Fantasy football is definitely a fickle beast. Some weeks, everything goes right and you win in a landslide. Other weeks, everything goes wrong and you lose in one. Week 2 was affectionately deemed “injury-mageddon” by many, myself included, thanks to the high number of injuries sustained, thereby changing the outcomes of many fantasy matchups. Unfortunately, my predictions were not affected as much by injuries, they were just a little off. Let’s look at them a little bit before diving into my NFL Week 3 fantasy predictions to see if we can learn something from the past.

NFL Week 3 Fantasy Predictions – Overview

Current Record: 0-6

Last week was, once again, not very kind to me. I predicted that Gardner Minshew would be the only Jacksonville Jaguars player to score over 10 PPR points. While Minshew led the way with 23.46 PPR points, six other Jaguars players broke the 10 PPR point mark, including James Robinson, Tyler Eifert, and Keelan Cole.

I also predicted that Ezekiel Elliott would break the 30 PPR point mark. While Zeke had a great game, he finished with only 22.2 PPR points in what turned out to be a barn burner with a nail biter of a finish.

Lastly, I predicted that Josh Jacobs would score at least 18 PPR points. Again, Jacobs performed well, but my prediction was just too bold, and Jacobs finished with 13.5 PPR points. That moves my record to 0-6 on the season now…so on to Week 3!

PREDICTION: Daniel Jones scores the most PPR fantasy points in the 49ers-Giants game

San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants (+6.5) O/U 42.5
Implied final score: 49ers 25, Giants 18

We start this week by looking at one of the lower over/under lines on the slate, where two teams who have been hit hard with injuries face off in the early slot of games on Sunday. The 49ers could be without their stud TE George Kittle again due to an ankle injury and have already announced that backup QB Nick Mullens will be starting in place of the injured Jimmy Garoppolo. On top of that, running backs Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman are also expected to miss the game, along with outstanding DE Nick Bosa, who is done for the year with a torn ACL.

As for the Giants, they are suffering from their own injury bug. First-round fantasy pick, RB Saquon Barkley, was just placed on season-ending IR with an ACL pull of his own, and WR Sterling Shepard will be out with a turf toe injury. The team signed RB Devonta Freeman this week, but I don’t see him contributing much right out of the gate. Both teams are hurting badly, which could lead to both teams surprising everyone with a lot of fantasy output from new faces.

That being said, for the first of my NFL Week 3 fantasy predictions, I’m going to go out on a short limb and say that QB Daniel Jones is the highest-scoring player for fantasy in PPR scoring across both teams. It’s possible that one of the receivers he’s throwing to could outscore him, but I think Jones will put his beaten team on his back and lead them to victory, helping fantasy managers who decide to start him in the process.

PREDICTION: Kyler Murray scores at least 3 total touchdowns

Detroit Lions vs. Arizona Cardinals (-6) O/U 55
Implied final score: Cardinals 31, Lions 25

One of the higher over/under games of the week is the Lions heading to the desert to face the Cardinals. In this game, I expect a lot of passing from both sides, so I’m going to say that Cardinals QB Kyler Murray will score at least three touchdowns combined on the ground or through the air.

Vegas is expecting at least four scores on the books for the Cardinals, so predicting Kyler to get three of them himself isn’t as bold as my last few picks, but cut me some slack, I need to get on the winning side of things here.

For the Lions, expect to see a lot of the same: passing, passing, and more passing. Even if Kenny Golladay sits again, I think the team will be forced to keep pace with the high powered Arizona offense. Matthew Stafford will be throwing the ball frequently as the team plays from behind. I wouldn’t be shocked to see T.J. Hockenson or D’Andre Swift with a touchdown or two, but it’s harder to see the path to victory if their best receiver is again on the sidelines.

PREDICTION: Both Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson score at least 22 fantasy points

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Baltimore Ravens (-3.5) O/U 53.5
Implied final score: Ravens, 29, Chiefs 25

The Monday night game is easily one of the best matchups of the week for fantasy football. It pits the number one and number two fantasy quarterbacks against each other, making it tough to ignore. In Week 1, both star QBs lit up the scoreboard, each scoring just about the same at roughly 27.5 fantasy points. Strangely enough, both came back down to Earth in Week 2, with Mahomes scoring 20.44 and Jackson scoring 17.56 fantasy points. Perhaps defenses learned a lot from the Week 1 tape and made the correct adjustments, huh?

That being said, once these two are on the primetime stage, all bets are off. I wouldn’t be shocked if the competitive drive inside each of them elevates their game even further, trying to one-up the other under the lights in Baltimore. So, for the last of my NFL Week 3 fantasy predictions, I’m predicting that BOTH QBs will have at least 22 PPR points each. I imagine everyone who plays fantasy football will be watching, and I doubt our stars disappoint in a wild game to finish the week.

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Andrew Hall is a writer for PFN covering the NFL and Fantasy Football. You can follow him on Twitter: @AndrewHallFF.

NFL Week 3 Fantasy Predictions