We say it every week in the NFL, and we say it every season, too. You have to let things breathe. Give it a moment. The fresh season followed that script. Scoring was significantly down in Week 1, and we all cringed when just one game in the early Sunday window last week pushed over the total. Fantasy panic in the streets.
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And in Week 2, we get to cleanse those palates. Just one game in Sunday’s early window failed to meet its posted total. Pinball scoring is so back, baby.
The Detroit Lions fit this theme better than anyone. Last week, the Lions were a nightmare at Green Bay — 13 first downs, 246 yards of offense, just one touchdown (in garbage time). No resemblance to the juggernaut that averaged 33.2 points per game last week.
Of course, the stellar Green Bay defense had a lot to do with that. And Detroit found its footing in its home opener Sunday, blasting the Bears in a 52-21 rout. Detroit sailed for 511 yards of total offense, and most of its primary fantasy options came in for fantasy.
Amon-Ra St. Brown (9-115-3) was unstoppable, reminding the world why he stayed in the first round all summer. Jameson Williams (2-108-1) had a couple of long catches, one for a touchdown. The running game combined for 177 yards, with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery both scoring touchdowns. Only Sam LaPorta (3-26-0) came up short among the target players.
The connective tissue, of course, is quarterback Jared Goff. He was just about perfect against Chicago: 23-for-28 passing, 335 yards, five touchdowns. He wasn’t sacked or intercepted. Maybe they won’t bother to launder his jersey after the game. It’s nice to see validation that Goff can produce big stats without OC Ben Johnson or the linemen Detroit lost from last year. This offense still packs a wallop.
The Detroit schedule is more challenging this year, of course. A bunch of playoff teams on the slate, and fewer indoors games on the road. And after last year’s glorious 564 points scored, there was nowhere to go but down. But we should feel confident in this being a plus unit again, perhaps one of the best five groups in the league.
As for that upcoming schedule, the Lions visit Baltimore next week (get your popcorn ready). After that, it’s Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Tampa Bay.
Goff had the top fantasy quarterback spot when that first window closed (33.96 points), followed by two other bounce-back specials. Russell Wilson (31.30 points) threw for 450 yards and three touchdowns in an overtime loss at Dallas, and Drake Maye (26.30) was fairly clean as New England held off Miami. A key to Maye’s lofty finish was his athleticism — he ran for 31 yards and a touchdown.
Most fantasy managers aren’t looking to start Wilson, of course. We just want to see the passing game survive so we can consider some other options here. Wilson’s shockingly good play (against a Dallas defense that’s leaky, to be fair) elevated Malik Nabers (9-167-2) and Wan’Dale Robinson (8-142-1) to the top five of the receiver board. The Jaxson Dart chants can cool for a moment.
Robinson is a curious case for fantasy. He had a useful 93 catches last year, but they went for just 699 yards (7.5 YPC) and he only scored three touchdowns. Perhaps Sunday is a sign he can do more downfield and be considered as a WR3/4 more consistently.
We also should note that rookie Cam Skattebo had a short touchdown run and 13 touches (59 total yards), four more than Tyrone Tracy Jr. (51 total yards). Neither back will make you forget Tiki Barber, but perhaps this is a full timeshare going forward.
Other Early-Window Booms Week 2
— I never know what to expect from Sam Darnold, but he earned some credibility with an upset win and 395 yards of offense at Pittsburgh. Jaxon Smith-Njigba (8-103-1) was still the target hog, though they made room for Cooper Kupp (7-90-0) after a quiet opener. Darnold’s two touchdown passes went to fantasy afterthoughts Tory Horton and AJ Barner, a league-wide trend in Week 2. The backfield was still a two-headed monster, but this week it was Kenneth Walker III (118 total yards, touchdown) who produced, while Zach Charbonnet (15 carries, 10 yards) went nowhere.
— Not every team in the league has a quality backup quarterback, but San Francisco probably does with Mac Jones (279 yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers). The Niners had a serviceable 344 yards of offense under Jones’s command at New Orleans, with Jauan Jennings (5-89-1) and Christian McCaffrey (107 total yards) both catching touchdowns. Ricky Pearsall wasn’t the target hog I expected, but a 4-56-0 day on six targets isn’t a collapse, either. The Niners take on Arizona next.
— Jake Browning was a mixed bag after Joe Burrow (toe) was forced out of the game against Jacksonville. Browning threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third, the game-winner in the final minute, but he also threw three interceptions. On the plus side, he did make 7.5 yards per attempt, and despite Burrow’s early departure, Ja’Marr Chase (14-168-1) and Tee Higgins (3-56-1) both came in. We’re still waiting for Chase Brown to get going — he was held to 2.9 yards a carry on 16 attempts. No matter who the Bengals start next week against Minnesota, I’ll keep Chase and Higgins close to their usual ranking perches.
— Puka Nacua doesn’t catch a lot of touchdowns, you say? Maybe I can interest you in a 45-yard touchdown run. Mix in Nacua’s usual 8-91-0 through the air and it was another dynamic fantasy score. Davante Adams (6-106-1) also joined the fun in the win at Tennessee, and although Kyren Williams did not score, he did handle 19 touches and collect 80 yards — his weekly floor is always high.
— Although Zay Flowers did not score in Baltimore’s 41-17 blowout of Cleveland, he did absorb 11 of the 28 pass targets, a healthy rate en route to a 7-75-0 line. He might be taking the leap in his third season. Unfortunately for the other Ravens, no one else got past four targets, and the touchdowns went to Devontez Walker (two), DeAndre Hopkins (one) and Tylan Wallace (one). Flowers is probably the only pass-catcher here who can be trusted to see market share every week.
— Travis Etienne Jr. did nothing wrong in his second game, a 14-71-0 rushing log and a touchdown catch. But it was encouraging to see Bhayshul Tuten step up in his second pro game, handling 10 touches for 74 yards and a touchdown. Tuten isn’t fantasy stable as we meander through September, but he might have stand-alone value when bye-week season kicks in next month. And although Etienne is running well at the moment, it’s also possible Tuten could be Jacksonville’s primary back at some point this year. The Tank Bigsby trade actually helped the value of both of the holdover backs here.
Other Early-Window Busts Week 2
— I wrote some nice things about the Jets a week ago, and I’d like to burn all of them. The first-string New York offense was awful against the Bills in a 20-point blowout loss. Justin Fields completed just 3-of-11 passes for 27 yards before a concussion knocked him out of the game in the fourth quarter. Breece Hall managed just 38 total yards and Garrett Wilson capped out at 4-50-0. It’s possible journeyman Tyrod Taylor might need to start Week 3 against Tampa Bay.
— It’s a good thing Dylan Sampson caught a touchdown pass in garbage time, because otherwise his value was moving in the wrong direction. He was limited to seven touches for 19 yards, and fellow rookie Quinshon Judkins was effective on the ground (10-61-0; he also caught three passes). I wanted to believe Sampson’s value could stay strong for a while after eight catches last week, but it’s telling that Judkins played this much in his first pro game. Now we’re definitely thinking about a committee, and it’s tied to an offense that’s below average to begin with.
— You can probably drop Pittsburgh rookie Kaleb Johnson in just about any format. He handled just one touch (for one yard) in the loss to Seattle, and his special-teams mishap gifted a touchdown to Seattle. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh was busy using Jaylen Warren (18 touches, 134 yards) and Kenneth Gainwell (eight touches, 36 yards) in front of Johnson. Maybe Johnson will reenter the fantasy discussion in 2025, but that story is probably weeks away.