Fantasy Football Season Kickoff
Welcome to the exciting start of the fantasy football season! This week offers standalone games on Thursday, Friday, Sunday nights, and Monday nights, along with some daytime matchups on Sunday the 12th. If you’re hoping for football, you’ve got plenty to watch. And, if you’re reading this, I guess you might also be interested in soccer! Predicting the first week of the NFL is always tricky. There are new coaches, fresh quarterbacks, different schemes—basically, a lot to consider. Some teams might already seem like they’re in midseason form, while others are definitely still shaking off the rust.
The quarterback situation in the NFL looks fairly solid as we head into the season.
Stafford seems to have handled his backing issues during the offseason, training camp, and preseason. He appears ready for week one. The main question is whether he can stay healthy throughout the season if his injury flares up. However, if he’s on the field, he could elevate the performance of those around him.
On another note, Love has had surgery to fix the ligaments in his injured thumb, but he’s back to practicing and looks promising for the first week.
When it comes to quarterbacks, we’re aiming for high over/under games where they’ll need to throw a lot. It’s not that a quarterback on a favored team won’t score big points in fantasy, but if they constantly pass the ball in the fourth quarter, they might not hit their potential.
- Bills vs. Ravens (-1.5) – 52.5
- Packers vs. Lions (-2.5) – 47.5
- Browns vs. Bengals (-5.5) – 47.5
- Eagles vs. Cowboys (-7.5) – 47.5
Top Individual Team Totals
Eagles 27.5, Bills 27, Bengals 26.5, Commanders 26, Ravens 25.5, Packers 25
- Jets vs. Steelers (-2.5) – 37.5
- Titans vs. Broncos (-7.5) – 41.5
- Cardinals vs. Saints (-5.5) – 42.5
- Patriots vs. Raiders (-2.5) – 43.5
- Bears vs. Vikings (-1.5) – 43.5
Lowest Individual Team Totals
Titans 17, Jets 17.5, Saints 18.5, Giants 19.5, Cowboys 20, Steelers 20
Eagles vs. Cowboys (-7.5)
Broncos vs. Titans (-7.5)
Commanders vs. Titans (-6.5)
Hopefully, you won’t find yourself needing a quarterback waiver this week, but you might be weighing your options between some good matchups. Here are a few quarterbacks I think could be good spot starters.
Trevor Lawrence vs. Panthers
The Panthers allowed the most passing touchdowns last season, and the Jaguars have brought in Liam Cohen to help Lawrence really shine. In fact, when Cohen’s offense faced the Panthers, Baker Mayfield managed to throw for 359 yards and five touchdowns.
Michael Penix Jr. vs. Buccaneers
This season, there are high hopes for Penix Jr. and the Falcons’ offense. The Buccaneers remain a favorable matchup. Last season, Kirk Cousins threw four touchdowns in each of his games against the Buccaneers, making those some of his best fantasy performances.
