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Thursday Night Observations

Strange to be back in regular-season mode again - and so suddenly. One day you're going about your regular life, next thing you know a real game's on, and you're back. The same repetitive, inane commercials, the endless stoppages, the snarky tweets you feel compelled to post. It's like you never left.

The Steelers had plenty of chances, but missed two field goals, botched a first-and-goal from the one-yard line and couldn't recover Dion Lewis' fumble at the goal-line. The Patriots passing game looked crisp, but their defense isn't the same without Darrelle Revis and Vince Wilfork. Tom Brady should be in a lot of shootouts.

• What's the over/under on TDs for a healthy Rob Gronkowski for 16 games, now that he has three in the bank? I'd say it's 17.

• Lewis looks like a quality PPR option, but don't forget about the fumble. One more of those, and he could be banished more quickly than Jonas Gray. LeGarrette Blount is still coming back next week, but Lewis could be Shane Vereen to Blount's Stevan Ridley.

• As a Le'Veon Bell owner, I scoffed at the idea of drafting DeAngelo Williams late. After all, I had Rashad Jennings and T.J. Yeldon in the middle rounds, why would I need Bell's 32-year old backup who's not much of a receiving threat? But Williams looked nimble and fast, and I'd certainly take what he produced over either of my options now. That the Steelers were able to run so well without Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey bodes well for Bell, though.

• After a no-show in the first half, Markus Wheaton made some plays in the second, but as another small, quick receiver, he's redundant with Antonio Brown around. The team missed Martavis Bryant, though without him Heath Miller saw 11 targets and went 8-for-84. He should be a top-12 TE until Bryant gets back.

• Brown padded his stats in garbage time, but he remains the most consistent fantasy wide receiver in league history.

• Ben Roethlisberger played okay, though he would have had zero touchdown passes but for the last second garbage-time pass to Brown.

Speaking of which, what a backdoor push against the spread! I had the Pats, so I wasn't thrilled, but getting the tie with two seconds left prevented a lot of money from changing hands.