Derek Anderson to pass for 269 yards and one touchdown two weeks ago. Considering Houston’s passing game, I would expect the Texans to find only mild resistance this week when traveling to Cincinnati.

When Cincinnati has the Ball

One of the biggest surprises this season has been Cedric Benson. Though he was expected to handle a lot of carries this season, few, including myself, expected him to excel to the degree he has thus far. Benson is currently second in the NFL in yards per game and first among backs with at least 50 carries. Furthermore, only a handful of backs (six in all) have more rushing touchdowns than Benson, who has plowed his way in three times.

Well worth noting about Benson is his yards per carry average, which hasn’t dipped below 4.0 since week one, and his relative consistency: he hasn’t been held to under 74 yards this season and he’s scored a touchdown in three games.

When Benson isn’t carrying the ball, the Bengals’ passing game has been erratic at best. Carson Palmer has passed for 1,116 yards, seven touchdowns, and six interceptions this season. The last of those is most important to players in leagues which penalize for interceptions, especially considering he has thrown one or two in four games this season.

Fortunately, in the past three weeks he’s thrown just two picks and four touchdowns, and in the past two weeks Palmer has passed for at least 230 yards. The two weeks prior to that (weeks 2 and 3), Palmer finished with 183 and 185 yards.

The primary beneficiaries in the passing game have been Chad Ochocinco and Andre Caldwell. Aside from those two, no Cincinnati receiver has put up fantasy relevant numbers. Ochocinco has 24 receptions for 352 yards and three touchdowns, putting up solid numbers on a regular basis this season. Caldwell, unfortuantely, has been far from consistent. He’s caught just two passes in three games and six passes in each of the other two; and in the past four weeks his (non-PPR) fantasy points have rollercoastered from 2 to 11 to 3 to 9.

It’s important to note this week that Houston’s defense has allowed at least 24 points in four games this season; the only team they’ve held below that mark, Oakland, averages 9.8 points per game. And on the road this season they’ve allowed 28 and 31 points. Expect Cincinnati to put up one of its biggest scoreboards of the season this week.

The Advantage

Cincinnati, but it may need to score a lot of points to keep up with Houston’s high-powered passing game. The Bengals have struggled throughout the season to stop quarterbacks, and Schaub is one of the best they’ve face. Expect a one score victory for Cincy at home.

Fantasy Booms and Busts

Boom! Cedric Benson is going up against the 26th ranked rushing defense in the NFL. Considering he’s averaging a bit more than 22 carries per game, and keeping in mind that Cincinnati will want to keep the ball out of Schaub’s hands as much as possible, expect another big effort from Benson.

Bust! This probably isn’t the week Steve Slaton busts out of his funk. He’ll probably put up decent numbers — 60 rushing yards and 30 receiving yards — but unless he scores a touchdown, which he’s done just once this season, his final numbers will disappoint again.

To say that Steve Slaton is off to a slow start would be an extreme understatement.  After posting 1282 rushing yards and scoring 10 touchdowns in 2008, nearly every fantasy site had Slaton as at worst, a 2nd round pick.  But things have not worked out quite as planned for Slaton, his team, or his fantasy owners.  Slaton is only averaging 46 rushing yards per game, which currently ranks 31st in the league.  He also only has two total touchdowns, or the same number as safety Darren Sharper and only has one game where he’s scored more than 10 fantasy points.  So now those who have Slaton are faced with the question, “Should I trade Slaton before he loses what little value he has left, or should I hang on to him with hopes that he can turn his season around?  Interesting question, and hopefully my analysis will make the answer a little clearer.

The biggest problem facing Slaton is that his explosiveness is not where it was last season and it’s showing in his rushing attempts.  He’s averaging 1.6 fewer yards per carry than what he did in 2008 and that could possibly be attributed to the fact that he’s gotten bigger since he was drafted.  At WVU he played at right around 200 lbs. and now he admits that he’s at 212 lbs. which is about seven more pounds than he carried as a rookie.

