Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Los Angeles Rams

Date/Time: Sunday September 26, 4:25pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Rams -1
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 54.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Rams 27.75, Buccaneers 26.75

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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Los Angeles Rams

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Quarterback

Tampa Bay: We’re now through two weeks and Brady is averaging 28 completions per game, 329.5 passing yards, 4.5 touchdowns, and only one interception. It’s truly remarkable what he’s doing on the field and there’s very little reason to assume that it’s going to drop off any time soon. With the passing volume being consistently above 40 attempts/game in this offense, Brady’s a reliable fantasy option every single week that will move up and down the QB1 rankings depending on the matchup. Going up against the LA Rams this week, Brady shouldn’t be able to hit those ridiculous 4.5 passing touchdowns that he’s been averaging against Dallas and Atlanta.

Los Angeles: Do you think the Rams have even thought about Jared Goff at this point? Through the first two weeks, Stafford has thrown for nearly 600 yards and is averaging an absurd 10.7 Yards Per Attempt. He’s consistently looking for the big play downfield and he’s taking advantage of any miscue or slip-up by the defense. He has a tougher matchup in front of him this week against the Buccaneers defensive front that should generate a ton of pressure, but the Bucs are also allowing 2.5 passing touchdowns per game so far. The secondary has taken some hits due to injuries and Stafford should be able to pick them apart. At this point, we shouldn’t be scared off of Stafford due to the matchup and he belongs back in your starting lineup as a low-end QB1.

Running Backs

Tampa Bay: We’re now through two games and we still don’t have much more clarity on this Buccaneers’ backfield situation than we did after week one. After being declared the “starter” by Bruce Arians going into week two, Ronald Jones came out and took a back seat to Leonard Fournette yet again. At this point, Jones cannot be trusted in fantasy lineups across any format. Fournette is seeing the bulk of the work and he’s producing with the opportunity, but it’s still not enough to put him into the weekly RB2 conversation. Moving forward, he’s simply just a volatile FLEX play that you plug into your lineup and hope that he finds the end zone. If you can, I’d look to avoid this backfield altogether.

Los Angeles: At the time of writing, we’re still waiting for clarity on the severity of Darrell Henderson‘s rib injury. Even if Henderson is set to play in this matchup, he probably won’t be operating at 100%. Against the stout Bucs run defense, it’s probably best to leave Henderson on your bench this week unless we get clarity on Friday that he’s 100%. We’ll continue to update as the week progresses. If Henderson is out for this matchup, Sony Michel obviously moves up in the rankings, but he still has a very tough matchup in front of him. He should be viewed as a high-end/mid-range RB3 in that instance. We’ll continue to monitor Henderson’s progress and update as the week goes along.

Wide Receivers

Tampa Bay: Chris Godwin continues to be extremely productive for fantasy football through two weeks. He’s currently on pace for 110.5 receptions, 1419.5 receiving yards, and 17 touchdowns in this prolific passing offense. While we know that he’s not going to reach those insane benchmarks, he’s going to be an extremely reliable fantasy asset moving forward. For week three, Godwin has a very difficult matchup in front of him against the Rams defense that’s allowing the 6th-fewest fantasy points to opposing WRs so far this season, but we can feel extremely comfortable with his volume in this offense. Godwin can be viewed as a mid-range WR2 for week three. Welcome to the Mike Evans Experience, friends! After barely seeing the football thrown his way in week one, Evans took advantage of a plus matchup and came out with a dominant performance in week two. Evans is going to continue to be a very volatile fantasy asset moving forward, so it’s important to not overreact after what we saw from him in week two. He’ll have big games here or there, but he’ll also hurt your lineups in some matchups. Against the Rams this week, it’s probably best to view Evans as a low-end WR2 that has a wide range of outcomes. Can someone please explain to me how the Buccaneers put up 48 points on the Falcons and Antonio Brown only finishes with one reception for 17 yards? After being the hero of week one, Brown disappointed fantasy managers that confidently started him in week two in a prime matchup against Atlanta. Looking ahead to week three, we have to adjust our expectations for Brown and acknowledge that there are going to be some weeks where he takes a back seat to the other talented receiving options in this offense. It’s probably best to view AB as a mid-range WR3 every single week. With this mindset, we can live with the potential range of outcomes. Update: Brown has now been placed on the COVID-19/Reserve list. There is still the chance that he can play in week three, but we’ll continue to update as we receive more information.

