Week 3 NFL Fantasy Recap
Started the week off with a great Thursday night game. Maybe not from a viewers’ perspective but it was a good football game! The Dolphins went berserk and set records in the process. The Browns held the Titans touchdown-less. The Lions took care of business and got the W. Packers won in a tight one. Derek Carr got hurt. Chargers were able to hold on and get their first win. The Vikings fall to 0-3. Patriots escaped the miserable Jets, can we please get Garrett Wilson a competent QB?
The Bills destroyed the Commanders…many thought that could be an upset. Not me. The Texans and C.J. Stroud seem to be firing on all cylinders, halting the Jags start to the season and putting them at 1-2. The Colts stole one from the Ravens IN Baltimore. The Cardinals surprised everyone and took down the red-hot Cowboys. The Chiefs had to “Shake It Off” after a slow start to the season and dropped a 40-burg on the Bears and their struggling offense. The Panthers and Seahawks carried into the witching hour in a shootout resulting in a Panthers win.
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49ers vs Giants
The 49ers were the heavy favorite in this game and they looked like it from the start. Got off to a hot lead of 17-3 at half. The Giants made it close for a second in the 3rd quarter but the 49ers pulled away thanks to Jake Moody nailing two late-game field goals and Deebo scoring a touchdown in the middle of the 4th. The Giants couldn’t get anything going. Matt Breida was the leading scorer with 10.8 points. Not much else production.
The 49ers had a much better night. The leading scorers went Deebo (25.1), Christian McCaffrey (22.9), Brock Purdy (20.3), and George Kittle with a nice little 16-point week for his managers who were beginning to lose hope. Purdy threw for 300 yards and 2 TDs. McCaffrey ran for 85 yards, caught 5 passes for 34 yards, and scored a touchdown. Deebo caught 6 passes for 129 yards and had some monster runs after the catch. Search his name on Twitter if you didn’t get to see it. As I mentioned, Kittle had a good night catching 7 passes for 90 yards. He will find the end zone soon!
Titans vs Browns
I can sum up the Titans’ fantasy scores in one sentence. DeAndre Hopkins scored 7.8 points. No touchdowns. No yards. Nothing. The Titans have a lot to figure out. Why is Tyjae Spears out-snapping Derrick Henry??? I have so many questions.
The Browns were better across the board. Deshaun looked much more posed in the pocket this week (minus one play), he threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns but it really should have been 300+. The refs screwed him. 21 points for Deshaun. Amari Cooper had himself a fine day. He caught 7 balls for 116 yards and a TD. He scored 24.6 points. In Chubb’s absence, Jerome Ford put up 2 total touchdowns. 19 points for him but his YPC was not great. Elijah Moore had a respectable day. Caught 9 passes for 49 yards. 11.8 points for him. Browns move to 2-1 without Nick Chubb around.
Falcons vs Lions
Man, Arthur Smith really got us. Keeps harping about his style of offense yet follows it up with scoring 6 points. Great job, Arthur. Bijan having 60 total yards of offense is a travesty. He’s way better than that. Not to mention, Pitts finally had 9 targets but only caught 5 for 41. Drake London had 6 targets but only two catches for 31 yards. Not a good offensive day for the Falcons. Bijan was the leading scorer with 10 points.
The Lions funneled the offense through Amon-Ra and LaPorta. Amon-Ra scored 19.6 points off of 9 catches for 102 yards. He wasn’t the high scorer however as Sam LaPorta caught 8 for 84 yards and a touchdown. Good for 22.4 points. Jared Goff wad the next high scorer. Tossing the rock for 243 yards and a TD as well as an interception, he scored 18 points this week. Jahmyr Gibbs still not getting the usage we were all hoping for, but he did manage to score 9.2 this week.
Saints vs Packers
This one stinks to talk about because Derek Carr suffered a shoulder injury during this one. I haven’t heard the severity of it but it was bad enough to take him out of the game. Only had 100 yards passing and a TD before his exit. Kendre Miller “led” the backfield with 9 carries for 34 yards, not good. Chris Olave was the leading scorer with 18.4 points. 8 catches for 104 yards for Olave. Michael Thomas was the second-highest scorer with 11 points. 6 catches for 50 yards.
The Packers waited until the 4th quarter to show up to the game. Scoreless through three quarters and then all of a sudden put up 18 points in the 4th quarter to win the game. “Love” to see it. Jordan Love led with 24.2 points. 259 passing yards and TD to go with 39 rushing yards and a goal-line TD. Romeo Doubs put together another solid week catching 5 for 73 yards and the game-winning TD. 18.3 points for the young buck. The other two rookies, Jayden Reed and Luke Musgrave, scored 9.3 and 10.9 points. Weird win, but a win nonetheless for the Packers.
