Week 2 had some eye-catching fantasy football performances. Some were positive. However, others were at the other end of the spectrum. With two weeks nearly entirely in the books, the data is starting to grow, and gamers must react accordingly.
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Fantasy Football Week 2 Surprises
The Saints are the Real Deal
Anyone handwaving away the Saints mopping the floor with the Panthers in Week 1 must re-evaluate their stance after they steamrolled the Cowboys in Week 2. New Orleans had 44 points in an efficient showing against Dallas.
Derek Carr completed 11 of 16 pass attempts for 243 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while taking only one sack. Rashid Shaheed had four receptions, 96 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown, three rush attempts and 13 receiving yards. Chris Olave had four receptions, 81 receiving yards, one rush and seven rushing yards.
Still, Alvin Kamara was the showstopper. The do-it-all back had 20 rush attempts, 115 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, two receptions, 65 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.
Carr was sacked only twice through two games, alleviating many concerns about their offensive line. Furthermore, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak continued to use motion successfully.
The New Orleans Saints used motion on 74% of their plays (excluding kneeldowns) against the Dallas Cowboys and averaged 9.5 yards per play with a 61.5% success rate on them.
(via NFL Pro)
– RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) September 15, 2024
Klint Kubiak, Derek Carr, and the New Orleans Saints were playing the Shanahan hits in a huge game against the Cowboys:
*Effective zone run game
*Attacking the middle of the field
*Motion to manipulate the defense
*A deep shot TD off play action pic.twitter.com/zCkG14CDU2– Shawn Syed (@SyedSchemes) September 15, 2024
This isn’t a flukey two-game heater. The Saints are pushing the correct buttons on offense.
The Cardinals are Cooking with Gas
The Saints are the bell of the ball through two weeks. Yet, gamers shouldn’t sleep on how well Arizona’s offense has played. Through two games, they’ve scored a nice 69 points.
Kyler Murray had a perfect 158.3 Quarterback Rating against the Rams, completing 17 of 21 pass attempts for 266 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Of course, passing is only half of Murray’s equation. The speedy quarterback also ran five times for 59 yards. He’s exceeded 55 rushing yards in both games this season.
Murray was arguably the second-biggest story for the Cardinals in Week 2, though. After a quiet professional debut, Marvin Harrison Jr. barbecued the Rams for 130 receiving yards and two touchdowns on four receptions.
Marvin Harrison Jr. we love you pic.twitter.com/GE6a9vVabw
– Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 15, 2024
Trey McBride was also rock-solid. He caught all six of his targets for 67 receiving yards and scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery.
Finally, James Conner was a workhorse. He had 21 rush attempts, 122 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, one target, one reception and two receiving yards. Per Pro Football Focus (PFF), Conner ran 13 routes versus nine combined for Trey Benson and Emari Demercado in Week 2.
Fantasy Football Week 2 Disappointments
The Injury Bug was Out in Full Force
The injury bug feasted in Week 2. It started on Thursday Night Football by claiming Tua Tagovailoa to another concussion. Before games resumed on Sunday, Christian McCaffrey was placed on Injured Reserve (IR) and A.J. Brown was ruled out for Monday Night Football with a hamstring injury. Furthermore, Evan Engram had a freak hamstring injury in warmups, sidelining him against the Browns.
Unsurprisingly, the hits kept coming when, well, the hits were coming on the gridiron. Justin Jefferson‘s quad contusion is unlikely to sideline him. Unfortunately, Isiah Pacheco, Cooper Kupp and Amon-Ra St. Brown have lower-body injuries that could sideline them for a few weeks, depending on their severity.
#Chiefs Isiah Pacheco – Video puts high ankle and Lisfranc on table. Being emotional in locker room may weakly suggest higher severity. High risk of missing Wk 3#49ers Christian McCaffrey – Reportedly ~6 wks out. Likely not full workload until playoffshttps://t.co/SG46zbPq41…
– Deepak Chona, MD. SportsMedAnalytics (@SportMDAnalysis) September 16, 2024
By video @ProFootballDoc believes Lions WR Amon-Ra St. brown avoided major injury despite leaving the game twice with multiple injuries. #OnePride
? https://t.co/2bX1nekFS0 pic.twitter.com/YrqakNGkux
– Sports Injury Central (@SICscore) September 15, 2024
#Lions HC Dan Campbell on the injury status of Amon-Ra St. Brown:
“He’s alright. I don’t think it’s anything long-term, so that’s good news.”
Campbell has a 90% reliability rating on injury coachspeak. We’ll count on Campbell’s timeline if we don’t get an updated timeline from… pic.twitter.com/49b8fVHilj
– The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) September 16, 2024
Hopefully, more information will be available about these injuries before waivers run in fantasy football leagues.
It’s 2022 All Over Again for the Rams
Kupp’s injury is a bummer. Puka Nacua was already on the IR. Their absences would be reason enough to be concerned about LA’s offensive outlook. However, the injuries to their offensive line might entirely derail the offense. Matthew Stafford was sacked five times by Arizona’s underwhelming defense. Moreover, Kyren Williams has rushed for just 75 yards on 30 attempts this season.
Miscellaneous Note
The Cup of Lousy Offenses to Stream Against Runneth Over
The aforementioned Rams are an outstanding offense to stream against because of their injured offensive line and lack of playmakers, while Nacua and Kupp are hurt. They’re only the tip of the iceberg.
The Panthers are the cream of the crop to stream against. Carolina scored 13 points, and Bryce Young threw three interceptions and took six sacks in two weeks.
Bo Nix has taken four sacks and thrown four interceptions versus zero passing touchdowns in his rookie campaign. Nix isn’t the only rookie quarterback taking sacks and stumbling out of the blocks. Instead, Caleb Williams took nine sacks and threw two interceptions, and Jayden Daniels absorbed seven sacks this season.
The Steelers have gotten away with mucking it up, winning both games this season despite scoring only 31 points. Justin Fields has taken four sacks despite attempting only 43 passes. He’ll take plenty of sacks in a negative game script.
Daniel Jones couldn’t even clear 200 passing yards or lead the Giants to 20-plus points against Washington’s pathetic defense. Deshaun Watson is a tire fire. Will Levis is seemingly a lock for a mind-melting turnover weekly. Levis has thrown three interceptions, lost two fumbles and taken seven sacks this season.
He’s not the only second-year quarterback in the AFC South who is allergic to taking care of the football. Anthony Richardson has thrown four interceptions and taken three sacks this year. Richardson also had two fumbles in Week 2 but didn’t lose either of them. Gamers shouldn’t feel compelled to hold any defense through a bye week since there’s no shortage of high-caliber streaming options.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
