Turns out none of us know a damn thing. So chances are there were plenty of upsets in your league this week. Oh and guess what, in real life football world there were, too! The Bears beat the Steelers and the Bills beat the Broncos. Okay, that’s about it, but still, this was a crazy week in the NFL on and off the field. Players took knees, Richard Sherman took flags, and Aaron Rodgers took names. Here’s everything else you need to know from the soap opera that was Week 3:
Thumbs Up
- How about 26 rushing yards for the Bucs on Sunday? Yep, the Vikings D/ST was relentless, also picking off Jameis Winston three times. All of that was good for nine points in standard PPR leagues, but the real story was Xavier Rhodes completely manhandling Mike Evans for much of the game. The first-round pick lashed owners for an underwhelming 67 yards, and while that is nothing to sneeze at, this is a matchup that favored Evans quite heavily.
- Aaron Rodgers, no words. There’s a whole bunch of milestones to tick off the list here. First overtime win, check. First win when throwing a pick six, check. Defeat all 31 teams, check. It was a big fantasy day for A-Rod, as well, throwing 313 yards and 3 TDs. I could talk about stats all day long, but what he did in this game was nothing short of remarkable. The offensive line was once again dump-trucked, and so was Rodgers himself, sacked six times. It’s just the little things that make this oh so fun, though. Like the two toe-tappers on the sidelines during the game-tying drive that resulted in a beautiful Jordy Nelson touchdown. Or, of course, the 72-yard offsides pass to Geronimo Allison that set up the game-winning field goal. He does it all, and if you drafted him way too early, at least you can justify it (once again).
- It ain’t funny how close I’ve been to adding Jake Elliot into my weekly kicker rankings. And y’know what, after Sunday’s Giants/Eagles game, maybe I will. Elliot, a rookie might I add, slotted the game-winning 61-yard field goal to send the Giants to 0-3. That’s the longest game winning field goal ever, and it’s probably worth mentioning that Carson Wentz looked pretty Hollywood on the final drive himself. It was a 19-yard pass deep right to Alshon Jeffery with seven seconds left on the clock that set up the game-winner. Wentz had previously attempted only three passes in a tied game with under four minutes to go, so a gold star goes to him also.
- The Bengals’ offense was cringe-worthy during the first two weeks, but Andy Dalton and A.J. Green finally shifted into gear on the opening drive of Sunday’s game. Green caught his 500th catch and 50th TD pass against the Packers, and finally gave us the first round numbers we deserve. Quick shoutout to Joe Mixon as well. It’s remarkable what a new offensive coordinator can do, or should I say, a new pair of eyes can see. Mixon’s talent was finally used properly, as he put up his first double-digit load of points (13.1).
- No rookie had ever come into Foxboro and knocked off the Patriots, but DeShaun Watson came *this* close. He went tit-for-tat with Tom Brady all day, and continued to knit some strong chemistry with DeAndre Hopkins. In the end, it was a heartbreaker, but Watson’s 20.1 points ranked him 12th among QBs, ahead of Matt Stafford, Andy Dalton, Matt Ryan and Marcus Mariota. Most importantly, though, it was nice to see a Texans’ QB actually rush for some yards. Watson’s 41 on the day were only 15 fewer than Lamar Miller managed. Silver lining to an otherwise depressing cloud, guys.
- What do we have here, oh right, the Jets D/ST limiting the Dolphins to just six points. Terrence Brooks had two INT’s against Jay Cutler, while the rest of the D laid down seven hits and three sacks. If you’re in the 0.6% of people that streamed New York’s defense, congratulations, you get to look like a genius!
- The Redskins’ running back depth has to be the envy of the league. With Rob Kelley still hurt, Chris Thompson went gangbusters on the Raiders on Sunday night. He rushed for a quiet 23 yards, but his 150 yards in the air were unreal. Cousins loves the screen passes, and if you’re lucky (or your league mates are mentally slow), Thompson is still available in 17% of leagues.
- The Bears’ two amigos were up to their usual antics against the Steelers. It was easily the upset of the week, but no one expected Tarik Cohen to take the opening overtime kickoff down to the 25. If your mouth didn’t fully hit the floor on that play, though, it probably did seconds later as Jordan Howard rushed for a 19-yard walk-off TD. The Steelers D/ST looked completely gassed, but Howard’s 31.4 fantasy points set a new career high. He previously posted 30 points in Week 8 last season.