Chargers vs Vikings
This one was destined to be a good matchup. Both teams hungry for a victory, sitting at 0-2. Kirk Cousins tried his best to get the Vikings the win but came up short. He threw for 367 yards and 3 TDs. 25.6 points from Captain Kirk. Justin Jefferson had yet again another massive week. 27.9 points from JJet this week. He caught 7 passes for 149 yards and a TD. Mattison helped his managers out compared to the last few weeks, he scored 17.5 on 93 rushing yards and 5 catches for 32 yards. We also got a solid week from T.J. Hockenson who caught 8 passes for 78 yards. Great fantasy week for the Vikings, bad real football week. 0-3.
The Chargers seemed like they were willing to open the entire playbook to get themselves in the win column. Hence, Keenan Allen threw a touchdown pass to Mike Williams. Keenan Allen had a crazy week! 18, yes EIGHTEEN, receptions, 215 yards, yes TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN, as well as a 49-yard passing TD. Allen scored 45.6 points this week. Justin Herbert had a great week as well. 400 passing yards and 3 TDs. Love to see it! Mike Williams looks to be done for the season but went out with a bang. He caught 7 passes for 121 yards and a score (25 points). Joshua Palmer & Donald Parham Jr., if you so happen to play them, scored 14 points each. Solid week for the Bolts, they grabbed their first win of the season and look to build on that.
Patriots vs Jets
There are no ifs ands or buts about it, this one was ugly. You know when the Jets leading scorer had 9.8 points, things did not go well. That would be Garrett Wilson, by the way. Lazard scored just shy of 7 points and that’s about as much of a recap that I can give you. Breece Hall must have gotten lost in week one and Dalvin Cook looks like he forgot how to play football. The Jets need help. And a lot of it. Good luck Jets fans.
The Patriots didn’t have all that much of an exciting week, but they got the win. Their leading scorer was Pharoah Brown…which tells you everything you need to know about the rest of the game. Mac Jones did okay. 200 passing yards and 1 TD. Only 13 fantasy points, however. Not great. You know when Zeke is outscoring Rhamondre things are not going well. Hunter Henry chilled out this week, only recording 2 catches for 17 yards. What an ugly game all around.
Bills vs Commanders
Three recaps in a row that are simply not good games. The Commanders seemed to have forgotten how to play football. More specifically, Sam Howell. Howell threw 4 interceptions in this game. FOUR. Yikes. That’s Nathan Petermann bad. Hard for anyone to have fantasy production when your QB keeps giving the other team the ball. McLaurin had 6 catches for 41 yards, Curtis Samuel had 2 for 54 yards and Jahan Dotson barely did anything with 2 catches for 21 yards. Brian Robinson was at least able to get 70 rushing yards, but no paydirt this weekend. Rough outing for Washington.
The Bills obviously had a much better day. Josh Allen threw for 218 yards, one TD, and a pick. He ended up with 21.3 points thanks to 46 rush yards and a TD on the ground. Solid day of work for Josh. Stefon Diggs has yet to find the end zone this year, but he caught 8 passes for 111 yards on the day (19.1 pts). James Cook is turning into a nice RB-dead zone draft pick. Another solid week from him scoring 13.2 points on 98 rushing yards and a pair of catches. Gabe Davis vultured yet another TD from Diggs, he had one catch for 35 yards and the TD. Bills move to 2-1 and will be facing division rival Miami next Sunday!
Dolphins vs Broncos
I truly don’t even know where to start here…. Rookie RB, De’Von Achane, logged 203 rushing yards, 2 TDs on the ground, 4 catches for 30 yards, and 2 TDs in the air. They were shovel passes but it is still a pass! Hell of a day from the rookie scoring 51 fantasy points! And he wasn’t the only running back who popped off! Raheem Mostert ran for 82 yards and 3 TDs on the ground, while also catching 7 passes for 60 yards and a TD. He scored 45 points! We aren’t done yet! Tyreek Hill had a monster game as well. Tyreek caught 9 passes for 157 yards and a TD. 30.7 points for the Cheetah! Tua had a HUGE day. 300 passing yards and 4 TDs. That is good for 28.3 points. Tua is making an early, strong case for MVP! Can’t wait to see how this season shakes down.
The Broncos are down bad. 0-3 start under new head coach Sean Peyton and things are looking gloomy in Denver. Courtland Sutton did manage to have a solid day. 8 catches for 91 yards and a TD. He also had 2 fumbles, so he could have scored even more. Hold on to the pigskin! Marvin Mims put together a sneaky good week. Not only did he return a kickoff for a touchdown, he also caught 3 passes for 73 yards. Solid 16.6 points for the rook. Jerry Jeudy gave his managers a little gleam of hope, he caught 5 balls for 81 yards, which was 13 points. Not great, but certainly not bad. Hell of a game this one was, if you weren’t able to watch it, I suggest checking out the highlights on YouTube!
