NFL Week 2 Takeaways

Quick-Hitting Injury Roundup

QB Trey Lance - San Francisco 49ers

Underwent ankle surgery - Out for the season

WR Jerry Jeudy - Denver Broncos

Considered day-to-day with a rib injury - May not miss time

RB James Conner - Arizona Cardinals

Ankle injury - Not considered a long term issue

RB Tyrion Davis-Price - San Francisco 49ers

High-Ankle Sprain - Will miss several weeks

TE Dalton Schultz - Dallas Cowboys

Knee injury - Considered week-to-week

Takeaways:

Dolphins @ Ravens

It’s Tua Time

Just because a QB has great weapons does not mean they will play well. Take a look at teams like Seattle and Pittsburgh - they both have quality pass-catchers but their QBs cannot take advantage and rarely post eye-popping stats. Tua Tagovailoa, on other hand, just unlocked his full potential in his huge Week 2 performance. Tua threw for 6 TDs and 469 yards in a comeback win that will haunt Ravens fans forever. Tua repeatedly targeted the stud WR pairing of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in what was an all-time collapse for the Ravens defense and new DC Mike Macdonald. Let’s see if Tua can keep the good times rolling in Week 3 against the stout Bills secondary.

There Is no Ravens WR2

Devin Duvernay exploded in Week 1 with a 2 TD performance in a win over the New York Jets. He then opened Week 2 by taking the opening kickoff to the house. As explosive as he is, the only Ravens pass catchers worth rostering are Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews. Duvernay led the rest of the receivers in snaps but is only commanding a 10.34% target share on the season. Rookie TE Isaiah Likely is getting more targets and the team is continuing to use 22 personnel (1 WR, 2 RBs, 2 TEs). Duvernay does not get much playing time and is competing with Demarcus Robinson for snaps and targets.

Commanders @ Lions

Carson Wentz is a Magician

Carson Wentz is the Houdini of our generation. He disappeared for an entire half and then magically reappeared to give fans hope before ultimately losing the Commanders Week 2 matchup against the Lions. He has quickly become a QB to roster in 12-team leagues but nobody likes having to pray for a 4th quarter miracle for their QB to obtain at least get 20 points. I am having flashbacks of Matt Ryan on the Falcons.

There are Three Startable Commanders WRs

As long as the Commanders stay bad, they will throw. That is true for many teams year in and year out, yet they rarely produce multiple viable fantasy options. Washington has a nearly perfect blend of talent and mediocrity to keep drives alive and then ultimately fail to score. Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, and Jahan Dotson are all top-30 in total PPR points through the first two weeks, despite Curtis Samuel running away with the target share lead. McLaurin and Dotson are getting deeper balls, averaging aDOTs of 14+, while Samuel is used shorter with a miniscule aDOT of 3.3. Carson Wentz is supporting all three receivers, in largee part because of insane passing volume. 43.5 pass attempts per game is not wholly unsustainable. Last year the Buccaneers led the league with 43.3. Be ready for some down games but it sure looks like all three Commanders WRs have potential for sustained fantasy success.

Amon-Ra St. Brown is the Future

si.com

8 straight games of 8+ catches. Third player ever to achieve this milestone. That is the only headline you need for the 4th round pick who exploded at the end of last season. The ‘Sun God’ trails only Stefon Diggs in WR fantasy points and is being fed as much as guys like Ja’Marr Chase, Cooper Kupp, and Davante Adams. People will keep making excuses but this will still be his offense when first-round rookie WR Jameson Williams returns from injury. He is looking like a league winner.

No Quit in Detroit

Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions are a fun team. I don’t care if you’re a division rival or if your favorite team is playing them, you have to give them props. This was a lopsided matchup in the trenches with the Commanders being one of the best pass-rushing teams in Week 1. The Lions were missing their three interior linemen this week and while Jared Goff got blasted nearly every drive, the team took a commanding 22-0 halftime lead. The team also combined for nearly 200 rushing yards, and both Amon-Ra St. Brown and D’Andre Swift broke off massive gains. Playmakers get things done. The Lions are going to be a nuisance for a lot of teams.

Colts @ Jaguars

The Colts Can Fix Things

They are no longer contenders, though. Matt Ryan was never the piece this team needed but he had always been good enough to win with talent around him. The Colts were one of the better landing spots but the team is 0-1-1 to start the season. Missing WRs Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce surely contributed to the poor offensive performance but throwing 3 INTs and only giving Jonathan Taylor 10 touches is mind-boggling. The Colts will be better with the return of their receivers but the game plan will have to change. A lone bright spot is the run defense, which ranks 3rd in EPA/play allowed and limited James Robinson and Travis Etienne to 84 rushing yards on 32 attempts. The Texans did not find much success on the ground in Week 1 against the Colts, either. With mixed starts to the season for the entire division, it is still up for grabs and the Colts should have a chance to regroup and capitalize. Even if they make the playoffs, there is not much faith that they can compete with the heavyweights. 

