What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football – Week Three
Well thanks for asking! I went 4-1 for the second straight week in my leagues and I… oh, you didn’t mean “what happened this week in fantasy football” for my teams, did you? Fine, here’s a huge overview of all the fantasy football events that transpired in an exciting week 3:
(updated before the Sunday Night Game)
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Green Bay Packers vs. Washington Redskins
Rodgers punched in and got a 265-2-0 stat line. Davante Adams’ caught 7 balls and scored a touchdown. Geronimo Allison may have entered fantasy relevance finally, catching a deep bomb for a TD. Don’t get too excited: He only caught one other pass and got just 4 targets. Green Bay’s defense managed just a point and is unstartable EVEN THOUGH they play Buffalo next week.
Who could’ve predicted Washington’s defense would score 7 on Green Bay, thanks to 4 sacks and a fumble recovery. Probably no one started them, but those sacks are promising. Adrian Peterson put up a great statline with 120 yards and 2 touchdowns. Alex Smith proved startable at 220-2-1. Crowder and Richardson caught TDs, but only had 6 catches combined, so are only a desperation flex move still.
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Cleveland Browns vs. New York Jets
Jarvis Landry and Carlos Hyde did great, putting up a combined 200 yards. Don’t get excited about Baker Mayfield, his skills on the field haven’t yet shown they translate to fantasy success. Njoku did nothing and is droppable. Cleveland’s defense racked up double digits in most leagues and are a solid matchup-based start.
On the Jets, Isaiah Crowell was the only good start, scoring 17 points in HPPR. Powell still shows that he has the high floor that usually accompanies a great pass-catching back, despite not actually catching a pass (he rushed for 73 yards).
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears
Arizona continued to underperform, both in real life and fantasy. David Johnson salvaged his day with a 21-yard TD catch, but had 40 total yards otherwise. Fitzgerald had two catches and should be benched (but not dropped) for now. Josh Rosen was sent into the game to try to win it, late, so pick him up if you are in a deep 2-QB league. Ricky Seals-Jones had a 35-yard TD, but it was his only catch so I hope you don’t have to rely on him every week.
Jordan Howard was the only offensive player on Chicago who did anything, going for 81 total yards and a score. Trey Burton was mediocre but not bad, catching 4 balls for 55 yards. The defense scored 4 sacks and 4 turnovers, and have emerged as a regular starting option.
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints
Matt Ryan and Calvin Ridley were fantasy monsters. Ryan went for 374-5-0, with 146 of those yards and 3 of those touchdowns going to Ridley. Julio Jones had just under 100 receiving yards and continued to not score any TDs. Tevin Coleman scored a touchdown, but only had 47 total yards. Austin Hooper reminded everyone who picked him up why he was available in the first place, catching 3 balls for 23 yards.
Drew Brees also scored 5 TDs, although two of them came from rushing. Kamara had 15 freaking catches and 190 total yards. Michael Thomas had 10 catches for 129 yards. Ben Watson proved okay as a tight-end fill-in, catching 5 for 71.
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Baltimore Ravens vs. Denver Broncos
Baltimore’s D got 3 sacks and an interception: Not bad, not great. Buck Allen vultured 2 TDs. Alex Collins was so-so with 70 rushing yards and a touchdown. John Brown proved to be a consistent force, catching 5 balls for 86 yards.
Denver had Phillip Lindsay ejected early for jumping onto a pile and throwing punches. Royce Freeman sort-of took advantage of his absense, scoring a rushing TD but only getting 58 total yards. Emmanuel Sanders yet agin proved he is the go-to fantasy option over Demaryius Thomas: Both caught 5 passes and, although DT had 25 more receiving yards than Sanders, Sanders added a 35 yard touchdown rush. Denver’s D had 2 sacks and 2 blocked kicks… but their lack of turnovers cements them as a fill-in, only.
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Carolina Panthers vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Panthers defense, a popular start, scored 10 points as Dalton regressed towards the mean. Cam Newton had 4 touchdowns, McCaffrey had a whopping 184 yards… rushing. Funchess caught 4 passes for 67 yards and a TD, but still is only a by week flex option.