Texans vs Jaguars
I don’t know what happened to the week one Jaguars, but the Texans didn’t seem to care either. Trevor Lawrence isn’t necessarily playing badly, just not connecting on the plays they ought to be. TLaw threw for 279 yards and a score. 14.3 points for TLaw. Etienne was the high-scorer reaching 17.8 points. He ran for 88 yards and caught 4 passes for 50 yards. Christian Kirk was the best receiver of the day. 4 catches for 54 yards and a TD in the 4th quarter. Kirk scored 15.4 points. Calvin Ridley dropped a few big throws, which would have turned his day around. Hate to see it. The Jaguars need a bounce back, quick!
I’ll tell you what, C.J. Stroud is beginning to raise some eyebrows. Through 3 games he has 906 passing yards. 280 of them came on Sunday as well as 2 TDs. He scored 20.6 on the day. Tank Dell had yet another impressive week. He scored 25.5 points and caught 5 passes for 145 yards and a TD. Waiver wire gold right there! Dameon Pierce may not be erupting to start the season, as his yardage is way down, but he did manage to score 15 points for you! 31 rushing yards, 3 catches for 28 yards and a score. Not terrible, but also not good. Tough week for Nico Collins managers.
Colts vs Ravens
I did not expect to be rooting for Minshew Mania by week 3 but here we are. In Richardson’s absence, Minshew threw for 227 yards and a TD. Only 13 points this week but he led them to a victory. Zack Moss also played a huge part. He ran the ball 30 times for 122 yards with a pair of catches for 23 yards and a TD. Big day for Moss, scoring 22.5 points. Michael Pittman Jr. has not found the end zone since week one, but he is getting plenty of targets and scoring fantasy points without the TDs. 16.7 for him this week as he strives to be a top 12 WR in 2023. Josh Downs really enjoyed seeing Minshew under center. He had TWELVE targets. 8 of those were caught for 57 yards. Solid 13.7-point day for the rookie if you wound up playing him.
The Ravens always have a flukey game like this. This year, it was the Colts. Lamar did what he could, scoring two TDs on the ground, but it wasn’t enough. 200 pass yards and 11 rushing or Lamar. 28 points from him in week three. Zay Flowers is still seeing plenty of work. 10 targets this week and he caught 8 of them for 48 yards. Lamar stole all of the touchdowns. Mark Andrews had a quiet week, only scoring 7.5 points. Gus Edwards didn’t have a great week and I think he got hurt as well. No one can stay healthy in that backfield. Tough loss for the Ravens here.
Panthers vs Seahawks
I had a feeling that Adam Thielen would be involved in the Panthers offense this season but I had no idea it would be to this extent. Thielen put up 31.5 points! 11 catches for 145 yards and a TD. You love to see that. Andy Dalton started in place of Bryce Young who is dealing with an ankle injury. Dalton threw for 361 yards and 2 TDs. It’s a damn shame they couldn’t pull this one off. D.J. Chark is back in the mix catching 4 passes for 86 yards and a score (18.6 pts). Miles Sanders had a good fantasy day, scoring 17 points mainly off of his touchdown and receptions.
The Panthers were led by Kenneth Walker and his big day. 97 rush yards, 2 TDs on the ground, and 3 catches for 59 yards. Massive 30-point week from KW3! D.K. Metcalf got back into the mix catching 6 passes for 112 yards (17.2 pts). Geno Smith had a respectable day. 296 passing yards and a TD. Kenneth Walker took care of the TDs this week. Geno had 15.4 points this week. Lockett didn’t have the greatest week, only 8 points and 2 of those came from catching a 2-point conversion. Seahawks grab another W and move to 2-1.
Bears vs Chiefs
Chicago is not in a good place right now. Justin Fields seems lost most of the time and plays are not being made. The defense is getting torched. It’s just bad news bears. Get it?? Fields had 100 passing yards. Not even triple digits. Somehow had a touchdown in the mix. Garbage time is worth the same amount as regular time fantasy points. Don’t forget that! D.J. Moore scored 13 points. Followed by Fields with 10.6. Not great. Khalil Herbert is damn near droppable. Good luck, Bears fans.