- You knew what you signed up for when you drafted a 49ers player, but Carlos Hyde certainly made life difficult on Thursday night. He was questionable to start the game, left midway through the first quarter, and looked pretty ho-hum right up until his second-quarter return. And then, things got wild. Hyde rushed for 84 yards and 2 TDs, good for his fourth multi-touchdown game in his career. Fantasy owners saw their season flash before their eyes when Hyde left with a hip injury, but he once again showed he’s worth that second-round pick.
- Todd Gurley now has four more touchdowns than Le’Veon Bell. He’s also really good at football, and if you own him, you’re probably looking pretty fly in your standings right now.
- Looks like DeMarco Murray is that guy who burns you when you bench him but flips you the bird when you start him in your lineup. After a week of injury doubt, I assume the majority of owners sat him against a strong Seattle defense as a precaution. Guess what, you shouldn’t have. Murray rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown, and if you have held off from trading him, now would be a great time to sell high while he still looks like he has some wheels.
- And in Kareem Hunt news, the Chiefs RB now has four plays of 50+ yards. That’s more than any other RB had all of last season. Do these good times ever stop?
- Welcome back to the fold, Kenny Britt! Thanks to lady (bad) luck herself, Britt has been forced into a much larger role following Corey Coleman’s injury last week. He had 54 yards and a TD against the Colts, right in time for the 4% of owners who dropped him to re-add him and pretend no one noticed a thing.
Thumbs Down
- I wrote in my Week 3 rankings that we would finally find out exactly what Cam Newton was made of against the Saints this week. Turns out… not much. He was disheveled for much of the game, throwing 3 INTs and just 167 yards against the Saints. Oh and get this, Derek Anderson replaced him in the fourth quarter. The saving grace for owners was a rushing TD to take his game total to 8.3 points, but really, if you weren’t considering a Carson Wentz waiver wire add before, you probably should be now.
- The Buccaneers Defense/ST had a few casualties on IR heading into Week 3. News broke hours before game tiem that Kwon Alexander, Chris Baker, Gerald McCoy, Jacquies Smith and Brent Grimes would all be questiobable to play, so it only made sense for owners to start Stefon Diggs. If you did so, Diggs probably won you your match up single-handedly. How do 173 yards and 2 TDs sound? How does it sound knowing Case Keenum threw 369 yards himself? Bad day for Bucs owners, but they could redeem themselves next week against the Giants’ shoddy offensive line.
- No surprise here: Phillip Rivers is 1-6 in games where he throws 3 INTs or more. He’s completed less than 50% of his passes just 14 times in his career, and since a lot of owners opted to start him over guys like Russell Wilson on Sunday, you can bet that’s the last time they make that same silly mistake.
- The Seahawks/Titans game finished 33-27, but don’t let that score distract you from the fact that the Seahawks D/ST was pretty awful for much of the game. The Titans were meant to struggle on the ground game, but Tennessee still rushed for 195 yards and a touchdown on just 35 carries. Things weren’t much better in the air either, as Rishard Matthews managed to get into the secondary after the Titans’ offensive line set up three crucial blocks at the line of scrimmage. Kam Chancellor missed a tackle in the open field, and the Titans went up 16-14 in the third quarter. The Seahawks defense could still be considered Top 10 in the league, but even after Richard Sherman’s unsportsmanlike hit on Marcus Mariota, they still failed to fire up and shut down Tennesee’s offense. Seattle has now allowed 783 receiving yards in the first three games this season.
- The Bills did a nice job of sharing the ball around against the Broncos’ no-fly zone defense on Sunday. Tyrod Taylor threw for 273 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but rookie Zay Jones missed out entirely. He saw two targets all game, and after so much hype following the Sammy Watkins trade, his lousy 39 yards certainly make him close to droppable if things don’t pick up.
- Nasty, nasty day for Jay Ajayi owners. Not sure if it’s a credit to the Jets’ defense, the injury, or just poor playcalling from the Dolphins since he was used on just 11 carries. Either way, his 4.5 PPR fantasy points were the lowest in his 14 career starts.