Christian Kirk is the Offense

If you’re going to pay big for a WR, you might as well use him. Christian Kirk was a free agent this off-season and signed a massive 4-year $84 million contract despite often limited usage with the Arizona Cardinals. He is already off to a great start, starting the season with back-to-back games of 6 receptions and at least 17 PPR points. He has accounted for for 26.5% of team target share, 2/3rds of all receiving TDs and nearly 40% of all receiving yards. Let’s not forget that the Jaguars have had the game-script going their way to start the season too, especially during their shocking 24-0 victory over the Colts. This team is going to be put into situations where they need to throw even more, and Kirk is set to benefit immensely. He’s one of the few consistently viable fantasy options on this team, similar to Brandin Cooks on the Houston Texans.

Buccaneers @ Saints

The Bucs Defense Makes Them Contenders

Tom Brady and Jameis Winston were in a heated battle to see who could look worse. In the end, the 85 year old man with no receivers beat out the guy who played with 4 fractures in his back. Truly exhilarating. The Bucs are 26th in the league in offensive EPA/play but comfortably 1st on defense. Brady’s weapons have been injured to start the season, so things should start to turn around a bit on the offensive side of the ball. Regardless, the Bucs are one of the few teams in the league that can stumble into the Super Bowl despite poor offensive performances.

Falcons @ Rams

Arthur Smith Hates Us All

“It’s not fantasy football. We’re trying to win.” That’s what Falcons HC Arthur Smith had to say about the lack of targets for 2021 4th overall pick Kyle Pitts. Currently, Pitts has 10 targets and a 17.5% target share. That is not horrible in relation to the rest of the team but it is concerning considering how quickly the talent thins out when considering Falcons pass catchers. Olamide Zaccheaus and KhaDarel Hodge each have 6 targets, more receptions, and significantly more receiving yards than Pitts. You could chalk this up to variance in such a small sample size but Smith’s comments are concerning for his future. If the Falcons can’t seem to win a game, maybe they should try throwing to Pitts to see if that changes anything.

Seahawks @ 49ers

The 49ers are Smart and Lucky

Trey Lance is undergoing season-ending ankle surgery after only playing 84 offensive snaps this year. He didn’t get a fair shot in the terrible weather during Week 1, and he only lasted a few plays in Week 2. Thankfully, the team kept Jimmy Garopolo and are still going to be playoff contenders this season. Many criticized the 49ers’ faith in Lance when they decided to keep their 2021 starter in Jimmy G. Fair or not, the team lucked out and had the best backup plan in the league. Garoppolo led this team to the Super Bowl in 2019 and the NFC Championship game in 2021 - his two full seasons as a starter in San Francisco. With a lot of mediocre performances, injuries, and QB movement, the NFC is wide open and the 49ers are lucky enough to be at the top of the pack.

Bengals @ Cowboys

Joe Burrow is Shook

I will admit defeat. I had hope that the Bengals would turn things around against the Cooper Rush led Dallas Cowboys but I did not pay enough attention to their devastatingly bad offensive line. As many have correctly pointed out, the Bengals had an unsustainable explosive play rate last year and Burrow did not get sacked nearly as often as he could have. Now, in 2022, per Pro Football Reference, Burrow is currently being sacked on 12.7% of his pass attempts, tied with Daniel Jones for 2nd highest in the league. You would think that a trio of incredible WRs would help make up for that but the Dallas defense was just too much for Cincy to handle. Next week should be a get-right game against the newly non-winless Jets before facing the Dolphins, Ravens, and Saints. The Bengals need to get back on track or they could end up back at the bottom of this division. Officially worried. 

Texans @ Broncos

Get Russ a Cookbook

There’s nothing DangeRuss about Russell Wilson at the moment. Broncos Country is not riding with him. This team seemed nearly complete needing just a QB to try their hand at a Rams-esque Super Bowl run in 2022, but the first two weeks are certainly concerning. Maybe Russ just needs some time to get accustomed to a new team but I think it is fair to say that we all expected much better performances against the and Seahawks and Texans. Russ is actually averaging more passing yards per game than any other season of his career and the team has the 7th highest dropback EPA but 2 total offensive TDs and a combined 32 points is not going to cut it. Russell Wilson needs to start giving us top performances to show that he can compete in this division and make a Super Bowl run. Playing it safe is a death sentence.

Bears @ Packers

Where in the World is Darnell Mooney?

The Chicago Bears passing offense is off to a terrible start. Week 1 was excusable since the team played in a monsoon. Week 2 was not excusable. The Packers have dominated the Bears over the last two decades but this was truly embarrassing. Darnell Mooney is a speed demon and the team’s best receiving option. He caught one of his two targets for a whopping -4 yards on Sunday Night. The offensive line is still struggling so plays can’t always develop properly but Justin Fields has the 8th most time in the pocket, 1.6 seconds, per Pro Football Reference. Either the play calling needs to get better or Fields needs to gain the confidence to start looking downfield. Running the ball, even as effectively as they have done it thus far, is not going to win crucial games on its own. That only works in a monsoon. As long as the Bears continue to play this cowardly brand of football the passing offense is going to be entirely useless for fantasy football. The lone bright spot is that David Montgomery is running well and Khalil Herbert has some upside.

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By Themi Michalakis