Week 3 of the NFL season is here and it offers fantasy football players some very intriguing match ups. Here are some to look for in order to win your fantasy football games this weekend.
The NFL gave us another exciting weekend of games and this week looks to be more of the same. Playoff teams from last year facing off and division rivalry games set up for an action packed Week 3. Fantasy football seasons are in full swing, so here is a breakdown of some major contributors for Week 3 with our start-em and sit-em list.
First let’s take a look back at last week’s list and go over the hits and misses.
Week 2 Hits: Tom Brady (NE) start-em vs. New Orleans, Eli Manning (NYG) sit-em vs. Detroit, Kareem Hunt (KC) start-em vs. Philadelphia, DeMarco Murray (TEN) sit-em vs. Jacksonville, Mike Evans (TB) start-em vs. Chicago, Terrelle Pryor (WAS) sit-em vs. Los Angeles Rams, Travis Kelce (KC) start-em vs. Philadelphia.
Week 2 Misses: Jack Doyle (IND) sit-em vs. Arizona.
Only one real miss last week so let’s keep the good picks coming for Week 3.
Start-em: Matt Ryan (ATL) @ Detroit
Matt Ryan is still in his 2016 MVP form to start the season and that’s why he starts off this week’s start-em, sit-em list. The Atlanta Falcons offense is one of the best in football. They are balanced, explosive, and experienced together. Detroit is going to have their hands full.
Julio Jones is also a nice weapon to have to throw the ball to also. Ryan loves to find his big target in Jones often. Who can blame him? They have a proven track record of success and Week 3 will be no different.
The Detroit defense is feeling very good about themselves after what they did to the New York Giants on Monday Night. Matt Ryan and the Falcons are a much better team and offense than the Giants. Don’t be intimidated by last week’s defensive performance by Detroit.
Ryan doesn’t have a quarterback rating under 100 yet this season and that continues Week 3. There are some big name quarterbacks with questionable match ups this week to avoid, but Ryan isn’t one of them. Roll Ryan out as you normally would in all fantasy football leagues this week.
Other options: Ben Roethlisberger (PIT) @ Chicago and Alex Smith (KC) @ Los Angeles Chargers
Sit-em: Carson Wentz (PHI) vs. New York Giants
The New York Giants are 0-2, but their defense has played much better than their win-less record implies. Carson Wentz is going to struggle Week 3 moving the ball against one of the better defenses in the NFL.
San Francisco 49ers
Wentz entered this season as everyone’s favorite breakout candidate at quarterback and, so far, he has lived up to the hype. He has thrown for more than 300 yards in both of his first two games. I believe that streak ends this week. The Giants have held opponents to under 200 yards passing this season, on average, and Wentz is going to have a tough time topping that.
The Eagles are starving to find any semblance of a running game to help Wentz move the football. Wentz has had to throw the ball 39 and 46 times through the first two weeks. It worked out into a win in Week 1, but the Eagles were handed a loss in Week 2 partially because of their lack of a running game.
Wentz is going to have good and bad weeks. This week is going to be bad. While the Philadelphia offense tries to sort out it’s running game, Wentz is under enormous pressure to carry this offense.
Against a top defense in the Giants, this doesn’t bode well for the young second-year quarterback’s success in Week 3. There are better options available in most fantasy football leagues than Carson Wentz this weekend.
Other options: Eli Manning (NYG) @ Philadelphia and Tyrod Taylor (BUF) vs Denver
Start-em: Ty Montgomery (GB) vs. Cincinnati
I will be the first to admit, I was skeptical of Ty Montgomery to start the season. He has more than answered any questions of both ability and opportunity anyone would’ve had going into 2017.
Sunday night against Atlanta, he was one of the few bright spots for the Green Bay Packers. He scored a fantastic 29 fantasy points and is averaging 24.2 fantasy points through the first two weeks.
Montgomery will be finding his way into the hearts of many more fantasy football fans over the remainder of this season. His value as a receiver, who plays running back makes him the safest running back as long as he stays healthy. Five catches, or more, a game equates to great numbers for your fantasy team.
Not to mention, this week he is going against a Cincinnati Bengals defense who will be without their big-hitting linebacker Vontaze Burfict. Montgomery and quarterback Aaron Rodgers are going to look to capitalize on a defense that is without their starting linebacker and signal-caller.
Even if Montgomery has a bad day rushing the ball, he will more than make up for it through the air. Especially with the injury to wide receiver Jordy Nelson. Rodgers has even fewer targets he trusts, so look for more targets and more fantasy football points in Week 3 for Ty Montgomery.
Other options: Kareem Hunt (KC) @ Los Angeles Chargers and Devonta Freeman (ATL) @ Detroit
Sit-em: Lamar Miller (HOU) @ New England
It is officially time to panic if you own Lamar Miller in fantasy football. Thursday night’s game was a wake-up call for owners who thought Week 1 was a fluke performance. Miller is very close to being ousted as the starting running back in Houston.
D’Onta Foreman is not going anywhere. He and Miller basically shared carries most of the game Thursday and Foreman looked far more explosive. There is a reason Houston drafted Foreman so high in the draft this spring. He is the back of the future for them, and that future is sooner rather than later.
