Week 3 is in the books and here are the main takeaways from last week’s games….Just in case you missed it.
This will include notable targets, snaps, injuries and any other bits of information that I think are useful for any season long and daily fantasy football player.
Texans vs Patriots
This game got out of hand quickly as the Jacoby Brissett led the Patriots to their third regular season win. The only positive takeaway from Houston was Lamar Miller once again saw 25 touches. That makes 32, 27, and 25 touches for Miller through the first three games. For the Patriots, LeGarrette Blount continued his monster start to this season, adding 105 yards and two touchdowns. That being said, Blount is very game flow dependent and if the Patriots get down early at all this season, he will be M.I.A. Gronkowski returned but did not see many snaps and was only targeted once on an uncatchable throw.
Cardinals vs Bills
Anytime your QB throws four picks, you probably aren’t going to win a football game. Palmer clearly struggled in this one but it was encouraging to see Michael Floyd and John Brown both see double digit targets. Larry Fitzgerald still led the team with 12. David Johnson had 22 touches and found the endzone twice on the ground. For the Bills, it is all Shady with Sammy Watkins not on the field. McCoy had 20 touches and rushed for 110 yards and two scores. Robert Woods led the Bills in targets with eight.
Raiders vs Titans
This game was disappointing as both QBs combined for just one touchdown and three interceptions. The Raiders backfield was almost a three way split between Murray, Washington and Richard. Murray did manage to find the endzone on one of his 10 carries. Michael Crabtree had a game-high 11 targets and Amari Cooper had nine. For the Titans, DeMarco Murray continued his work in the passing game catching all five of his targets for 41 yards. He did most of his damage on the ground with 114 yards and a touchdown.
Dolphins vs Browns
Terrelle Pryor had 14 targets in this one which was tied for second most of all players for the entire week. He parlayed that into eight catches for 144 yards and managed to score on one of his four rushing attempts. Pryor will continue to see a big workload until Josh Gordon comes back in week 5. For the Dolphins, Jarvis Landry is a catching machine as usual. He caught seven of his 12 targets for 120 yards and a score. The Miami backfield is an absolute mess without Arian Foster and I would not trust any of them moving forward.
Ravens vs Jaguars
To be honest, this is more of a Ravens game that I would expect. Mike Wallace finally came back to earth with just three catches for 34 yards. Steve Smith led the team in targets with 11 and caught eight of them for 87 yards. The backfield is still a complete split between Terrance West and Justin Forsett, with Forsett getting the only redzone rushing attempt. Dennis Pitta is probably the only Raven to trust from week to week as he is one of Flacco’s favorite targets. He followed up last week’s strong performance by catching six of his eight targets for 42 yards. For the Jags, we finally got to see Allen Robinson start producing again as he caught seven of his 11 targets for 57 yards and two touchdowns. One interesting note is that Marqise Lee now has had seven targets in back to back games.
Lions vs Packers
Matthew Stafford did Stafford things and threw for nearly 400 yards and three touchdowns. The main beneficiary of that is, as always, Marvin Jones Jr. who caught six balls for 205 yards and two scores – beast. Theo Riddick led the team with nine targets but don’t expect that to happen again as they were playing from behind right away. Riddick was on the field for 66% of snaps while Dwayne Washington saw 37%. Jordy Nelson continues to dominate the target share for Green Bay. He caught six of his seven targets for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Three of his seven targets came in the redzone.
Broncos vs Bengals
Trevor Siemian had a monster game throwing for 300 yards and four touchdowns. Do not expect similar numbers from Siemian moving forward. The Broncos are a defensive team that will focus on running the football. Emmanuel Sanders had a game-high 13 targets as him and Demaryius Thomas both went over 100 yards. Sanders caught two touchdowns to DT’s one. For the Bengals, Jeremy Hill rushed 17 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Three of his carries came in the redzone. Gio Bernard also saw five targets in the passing game.
Vikings vs Panthers
The Minnesota backfield situation played out mostly how we all expected with Jerick McKinnon getting 17 touches while Matt Asiata got seven. Kyle Rudolph led the Vikings with 10 targets, catching seven for 70 yards and a touchdown. Cam Newton was off his game throwing three interceptions as the Vikings pressure disrupted him all game long. Kelvin Benjamin put up a solid goose egg with no catches on just one target. I expect him to be much more involved in the soft matchup against Atlanta this week.