Los Angeles: After week one, there were questions regarding whether or not Cooper Kupp would remain Stafford’s favorite target or whether his performance was a product of the matchup that Kupp had on the field. Well, we have our answer: Stafford loves throwing to Kupp. Kupp has now seen 20 targets through two games, he’s caught 80% of them, he’s averaging 16.9 Yards Per Reception, and he now has three receiving touchdowns on the season. He’s been the absolute steal of drafts so far this season and he’s proving that he is not just someone that can be a reliable target underneath. He can also create after the catch, which is evidenced by his 9.2 Yards After Catch/Reception. At this point, Kupp’s a locked-and-loaded mid-range WR1 every single week until further notice. Robert Woods was one of my favorite targets in drafts this season due to his upside in this offense that promised to be high-powered. However, through two weeks, Woods has failed to live up to the hype and he’s taking a clear back seat to Kupp in this offense. While Woods is not completely irrelevant for fantasy football, his upside seems to be gone if Stafford and Kupp have as strong of a connection as they do. We need to move Woods down in our Rest-of-Season Rankings and simply adjust our expectations for him in our minds. As of right now, Woods should be viewed as a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 for week three’s matchup against the Bucs.

Tight Ends

Tampa Bay: It’s difficult to watch what Gronkowski is doing so far this season and reconcile it with the fact that he was retired just two seasons ago. Gronk looks like prime Gronkowski out there making plays in the red zone and it’s translating to top-tier fantasy success. He’s now averaging six receptions, 64.5 receiving yards, and two touchdowns per game through the first two weeks. Yes, you read that correctly…he’s averaging two receiving touchdowns per contest. At this point, there’s no matchup that appears ready to slow down Gronk and his connection with Brady. Fire him up as a mid-range TE1 again this week.

Los Angeles: Tyler Higbee was nearly shut out in week two after posting solid numbers against the Bears in week one. With that being said, he had a tougher matchup against the Colts in week two that traditionally keeps opposing TEs in check. He’s still being heavily utilized in this offense though and was on the field for 59 snaps in week two with running 26 routes (the same amount that he ran in week one). The Bucs linebackers could keep Higbee in check again this week, but he’s still seeing enough opportunity in this offense to warrant low-end TE1 consideration.

FantasyProjection Buster: Higbee ran plenty of routes again in week two, but the targets didn’t go his way. Will that change in week three? If so, he could finish higher than what I’ve given him here.

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Seattle Seahawks vs Minnesota Vikings

Date/Time: Sunday September 26, 4:25pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Seahawks -1.5
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 55.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Seahawks 28.5, Vikings 27

Seattle Seahawks

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Minnesota Vikings

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Quarterback

Seattle: Russ is cooking! Despite just throwing 54 total pass attempts on the season so far, Wilson’s efficiency has been off the charts and he’s now the QB7 on the year. Now, Wilson gets a matchup up against the Vikings defense that is allowing the 4th most fantasy points to opposing QBs this season with an average of 26.9. There’s not a lot to analyze here with this situation, you start Wilson in your fantasy lineups this week.

Minnesota: We need to start adjusting how we view Kirk Cousins for fantasy purposes. Up to this point of the season, Cousins has a 71.6% completion rate, he’s averaging 7.3 Yards Per Attempt, and he has five touchdowns on the season to zero interceptions. The craziest part is that Cousins has also experienced five drops from his receivers, which leaves him with an Adjusted Completion Percentage of 86.3% on the season. He’s playing excellent football and it’s translating to fantasy success. In a game that has a very high over/under, we should see a shootout happen and Cousins could be forced to air it out yet again. He’s an excellent streamer in this matchup.

Running Backs

Seattle: Chris Carson certainly wasn’t overly efficient in week two against Tennessee, but he got the job done for fantasy football by finding the end zone twice. While fantasy managers would love to see him more involved in the receiving game like he was last year, it’s hard to argue with what the Seahawks are doing on offense if they’re putting up as many points as they are. Carson is filling the exact role that fantasy managers drafted him for in 2021. He’s providing a very solid floor for fantasy as an RB2 and he’s still providing weekly upside with how well the offense is performing. Against the defense that’s allowing 126 rushing yards per game currently, Carson should have plenty of room to run here. He can be viewed as a high-end RB2 in this matchup.