Besides the lack of burst, Slaton is also fumbling at a much greater rate than he did last year.  He already has four fumbles (two lost) on 89 touches after fumbling only three times in 2008 on 318 touches.  This is one of the reasons why Slaton is losing goal-line touches to Chris Brown as the Texans can’t afford him coughing the ball up in the redzone.  On the season Brown has six goal-line carries and one goal-line touchdown and Slaton has two goal-line carries and zero goal-line touchdowns.

Because of the Slaton’s inability to sustain a ground game, Coach Kubiak is losing patience with his team running the ball at all.  After the loss to the Cardinals, Kubiak said, “If we’ve got to go out there and throw it all the time, that’s what we’ll do.”  It appears that’s what they will have to do to win games as they couldn’t get any offense going against Arizona in the first half as they tried to establish the run.  But in the second half, Schaub threw the ball 32 times and Slaton only ran five times and the Texans scored TDs on three straight possessions to get back into the game.  This may be the common theme for Houston going forward which means Slaton’s touches could dwindle even more and that will make it nearly impossible for him to match last year’s total of 11 games with more than 10 fantasy points.

So when you combine Slaton’s lack of explosiveness, his fumbling problem, his lack of goal-line touches, and his coach’s affinity to throwing the ball, you should get a clearer picture as to what Slaton’s value will be going forward.  The one thing that he does have going for him is that he is being utilized more in the passing game this year (which is actually a by-product of him not being able to run the ball).  He is fifth in the league in receiving yards among running backs and is on pace for 54 receptions, which slightly increases his value in PPR-leagues.  But overall, the bad far outweighs the good and you would be best served to send him packing before the bottom completely falls out.

Overview

Oakland (1-2) can’t find an offense this season, and the performance of JaMarcus Russell is troubling. Many suggest he has regressed this season and the numbers validate that point: 41.3 percent completion rating, one touchdown, and four interceptions. If the Raiders don’t find some offense this week, it could wind up looking a lot like last week when the Broncos blew them out 23-3.

Houston (1-2), on the other hand, is the anti-Oakland; Matt Schaub has completed nearly 69 percent of his passes for 657 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception in Houston’s last two games. The obvious note to take is that, in spite of that, Houston has the same record as Oakland. The Raiders, who have scored 16 points in their last two games, and the Texans, who have scored 58, have the same record.

When Oakland has the ball …

… this is the week to score points. The Raiders have one glimmer on offense, the running game, and it’s going toe-to-toe with the league’s worst rushing defense. Houston has allowed 615 rushing yards in three games this season, and though the Raiders haven’t had a lot of luck running the ball — Darren McFadden and Michael Bush average a combined 3.8 yards per carry — the talent is there.

McFadden is explosive and the Texans may struggle to contain him, just as they have failed to contain Maurice Jones-Drew, Chris Johnson, and Thomas Jones this season. All three running backs broke 100 yards in their respective games against Houston, and Oakland’s only real shot in this one is to keep the ball out of Matt Schaub’s hands and make plays in the running game.

It would be nice to bank on JaMarcus Russell keeping pace with the Texans, but it’s a silly suggestion. Russell has looked worse in each progressing game this season: week one he completed 40.0 percent of his pass attempts for 208 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions; the following week he completed just 29.2 percent of his passes for 109 yards; and last week he completed 57.1 percent of his attempts for 68 yards and two interceptions. By every measure he has gotten worse and even against a poor defense like Houston, expecting more than 150 passing yards and a touchdown seems naive.

When Houston has the ball …

… they should not underestimate the Raiders’ defense. Oakland hasn’t allowed more than 24 points in a single game this season, despite facing San Diego week one. Furthmore, fantasy players should recognize that the Raiders held Philip Rivers to just one touchdown while forcing an interception.