- I’m gonna go ahead and throw the entire Raiders’ offense on this list. Only two of their receivers had a single reception in the first half, mainly thanks to Derek Carr spending most of the game either on his back or with his own offensive lineman in his face. Jared Cook put Oakland on the board in the third quarter, but it was a very quiet night for Marshawn Lynch, averaging just three yards on six carries.
- Not for the first time, I’ve got no idea who or what Joe Flacco is. Overrated comes to mind, but so do a bunch of other four-letter adjectives. At half time in London he had just eight yards, an INT and finished with the lowest QB rating of his career (0.8). I never thought it was possible to be outplayed by Blake Bortles, but it damn well happened. Flacco was benched in favor of Ryan Mallet, and I encourage you do to the same if you’re an owner. Broken record time: pick up Wentz or even Jared Goff; there’s no telling where this rollercoaster will stop.
- You can’t fault the Chiefs’ gameplan, as they won 24-10. But missing in action was Travis Kelce, who saw just one target for one yard. The realization that Kelce will probably have a handful of games like this going forward is a tough pill to swallow for owners, because it’s obvious Andy Reid wants the ball in either Tyreek Hill or Kareem Hunt’s hands whenever and wherever possible. Still, Kelce has 263 career yards vs. the Chargers, so it was interesting to see him become a complete non-factor on Sunday.
On The Shelf
- You can tell the butterflies in your stomach to hit the road. Kelvin Benjamin left in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Saints with what appeared to be a knee injury. He didn’t return, but he’s said to be “fine.” It’s still an injury to watch, though, especially given his history.
- It’s a good thing LeGarrette Blount decided he wanted to play football again on Sunday rushing for 67 yards and a score. Darren Sproles is now out with a broken arm, which adds a lot of value to the equally impressive Wendell Smallwood.
- The Seahawks really are in the wars. Doug Baldwin sustained a groin strain in Sunday’s loss against the Titans. This could be similar to Jordy Nelson’s quad injury last week, but with some serious offensive line stink going on, it takes away Russell Wilson’s No. 1 threat down field.
- Cardinals WR John Brown missed Monday night’s game against the Cowboys with a quad injury. He’s been massed dropped in the vast majority of leagues, and with no timetable set for return, it’s hard not to set your sights on J.J. Nelson on the waiver wire.
- Finally, Michael Crabtree exited Sunday night’s blowout against the Redskins with a chest injury. These kind of injuries can sometimes turn out to be the scariest – see Jordan Reed if you don’t believe me.
Rockin’ Rooks
We discussed the Bucs’ injuries before, and since you had plenty of fair warning, you should have gone all in on Dalvin Cook. If you did, you would’ve reaped the rewards of not just 97 rushing yards, but 87 receiving yards as well. It might be too soon to say, but ah screw it – he looks like the Adrian Peterson of old. Every single carry he just gets stronger and stronger, literally. Cook put up 82 yards after contact vs. the Bucs, and, well, he could very well be a Top 10 RB by the end of the season. It’s a tough test against a Detroit Lions defense that has allowed just 258 rushing yards and two TDs in the first three weeks of the season, but with Sam Bradford still no guarantee, you can bank on plenty of carries.
Surprise, Surprise
Figuring out who the number two WR is behind Julio Jones in Atlanta is tricky. Mohamed Sanu was the firm go-to man in Week’s 1 and 2, but Taylor Gabriel exploded on to the scene against the Lions on Sunday, showing some of the big play potential he’s really capable of. Even with 79 yards and a TD on just six targets, the knock on Gabriel from a fantasy perspective is that he needs to have that big play in order for him to be worth-your-while. That part is still true, but against the Bills and Dolphins’ defenses over the next three weeks, Gabriel could be a nice flex option if you’re limited at receiver.
Mr. Irrelevant
Not your typical kinda day from C.J. Anderson. Only 36 yards on eight carries with just two targets in the air. Anderson posted 40 yards or fewer on the ground just twice last season, and since Devonta Booker is said to return next week, Denver’s backfield could get a little crowded. Anderson’s longest run against the Bills was 32 yards, and his shortest was one yard – so that gives you an idea of just how awkward his season has been. It’s still too early to jump to conclusions, but the Broncos seem intent on giving Jamaal Charles plenty of carries, especially when the opposing defense calls for some power running.
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