My favourite thing about recently getting into Fantasy Football seriously is being able to watch and appreciate the NFL. Before 2016, I couldn’t watch a single down of NFL football outside of the SuperBowl. Growing up as a Canadian I’ve always enjoyed the openness of the Canadian game and couldn’t appreciate the NFL. Now, one thing I look forward to every week is being able to sit down and dissect the primetime games on a weekly basis. Sunday’s are always filled with watching NFL Red Zone and jumping from game to game, but those primetime games will bring all fans together for 3 hours to just enjoy football regardless of who’s playing. Here are some players I think you need to keep an eye on during the primetime games of Week 4.
Thursday Nighter
Minnesota Vikings (1-1-1) at Los Angeles Rams (3-0)
You can’t start talking about Fantasy Football and the Rams without immediately talking about Todd Gurley, the man is an absolute stud and with Le’Veon Bell not playing is hands down the best dual-threat RB in the league. He currently sits as the RB3 in the NFL and hasn’t scored less than 23.7 points yet on the season. Gurley in Week 2 scored 32.3 fantasy points while only having 42 rushing yards, of course, he was helped by three rushing TD’s, but it just goes to show how dominant he is in that offence. If the Rams are playing, Todd Gurley is somebody that you should always be keeping an eye on. The Rams clearly have the edge when it comes to running back, regardless whether or not Dalvin Cook plays.
One aspect that the Vikings are better, in my opinion, is at wide receiver, the trio of Diggs, Thielen and Treadwell outpaces the trio of Cooks, Woods and Kupp when it comes to fantasy points gained this season, while a lot of that has to do with Gurley’s dominance on the ground and the Rams not having to rely on their passing game as much. Both teams have good WR’s at their disposal, however, both teams also have amazing secondaries. I expect a very tightly contested low scoring game in this one, despite both offences being strong. Possession will be key in this game and when possession is a focus it usually leads to low scoring games.
I’ll take the Rams in this one, despite a couple injuries on defence, they have a much more balanced offence and I believe they’ll dominate the time of possession.
Rams 21 - Vikings 17.
Sunday Nighter
Baltimore Ravens (2-1) at Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1-1)
We have a divisional matchup Sunday night as the Baltimore Ravens head into Pittsburgh to face off against the Steelers. Baltimore has looked a lot better this season as their offence has improved, although, that’s not saying much due to how bad they’ve looked recently. Joe Flacco is starting to find his groove. Aside from three turnovers in Week 2 against the Bengals, he’s had two clean games where he’s protected the ball and has gotten the Ravens into the end zone and the win column. If the game becomes a shootout between him and Ben Roethlisberger I don’t see how the Ravens can keep up.
I don’t expect it to become a shootout though, because while the Steelers has posted good fantasy weeks, the eye test on them isn’t very good. They get beat deep often and if it wasn’t for Fitzpatrick miss firing on some throws in Week 3, they would’ve got burned badly. The Ravens defence once again looks like one of the best in the league. They currently sit in 11th place for fantasy scoring and that’s including the Week 2 dud against the Bengals that saw them net -2 points. They aren’t nearly as strong without C.J Mosley in the lineup, but all fingers are pointing towards them getting him back in Week 4.
If the Steelers can find a way to put up points on the Ravens defence, they should walk away with the win. Baltimore simply doesn’t have the firepower to win a shootout against Big Ben and his receivers. I personally like how the Ravens have played this year as they have a more balanced offence than years past while still coupled with one of the best defences in the league so I’ll be taking them in this one.
Ravens 24 - Steelers 21.
Monday Nighter
Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) at Denver Broncos (2-1)
The record-setting superstar Patrick Mahomes gets his first action in the spotlight as he’ll take the leagues best offence into Denver and look to remain hot. At the current pace, Patrick Mahomes would finish the season with a record-setting 69 touchdowns, which would both be extremely impressive and hilarious. Mahomes has been everything as expected with the Chiefs so far this season, except for one thing. He hasn’t thrown an interception. Mahomes threw 25 interceptions in his last two seasons at Texas Tech and it was one of the uncertainties about him as a professional QB, especially in an offence that is tailored for him to throw the ball deep.
In my opinion, Denver will be the best defence he has played against in his NFL career, so it’ll be nice to see if he’s actually the real deal or not. The Broncos have surprised me so far this season, I definitely expected them to stumble out of the gate as they got used to a lot of roster turnover. Phillip Lindsay has been a welcoming surprise to the Broncos, despite him getting ejected in Week 3. Lindsay scored 30.3 fantasy points in the first two weeks of the season and has accounted for 213 yards, expect him to have a field day on a terrible Kansas City Chiefs defence.
I’ll take the Broncos’ in this game for the exact same reason I’m taking the Ravens against the Steelers. Kansas City can put up all the points in the world, but they also can’t stop the other team from doing so. Expect Mahomes to come back down to earth and for the Broncos’ to create a couple turnovers and take this one.
Broncos 23 - Chiefs 20.