In other words, Houston’s running backs — mainly Steve Slaton — should see more work this week against a Raiders defense that has allowed 155 rushing yards and one touchdown per game this season. Slaton is off to a slow start, but this may be the opponent to get him back on his feet.

That said, Houston’s passing game is very good. As noted in the overview, Matt Schaub has played stellar the past two weeks and this is a scary offense to face. At the same time, both Jacksonville and Tennessee — Houston’s last two opponents — have struggled throughout the season to stop quarterbacks. Compare that to Houston’s week one opponenent, the New York Jets, a team that has defended the pass very well this season and held Schaub to 166 passing yards and an interception week one.

I’m not necessarily suggesting Schaub will have a bad week, but it may not be the week some fantasy players expect when they Oakland’s name on the schedule.

The player who will no doubt have a good week is Andre Johnson. The Raiders have consistently allowed an opponents’ starting wide receiver to have a respectable game; that won’t change when they face arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL.

The advantage goes to …

Houston. Oakland simply doesn’t have enough offense to contend with Houston, and unless JaMarcus Russell pulls something out of a magic hat, this could be another tough loss for the Raiders.

Studs and Duds

Stud: Steve Slaton — Oakland has consistently given up yards and touchdowns to opposing running backs this season and with Chris Brown listed as questionable (shin), there’s no doubt Slaton will get the vast number of touches. Besides, Slaton has been a consistent contributor in the passing game with nine receptions for 97 yards this season. This week is lined up to be a 100-yard, touchdown matchup.

Dud: Anyone Involved in Oakland’s Passing Game — The Raiders have had almost no success passing the ball this season, and in spite of the fact Houston has allowed seven passing touchdowns, Russell is the worst starting quarterback in the NFL. If Kansas City kept him from completing 30 percent of his pass attempts, I doubt other NFL teams will have trouble.

The Overview

Despite a strong effort against the Colts week one, Jacksonville (0-2) fell to Arizona a week later by a margin of 14. In the same day, Houston’s offense found its spark in a shootout win at Tennessee. The Texans (1-1) were reeling after a smothering defeat at the hands of the Jets, 24-7, the week before.

Both teams have displayed serious inconsistency through two weeks, and this division game will come down to which team shows its best face.

When Jacksonville has the ball …

The Jaguars best weapon, Maurice Jones-Drew, was one of the most underutilized players on offense last week against Arizona. Despite his 5.1 yards per carry average in the game, Jones-Drew carried just 13 times, while David Garrard went to the air 43 times.

Garrard wasn’t too spectacular in that game. In fact, he hasn’t been very good at all this season. His completion percentage has hovered around 50 percent in both games — it’s 52.1 percent this season — and his touchdown percentage (2.8 percent) is quite low.

Meanwhile, against the Cardinals, Jones-Drew was stopped for a loss once, and he picked up three or more yards on 11 of his 13 carries. When he carried 21 times the week before, he rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown in a much closer game. Furthermore, David Garrard didn’t throw an interception or fumble three times.

Considering Houston’s defense allowed Chris Johnson and Thomas Jones to rush for 197 and 107 yards, respectively, a big dose of Jones-Drew could be exactly what Jacksonville needs to win its first division game of the season.

When Houston has the ball …

Matt Schaub lit the Titans up for 357 passing yards and four touchdowns last week and it proved to be enough to get Houston past division foe Tennessee. Schaub’s stellar performance was matched only by Andre Johnson who caught 10 of Schaub’s 25 completions for 149 yards and two touchdowns.

The week before wasn’t the same story; Schaub struggled to pass the ball against the Jets’ defense, putting up just 166 yards, while completing just a tad over half his pass attempts. Andre Johnson caught just four passes for 35 yards in that game.

Steve Slaton is the one player who has noticeably struggled in both games this season. Slaton is averaging just two yards per carry this season, and he hasn’t broken that mark in either game. He has 51 rushing yards this season, and is still yet to score a touchdown. Whether he’ll turn it around soon is a big question mark for the Texans this season.