Minnesota: Dalvin Cook appears to have escaped from last week’s matchup without a major injury and should be all systems go for this matchup against Seattle. Cook’s coming off of a 130 rushing yard performance himself and now gets to take on the defense that just run for 182 yards against them. Cook’s a top-tier option yet again for this matchup.

Wide Receivers

Seattle: It’s seeming like this Shane Waldron offense was built for Tyler Lockett. Through two weeks, Lockett is averaging six receptions for 139 yards, and 1.5 touchdowns per game. He’s averaging 23.2 Yards Per Reception and a near-perfect 156.3 Passer Rating when targeted. In a matchup this week against Mackensie Alexander, who is allowing a 90% catch rate and 2.09 Yards Per Route Covered, Lockett’s in line for another massive game. Start him as a low-end WR1 this week. DK Metcalf has certainly been quiet through the Seahawks’ first two games. While he saw his target share jump up to an impressive 35.5% in week two, he’s still just the WR36 on the season. Lockett has been the star of the show here in Seattle and we’re still waiting for the breakout performance for Metcalf this year. Against the Vikings defense that’s allowing an average of 38.6 fantasy points per game to opposing WRs, Metcalf has a very good chance of coming through for managers this week. Fire him up as a high-end WR2.

Minnesota: Justin Jefferson has picked right back up where he left off at the end of 2020 and he’s producing excellent numbers for fantasy lineups. In week two, Jefferson saw a fantastic 31.3% target share and he’s now the WR30 on the season after a somewhat disappointing week one performance. Moving forward, Jefferson needs to be viewed as a rock-solid WR1 and he has enormous potential in this potential shootout matchup against the Seahawks. Tre Flowers is expected to guard Jefferson this week and Flowers is currently allowing a 78% catch rate and 1.46 Yards Per Route Covered. Start Jefferson with confidence again this week. Adam Thielen has proven that he was worth taking the shot on at his pre-draft ADP after his performances through the first two weeks. While Thielen’s YPR remains low, he’s still heavily involved in this offense and is finding the end zone with regularity. Thielen should be viewed as a mid-range/low-end WR2 for this game. KJ Osborn has burst onto the scene and is absolutely taking advantage of his increased opportunity in this Vikings offense. Osborn currently leads this entire WR room in receiving yards and he’s moving his way into the weekly FLEX conversation. In a matchup that expects to see the Vikings and Seahawks go head-to-head all the way deep into the fourth quarter, Osborn’s going to be needed. We know he has the upside now and he can be viewed as a low-end FLEX play this week if you’re looking for a spark from your fantasy lineup.

Tight Ends

Seattle: None of the Seahawks TEs should be considered for fantasy football this week.

Minnesota: Tyler Conklin has an opportunity in this offense to become fantasy relevant, but it appears that it’s not going to lead to anything notable just yet. He can be left on your league’s waiver wire.

FantasyProjection Buster: Will Metcalf finally step forward and dominate this week as he has previously? If so, we could see Lockett’s numbers take a hit.

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Green Bay Packers vs San Francisco 49ers

Date/Time: Sunday September 26, 8:20pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: 49ers -3.5
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 47.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: 49ers 25.5, Packers 22

Green Bay Packers

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San Francisco 49ers

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Quarterback

Green Bay: We got the bounce-back performance from Aaron Rodgers that we were hoping and praying for in week two against the Lions, which should give us confidence to start him as a mid-range/low-end QB1 again here in week three. There are still some kinks to be worked out in this Green Bay offense, but against the defense that is allowing the 6th-most fantasy points to opposing QBs, Rodgers is a solid start this week.

San Francisco: At this point, Jimmy Garoppolo could provide you with a safe floor for fantasy purposes, but there’s very little upside with starting the veteran QB. With a spinning carousel of receivers, plus a complete mystery at the RB position currently, it’s best to look elsewhere for your QB2 in Superflex formats.

Running Backs

Green Bay: After spending the majority of week one freaking out, Aaron Jones‘ fantasy managers took a massive sigh of relief after witnessing what Jones did in week two on Monday Night Football. The Packers made it a key effort to get Jones the football and it resulted in 115 total yards from scrimmage and four total touchdowns. The 49ers’ defense is allowing the 7th most fantasy points to opposing RBs this season, so we should see another big performance here from Jones again in week three.