Neither player’s stats look that impressive because the Houston offense was dreadful in Week 2 aside from a big Deshaun Watson touchdown run. Miller will be going up against an always stout Patriots defense and splitting carries. Say no thank you to that fantasy football combination in Week 3.
Other options: Lesean McCoy (BUF) vs. Denver and DeMarco Murray (TEN) vs. Seattle
Start-em: Antonio Brown (PIT) @ Chicago
No one is ever sitting Antonio Brown. However, this is one week where you can expect a performance like Week 1 and not like the one Brown showed us in Week 2. The only thing that might stop Brown from breaking fantasy football scoreboards in this one will be Pittsburgh trying not to run up the score.
Week 2 was a surprisingly quiet week for Brown. He caught five of his eleven targets for only 62 yards. The eleven targets in both Weeks 1 and 2 are encouraging, but we expect more from a top-three receiver in the NFL.
Brown is also yet to find the end zone in the 2017 season. I think that changes this week. He is far too fast and talented a receiver to be held three straight weeks without a score. I’m predicting at least one touchdown this week and maybe more.
Antonio Brown seeing eleven targets from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is a lock to produce for your fantasy football teams Week 3. Especially with Martavis Bryant proving last week that he is back to being the deep threat he was before his suspensions. Brown will play big in Week 3.
Other options: Doug Baldwin (SEA) @ Tennessee and Kelvin Benjamin (CAR) vs. New Orleans
Sit-em: Brandin Cooks (NE) vs. Houston
With the amount of wide receiver injuries the Patriots have had, it’s hard to sit any of the remaining healthy ones. However, Brandin Cooks is on the sit-em list this week. He and Tom Brady have yet to develop a good chemistry on offense, and that has to be worked out before I trust him.
SideLion Report
Cooks was thought to be a great pick last week going back to New Orleans and torching his old team.
That didn’t quite work out.
Brady threw for almost 450 yards and Cooks barely saw any of that yardage come his way. Instead players like Chris Hogan, Rob Gronkowski and Rex Burkhead got the catches.
Not only was Cooks the odd man out in Week 2, but he is a deep-ball receiver to begin with. His fantasy points are erratic, at best, because of his dependence on the big touchdown play. There is nothing wrong with that in fantasy, but until we see it happen on the field, how can he be a top wide receiver play?
Cooks ended Week 2 with only two catches for a minuscule 37 yards. That is not the level of production the Patriots were expecting out of Cooks or fantasy football owners were expecting entering 2017.
There are not a ton of fantasy teams who have a better wide receiver option on their bench than Cooks, but if you do, sit Cooks. The rest of his owners maybe just have to temper expectations and look for bigger games out of other players on your roster.
Other options: Stefon Diggs (MIN) vs Tampa Bay and Alshon Jeffery (PHI) vs. New York Giants
Start-em: Travis Kelce (KC) @ Los Angeles Chargers
I’ve been on the Kansas City offense bandwagon since the beginning so why hop off now. Travis Kelce had a monster game in Week 2 catching 8 passes for 103 yards and a score. More of the same is going to be seen in Week 3 in Los Angeles.
Kelce is quickly catapulting himself into the conversation of top fantasy football tight end. He and quarterback Alex Smith have a great connection working through two weeks. He has done a lot of damage this year after the catch as well which bodes well for continued fantasy success.
The Chargers defense has been good against the run to start the year, so the Chiefs may need to depend more on Kelce in Week 3. Despite what he showed Week 1, Alex Smith is not a gunslinger at quarterback. Kelce is his outlet on most blitz defenses and even a pitch option on some running plays.
The various way in which the Chiefs get Kelce the ball make him very reliable for fantasy football purposes. The Kansas City offense has had two of their three stars perform big in the first two weeks. Kelce will be one of the two this week. Another 100 yards and a score is not crazy to expect out of Kelce in Los Angeles.
Other options: Austin Hooper (ATL) @ Detroit and Evan Engram (NYG) @ Philadelphia
Sit-em: Kyle Rudolph (MIN) vs. Tampa Bay
The Minnesota offense is going to struggle as long as Sam Bradford is out with his knee injury. Kyle Rudolph is the player who is hurt by his quarterback’s absence the most. Week 3 is going to be a difficult one for the Minnesota offense and Rudolph.
Tampa Bay has built a powerful offense, and it’s easy to forget that their calling card is still defense. Kwone Alexander and Levonta David are two of the best linebackers in the NFL. They will be making things very difficult for Rudolph and whoever is under center for the Vikings this weekend.
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Even with Bradford at quarterback, Rudolph has started the 2017 season slowly. He only has seven catches for 71 yards over the first two weeks. One of those games was against the very poor New Orleans Saints defense as well.
If you drafted Rudolph early in your draft he has been a big disappointment. Unfortunately, with the large number of tight end injuries early in the year there may not be a better option for you on the waiver wire this week. Ride out the tough times and hope for more production when the offense is back to 100 percent healthy.
If there is anyone you think we missed that should be on here, leave a comment and keep the conversation going. Good luck in Week 3 everyone!
Next: Fantasy football: Start-em, sit-em players for Week 2
Other options: Coby Fleener (NO) @ Carolina and Hunter Henry (LAC) vs. Kansas City