Jacksonville has been weaker against the pass this season, partly due to facing two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL: Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner. Schaub can hold his own, too, so the passing game will be crucial to the Texans’ success.

The advantage goes to …

Houston at home. The Texans finally found a spark last week, whereas Jacksonville only found more struggles. Unless Jacksonville can contain the Texans potentially lethal offense, this will be a very difficult road game.

Booms, Busts, and Sleepers

Boom: Matt Schaub — Matt Schuab was outstanding last week against the Titans, and considering the Jaguars’ trouble getting pressure to opponents’ quarterbacks, this could be another big week for the Texans’ passing game.

Bust: Steve Slaton — The Texans have the 22nd ranked passing defense, so the odds of this game turning into a high scoring affair is relatively high. That means less carries and touches for Slaton, and more pass attempts for Schaub.

Sleeper: Omar Daniels — He has 10 receptions for 116 yards and one touchdown this season, and last week was a big game for him: 6 receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown. He could be primed for another solid showing this week.

Oakland Raiders (1-1) at Kansas City Chiefs (0-2): Oakland, 13-10

Here’s proof you don’t need an offense to win a game: the Oakland Raiders totaled 176 yards from scrimmage and JaMarcus Russell completed just 7-of-24 (that’s around 30 percent) for 109 yards. How? No turnovers and a turnover-forcing defense.

Darren McFadden rushed 12 times for 35 yards and scored Oakland’s only touchdown of the game. He added 2 receptions for 20 yards, leading the team in catches; no one on had at least 30 yards receiving.

The 0-2 Chiefs moved the ball on offense when Matt Cassel was throwing passes but his two interceptions proved very costly. Both times he was in Oakland’s territory — the first time at the 49 and the second time in field goal range at the 33. In a game in which Oakland scored just 13 points, 7 of which in the fourth quarter, those turnovers were the difference.

Larry Johnson’s numbers weren’t outstanding and Oakland contained his running to 3.2 yards per carry, but thanks to his impressive number of touches — 27 — he accumulated 119 yards from scrimmage. That was a vast improvement over last week when he picked up 26 yards on 12 touches.

New England (1-1) at New York Jets (2-0): Jets, 16-9

Talk about being close to 0-2. After coming back in a miracle win over the Buffalo Bills last week, the Patriots couldn’t overcome a terrible performance by Tom Brady who completed just under half his 47 attempts for 216 yards and an interception for a 53 passer rating. Wide receiver Julian Edelmen caught 8 passes for 98 yards to lead the team in both categories.

New York’s Mark Sanchez was far more effective for the Jets, completing 14-of-22 for 163 yards and a touchdown to lead the Jets to their second win. Meanwhile, the rushing attack of Leon Washington and Thomas Jones combined for 112 yards on 28 carrries (exactly 4.0 yards per carry), and their numbers were near replicas. The defining difference was Washington’s 2 receptions for 18 yards; he also lost one fumble.

Sanchez’s passes were spread around rather evenly: Jericho Cotchery and Chansai Stuckey both caught four passes, Cotchery’s going for 87 yards (more than twice Stuckey’s 37 yards). Dustin Keller was the only other player with at least two catches, and one of his his three found him in the endzone for Sanchez’s only touchdown.

New Orleans (2-0) at Philadelphia (1-1): Saints, 48-22

If you drafted Drew Brees as your fantasy quarterback you’re probably 2-0 in your league. Brees topped over 300 yards for the second week in a row and tacked on his 7th, 8th, and 9th touchdown passes. On the year he has 669 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions; just as impressive, he has completed 75 percent of his pass attempts.

His top target: Marques Colston, who has 11 receptions for 128 yards and 3 touchdowns; he had 3 receptions for 30 yards week one and this week he caught 8 passes for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns. Only Devery Henderson has more yards at this point (174), averaging nearly 22 yards per reception.

