This a snippet of Adam Pfeifer’s NFL matchups column, previews Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens vs. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs for Fantasy Football Lineups. Fantasy rosters needed protective spray because players were bit hard by the injury bug in Week 2. Multiple starting quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers all suffered injuries this past weekend, with a handful of key offensive linemen also going down. As a result, we missed on plenty in this article, but we hit on plenty, as well. Back on the horse. With that in mind, let’s dig into some NFL matchups and NFL game breakdowns for your Week 3 Fantasy Football Lineups.
To read the FULL column, click HERE.
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Baltimore Ravens @ Kansas City Chiefs
Total: 55
Line: KC -6.5
Ravens passing game
Oh boy, this should be fun. The red hot Lamar Jackson travels to Arrowhead to battle with the league MVP. Jackson has been phenomenal thus far, recording 36 and 34 fantasy points through the first two games. We were all over the Jackson rushing game last week but I undersold him. I said Jackson would rush for 80 yards against the Cardinals. He ran for 120. This is what makes Jackson so terrifying. Last season, if Jackson was rushing for 120 yards, he was only throwing for 120, too. But he is coming off a game where he ran for 120 and passed for 272 yards and two touchdowns, as the Ravens skill-players are more athletic and more talented. While not sustainable, Jackson is averaging a gaudy 0.98 fantasy points per dropback and just looks like a more confident passer.
When these teams met last year, Jackson tossed a pair of touchdown passes and ran for 67 yards on 14 carries. The floor is arguably the highest in fantasy right now and Jackson should be viewed as a top-three option, especially in a game that should feature plenty of points. Kansas City’s pass defense looked much better last week but they are still one of the weaker units in football and surrendered the fifth-most points per drive in 2018 (2.41).
Mark Andrews continues to dazzle and should be a borderline top-five tight end at the moment. The athletic tight end has now recorded consecutive 100-yard, one-touchdown outings and looks to be Jackson’s favorite target. Tight ends are going to remain a huge part of this passing attack. In 2018, Jackson targeted the position 30 percent of the time. In Week 1, that number was at 60 percent. And last week, he targeted tight ends 35 percent of the time, so Andrews is clearly going to remain very involved going forward. His 4.68 yards per route run is first among qualified tight ends so far and while Hayden Hurst’s presence in the running game is keeping Andrews from being an every-down player, it doesn’t matter because Andrews is being targeted on nearly 39 percent of his routes this year.
After playing just 14 snaps in Week 1, Marquise Brown jumped up to 36 snaps last week. It resulted in a team-high 13 targets for 86 yards. He and Andrews have both seen 18 targets through two weeks, easily leading the team. Hollywood has been targeted on around 45 percent of his routes, a massive number, and Jackson’s deep ball looks much improved this year. Remember, he barely attempted the deep ball last season. Kansas City has struggled with outside receivers so far this season, allowing three touchdown passes to the position. And it makes sense, considering their top corner is slot man Kendall Fuller. Brown has emerged as a top-30 wide receiver and while his price has climbed up in DFS, he is still worth consideration in the game of the week.
Outside of that, I’m not really on the Baltimore pass-catchers. This looks to be a concentrated passing attack led by Brown and Andrews, which means the likes of Willie Snead, Miles Boykin and Seth Roberts won’t see enough looks to warrant consideration.
Ravens running game
In a more competitive game, Mark Ingram jumped back up to 45 snaps, despite missing a few plays with a minor injury. He returned to the game and is fine, by the way. His Week 2 production wasn’t great, totaling just 77 yards on 15 touches. However, this is still the lead back in a surging, run-first offense and Ingram is tied for first with six carries from inside the 10-yard line. The Chiefs haven’t allowed a rushing touchdown this year, mainly because opponents are always chasing points against them. But Baltimore is good enough to keep this game close and Kansas City is still allowing 6.0 yards per carry, the highest clip in the NFL through two weeks of play. Justice Hill and Gus Edwards will combine for around five carries but this remains Ingram’s backfield and I think Baltimore tries to establish the running game and keep the Chiefs offense off the field. Ingram is a mid-range RB2 this week.
Chiefs passing game
Patrick Mahomes scored 30 fantasy points on Sunday… in the second quarter alone. The guy is just unstoppable, throwing for 443 yards and four touchdowns in his first game without Tyreek Hill. He truly makes playing the quarterback position look easy. This will probably be his toughest matchup so far but the Ravens secondary is banged up at the moment, as Jimmy Smith (knee) will miss a few more games and Tavon Young was placed on season-ending IR. Regardless, Mahomes is matchup-proof and threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns in this spot last year against a better version of this Ravens defense. We just saw the Arizona passing game post a ton of yards against Baltimore last week so Mahomes and the Chiefs should do just fine.
Holy Demarcus Robinson. After everyone was drooling over Mecole Hardman, it was Robinson who had the huge game, hauling in all six of his targets for 172 yards and two touchdowns. He scored touchdowns of 39 and 44 yards, making some nice catches in traffic. Robinson has the ability to get behind the defense and is an every-down player, logging 68 snaps last week. The Ravens just allowed both top Arizona receivers to eclipse the 100-yard mark last week, making this a better-than-you-think spot for Robinson. If you picked him up off waivers, consider him a back-end WR3/FLEX option with obvious upside.
Hardman, meanwhile, caught four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown, a 42-yard dart. He had another touchdown called back due to penalty but it was good to see the usage and playing time (58) snaps. Hardman lined up in the slot on 29 of his snaps last week and clearly has that home run potential. Finally, although he didn’t have the big game, you have to feel good about the usage from Sammy Watkins. He saw 13 targets last week, giving him double-digit looks in each of the first two games. Watkins remains a top-15 play with Hill still sidelined.
You knew Travis Kelce was going to find paydirt this week after Mahomes missed him in Week 1. The elite tight end hauled in seven passes for 107 yards and a score on Sunday and will remain a huge part of this offense. If you are paying up at tight end this week, Kelce will easily cost the most but his ceiling is higher than pretty much anyone in the league right now.
Chiefs running game
Damien Williams is dealing with a knee contusion and should be considered day-to-day. He has not been a very efficient runner this season, totaling 34 yards on 22 carries and a one-yard touchdown plunge. Williams has played 32.1 percent of the offensive snaps compared to 36.4 percent for LeSean McCoy, who has definitely looked better so far this season. Williams’ receiving involvement has saved him, seeing 11 targets through two weeks. If he can’t suit up for this game, McCoy (who suffered a minor ankle injury) would get the nod and immediately enter the low-end RB2 consideration. It doesn’t matter what the matchup is, whoever gets 15-20 touches in this Chiefs offense is going to be good for fantasy purposes, and it is possible McCoy gets just that. Of course, if somehow both Williams and McCoy sit, Darwin Thompson will get his time to shine, an explosive rookie out of Utah State. He’d be the absolute chalk at minimum price on DraftKings. Keep an eye on the injury reports out of Kansas City throughout the week.
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