Fantasy Football Week 3 Booms & Busts: The Lions just want to make managers happy this season

Fantasy football can be a stressful game for all of us. Injuries and underperformance, bad weather and curious calls. Sometimes it’s a struggle merely to get through an NFL Sunday.

We all need some consistent things we can hang our hats on. And with that, we present to you the 2026 Detroit Lions. They just want to make fantasy managers happy.

The Lions are now three games deep into the NFL season, and every match has been a fantasy bonanza. First came a narrow win over the Saints in Week 1, a 31-30 overtime affair. Not much defense was played in Week 2, when the Bills outraced the Lions, 41-31.

And you can add Sunday’s Week 3 result to the positive side of the ledger. Detroit held on for a 31-24 win over the Jets, with both teams pushing over their projected scoring total.

Jahmyr Gibbs was the main man for Detroit’s offense, racking up 164 total yards and three scores (two rushing, one receiving). The other Detroit angles were a little muted — Amon-Ra St. Brown was held to four catches for 19 yards (thank goodness for touchdown deodorant) and Jameson Williams (4-49-0) and Sam LaPorta (3-44-0) were under expectation. Nonetheless, this is a consistent and bankable offense, and Jared Goff (8.4 YPA, 122.5 rating) is an efficient point guard. This offense will have a lot of right answers.

But the right answers also come on the other side of the ball, where Detroit’s defense can’t stop anything, especially against the pass. It’s one thing when Josh Allen, arguably the league’s best player, dominates the Lions a week ago (five total touchdowns). But the Lions also handed Tyler Shough a QB6 finish in Week 2, and Geno Smith was excellent Sunday (321 passing yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers). As we head to press, Smith is the QB2 in Week 3.

Smith brought some teammates along for the ride. Garrett Wilson (10-107-1, 13 targets) had the type of dominant game we know he’s capable of, and Kenyon Sadiq (7-105-1) looks like the latest rookie tight end to hit the ground running. It’s a shame Adonai Mitchell (finger) was scratched for this game, as he was likely to go off, too.

Breece Hall (55 total yards) left with a thigh injury and the Jets basically ditched the running game after that. Just as well, given the sorry nature of the injury-depleted Detroit secondary. Just pump some air into the football, and then throw it.

The only negative to Detroit’s upcoming schedule is the Week 5 bye. Otherwise, we’ll look forward to Detroit playing Carolina, Arizona and Green Bay in the next month. The Lions look like fantasy football’s ultimate carnival for 2026.

Maye, Patriots continue to struggle

The Patriots have a Detroit game coming later this year, in the middle of November. Unfortunately for Drake Maye, the NFL won’t let New England flex that game into Week 4. New England was stomped by the Jaguars on Sunday, 35-6, and Maye’s poor start to the season continued. Maye threw two picks, lost a fumble, took three sacks and didn’t get the Patriots into the end zone.

New England obviously misses top receiver A.J. Brown dearly; only journeyman Mack Hollins (6-87-0) was productive downfield Sunday. But a lot of Maye’s negative plays this year have been a result of a poor decision or sloppy execution. It’s a shocking turnaround for someone who came within an eyelash of winning the MVP last year.

Be gentle with New England fans in your life these days. They’re starting to worry that Maye could be Mac Jones 2.0; the last No. 10 in Foxboro. Jones had a strong rookie year (10 wins, runner-up for Rookie of the Year) but quickly lost his mojo after that. He’s currently the backup QB in San Francisco.

To be fair to Maye, his offense didn’t help him much. TreVeyon Henderson (8-23-0) and Rhamondre Stevenson (7-22-0) went nowhere on the ground. New England also collected nine flags, a common theme throughout the league in a messy Week 3. We’d like to think that Maye, Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels can get this sorted out.

There’s no letup in the schedule — the Patriots travel to Buffalo next week. If nothing else, Maye should get plenty of volume in that match as the Patriots look to keep up with Josh Allen’s offense.

Other Week 3 winners

— The Cincinnati carnival looks alive and well, as Joe Burrow led his offense to 27 points and watched the Cincinnati defense lose the game anyway. The Bengals as usual were tight in concentration — Chase Brown handled 15 touches and Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins combined for 15-188-2 on 19 targets. Maybe TE Mike Gesicki (3-37-1) can sneak into streaming consideration in October, but for the most part this is a narrow target tree. The Bengals and Jaguars could light up the scoreboard in Week 4.

— Jaylen Warren was the Pittsburgh beneficiary against Cincinnati, rolling up a splashy 176 total yards. It could have been even better — Warren didn’t mange a touchdown and he had one long run called back by a negligible holding call. The passing game wasn’t as fantasy friendly because although Aaron Rodgers threw for 292 yards and three scores, he targeted 10 different teammates and no one had more than three catches. DK Metcalf (3-31-1) had one gift score on a blown coverage, but the other Pittsburgh scores went to Roman Wilson and Ben Skowronek. Even desperation TE play Pat Freiermuth (2-30-0) was outscored by Darnell Washington (3-67-0). The Pittsburgh at Cleveland game next week could turn into a rock fight.

— Although I love the talent of Harold Fannin Jr., I mostly passed on him this summer because of the Cleveland QB room. But Fannin overcame that messy situation last year, and maybe he can do it again. Fannin had a commanding nine targets in Sunday’s win over Carolina, and he turned it into a 7-51-2 log, good enough for the top of the TE board. You’d like more downfield action, but if Fannin can control the target share and goal-line equity like this, he’ll outkick his ADP for the second straight year.

— Maybe it’s charitable to put the Titans in the winner’s section — midway through the third quarter, Tennessee had just one first down against an ordinary Giants defense. But the Titans moved the ball well after that point — they finished with 17 first downs — and at least Wan’Dale Robinson (7-57-1) and Tony Pollard (96 total yards) rewarded anyone desperate enough to start them. Cam Ward had just one pick and took just one sack, but he still looks like a confused young player. The Ravens and Texans come next.

Other Week 3 losers

— In a previous world, Jameis Winston was the ultimate YOLO quarterback, a downfield daredevil who would throw his share of highlight passes and cover-your-eyes interceptions. The current Winston is a different animal, a buttoned-up veteran asked not to lose the game on his own. Winston had zero turnovers against the Titans but threw for just 118 yards on 5.4 YPA. It could be a long fall for Malik Nabers (5-26-0, six targets) and Isaiah Likely (2-13-0, five targets).

— Seattle played a game against type at Washington, losing a 33-31 shootout. Somehow the Commanders turned a modest 258 total yards into 33 points — a defensive touchdown helped. The Seahawks passing game relied on Sam Darnold in catch-up mode (379 yards, four touchdowns, two picks), and of course no one can stop the amazing Jaxon Smith-Njigba (10-128-2). But everything the Seahawks tried on the ground failed miserably — Jadarian Price, Emanuel Wilson and George Holani combined for 39 yards on 17 carries. Nothing in the Seattle backfield looks playable as the Seahawks get ready for the Chargers in Week 4.