And here’s the kicker: thanks in no small part to the ultra-effective passing game, Mike Bell has turned into a viable fantasy option at running back. He has 229 rushing yards and 1 touchdown this season, and both weeks he has put up at least 14 fantasy points (assuming standard scoring).

On the Eagles side, Kevin Kolb and the Eagles were keeping up with the Saints going into the second half. Unfortunately, then the wheels fell off. Kolb finished with 391 passing yards (!) and 2 touchdowns but 3 interceptions. Both Brent Celek and DeSean Jackson finished with over 100 receiving yards and Celek scored a touchdown. Jason Avant added 7 receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown. Though the Eagles gained a lot of yards on offense, the four turnovers killed them.

Houston (1-1) at Tennessee (0-2): Houston, 34-31

In a shootout in which both teams were tied 31-31 going into the fourth quarter, both teams lit it up on offense and struggled on defense. The Texans couldn’t contain Chris Johnson who rushed for 197 yards and led the team in receiving with 9 receptions for 87 yards, scoring 3 touchdowns along the way.

Kerry Collins completed 21 of his 33 pass attempts for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns and an interception. A significant portion of his passing yards went to Johnson who led this offense to three of its four touchdowns. Collins has been struggling this season, throwing two interceptions through the first two games of the season; last season he threw seven.

On Tennessee’s end, there was no stopping Matt Schaub and the Texans’ incredible passing game. Schaub tossed the football 39 times for 357 yards and 4 touchdowns, 2 of which went to Andre Johnson. Johnson caught 10 passes for 149 yards in all, bouncing back from a disappointing week one performance.

Schaub saw a significant improvement over week one when he completed just over half his passes for 166 yards and an interception. The key could be Tennesee’s porous pass defense that currently ranks dead last in the NFL.

Denver Broncos (1-0) at Cincinnati Bengals (0-1): Denver, 12-7

Notes on Denver: The Denver Broncos caught a miraculous break at the end of week one as a pass intended for Brandon Marshall was tipped by Leon Hall and caught by Brandon Stokley who took it to the house, 87 yards down the field.

Prior to that pass, Kyle Orton had just 155 passing yards and Denver had zero touchdowns. The Broncos attempted a west coast, short pass offense throughout the game resulting in Orton’s paltry 5.7 yards per attempt (again, prior to that big completion) and limited scoring. Stokley hadn’t caught a pass in the game and, surprisingly, Eddie Royal was held to just 2 receptions for 18 yards.

Another surpise: Tony Scheffler was outdone by Daniel Graham. Though Scheffler did pick up 29 yards on his sole reception, Graham was on the receiving end of 3 completions for 40 yards.

As the running game was concerned, Correll Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno both carried 8 times, Buckhalter getting the most mileage out of his attempts with 46 yards. Moreno finished with a disappointing 19 yards, including an 8 yard run. (Without that run he averaged around 1.6 yards per carry.)

Denver Stud: Brandon Stokley – 1 reception for 87 yards and 1 touchdown

Denver Dud: Eddie Royal – 2 receptions for 18 yards

Notes on Cincinnati: Though the Broncos struggled on offense, the Bengals weren’t any better. In fact, they were worse when you consider Carson Palmer’s two interceptions and zero touchdowns. Palmer was pressured and sacked three times; he finished with 247 yards passing, 89 of which went to Chad Ochocinco.

The Bengals did have a semi-successful running attack, though; Cedric Benson rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. His rushing average was boosted quite a bit by a 20-yard carry in the fourth quarter. Recalculating without that carry, his average was just 2.8 yards per carry, nearly a full yard less than when including it. All-in-all, he picked up 108 yards from scrimmage – a very good week.

Perhaps the most important thing to take away: Benson did get over 20 carries in the debut. Oh, and Palmer is off to another horrendous start against a defense that doesn’t figure to be great this season.

