We’re only two weeks into the 2024 season and the injury toll seems like it’s at an all time high.
Not only that but it was upsets galore last week too which served as a reminder that the first month of NFL action is always fascinating.
Teams we were low on come out of the woodwork and surprise the punters (cough… cough… New Orleans) and team that a lot of people were high on often stare at 0-2, 0-3 starts (Baltimore and Cincy mayhaps?).
It’s my job to make sense of it all heading into Week 3 of the 2024 NFL Season and I like to think I’ve done my best.
Here’s where I’ve landed for each game.
Certainly not the records I expected from either of these sides heading into this week 3 match up. Both AFC East sides are 1-1and will be looking to pick up an early divisional win in prime time.
The Jets are $1.38 favourites and I certainly am leaning that way despite the Patriots looking *better* than I expected them to this year with the crew they’ve assembled.
What isn’t looking that good at the moment is the Jets passing game.
Rodgers has 167 and 176 passing yards in both of his first two games and I’m not willing to back him or Garrett Wilson until I see an improvement.
I am willing to back Breece Hall however. Hall has averaged 103.5 all purpose yards and a touchdown in both games this year and I don’t mind the look of his receiving yards line at 30.5.
Hall has been massive in the passing game for the Jets this year with 12 receptions and 91 receiving yards. I like him for 30 and a touchdown here.
He’s flirted with the 60+ rushing line all season so but has hit 50+ in both games so that’s where I’m going.
My Bets
- New York Jets -6.5 @ $1.90
- Breece Hall 50+ Rushing Yards @ $1.30
- Breece Hall Over 30.5 Receiving Yards @ $1.88
Anytime Touchdown Tips
- Breece Hall Anytime Touchdown Scorer @ $1.65
Will Levis v Malik Willis, thank god they’ve hidden this one on the 3am slot.
Willis played well last week credit where credit is due, but it showed me last week that Josh Jacobs is the only Packer I’m willing to back while Love is out.
Jacobs saw 30 touches of the ball while the likes of Christian Watson didn’t even see a target.
I actually think Green Bay win this one, the Titans are proper bad and the supporting cast around Willis should be enough to pick up another win here.
My Bets
- Green Bay Packers @ $2.25
- Josh Jacobs Anytime Touchdown Scorer
- Josh Jacobs 75+ Rushing Yards
The Chargers will come into this game slight underdogs but should have all the confidence in the world after knocking over the Panthers last week.
Pittsburgh are 2-0 with Justin Fields but I’m not holding much stock in those two wins. It’s the Falcons and the Broncos.
The Chargers run game has been incredibly strong to start the year and I’m keen to see if that Quentin Johnston game was a once off last week or if he can actually hang with the big dogs in the league finally.
Chargers to win for me here.
My Bets
- Los Angeles Chargers H2H @ $2.02
- JK Dobbins Anytime Touchdown Scorer
- JK Dobbins 75+ Rushing Yards
I love everything about Tampa this year.
I love that Baker is cooking, I love the how much action Chris Godwin is seeing and I love this matchup against the Broncos this week.
Tampa should wipe the floor with Denver this week and with the injury cloud over RB Rachaad White we could see a breakout game from rookie Bucky Irving.
Buccs to cover, Godwin for another big game.
My Bets
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers -7 @ $1.94
- Chris Godwin Over 60+ Receiving Yards
- Bucky Irving Anytime TD Scorer
Easily one of the games of the week this one.
Sam Darnold is playing well above expectations this year and the Texans look like one of the top teams in the league.
A genuine nightmare of a game to pick a result in, I didn’t give the Vikes much hope against the 49ers last week but Darnold carved them to shreds.
Nico Collins leads the league in receiving yards so far this year and is averaging 126 a game.
He gets his in this game and Justin Jefferson despite tweaking his quad last week should be good to go.
I like those two alpha receivers to have a big game here.
Struggling to pick a result so I’ll take the overs.
