Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season has come and gone. 16 more games have entered the history books. These are games from which we can pluck yet more valuable data regarding players and teams. One such data stream is the Pace of Play, which we began our weekly look at last week. Surely not much has changed over just a single week of action, I hear you say. Well, let’s take a look, shall we?
Welcome to the newest edition of TNF Showdown which features the Steelers at the Browns. I’ll be guiding you through the important aspects to watch in each Thursday night matchup. This Week 3 TNF Showdown features the Steelers at the Browns.
Without further ado, let’s see what the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns have in store for us as both teams look to bounce back from tough Week 2 losses.
Stefon Diggs melted faces on Monday night torching a Titans secondary for 148 Yards on 14 targets finishing as WR1 in week 2 with 44.8 fantasy points. Diggs is the WR1 in all of fantasy and priced $2,200 less than Cooper Kupp, and has only the fifth highest salary on DraftKings. That just does not make sense. Even if Gabriel Davis’ ankle is well enough for him to return, Diggs will see plenty of opportunity to post another potential WR1 overall week against a Dolphins defense that was recently roasted by the Ravens.
Chris Olave has broken the Air Yards DFS Value List! The difference between Olave’s Air Yards Value Score when compared to the player second on the list is the greatest I have charted in the past three seasons I have written this article. Olave’s week two Air Yards totals are gobsmackingly absurd as he amassed 278 Air Yards and has seen the most Air Yards in the NFL this year. He is a recommended play in all formats after overtaking Jarvis Landry on the Saints depth chart.
The Texans’ run defense has allowed over 100 yards rushing to its opponents each of the first two weeks of the season. Last season, Houston allowed the 3rd-most RB fantasy points, and the run defense has not improved by much this season. From the first two weeks, it looks as if Justin Fields will have a lower pass volume and attempting shallower passes often. Montgomery and Herbert will see checkdowns and a high rush volume in a good matchup against a lacking Texans defense.
San Francisco allowed the 26th most fantasy points to TEs in 2021, yielding just 4 receptions to TEs this season so far. The LB corps and safeties, headlined by Fred Warner and Talanoa Hufanga, have been good in coverage and will give the Broncos a hard time over the middle of the field. In the midst of a struggling offense, TE rotation, and facing a good TE coverage defense, Albert O is in a tough bind this week.
Welcome in to the Week 3 Edition of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to RB! This is the place where we talk all things running back streaming. Each week we discuss running back usage, matchups, and waiver opportunities to convert the least amount of capital into a playable running back position on your fantasy teams.
When the Chiefs reached the Chargers’ nine-yard line in the 2nd quarter Thursday, Mahomes threw to McKinnon for a score. In the 3rd quarter, down by three points and at Los Angeles’ 3-yard line, the Chiefs went McKinnon-pass-pass. When that didn’t work, they kicked a field goal rather than try again from the one yard line. A single, late 52-yard 4th quarter run boosted an otherwise muted performance. There are just too many options in Kansas City, and the Chiefs don’t seem to want to commit to Clyde.
Speed. There are few things in the modern NFL more important than speed. Whether it’s 40 times, how quickly a new signing can pick up an offense, or how fast a quarterback identifies a free rusher. You can’t function in today’s game without speed at the forefront of everything you do.
With this in mind, we’ll be taking a weekly look at each team’s Pace of Play.
The perpetually under valued Brandin Cooks resides on the top of the value play list, a place he may as well call home. While some fantasy prognosticators were scared off of Cooks because of a perceived poor Texans offense and the potential emergence of sleeper candidate Nico Collins, both of those narratives were laid to rest week one. Davis Mills was sufficiently average throwing the football posting a 95.2 True Passer Rating (no. 12 among quarterbacks), and Cooks handedly out-targeted Collins 12 to 3. Cooks is a strong play in all formats.
Corey Davis remained the Jets primary wide receiver target despite the off-season hype of second-year wide receiver Elijah Moore and rookie first round pick Garrett Wilson. Davis out targeted both of his teammates and was the Jets’ leader in Air Yards. With Joe Flacco as his quarterback, and Davis likely seeing coverage from all-pro Denzel Ward this week, I’d shy away from exposure but if forced to play him I would reserve him as a cash play only.
Buffalo, this year’s Super Bowl favorite, opened the 2022 season as road favorites against the defending Super Bowl Champion Rams. They lived up to the advanced billing, crushing the defending champs 31-10, and it wasn’t even that close.
Last year, the Bills stopped teams by preventing big plays. This year, it seems they’re going to prevent little plays, too. They completely stomped on the Rams’ revamped offensive line. The Bills defense sacked Matthew Stafford seven times. Last year, he didn’t see his seventh sack until Week 8.
A.J. Terrell finished 2021 ranked No. 1 in Coverage Rating, Catch Rate Allowed, Passer Rating Allowed, and Fantasy Points Allowed Per Target. Meanwhile, Michael Thomas has gone on to play in one game since their Week 13 matchup in 2020.
Amari Cooper had three top-10 scoring weeks last season. Two of those cornerbacks primarily tasked to guard him are out of the NFL. Outside of those games, Cooper had ZERO top-24 performances in 2021.