Redskins vs Giants
Kirk Cousins threw for just under 300 yards and two touchdowns in a must-have win for the Redskins. DeSean Jackson led the team with eight targets while Reed, Crowder and Garcon each had seven. I have been saying this for three weeks now but the touchdowns will come for Jordan Reed and he has a great matchup this week against Cleveland. Shane Vereen suffered a tricep injury and he is out for the season. Rashad Jennings is expected to return so I wouldn’t be too excited about Orleans Darkwa especially with rookie Paul Perkins lurking. Odell Beckham jr. led the team with 11 targets, catching seven of them for 121 yards. Shepard put in another efficient line of 5-73-1.
Rams vs Bucs
This game surprisingly had a lot of action going on. Gurley finally produced and in a big way. He rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Tavon Austin led the team once again in targets with eight, catching five for 82 yards and a touchdown. For the Bucs, Jameis Winston threw the ball 58 times in this one, throwing for 405 yards and three touchdowns. Mike Evans led the team with 13 targets, catching 10 balls for 132 yards and a score. Charles Sims is without a doubt the work horse here with Doug Martin out. Sims rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown, three of his carries came in the redzone. He also caught six of his eight targets for 69 yards through the air.
Seahawks vs Niners
It is always nice when things play out how we expected. Christine Michael was in a great spot this week with Thomas Rawls and CJ Procise inactive. He rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Doug Baldwin caught eight of his 10 targets for 164 yards and a touchdown and Jimmy Graham also hit the 100 mark as well with a TD. Russell Wilson suffered a knee injury but is expected to play this week vs the Jets. Carlos Hyde rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns in this one but he is another guy who is game script dependent. I like the volume but would not expect many of these games this season.
Jets vs Chiefs
Ryan Fitzpatrick threw six INT’s in this one as Kansas City defense completely dominated. Quincy Enunwa was a popular name with Brandon Marshall on an expected snap count and he did lead the team with 11 targets but the production did not come. For the Chiefs, Travis Kelce showed up with a 6-89-1 line off seven targets.
Colts vs Chargers
We all expected this game to shoot out and for Rivers to be able to put up some points agains the Colts secondary. Rivers was able to throw for 330 yards but failed to throw any touchdowns. Tyrell Williams led the team with nine targets. Williams and Inman both out snapped Travis Benjamin so that is something to monitor moving forward. Melvin Gordon also had seven targets so expect him to be active in the passing game without Danny Woodhead. Dexter Mccluster had just three targets but all three came in the redzone. For the Colts, T.Y. Hilton went for 174 yards and a touchdown off eight catches. Frank Gore rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown as well.
Steelers vs Eagles
I was very surprised at Pittsburgh not showing up in this one. Antonio Brown was the lone bright with 12 catches for 140 yards off a league-high 18 targets. For the Eagles, Carson Wentz once again looked like the real deal for Philadelphia. He threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns. Darren Sproles caught all six of his targets for 128 yards and a touchdown. What is also interesting is that he out snapped Ryan Mathews for the second consecutive week.
Cowboys vs Bears
Brian Hoyer threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to his TE Zach Miller. Jordan Howard took over after the Jeremy Langford injury and played well, rushing for 45 yards and catching four balls for 47 yards as well. Langford is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Ezekiel Elliott got 30 carries that resulted in 140 yards but was vultured at the goal-line by Lance Dunbar, Alfred Morris and Dak Prescott. Cole Beasley led the Cowboys with seven targets. Dez Bryant had six targets and the important redzone target that resulted in a touchdown.
Falcons vs Saints
This game was very fun to watch as teams were scoring points left and right with little defense being played. The Falcons backfield continues to be a time share as Freeman saw 19 touches to Coleman’s 15. What is interesting is that Tevin Coleman received six carries in the redzone while Freeman only received three. Coleman scored three touchdowns from those carries. Julio Jones was obviously being bothered by the ankle as he was a decoy almost the entire game. For the Saints, Coby Fleener finally had his coming out party with a 7-109-1 line. Mark Ingram had a very solid game but for whatever reason the Saints did not utilize him around the goal-line. That is very concerning for Ingram fantasy owners.
