When these teams met in Week 8 last year, the result was an epic 52-49 shootout between future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Drew Brees (511 yards and 7 touchdowns) and Eli Manning (350-6).
It was a game that “helped” each secondary finish at the bottom of the NFL and each defense finish 31st and 32nd, respectively, against fantasy quarterbacks. The best news for those in DFS contests this week? These defenses didn’t look much better against the pass in Week 1.
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In fact, the Saints lost their best cornerback, Delvin Breaux, to a broken leg, leaving just second-year man P.J. Williams (who played the first game of his career in Week 1’s loss to the Raiders), and undrafted rookies De’Vante Harris and Ken Crawley as their top three cover guys out on the edge, according to ESPN’s Saints reporter Mike Triplett.
Sounds like quite a crew to match up against the incomparable Odell Beckham Jr., the recovered Victor Cruz (who salsa danced after his Week 1 TD in his long-awaited return from two season-ending injuries) and emerging rookie talent Sterling Shepard.
The best part about a potential Giants DFS stack is that Brees, Brandin Cooks, Willie Snead and Michael Thomas can (and likely will) keep pace on the other side of the ball.
Sure, the Giants added CB Janoris Jenkins in the offseason, and rookie CB Eli Apple helped wipe out Dez Bryant in Week 1, but facing Dak Prescott in his NFL debut is a long way from facing Brees, who’s on the verge of passing Dan Marino in the record books. The Giants’ raw safeties are better against the run. There will be ample opportunities in the fat middle of the field against them.
Heck, you can cut Brees’ numbers against the Giants last year in half and it would still be solid production for GPP lineups at his price.
Week 2 rankings:Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Week 2 daily fantasy football picks: Best stacks
The Las Vegas total on the Saints-Giants is 53 points, so just one more point than the Saints alone scored on the Giants a year ago. Pick a side and load up. Heck, enter stacks on both sides – GPPs, cash games, it won’t matter.
QB Eli Manning / WR Odell Beckham / WR Victor Cruz / WR Sterling Shepard
FanDuel – $8,100 / $9,400 / $5,700 / $6,200 DraftKings – $7,600 / $9,500 / $4,300 / $5,200 Yahoo – $36 / $37 / $13 / $17
If you are looking solely for a value play here, it’s Cruz, who is the cheapest of the Giants’ top three wideouts. TE Larry Donnell also comes cheaply and is a red-zone threat, but he plays half the snaps the wideouts do. To get exposure on both sides of this one, consider stacking Manning with Cruz and Brees’ receivers (especially Snead and Cooks).
QB Drew Brees / WR Brandin Cooks / WR Wille Snead / WR Michael Thomas
FanDuel – $9,200 / $8,400 / $7,200 / $5,000 DraftKings – $8,200 / $8,000 / $5,800 / $4,000 Yahoo – $37 / $27 / $21 / $14
Manning gives you more value at QB, but Cooks and Thomas are more affordable than a Beckham-Shepard stack. The Giants are most vulnerable at the safety spots, so perhaps consider TE Coby Fleener as a bargain play, or stack Cooks and Snead as shifty receivers to outrun the Giants’ safeties in the middle of the field like the Cowboys’ Cole Beasley tried to do when Bryant was shut down outside.
MORE: Top Week 2 waiver wire pickups
Week 2 daily fantasy football advice: Quarterback picks, values
Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars at San Diego Chargers
FanDuel – $8,100 DraftKings – $6,700 Yahoo – $31
How fickle DFS pricing can be. Bortles, coming off a 35-touchdown sophomore season, had modest production against a good Packers secondary in Week 1. Now, he gets a Chargers defense that allowed Alex Smith to pass for 363 yards. San Diego’s secondary is one to watch for DFS opportunities in the early going.
Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons at Oakland Raiders
FanDuel – $7,900 DraftKings – $6,800 Yahoo – $31
Ryan has been somewhat of a fantasy afterthought lately, but he was dynamite in Week 1, completing almost 70 percent of his passes and working WR Mohamed Sanu into the mix in his Falcons debut. This Raiders defense isn’t as bad as Brees made it look last week (423-4), but Ryan is good enough to match Derek Carr in a 300-and-3 shootout. This is a game where the total can easily go over 50, like the games of both these teams did a week ago.
Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Arizona Cardinals
FanDuel – $7,600 DraftKings – $6,200 Yahoo – $30
We have to admit, we thought the Falcons secondary would be a tough matchup for Winston in Week 1. It makes his four-touchdown performance that much more impressive. The Cardinals defense is arguably one of the best in football, but the Cardinals offense – at home, coming off a loss, and facing a Bucs defense the Falcons ripped – should force Winston into second-half rally mode. If nothing else, Winston is a volume-based value play.
Week 2 rankings:Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Daily fantasy football Week 2 picks: Running back
C.J. Anderson, Denver Broncos vs. Indianapolis Colts
FanDuel – $7,800 DraftKings – $6,800 Yahoo – $30
We have to admit Anderson’s price is closer to the top than anyone might have expected after Week 1, but it should be the top after what you saw from him against a very good Panthers defense. The Colts allowed the most fantasy points to running backs in Week 1, and Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick aren’t as good as Anderson. Gary Kubiak has a limited offense with QB Trevor Siemian, and Anderson is going to pound the rock – and be active in the short passing game – like the old Arian Foster days when Kubiak was in Houston.
Jeremy Langford, Chicago Bears vs. Philadelphia Eagles
FanDuel – $6,500 DraftKings – $4,600 Yahoo – $18
The Eagles defense was the worst in fantasy against running backs last season, and while it played better against an awful Browns team at home in Week 1, we expect a high-volume performance by Langford in this one. The Bears gave Langford 19 touches in a tough Week 1 matchup against Houston, while backup Ka’Deem Carey carried the ball just once. It should be a productive 20-touch day for Chicago’s Matt Forte replacement.