Dalton through 2 TDs ad 4 interceptions, leaving him with a middle-of-the-road statline in a down week for QBs. Gio Bernard got 86 total yards and a touchdowns, a must-start if Mixon continues to be out, but a bench/FA player otherwise. Tyler Boyd went 6-132-1 and might be an every week starter if Green’s groin injury sidelines him for more than a week.
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Dallas Cowboys vs. Seattle Seahawks
Ezekiel Elliott had 127 rushing yards. Nobody else on the Cowboys was worth starting, not even their defense.
Seattle’s defense was great, scoring 15 points in standard leagues. Lockett caght a 52 yard TD, and Chris Carson finally broke out with 100 rushing yards and a touchdown. Wilson did okay, but not great, going 192-2-0 with no rushing yards
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Houston Texans vs. New York Giants
Houston’s D underperformed against a suspect Giants line, getting 4 sacks but no turnovers. DeShaun Watson finally delivered a great game with 345 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Fuller showed the goods he flashed last year, topping 100 receiving yards and scoring. Lamar Miller had a horrible rushing day (10 carries for 10 yards), but had 5 receptions and a TD. Nobody else on Houston did anything, nor has any fantasy value.
Saquon Barkley is who we thought he was, chugging for 117 total yards and a TD. Sterling Shepard might be rosterable, going 6-80-1. Evan Engram left with an injury.
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Indianapolis Colts vs. Philadelphia Eagles
For the Colts… everyone underwhelmed. Luck should just be a matchup-based start, at this point. Keep starting Hilton, but his 5-50 line left owners point-thirsty.
Dallas Goeddert should be on your radar: The Eagles rookie TE caught all 7 of his targets for 73 yards and a TD. Nobody else busted out. Clement filled in okay, but didn’t top 10 points. The Eagles D only managed 3 points… but don’t abandon them, chalk it up to solid game management by Andrew Luck.
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Jacksonville vs. Tennessee
Jacksonville’s defense was not great against a wounded stable of Titans QBs. They only had 3 sacks and no turnovers, although they held the Titans to 9 points. TJ Yeldon was a decent emergency fill-in after Leonard Fournette got ruled out in the 11th hour: Yeldon had 44 rushing yards and 6 catches for 46 yards. Keelna Cole underwhelmed with a 5-40 line. No one else did anything, Jax scored 6 points.
Nobody on Tennessee’s offense did anything. Literally, there were no double-digit scorers. Their defense, however, had 3 sacks, a turnover, and held Jacksonville to six points.
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers
Mahomes had another QB1 week. Start him in all formats. Kareem Hunt had a tale of two cities: two rushing touchdowns but only 44 rushing yards on 18 carries. Sammy Watkins had a nice 5-55-1 line. Kelce is still a top 2 TE, topping 110 yards.
Jimmy Garoppolo had a decent fantasy line, but tore his ACL and should be dropped in all redraft leagues. Breida left on an injury scare, but returned and chalked up 117 total yards. Alf Morris had 67 rushing yards and a score. Marquis Goodwin went 3-30-1, but the hype train will pull into the station without Jimmy G.
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Los Angeles Chargers vs. Los Angeles Rams
The first battle of L.A. in 24 years saw Mike Williams potentially start his breakout season, catching two touchdowns. However, he only had 4 receptions, so don’t blow your bank trading for him. Rivers got around 20 fantasy points, and Melvin Gordon had a decent line at 15 rushes for 80 yards and a TD. Nobody else was decent for the Chargers.
Jared Goff had a day which will put him in matchup-based QB1 consideration moving forward: 354-3-1. Robert Woods had 10 catches for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns. Gurley, Cooks, and Cupp all had touchdowns. No dark horses emerged. Rams D hit double digits, continue to start them regardless of matchup.
What Happened This Week in Fantasy Football: Miami Dolphins vs. Oakland Raiders
Tannehill popped for over 300 yards, three TDs, and no INTs. Albert Wilson had a 20+ point line, but don’t FREAK OUT… he only had 2 receptions. Kenny Stills is WR2 startable, don’t get excited at all about Jakeem Grant (2-70-2).
Jordy Nelson (6-173-1) and Marshawn Lynch (86 total yards, 1 TD) have elevated themselves to “strong flex consideration.”
