Remember when we all forgot about Matt Ryan as a fantasy option? So far this season, he’s proving to everyone that was a mistake.
Ryan has been the best fantasy football player in the first two weeks, accumulating 52.20 points, slightly ahead of week 2’s best fantasy quarterback Cam Newton at 50 points.
Atlanta’s defense just hasn’t developed. That means Ryan will have plenty of opportunities at fantasy points. This season, he’s delivered to the tune of 730 passing yards and five touchdowns.
As with everything, though, matchups help. Tampa Bay and Oakland have proven to be two of the worst passing defenses in the NFL this season. He’ll have another favorable matchup this week when Atlanta travels to New Orleans.
Here’s the week 3 start ’em, sit ’em fantasy football quarterback guide for fantasy football.
Start
Matthew Stafford vs. Green Bay Packers
Stafford and the Lions are going to wear you out. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a Detroit fan, but it would be agonizing for sure.
Detroit was the better team on Sunday. But penalties (Detroit had 17 for 138) derailed the Lions during an upset loss to Tennessee.
But that’s just who Detroit has been for years. The Lions may have more talent but discipline keeps them from winning games they should.
Despite the problems, Stafford still wasn’t too bad against the Titans. He threw only one touchdown, but had two called back due to penalty. The performance wasn’t as good as week 1, but it still was good enough had his team not committed an amazing amount of penalties.
Detroit still will employ a wide-open offense and it gets a favorable matchup this week against a Green Bay team that allowed Sam Bradford to carve them up on Sunday. The Packers looked weak against a quarterback who was only on the roster for two weeks, and something tells me that Detroit will attempt to exploit those weaknesses on Sunday.
Don’t be discouraged by Stafford’s week 2 line against Tennessee. The Titans have a serviceable defense and like to slow down games. Green Bay is different. Expect a lot of attempts from Stafford and a quality outing.
Eli Manning vs. Washington Redskins
Last week I loved Manning’s matchup with the Saints. He only managed 12 fantasy points, but I’m still encouraged by his outing as he managed 368 passing yards, the fourth-most of any quarterback on Sunday.
What’s nice about that, too, is those yards didn’t come in desperation mode either. He was efficient at 32-of-41, didn’t throw any interceptions and didn’t get sacked. He’s going to put up yards, but the key is if he can find the end zone consistently. On Sunday, that was a problem, and his receivers didn’t help, especially when Odell Beckham dropped a sure touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
This week, he should get another start as the Washington Redskins have done nothing to prove it will compete at the same level it did last year. Most anticipated the Redskins would crash down to earth, and so far, that’s happened. The Redskins are in the bottom half of the NFL in passing yards allowed and are allowing 8.8 yards per pass attempt, the fourth-most in the NFL.
Opposing quarterbacks own a QBR of 108 against Washington, and that includes a rookie’s nice week 2 performance.
Washington is proving to us what we all anticipated. Expect Manning and the Giants to feast on the Redskins’ secondary on Sunday.
Marcus Mariota vs. Oakland Raiders
Remember when I suggested to start Mariota last week? That wasn’t necessarily the best play (although he did throw two TDs), but the second time’s a charm. Right?
Oakland’s pass defense is horrendous. It has allowed a league-worst 404 yards per game through the air and 10.8 yards per pass attempt. What makes this an even better matchup is that I get the Raiders coming from west to east at the early afternoon time slot.
That doesn’t bode well too often for Oakland.
I was expecting a better pass rush from the Raiders this season, but that has yet to happen. And it won’t get any easier this week with the mobile Mariota.
I’ll back off the Mariota train for most of the season based on Tennessee’s utter lack of wide receiver talent. But this matchup is too good not to exploit. Mariota should have no trouble being in the top 12 for quarterbacks in week 3.
Sit
Kirk Cousins vs. New York Giants
This is a different defense in New York. That was the thought going into this season and in two games in 2016, the Giants have shown this isn’t even close to the same defense that was torched on a weekly basis last season.
That spells trouble for the reeling Cousins and Redskins.
Cousins isn’t getting any passes from his head coach or teammates and it appears there’s already controversy swirling. He’s been bad this season, regularly missing receivers and not getting into a rhythm.
He’s another case where we anticipated a drop and so far that has happened. I don’t anticipate him to be even close to the quarterback he was last season and that should continue this week.
New York showed last week again that it will be tough on opposing quarterbacks. Drew Brees managed just 263 yards passing.
I’m expecting another tough game for Cousins.
Jameis Winston vs. Los Angeles Rams
I expect Winston to improve this season and I’m not basing this decision only on the week 2 performance against Arizona. That’s a tough spot for a young team. Arizona had its backs against the wall and the Buccaneers were playing back-to-back road games, with a west coast trip thrown in the mix.
So I’m not going to knee-jerk reaction against Winston.
Instead, I’m focusing more on the Rams’ style of play and how that will affect Tampa Bay’s offense.
Los Angeles can’t score touchdowns. Two weeks into their new home and they still haven’t crossed the goal line. That means this game will be slower paced and Winston can’t afford to take too many shots downfield.
Possessions will be at a maximum value, forcing Tampa Bay to play the clock management, running game. This will be a defensive struggle and the Rams have shown a nice ability to stuff the pass once again.
The Bucs may win, but Winston won’t be much more than a game manager in this one.
Tyrod Taylor vs. Arizona Cardinals
I understand that the Bills’ backs are against the wall. And I know I sat Taylor last week and had that thrown back in my face when he went for 24 points.
But I’m not all in on a quarterback who has to adjust to a new offensive coordinator this week and play against Arizona. And the Cardinals just happen to have one of the best pass defenses in the NFL.
Arizona is limiting opposing quarterbacks to a QBR of 65.2, the best mark in the NFL. The Cardinals have been tough on quarterbacks for years and that won’t change this week against Taylor.
I expect the Cardinals to not have as much success on offense this week, meaning this game won’t be a shootout. And Taylor won’t have the opportunity to gobble up a bunch of garbage points like he did last week against the New York Jets.
The Cardinals will be all over Taylor and I expect some turnovers on Sunday.
