I thought the New York Giants were going to romp to victory Sunday night, but a funny thing happened: The Arizona Cardinals played strong defense and stopped them. The Cardinals? Defense? Say what you want about Eli Manning's throwing three interceptions, but the Cardinals had a lot to do with that by applying pressure on the quarterback and forcing mistakes. Fantasy owners seem to care so little about defense -- "reputation" has the Cardinals owned in only 10 percent of ESPN leagues and the hapless Tennessee Titans owned in 44 percent -- but the Cardinals are legit.
I don't often write about fantasy defenses, but the Cardinals' D deserves to be owned in more leagues. The Saints and Bengals defenses do as well. Yes, New Orleans fell behind early Sunday, but the Dolphins have such a strong running attack that they establish it against everyone. The Bengals embarrassed Jay Cutler and Matt Forte, the latter of which I finally realize just isn't as good as the 2008 version of himself. The Cardinals, Saints and Bengals weren't supposed to play great defense, but they are. Buy in, fantasy owners, because you might learn these squads can help more than the defense you currently own.
Even in a week of blowouts, Week 7 was mighty interesting. In addition to seeing three defenses step up, I also learned
• There's just no doubting Cedric Benson. A friend told me he could rush for 189 yards if he were given 37 carries. Oh really? Forget it. Yes, that's a lot of touches, but it's legit. Benson doesn't have any other revenge games this season, but it doesn't matter; I think we have to realize this is a clear-cut top-10 running back. Stop waiting for him to fail. Not only does he currently lead the NFL in rushing, but he's also No. 2 among running backs in fantasy points. He's not going away.
• But there's no doubting Adrian Peterson, either. Fantasy's top running back failed to break 70 rushing yards for the third time in four games, perhaps giving his owners reason for concern. Well, originally I thought Peterson would rush for 2,000 yards because of the Vikings' new threat at quarterback. In reality, he might end up with "only" 1,500 or so because the new threat at quarterback throws so much. But what I like is how Peterson's pass-catching ability has been unearthed. We're in Week 7 and already he is three receptions from tying his single-season high.
• Don't believe everything Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says. Did you start Tashard Choice in a flex spot? Sorry, but Jones' proclamation that Choice was his "choice" ended up meaning nothing. Choice rushed the ball the same number of times Jones did. I rarely buy into coach-speak, and now I wonder why anyone thought to listen to owner-speak.
• The Cowboys' running game takes a back seat. I might rank Miles Austin in the top 10 for wide receivers this week. He really is that good. You had to see him in action Sunday to believe it; he was even beating double-teams. I wonder how many targets Jerry Jones thinks he'll get next week.
• A new Jet takes off. It was a blowout game, so let's not anoint Shonn Greene with top rookie honors yet, but if he gets the touches Leon Washington (broken leg) was getting, he becomes interesting right away. It's a shame Washington's season is over, but Greene's is just beginning.
• A new Cardinal takes off as well. Beanie Wells entered the Giants game with eight fantasy points in five games, but even when I wrote about him as an underachiever last week, I still wasn't ready to give up on him for this season. It's only one game, but Wells should really matter now. It would have been nice if he had gotten that third-quarter touchdown, though, instead of falling short.
• An old Charger sputters. All last week, LaDainian Tomlinson owners attacked me for the blog I wrote saying that the future Hall of Famer at times looked old and slow. Well, against the Chiefs on Sunday, Tomlinson at times looked old and slow. He had eight goal-line carries and not only didn't score on any of them but also was stuffed at the line five times. He'll be an RB2 for me in Week 8 because he looked OK on runs not near the goal line, but he's nothing more than that.
• Stick a fork in Shaun Hill. A number of quarterback changes happened Sunday, but I didn't expect this one. Hill played well in 2008 and seemed a nice sleeper this season. I thought getting Frank Gore back and adding Michael Crabtree would help him. Now we're looking at Alex Smith again? Color me stunned and disappointed.
• Maybe the Eagles stink, too. Philly didn't even play! But the Jets did, and they went to Oakland and stomped the Raiders, 38-0. The Eagles went to Oakland last week and lost. I know the circumstances were different, but the rookie quarterback played capably and the rookie running back did what Brian Westbrook could not. This is another reason why I expect very little from the Eagles in Washington on Monday.