WEEK 3 PICKS!

Another 5 - 2 week last week, helped out by shaming Derek into dropping Bryce Young, who would have given his team the victory. Let’s see who The Haters can derail this week.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Kevin vs. Colin
Watson’s #1 & #2 teams face off in the only battle of unbeatens this week. I’ve definitely given Colin’s squad more than enough bulletin board material for them to get hyped up for this one. Both teams have mostly good matchups. One of Colin’s worst matchups is Saquon vs. the Rams but I’m not sure if that defense is legit; they’ve padded their stats playing Houston and Tennessee in the first two weeks. And even if the Rams slow down Saquon, Josh Allen could put up 50 against the hapless Dolphins (in what I think could be Mike McDaniel’s last game as the Dolphins’ head coach. Yes, a week 3 firing would be surprising but they have a long break playing on Thursday and then on Monday next week and why not set the new coach up with a couple of easier games against the Jets and Panthers? Miami doesn’t have a bye until Week 12 and I doubt they want to wait that long to fire McDaniels if things don’t improve.)
I like my chances this week but I like Colin’s matchups more so I’m going pick against myself for the second week in a row.
WINNER: COLIN

DANDYELION DUEL!

Eli vs. Andy
Pride is on the line and the ESPN’s line has this as the blowout of the week! RJ Harvey might be the worst starter in our league and one would think that Tyler Allgeier could get the call over him this week. The one thing going for Andy is that his team does have good matchups this week but I feel like too many of Eli’s guys are also in plus matchups, and Mahomes and Taylor could blow up. If we were going with the spread, I might take the points and pick Wooster but since we’re just making this a straight up call and because we need to continue to boost Eli’s confidence for a late season collapse, I’m going the Commish.
WINNER: ELI

Derek vs. Brett
It’s Deja Vu all over again as Derek has a problem at QB. Derek is to QBs what Patriots GM Eliot Wolf is to WRs; dumping one mistake inevitably just leads to another mistake. Derek got rid of Bryce Young and Cam Ward but he fell for the fool’s gold that is Geno Smith (every QB is going to put up numbers against the Patriots) against a very good Chargers’ defense and now the Raiders are up against a solid Commies D. The QB debacle undercuts what was a solid week for Sadat X with Rome Odunze living up to the hype and Elic Ayomanor was a waiver wire find. The downside for Derek was Rachaad White stealing touches - and, more importantly, goal line carries - from Bucky Irving.
This could be the lowest scoring game of the week as both squads face tough matchups. Brett is going to need Nabers and Kelce to carry his team (and I expect a bounceback game from Travis.) Two of the league’s worst defenses went in opposite directions as Derek picked up a top ranked safety in Brian Branch while Brett added someone named Noah Sewell who is projected for 2.1 points. Still, I’m going to lean towards Jalen Hurts over Geno.
WINNER: BRETT

Dana vs. Player #14
This was supposed to be a battle between Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels but now it’s potentially Jake Browning vs. Mac Jones. Aaron Jones also went down for The Cancelled One but that actually is a good thing as now Jordan Mason is alone as the RB1 and up against the horrible Bengals defense this week. Dana’s big money guys are mostly off to slow starts and I’m not sure that Week 3 will be any better.
WINNER: PLAYER #14

Johnny vs. Brendan
Emeka Egbuka on the bench hurt Johnny again but, let’s be fair, his close loss to For Better or For Wooster was mostly on Justin Fields getting knocked out of the game (and playing horribly when he was in the game.) And Egbuka might be on the bench again this week as DJ Moore vs. the crappy Cowboys defense might be the better move. But it might not matter as Brendan’s stars have great matchups and I wouldn’t be stunned to see the Jags force feed Brian Thomas Jr. to help him bounce back from last week’s performance. I don’t think this one will be as close as ESPN is predicting.
WINNER: BRENDAN

Rahul vs. Bernie
How much longer can Rahul (and the Ravens) keep trotting out Mark Andrews? Granted, Cade Otten’s barely been better than Andrews (and was actually worse in week 1 with a goose eggs vs. Mark’s 1 point) so the Action Award winner might want to look to shake up his TE spot. Only slightly better than the TE position is Rahul now having to figure out which Giants RB to play. Or perhaps Rahul’s clone doesn’t have the same allegiance to the Giants and will be more willing to slot Bill in as the starter as he’s now the best back in the Capitol. The Lamar/Zay stack covers a lot of shortcomings and it only seems fitting that they would deliver a Monday Night victory over Bernie.
Bernie’s This is 4 D lineup (Daniel, De’Von, Davante, and Drake) hasn’t been able to all hit at the same time but they are still a formidable foursome. Tyler Warren is legit, Keenan Allen must have been eating too much deep dish pizza in Chicago because he’s infinitely better this year and Quinshon Judkins might have already taken over the RB1 spot in Cleveland.
The biggest concern is Chase Brown surviving behind a crappy line and with no Joe Burrow for most of the fantasy season. He’s now a touchdown dependent back who has four tough weeks ahead of him. The other concern is the defense - TJ Watt? More like TJ WASHED! Brandon Jones is a common card name if I’ve ever heard one and I still don’t believe that SirVocea Dennis is a real person.
WINNER: RAHUL

Mark vs. Justin
The Champ is sitting at 0 - 2 and already facing a MUST WIN matchup but, luckily for him, it’s against the not-so-mighty McBarge. Mark’s Triple H (Harrison, Hampton, Henry) hasn’t been delivering the smackdown which must have Mark feeling raw. Losing Reed and Ekeler on Thursday didn’t help matters any but, let’s be real, they weren’t exactly helping much when healthy.
As for The Champ, he “lost” JJ McCarthy but the Aaron Rodgers/DK Metcalf stack should do well against the Patriots (as long as Christian Gonzalez is still out.) AJ Brown seems to have settled into Boom or Bust territory but after two busts in a row, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Eagles made it a priority to get him involved more. Part of me wonders if TJ Hockenson might be able to break out against Cincinnati and with Carson Wentz running the offense but I can’t blame The Champ for benching him. This one will be close but I think, top to bottom, Justin simply has the better options.
WINNER: JUSTIN