Obviously, the Chiefs had better fantasy scores. The leader was none other than Patrick Mahomes himself. 272 yards and 3 TDs for 25.6 points. Travis Kelce had to show up as his darling Taylor Swift was in attendance. Kelce caught 7 passes for 69 yards and a TD. He had 20 points. Jerick McKinnon popped up out of nowhere this week. He had 2 touchdowns. 17.8 points for him and his counterpart, Pacheco, had 15.8 points. Pacheco got the bulk of the work with 15 rushes for 62 yards and a score. I thought the Chiefs were going to give my Dolphins a run for their money!
Cardinals vs Cowboys
The Cowboys looked lost. Well, some of them. Tony Pollard was fine. He ran the ball for 122 yards but did not find the end zone this week. 15 points for Pollard. You know when Michael Gallup (15 pts) is outscoring CeeDee Lamb (10 pts) that something weird happened. This entire game was weird so it makes sense. Dak had 249 passing yards and 1 TD. A quieter week for him, scoring 14.3 points. Brandin Cooks did not do much only scoring 3.7 points. He is almost droppable as well.
Steelers vs Raiders
Am I the only one scratching my head about Josh McDaniels kicking the field goal at the end of the game? What was that all about? Whatever. The Raiders are struggling. Well, some of them. Davante Adams had 20 targets! That’s nuts. 13 receptions and 172 yards with 2 touchdowns on the day. 42.2 points for the vet. Love that for him. Jakobi Neyers had a nice game in his return from injury. 15.5 fantasy points from 7 catches for 85 yards. Josh Jacobs still seems to not be his normal self. I would love to see that change.
The Steelers somehow snag their second win. Matt Canada saves his job yet again! I’m literally best friends with many Steelers fans and they all want him gone. Kenny Pickett had his best game thus far. 235 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions! Way to clean it up KP. He also led them in fantasy points with 18.5 on the week. Second to him was Calvin Austin, who posted a 15-point week thanks to his deep touchdown. Pat Freiermuth found paydirt this week. He caught 3 passes for 41 yards and the score. Great fantasy week from him as tight ends are struggling. 13.1 points for him and Pickens also had a decent day picking up 4 passes for 75 yards (11.5 pts). Steelers get a good win but need to figure out their run game.
Eagles vs Bucs
This game simply got out of hand for the Bucs too quickly. They started moving the ball and scoring points, but the Eagles had pulled away. Baker wasn’t quite getting it done this week. 146 yards and one touchdown isn’t going to win you a game unless you have a stud running back. 10 points for Baker this week. Mike Evans was the high-scoring player for the Bucs. He caught 5 passes for 60 yards and a TD giving him 17 points for the week. Everyone else basically took the week off. Godwin only had 8 points, Rachaad White had 7 and after that it was bad. Maybe next week, Bucaroos.
Philly had much better scores across the board. We finally saw A.J. Brown do his thing, catching 9 passes for 131 yards. No touchdown still, which makes me think he is a lock for a TD in week 4! 22.1 points for him and man does that feel good as a fella who has lots of A.J. Brown on teams this year. Jalen Hurts had a solid night, scored nearly 20 points, and had 277 passing yards, a passing touchdown, and a rushing touchdown. Also threw two picks, so he could have had more points! D’Andre Swift had another solid game. 130 rush yards on the week. He didn’t find the endzone but man would that have been a big week if he did! 14.8 points for the budding star this week. DeVonta Smith had a quiet week, scoring 6.8 points. Eagles move to 3-0.
Rams vs Bengals
It is so crazy to me that we are three weeks in, and Puka NAcua and Tutu Atwell are top 14 overall wide receivers in fantasy. Matthew Stafford is different! Tutu scored 17.2 points this week. He was all over the field. He only had one catch for 22 yards but also added on 4 rushes for 50 yards and a TD. Puka came back down to earth a little bit this week. He scored 12.2 but was still able to grab 5 passes for 72 yards. Higbee got into the action a little bit. 12 points from 5 catches for 71 yards. Kyren Williams earned every snap in the game last night but was not very productive. 10 rushes for 38 yards and 2 catches for 27 yards. Rams take the loss, but the offense is still productive without Kupp!
The Bengals got a MUCH-needed win. Despite all of the chatter and opinions about Joe Burrow and his injury status, the Bengals let him go out there on MNF. 259 yards, but no touchdowns this week. Joe Mixon handled that for them. Burrow ended up scoring 8 points, but he was dealing the ball to his playmakers. Ja’Marr Chase is alive and well, thank goodness. He caught 12 passes for 141 yards. Huge 26-point week for him. Mixon continues his super-average fantasy production. 65 rush yards and a TD for Mr. Mixon. Good for 14 points. Tyler Boyd got in the mix with 5 receptions for 39 yards. I almost took the ‘under’ on his receptions at 3.5 so thank goodness I didn’t! Tee Higgins must have had some popcorn before the game because he dropped an unusual amount of passes.
