Fantasy football Week 3 2017: Top 10 matchups to attack

The NFL is entering Week 3. There are tough fantasy decisions to make across the board. This article looks at 10 matchups to help you win your week.

This week’s slate of games is full of juicy matchups and potential playoff teams doing battle. Fantasy owners will struggle to set lineups because studs are going up against tougher matchups. here are still matchups to exploit.

In Week 2, the matchup that was most targeted was Tom Brady against the New Orleans Saints. Well the G.O.A.T. went out and carved up the Saints secondary. Rob Gronkowski, the other player highlighted as a positive matchup, caught a touchdown and went over 100 yards.

The other quarterback, Philip Rivers, completed 80 percent of his passes for over 300 yards and a touchdown. Not the Brady-type game you’d like to see but he would not have been a reason you lost a game.

One of the three running backs featured played well, specifically in the PPR format that is used for this column. Ty Montgomery had six catches, 110 total yards and two touchdowns against the Falcons. Atlanta continues to struggle against pass-catching running backs.

Tarik Cohen did not match his week one effort but still finished with eight catches and 68 total yards.

Unfortunately Ezekiel Elliott was a total bust and barely mustered a positive output in fantasy. The Denver defense is really good, not just against the pass like last year.

Two of the three wide receivers featured excelled this week. Jarvis Landry felt like he caught 100 passes but finished with 13 receptions for 78 yards against the Chargers. Julio Jones had the bounce back many expected finishing with five catches for 108 yards. It would have been nice to see either find the end zone but they were still 20+ points scorer in PPR.

The same cannot be said for the other wide receiver Cooper Kupp. The Rams leaned on the running game and Kupp only managed three catches for 33 yards. He’s still going to be a productive player, Week 1 was not an accident.

In a similar situation, Charles Clay struggled to perform. The Bills tight end had three catches for 27 yards. The Panthers and Bills both had a tough time finding their offensive footing, and Clay was a victim of that.

The Redskins made the matchup against the Rams defense play out poorly as well. They were only able to muster two sacks against Washington and not a single turnover.

This week will be different. The first two weeks have given us evidence of what teams will try to do and their strengths. The weaknesses have also been exposed. That is where this list will look to target.

10. Cam Newton vs. New Orleans Saints

Until further notice, the quarterback playing the Saints will be a regular occurrence on this list. They have given up over 1,000 yards already in two games this season. Tom Brady was the last quarterback to light them up.

This week the Saints travel to Carolina to play Cam Newton and the Panthers. Newton lost top target Greg Olsen. There are still weapons surrounding him including Christian McCaffrey and Kelvin Benjamin. The Olsen injury should mean an uptick for those two players rather than his tight end replacement.

Newton looked better as a thrower in Week 2 but failed to find the end zone. Buffalo’s defense looks to be a better unit than some expected. Newton still should have exploited them. He has the opportunity to face the worst defense in the league this upcoming week. I’d also look for rookie Curtis Samuel to see an increased role with Olsen’s absence. The speedy rookie will pair with McCaffrey to give Netwon the short yardage, quick twitch players he has been missing.

The Saints will struggle to contain all elements of Carolina’s offense, including Newton’s legs. He has not run as much this year as in the past but will always be a threat down near the goal line.

Newton is the only quarterback on this list. Next up comes a running back by position listing only. He is truly a wide receiver that the team still lists as a running back.