San Francisco: At the time of writing, there is little to no clarity on the San Francisco 49ers RB situation. We know Ja’Mycal Hasty will be out for an extended period of time and Trey Sermon is still in the concussion protocol. Additionally, Elijah Mitchell still has a chance to suit up this week after dealing with a shoulder injury, but that’s also currently up in the air. The 49ers are bringing in multiple RBs for tryouts and they’ve also signed Jacques Patrick off of the Bengals practice squad, so this is about as messy of a situation as you can find for fantasy football. If Mitchell is able to play, you can start him as a low-end RB2. Otherwise, it’s probably best to just avoid this backfield for the time being.

Wide Receivers

Green Bay: Davante Adams bounced back after a rough week one performance and he finished with eight catches for 121 receiving yards. While he still hasn’t gotten into the end zone so far this season, which is how he’s primarily made his mark for fantasy football, he’s still providing fantasy managers with a high floor. Adams should draw coverage from Deommodore Lenoir this week, who has only allowed a 36% catch rate so far this season, but he’s going to have his hands full with guarding Adams this week. Fire up the talented WR as a top-5 option yet again. The touchdowns will come.

San Francisco: As of right now, Deebo Samuel is the only 49ers WR that you can trust in your starting lineup. Samuel has started out the season on fire and is currently averaging 10.5 Yards After the Catch/Reception. He is currently tied with Rondale Moore for the league lead in Yards After the Catch and he has the most receiving yards in the NFL through two weeks. He has a tough matchup this week against the Packers’ secondary that is only allowing an average of 17.3 fantasy points per game to opposing wideouts, but he’s seeing enough volume to offset it. Start him as a low-end WR2 this week.

Tight Ends

Green Bay: Robert Tonyan put together a solid performance in week two after disappointing managers in week one. He was able to reel in a beautifully thrown ball from Rodgers in the end zone with coverage draped all over him and finished the game 3-52-1. While fantasy managers would love to see more than three targets for their starting TE, Rodgers did only throw the ball 27 times in this previous matchup. We should see the pass attempts increase moving forward and Tonyan should continue to provide a very high ceiling. Against the 49ers, Tonyan can be viewed as a low-end TE1.

San Francisco: George Kittle has been a bit of a disappointment for fantasy managers through two weeks. He’s currently just the TE13 on the season and is being significantly outproduced by Darren Waller who was being drafted right next to him in pre-draft ADP. This 49ers offense looks downright dysfunctional right now, but better days should be ahead. Continue to start Kittle as a mid-range TE1 moving forward and hopefully we see a higher target share this week than the 13.3% that he saw in week two.

FantasyProjection Buster: The entire 49ers offense is a complete mystery right now. I’m not going to lie, trying to project it is a nightmare.

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Philadelphia Eagles vs Dallas Cowboys

Date/Time: Monday September 27, 8:15pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Cowboys -4
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 51.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Cowboys 27.75, Eagles 23.75

Philadelphia Eagles

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Dallas Cowboys

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Quarterback

Philadelphia: Jalen Hurts did have a touchdown called back last week, but otherwise he struggled as a passer in week two. He had just a 52% completion rate and zero passing touchdowns. However, he still finished as a top-10 QB option on the week because of his rushing ability. Hurts had 10 rush attempts for 82 yards and a score in week two to buoy his fantasy value and it doesn’t seem like that type of workload is going to cease any time soon. He brings an incredibly safe floor every single week with his involvement as a runner and he now has a very favorable matchup in front of him against Dallas as a passer. Hurts has top-5 upside this week yet again and he should be viewed as a mid-range QB1.

Dallas: Dak Prescott was expected to be a top-5 fantasy QB last week in a potential shootout with the Chargers, but the game ended with a much lower scoring output than everyone was anticipating. As a result, Prescott only finished with 237 passing yards and zero touchdowns to one interception. This week against the Eagles, we should see a much better stat line from Dak as he will almost certainly bounce back. It’s a bit of a tougher matchup on paper, as the Eagles are only allowing an average of 13.5 fantasy points per game to opposing QBs, but we should easily see Prescott do enough to be a top-10 option in this one.

Running Backs

Philadelphia: Miles Sanders has been incredibly efficient so far this season and he’s continuing to see plenty of work in this Eagles offense. However, he has very limited upside every single week due to his involvement – or lack thereof – in the red zone. Through two weeks, Sanders has just one red zone rushing attempt for -3 yards, while Gainwell has the exact same amount and Hurts has two. Sanders can continue to be highly efficient with his workload, but if he’s not going to see an uptick in red zone usage, it’s hard to see how he cracks the top-15 any given week. Moving forward, Sanders needs to be viewed as a safe low-end RB2 option for your lineup. Kenneth Gainwell continues to see work in this Eagles offense, but it’s just not enough to push him into the weekly FLEX conversation. If you do end up starting him, you’re stuck hoping that he finds the end zone and that’s a dangerous game to play.