Cincinnati Stud: Cedric Benson – 20 carries for 76 yards and 1 touchdown; 4 receptions for 32 yards

Cincinnati Dud: Laveranues Coles – 1 reception for 11 yards; 3 drops (leads NFL)

New York Jets (1-0) at Houston Texans (0-1): New York, 24-7

Notes on New York: Mark Sanchez’s debut was a relative success; he got his first win, but he also completed just 58 percent of his pass attempts and threw his first (and only) NFL interception. As could have been guessed before the game, one of his favorite targets was tight end Dustin Keller who caught 4 for 94 yards. Jericho Cotchery led the team in receptions with 6 for 90 yards, while the only other wide receiver to catch a ball, Chansai Stuckey, finished with 4 receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown.

But the real source of firepower on offense was the running game. Thomas Jones was outstanding and is off to another great start this season after he rushed 20 times for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Jones’ change-of-pace and the “hands” of the group, Leon Washington, carried 15 times for 60 yards and added 24 receiving yards on 4 catches. The two combined for 191 yards from scrimmage and should be an integral part of the offense in every game this season. Rex Ryan wants to run the ball a lot this season to keep Sanchez’s reps relatively low and the offense balanced; this was a great start to that end.

New York Stud: Thomas Jones – 20 carries for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns

New York Dud: David Clowney – N/A

Notes on Houston: Where exactly was the aerial attack we expected from Houston? In fact, where were the points? Houston’s offense was shut out as Rex Ryan’s blitz packages took the Texans by surprise. Matt Schaub was barely able to complete half his pass attempts (18-of-33) while throwing one to the defense. Andre Johnson and Omar Daniels led the team in receptions with four each, but in a twist Daniels led in yards – 44-35.

Meanwhile, the team’s running game was far from impressive. Steve Slaton carried just 9 times to rack up 17 yards while Chris Brown took his 3 carries 15 yards. All told, the offense rushed for 38 yards. Slaton’s saving grace was his contribution as a receiver where he added 35 yards on 3 receptions.

Houston Stud: N/A

Houston Dud: Steve Slaton – 9 carries for 17 yards; 3 receptions for 35 yards

Matt Schaub is in a great offensive system with very talented teammates and great coaching; it’s just a shame that one of the league’s most talented quarterbacks is also one of the most prone to injury.

Schaub injured his ankle this preseason and attempted to play through the pain against the Minnesota Vikings week three, ostensibly to show his teammates he’s capable of toughing it out. From an outsider’s view it seems like a bonehead move for such a trivial gain in respect; after all, what good is proving toughness if it only further hinders one’s ability to play and sets back recovery time while risking further damage?

No doubt Schaub was considering his role as a leader when he stayed on the field last weekend. His teammates have watched him miss time each of the past two seasons, both of which were filled with immense promise.

Last season he passed for 3,043 yards and 15 touchdowns in 11 games. When expanded to a 16-game season, assuming his weekly average of 277 passing yards and 1.4 touchdowns, Schaub would have posted 4,426 yards and 22 touchdowns. Those numbers are but a glimpse of the promise he holds, if only he can stay healthy for 16 consecutive games.

His injuries last season weren’t season-ending. He missed week 5 before returning to work for the following four games. Another injury costed him four more games between weeks 10-13, after which he finished out the season strong, passing for 1,281 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.

All must question now whether he is still a “fragile” quarterback, or whether this is the season he plays an entire season without missing a beat. Reports suggest he is still day-to-day at this point, but he is still trying to prepare himself for week one.

“He’s out here with the group watching things,” Kubiak said. “He’s on a regular treatment schedule and trying to get ready for New York (in Week 1).”

Kubiak also added that he’s shown “a lot of progress in the past 24 hours.”