My Bets
- Over 46 Points @ $1.90
- Nico Collins To Have 75+ Receiving Yards
- Justin Jefferson To Have 75+ Receiving Yards
- Nico Collins Anytime Touchdown
The Saints have been the surprising team of 2024 so far and after knocking off the Cowboys last week, they now get to take on the other NFC East powerhouse the Philly Eagles.
The Saints are suddenly $1.65 favourites and while the Eagles have looked clunky over the last few weeks, I’m not sure if they will stay down forever.
Eagles WR1 AJ Brown will miss a few weeks with a hamstring issue but I think that Saquon Barkley is too good of an offensive weapon and despite a few key errors against ATL last week and he can put this team on his back.
Value for Philly here, they won’t be underdogs very often this year.
My Bets
- Philadelphia Eagles H2H @ $2.25
- Saquon Barkley Anytime Touchdown
- Saquon Barkley Over 60+ Rushing Yards
- Alvin Kamara Over 60+ Rushing Yards
The Chicago Bears offense has not lived up to the mammoth hype and expectations put on them by the entire NFL community so far this year but have a golden opportunity to turn their luck around this week against an 0-2 Colts side that has allowed an average of 22.5 points a game this year.
Caleb Williams last week faced an incredible amount of pressure against a very strong Texans D-Line and wasn’t able to produce much but I’m willing to give him one last chance in a favourable matchup before we treat him like any other rookie Quarterback.
Early reports suggest Keenan Allen will play in this matchup and that should boost Caleb’s stock a lot and the turnstile of an offensive line should hopefully improve in this one too.
Fingers crossed we see a proper show out from this Bears side.
My Bets
- Chicago Bears H2H @ $1.98
- Caleb Williams 200+ Passing Yards
- DJ Moore 6+ Receptions
- DJ Moore Anytime Touchdown
Both these sides have a lot of issues in 2024 and I don’t see the Giants putting up much of a fight here.
However, rookie WR Malik Nabers should still eat for the Giants.
Nabers saw 18 targets last game alone, which is as many as league yardage leader Nico Collins has seen all season.
Nabers is the only piece of this Giants team I’m willing to bet on.
The Browns have shared the love far too much this year for me to back anyone with confidence either.
No player markets for the Browns but I think they win.
My Bets
- Cleveland Browns -6.5 @ $1.94
- Malik Nabers 75+ Receiving Yards
- Malik Nabers Anytime Touchdown Scorer
After benching Bryce Young, Andy Dalton and the Panthers now have the tall task of taking on a Raiders side who just knocked over the Baltimore Ravens.
Whether you blame Bryce or the Panthers for the last season or a bit I don’t think it matters here.
Raiders 14+
My Bets
- Las Vegas Raiders 14+ @ $3.30
- Davantae Adams 75+ Receiving Yards
- Zamir White Anytime Touchdown Scorer
The Dolphins head into this one as heavy underdogs without Tua and it’s hard to make a case for them here.
Skylar Thompson looked terrible when they threw him in last week and I think this Seahawks defence will eat them alive.
De’Von Achane is the Dolphin to back in this matchup, he saw 30+ touches last week and will be relied on heavily in this game.
Meanwhile DK Metcalf reminded everyone just how good he is and those are the two players calling my name here.
Keep an eye on the injury reports surrounding Kenneth Walker the Seattle RB.
The Dolphins defence gave James Cook a monster game last week and if Walker plays, he could have very similar stat line.
My Bets
- Seattle Seahawks @ $1.50
- DK Metcalf Anytime Touchdown Scorer
- DK Metcalf 60+ Receiving Yards
- De’Von Achane 75+ Rushing Yards
Two teams that have so far underperformed this season who a lot of people have backed as potential Super Bowl winners will do battle in the 6:30am slot here on Monday.
The Ravens offense has kept things rolling the last two weeks but have been very disappointing on D.
Meanwhile the Cows allowed Alvin Kamara to score four touchdowns.
I’m leaning towards Baltimore in this matchup, they’ve been there abouts both weeks and don’t deserve to be 0-2.
Zay Flowers continues to be a reception magnet for this team and I like him for 6+ once again here.