Dallas: Let’s get this out of the way first: Ezekiel Elliott bounced back and played well in week two. He was highly involved in this dynamic Dallas offense and he put together a solid fantasy performance on 18 total opportunities. With that being said, Zeke’s fantasy managers now have something else to worry about that could affect his fantasy output. Pollard looked fantastic in week two and was highly effective with the increased usage he had in this game. This could have been a part of the game plan for the Cowboys where they were going to focus on the RBs, but Pollard appears to now be a threat to Zeke’s ceiling. Elliott is still going to be fine from a fantasy perspective and he’s quite frankly one of the most consistent fantasy option in the top-12 currently. However, we need to now take notice that we might not get top-5 production out of Zeke every single week if Pollard is going to be this involved. Fire up Zeke as a low-end RB1 in this matchup that should bring you a very safe floor against the Eagles. Tony Pollard did quite literally burst onto the scene in week two and he put up some truly absurd statistics. Pollard averaged 8.4 YPC on his 13 rush attempts, he had 45 Yards After Contact, he found the end zone as a runner, and he also added 31 receiving yards on three targets. He was explosive and decisive and looked like the perfect compliment to Zeke in this offense. Moving forward, Pollard is going to have weekly FLEX value every single week if he continues to see this type of usage. However, he’s not suddenly going to take over this backfield and become a locked-and-loaded RB1. Zeke is still going to be the lead option here, but Pollard’s shown enough to demand more opportunities. In this matchup against the Eagles, we could see Pollard get enough work to justify playing him as a high-end RB3.

Wide Receivers

Philadelphia: DeVonta Smith received a 29.2% target share last week against San Francisco, but he only was able to reel in two of those targets for 16 yards. Last week was a wild week throughout the entire NFL, so I’m not looking to take away a significant amount from this performance by the rookie wideout. He has a much easier matchup this week against Dallas and he should continue to see a significant target share, which is what fantasy managers want to see. Smith can be viewed as a low-end WR3/high-end FLEX play in week three. Jalen Reagor had a long touchdown play called back last week, which would’ve put him in a completely different light for fantasy managers heading into week three. However, this Eagles passing attack is going to be too inconsistent to truly rely on Reagor week to week. He can be viewed as a matchup-dependent FLEX play that could either provide your lineup with a spark or he could completely fall flat as he did in week two.

Dallas: Amari Cooper came back down to earth a little bit last week with the offensive intention to run the football and operate through their RBs, but he also suffered bruised ribs during the course of the matchup. Heading into week three, it’s unclear what exactly Cooper’s availability is going to be so we’ll have to monitor this as we move throughout the week. However, if he does play, he’s still worth starting as a mid-range WR2 even if he’s not at 100%. CeeDee Lamb continues to produce for fantasy managers this season. Through two weeks, he’s now averaging 12 targets, 7.5 receptions, 92.5 receiving yards, and .5 touchdowns. He’s been dominant with the increased role this season and there’s the potential that he sees an even higher target share than what he has been getting this upcoming week with Cooper’s status up in the air. Darius Slay is not a CB matchup that you necessarily want to target, but the Cowboys are creative with the ways that they get the ball in Lamb’s hands. He can be viewed as a low-end WR1 this week.

Tight Ends

Philadelphia: Zach Ertz is currently on the COVID-19/Reserve list at the time of writing, but he is vaccinated so there’s the possibility that he returns for this matchup. With it being on Monday night, we’re probably not going to have the clarity needed before lineups lock to determine where exactly to view Dallas Goedert. If Ertz is out for this matchup, Goedert could potentially finish as a top-5 option in a very favorable matchup. However, if Ertz does end up playing, Goedert has a capped ceiling. It’s probably best to view Goedert as a low-end TE1 until we get more information.

Dallas: At this point, both Dalton Schultz and Blake Jarwin shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than low-end TE2s. Their usage just simply isn’t high enough in this offense to warrant fantasy consideration.

FantasyProjection Buster: Will Hurts struggle as a passer again this week? If so, he’ll need to be super involved as a runner again to reach the projected fantasy point total I’ve given him.

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Kyle Yates is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @KyleYNFL.