Assume for now Schaub is ready for week one. He remains one of fantasy football’s riskier picks. There’s a good chance he misses 4-6 games during the season with minor injuries or a more serious one. If he’s drafted, he can turn into a great value — but he’ll also handicap the drafter because he’ll need to stock his roster with another solid QB2.

If a fantasy player can snag a solid QB2 behind Schaub — Eli Manning would be great — he’s well worth a draft pick. When Schaub plays, he’s without a doubt a QB1, putting up 250-300 passing yards per week and typically throwing a touchdown pass or two. He has Andre Johnson catching his passes and Steve Slaton taking handoffs when his arm needs a break; not many quarterbacks have those caliber players to start alongside them.

Schaub is fortunate in that respect; now he needs to play as many snaps as he can, alongside them.

With Miami beating Jacksonville and the Giants dispatching Carolina on Monday night, Week 1 of the preseason is officially in the books. There are things going on all over the place, so let’s take a deep breath and dive right in.

Chris Brown, Houston TD Vulture?: The Houston Texans want running back Chris Brown to be their man at the goal-line this season. He punched in a two-yard touchdown in the team’s first exhibition game, and the Texans are expecting him to spell Steve Slaton, especially inside the red zone. This is potentially bad news for fantasy owners expecting Slaton to come close to his numbers of a year ago, but it shouldn’t be surprising news. Even last season the team was looking for someone to ease the burden Slaton was carrying in that regard.

Carson Palmer Sprains Ankle: Bengals signal-caller Carson Palmer won’t play in his team’s exhibition game on Thursday with a sprained ankle. The prognosis is good for the former No. 1 overall pick, but his injury history is disconcerting. As you can tell in the graph to the right, when Palmer is healthy, he usually delivers for fantasy owners. But injuries are something that has to be considered when drafting your fantasy team, and this is another mark against Palmer.

Brandon Marshall Wants New Deal or Trade: Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall wants a contract extension or a new team, which is what he’s been saying since the off-season. However, a meeting reportedly took place between Marshall and head coach Josh McDaniels, and Marshall did not practice Monday night despite being healthy. It doesn’t seem likely that Marshall would get moved, but if he does, it would have major fantasy ramifications, vaulting Eddie Royal’s value while hurting the already-shaky value of Kyle Orton.

Walter Jones is Hurt: Seattle offensive lineman Walter Jones, one of the best ever to play the position, started off camp with back problems, was deemed healthy, but on Monday had to leave practice due to recurring problems. This is potentially bad news for fantasy owners with quarterback Matt Hasselbeck or running backs Julius Jones or T.J. Duckett. When healthy, Jones provides significant protection in both the running and passing game, even at 35 years of age. There’s nothing that says this is an injury that will last into the regular season, and fantasy owners should certainly hope so.

Hester, Cutler Clear the Air: Bears quarterback Jay Cutler threw a horrible interception in the team’s first preseason game against Buffalo, just flinging the ball in the air as the pass rush got heavy, but he didn’t see it that way, apparently. Instead, he put at least some of the blame on the intended target of the pass, Devin Hester. It was reported that Cutler said, ”Devin is more of a go-get-it guy. He is not really a back-shoulder or jump-up-and-get-it [guy].” Or did he? Cutler is denying he said those words, and Hester, at least publicly, accepted that explanation. Still, it’s been an awfully rocky off-season for Cutler, what with the way he left Denver, then Brian Urlacher allegedly calling him a, um, wussy (which Urlacher denied), and now this. There is no Brandon Marshall-type of player in Chicago, so Cuter needs to build up some chemistry with his receivers, and things like this certainly don’t help.

Marc Bulger out for Two Weeks: Rams quarterback Marc Bulger will be sidelined for two weeks due to a broken pinkie finger on his throwing hand. Kyle Boller takes over for now, but Bulger should be back by Week 1 of the regular season. Bulger isn’t much of a fantasy option, other than in leagues that run pretty deep, but he has been a two-time Pro Bowler, so keeping up with his progress during the season makes sense.