My Bets
- Baltimore Ravens H2H @ $1.80
- Derrick Henry Anytime Touchdown
- Zay Flowers 6+ Receptions
- Zay Flowers 75+ Receiving Yards
The Cards were near perfect last week, blowing out the Rams and there’s honestly a bit of value in them to do it again this week against Detroit.
I had the Lions to win the Super Bowl this year but they just aren’t hitting like I expected them to so far this season and now they have an injured Amon-Ra St Brown.
The Lions WR has played with worse injuries (just watch the Netflix show) but that Kyler/ Marvin Harrison connection looks to be building up a very quick head of steam here.
Cards for another upset this week.
My Bets
- Arizona Cardinals H2H @ $2.25
- Kyler Murray 250+ Passing Yards
- Marvin Harrison Jr Over 75+ Receiving Yards
- Marvin Harrison Jr Anytime Touchdown Scorer
Two teams that have been hit very hard by injuries already this year.
The 49ers are heavy favourites and that’s where I’m looking here. Even though they are without Deebo and CMC, I think they still have enough talent to be competitive this season.
The Rams without Puka and Kupp however, I’m happy to draw a line through.
Big game for Brandon Aiyuk coming.
My Bets
- San Francisco 49ers 14+ @ $2.95
- Jordan Mason 60+ Rushing Yards
- Brandon Aiyuk 75+ Receiving Yards
- Brandon Aiyuk Anytime Touchdown Scorer
After escaping with a narrow win over Philly, the Falcons now host the Chiefs and I’m not giving them much of a chance here.
Sure you could argue that the Chiefs only just escaped with a win over Cincy as well but I think the Bengals are head and shoulders stronger than ATL.
With the news that Hollywood Brown is likely out for the whole year, I’m going to be taking Rashee Rice once again for another big day.
My Bets
- Chiefs -3.5 @ $1.90
- Rashee Rice Anytime Touchdown Scorer
- Rashee Rice 75+ Receiving Yards
We’ve got two games this Tuesday and I’m hoping that this matchup should be pretty exciting.
While the Jags haven’t quite fired on all cylinders yet this year, they’ve certainly showed potential and leaning on Brian Thomas Jr here will go a long way to keeping them in this game.
Lead by James Cook last week the Bills were far too good for the Dolphins and I like them to install a similar gameplan here. Cook has proven he can manage the workload and I like him for another big day here.
My Bets
- Jaguars +5.5 @ $1.90
- James Cook Anytime Touchdown
- James Cook 60+ Rushing Yards
- Brian Thomas Jr Receiving Yards
- Brian Thomas Jr Anytime Touchdown
The Bengals are once again 0-2 to start the year but should find themselves in the winners column this week against a Commanders side that almost let New York of all teams beat them last week.
The Bengals have started 0-2 almost every season of the Joe Burrow era and have found a way to turn things around most of the time and that starts here against the Commies in my eyes.
Ja’Marr Chase has yet to prove to the organisation why he deserves that big contract extension in 2024 but against this Washington secondary, I like his chances for a big game.
My Bets
- Cincinnati Bengals 14+ @ $2.65
- Ja’Marr Chase Anytime Touchdown Scorer
- Ja’Marr Chase 75+ Receiving Yards
Injuries hit us at the wrong time last week but the show goes on. Here is my fantasy multi for Week 3
Just to recap in week 2 we had:
- Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes Over 250+ Passing Yards X
- Runningback: Saquon Barkley 60+ Rushing Yards ✓
- Runningback: Jordan Mason 60+ Rushing Yards ✓
- Wide Receiver: CeeDee Lamb 60+ Receiving Yards ✓
- Wide Receiver: Cooper Kupp 60+ Receiving Yards X
Week 3’s Fantasy team looks like this:
- Quarterback: Joe Burrow Over 250+ Passing Yards
- Runningback: Saquon Barkley 60+ Rushing Yards
- Runningback: De’Von Achane 60+ Rushing Yards
- Wide Receiver: Nico Collins 60+ Receiving Yards
- Wide Receiver: Justin Jefferson 60+ Receiving Yards