Week 3 Matchup Previews

Dave Kluge (0:11)

Another slate of NFL action kicks off in just a couple of days, and Jeff Bell and I are here to look at every single Week 3 game. We're going to talk about every single fantasy relevant player in every single game. This is a fun episode that Jeff and I do every single Friday. You can find it live on Twitter at 8 a.m. Eastern, or you can find it out just after on YouTube. But Jeff, let's go ahead and jump right in. We'll talk about last night's game at the end of the show, but let's start by looking ahead. The Los Angeles Chargers going into Buffalo.

You know, I want to say that this could be a bounce back spot for Justin Herbert after the start that he has had so far. As crazy as it sounds, this might be the easiest matchup the Chargers have on their schedule for the next eight or nine weeks. What are your expectations for this game, Jeff?

Jeff Bell (0:58)

Yeah, I mean, I'm sceptical to say that the easiest game would be a team traveling across the country off long rest with the Bills playing last Thursday. But yeah, I hear you. They do have a difficult schedule coming up.

Dave Kluge (1:08)

I think it's one of the context for anybody who's unaware after the Bills. I mean, it does not get any easier for them.

We've got the Seahawks. Oh, I just lost it.

Jeff Bell (1:19)

Go ahead.

Dave Kluge (1:20)

I'll fill that in later.

Jeff Bell (1:21)

Play the Rams, too, I think, coming up.

Dave Kluge (1:23)

But yeah, it's just a murderer's row coming up.

Jeff Bell (1:27)

Yeah, but it worries me, I guess, probably because I'm a paranoid Bills fan. But it worries me when you've got one team saying, everybody is saying a team has no chance. And when that team is carrying a good quarterback into that matchup and Justin Herbert is still a good quarterback, then everybody's saying that that team doesn't have a chance and the other team's going to blow them away.

That concerns me because we see, I mean, this Chargers team two weeks ago ran into and just last night when somebody's told, professional athletes are told you can't do this, they end up doing it. But I think it's obviously we're looking for the Chargers to get back rolling again. I do think that Mike McDaniel, Mike McDaniel is running the advanced course of his offense without having everybody go through the remedial course first. And I think that that's kind of the problem that you're running into. You're just seeing guys thinking a lot as they go through things that David Njoku, Babel last week that led to the fumble. Just a player that was just turning around and the ball is right where it needs to be, but he's not quite comfortable yet in the scheme. And I think the Chargers, you're looking at them from a fantasy angle, losing those tight ends, losing Njoku, losing Charlie Kohler. What does that open up for Ronday Gadsden? Obviously still questions around Matt McConkie and how's that those targets going to shake out and can Justin Herbert get rolling against what should be a defense that is very exploitable?

Dave Kluge (2:41)

Yeah, and when I talked about the upcoming schedule, it's the defenses that they face coming up that are really hard. I don't know if they can win this game, but I want to see the offense at least get back on track because after the Bills, I was able to find it. It's the Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams, Texans, Ravens, Jets and Patriots. So I mean just a very, very tough matchup. It's really hard to see a bounce back spot. That bounce back spot, like I said, might be against one of the best teams in the NFL on the road on extended dress. So really tough sledding for the Chargers. But let's look at some of the injuries in this matchup. You mentioned David Njoku with that drop pass last week.

He was placed on IR. He's dealing with a knee slash fibula injury. Charlie Kohler, who we thought was going to be on IR, ends up avoiding that, but he's dealing with a forearm injury, hasn't practiced this week, probably won't be ready for this matchup. Lad McConkey, who played through that rib injury last week, is on the injury report, but he is practicing in full.

We got Brendan Thompson not practicing with a quad injury. And then for the Buffalo Bills, Keon Coleman hasn't practiced yet this week. He's dealing with an ankle injury right now. We saw one of his better games as a pro just last week. And then DJ Moore, who was limited on Wednesday, downgraded to a DNP on Thursday. So we're hoping that he can return on Friday, but we don't really know if he's going to be out there or not. So Jeff, let me just ask you hypothetically, like let's say DJ Moore went out there Wednesday, said, no, I'm just not ready and he can't play this week. Keon Coleman is dealing with this ankle injury. We're already very excited for Dalton Kincaid, the top scoring tight end in fantasy football right now. Do you think it would be good or bad for his outlook if DJ Moore and Keon Coleman can't be out there?