The Week 3 matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints should feature plenty of offensive fireworks on Monday Night Football. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 3: Falcons-Saints featuring Julio Jones, Drew Brees, Brandin Cooks, more
We break down the Week 3 matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints.
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Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons find themselves with a 1-1 record and in early season trouble in the NFC South heading into a tough match up at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Monday night. Fortunately for fantasy owners, at least wide receiver Julio Jones has been able to stay productive despite ongoing ankle issues. Jones has nine catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns after two games. Those numbers are not his best but they certainly could be worse. In what should be a game full of touchdowns, Jones is practically guaranteed to score against the Saints. This projected totals for the game are fairly high, but he’s got the talent to push way past them, especially in a high-scoring affair.
Fantasy owners of quarterback Matt Ryan might also be happy with his end results following the game. Ryan successfully outgunned Oakland’s Derek Carr last week, throwing for 396 yards and three touchdowns. In leagues that provide bonuses for yardage totals, Ryan have single-handedly scored fantasy owners a victory. He’ll be going toe to toe with Drew Brees this time around, so don’t be surprised if he posts similar statistics once again in Week 3.
New Orleans Saints
Many fantasy experts and owners alike thought that last week’s game between the New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants would be the higher scoring of the week. The final score was 16-13 in a Giants victory. For quarterback Drew Brees, it meant a difficult afternoon. He threw for 263 yards and a touchdown. Although he didn’t throw an interception in New York, the Giants secondary did a great job limiting his totals. Atlanta won’t be capable of that. Don’t be surprised to see Brees top 350 passing yards and three touchdowns on Monday.
Whatever numbers he ends up with will likely be thanks to Brandin Cooks being on the receiving end of some long bombs. Cooks, like Brees, was limited last week, catching six passes for 68 yards against the Giants. In PPR formats, it was still a decent day. He gets targeted a lot and that won’t change against Atlanta. Cooks has reliable hands and breakaway speed. He’s not quite Julio Jones, but Cooks will hold his own in Week 3. Fantasy owners should be licking their chops.
