Games to Watch - Week 2 Paul Joyce, Fantasy Football Senior Staff Writer Sep 12, 2003 | More

I think there are a lot of teams that are thinking about that first week in the same way that I think about the first hole in a round of golf.  It’s a survival thing.  You’re up there on the first tee and everyone’s looking at you.  I know there’s always a million things running through your head when your standing over the ball, but on the first tee, there’s even more.  You haven’t hit a ball yet, at least not one that counts, and it remains to be seen what kind of day you’re going to have.  By the time I putt out on that first hole, I’m thinking, “Ok, that’s done.  I’ve got 17 more holes to show that this one was just a warm-up.  Now, let’s get on with it.”  Something tells me there are 15 teams saying that same thing about this season (Cincinnati is just saying, “Here we freakin’ go again!”).  Let’s see who might make the most of hole number 2…

Top Shelf

Pittsburgh at Kansas City                           Sun. September 14 @ 1:00pm ET on CBS

Summary:  The best quality football to be played this week.

Hot Tip: Check out Jay Remiersma in black and gold.

These two teams have completely different looks from what we’re used to.  Everywhere you go, you hear about the high-flying Steelers.  What?!  The Steelers?  Well, it’s true.  Not only have they established themselves as a passing team, the Bus has been impounded completely removing any trace of the ground-pounding offense we used to know.  How many other WR tandems were drafted so close to each other in your fantasy league?  Kansas City has done a complete turn-around too.  They finished last season with the NFL’s worst-rated Defense.  Last week they held LaDainian Tomlinson to 37 yards and enter this week with the league’s #4 defense.  This is definitely the game to watch this week.  Hope you can get it.

Also on Tap

Carolina at Tampa Bay                            Sun. September 14 @ 4:05pm ET on Fox

Summary:  Maybe this will be the defensive battle that we thought we would see last Monday night.

Hot Tip: You gotta love watching Joe Jurevicius quietly go about his business.  His two touchdown catches last week were among the best you’ll see all year.

Whether you expected to see this game here or not, it belongs here.  It’ll definitely be better than the beating that Tampa Bay delivered to Philadelphia last Monday.  I’m not jumping on the Carolina bandwagon just yet but you have to give them credit.  The offense just looked good.  The Tampa D will certainly prove a much greater test than Jacksonville’s but at the same time, Carolina’s D should hold their own.  In the end, it’ll be a tough, hard-nosed game that you’ll enjoy watching, I promise.

Dallas at NY Giants                                     Mon. September 15 @ 9:00pm ET on ABC

Summary:  Return of the Tuna.

Hot Tip:  Joey Galloway had an excellent season opener (7 catches for 139 yds).  Expect the Cowboys to be playing from behind, which could spell another good game for him.

Besides being a matchup of division rivals on Monday Night, this one has the added feature of Bill Parcells returning to New York.  He’s done plenty of the “Tuna Returns” nights by now, but it never seems to get old, especially hearing him get booed on national television.

As for the game, don’t be surprised if it’s a good one.  In losing to Atlanta last week, Quincy Carter threw for a career high 268 yards.  If he can settle down and make less mistakes, the Cowboys D might just contain the Giants enough to make this a game.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a Game to Watch but hey, I’m still happy just to be watching football…