Spencer Ware, Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Texans
FanDuel – $6,800 DraftKings – $6,100 Yahoo – $28
We expect Jamaal Charles (knee) to be held out again, which will give Ware plenty of value even in a fairly tough matchup against the Texans’ front. Ware is heavily involved in the passing game when the run game is not working, so expect him to be a solid play again in Week 2 – yet far less used in GPPs because of the matchup. His value is greatest in DraftKings contests because of the price and PPR format.
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Daily fantasy football Week 2 picks, values: Wide receiver
WR Victor Cruz, New York Giants vs. New Orleans Saints
FanDuel – $5,700 DraftKings – $4,300 Yahoo – $13
Cruz played all but six of the Giants’ 56 offensive snaps against the Cowboys, a sign he is not being “eased” into action in any way. Perhaps the best thing to say about him – outside of his bargain price and monster matchup (see above) – is the fact Manning and him improvised on his touchdown Sunday.
“The play was meant for me to kinda go five yards kinda inside and kinda sit in that specific area, but it got kinda cloudy, and I saw that middle of the field kinda pop open, so I kinda just made a football play, got in there,” Cruz told the New York Post. “We were on the same page and he hit me in stride.”
The two have a special connection that will trump his price in the early going this season.
“Saw me kinda moving around the pocket and just found the open window,” Manning told the Post. “He might actually get a minus on the actual route because he’s technically not supposed to do what he did, but we’ll worry about that later. … It’s been a long time. … It’s pretty special for him to get the game-winning touchdown on this day.”
Michael Crabtree, Oakland Raiders vs. Atlanta Falcons
FanDuel – $6,200 DraftKings – $6,100 Yahoo – $21
He was a favorite here a week ago, and since he did not catch a touchdown pass against that woeful Saints defense, we will stick with him as a pick against a Falcons defense that gave up four touchdown passes against the Bucs. Amari Cooper draws a lot of attention because of his physical gifts, but it’s worth noting that when the Raiders went for two to beat the Saints, it was Crabtree who got the target.
Tyrell Williams, San Diego Chargers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
FanDuel – $5,400 DraftKings – $3,700 Yahoo – $10
Everyone should be all over the Chargers’ leading receiver from Week 1, as his price has not corrected for the loss of Keenan Allen (knee). Allen’s loss should be Williams’ gain, more so than Travis Benjamin and Dontrelle Inman, because of his size (6-3, 215 pounds). The Jags secondary gave up touchdowns to both Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams last week – the latter of which is fairly difficult to give up a TD to.
Week 2 rankings:Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Daily fantasy football Week 2 strategy, picks: Tight end
Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
FanDuel – $5,900 DraftKings – $4,500 Yahoo – $19
The value is not there on Yahoo, but DraftKings has Philip Rivers’ No. 1 target discounted because of his age. With Allen out, Gates once again becomes the man in the Chargers’ passing game. If there is a red-zone target to be had, you should expect the play to start with Gates as the first read.
Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans at Detroit Lions
FanDuel – $6,600 DraftKings – $4,500 Yahoo – $23
Walker is coming off a disappointing performance and still priced among the top tight ends, but the Lions lost the Colts tight ends early and often last week to the tune of seven catches for 88 yards and three touchdowns. Walker should be a frequent target for Marcus Mariota in a game against the Lions that could get blown wide open.
Dennis Pitta, Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns
FanDuel – $4,800 DraftKings – $2,800 Yahoo – $10
Pitta has been out of the league since 2014 and is a forgotten man in fantasy, but QB Joe Flacco rarely goes too far from his tight end. Pitta should be very important for Flacco off play-action and in the red zone, especially in a matchup against the Browns that should be bountiful for the Ravens offense. Pitta gets at least one touchdown in this one at a bargain-basement price among TEs.
MORE: Build your perfect lineup with RotoQL
Week 2 daily fantasy football picks: Defense
Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns
FanDuel – $4,500 DraftKings – $3,00 Yahoo – $13
You might see QB Josh McCown as an upgrade over Robert Griffin III (shoulder) – and he likely will be for his favorite target (TE Gary Barnidge) – but the Ravens are coming off a complete stuff of a decent Bills offense and will get to beat up on a Browns offense that couldn’t manage much of anything against the Eagles last week. The only drawback here is the likelihood of high ownership of the Ravens D/ST in GPPs.
New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins
FanDuel – $4,500 DraftKings – $3,000 Yahoo – $14
The Pats escaped against the Cardinals’ potent offense on the road in Jimmy Garoppolo’s first NFL start. Coming back home against a Dolphins offense that struggled to muster much of anything should be far more favorable for Bill Belichick’s underrated defense. The Pats can expose the Dolphins’ pass protection that gave up five sacks in Week 1, forcing turnovers and a defensive TD in this one.
Chicago Bears vs. Philadelphia Eagles
FanDuel – $4,400 DraftKings – $2,900 Yahoo – $12
Coach John Fox never seems to get enough credit, and his team will be pinning its ears back against rookie QB Carson Wentz, who was surprisingly good in Week 1. That was against the Browns, mind you. A road game in Chicago should prove to be a far tougher challenge and lead to turnovers and ample DFS points relative to the Bears’ price.
Eric Mack has joined the Sporting News Fantasy staff for the 2016 season. You can find him on Twitter @EricMackSports, where you can make fun of his analysis. You can catch his in-depth weekly matchup breakdowns every Friday on DailyFantasyCafe.com and his daily fantasy value picks here every Tuesday.
