Prime-Time First TD Bets — Monday Night Football, Week 16
Alex Christenson
Week 3 was simply incredible!
The Dolphins scored 70 points…yes SEVENTY points at home, the Cowboys lost to the Cardinals as 12.5-point favorites, the Packers overcame a 17-0 deficit to win, the Texans blasted the Jaguars by 20 on the road and Gardner Minshew magic struck again.
Each Sunday night, I will provide my five instant fantasy football reactions from the slate of games. What were the key performances, surprises and disappointments from across the NFL?
Let’s get into Week 3!
Reaction No. 1: Miami Cannot Be Stopped
The Dolphins posted 726 yards and 10 touchdowns on the Denver Broncos, coasting to a 70-20 victory. Even without wideout Jaylen Waddle, the Dolphins sliced the Broncos defense all day long.
Rookie running back De’Von Achane rushed for 203 yards and scored four total touchdowns, overshadowing four total touchdowns scored by lead running back Raheem Mostert.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa completed 23-of-26 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns. Miami is a perfect 3-0 and travels to Buffalo to face the Bills next week.
Reaction No. 2: Buffalo Defense Dominates
The Buffalo defense was unaffected by the poor weather in Washington and was the premier Week 3 DFS unit. The Bills recorded nine sacks, four interceptions, a fumble recovery and scored this touchdown en route to a 37-3 pounding of Washington.
The Washington offensive line has been horrific, allowing 19 sacks through three games. Buffalo is primed for an AFC East battle against Miami in Week 4.
Reaction No. 3: Is Arizona Good?
The Cardinals are a couple plays away from being 3-0 and earned the surprise win of the year with a 28-16 home victory over Dallas. The Cardinals led 16-10 and 28-14 entering the fourth quarter of the first two games and dominated the Cowboys on the ground with 222 rushing yards.
Arizona’s defense continues to overperform, sacking Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott twice and grabbing this critical fourth-quarter interception.
Shoutout to our FTNBets NFL model, which gave this game an astounding 18.6% betting edge entering Sunday.
Reaction No. 4: Tight End Potpourri
Entering Sunday Night, the top-5 fantasy tight end scoring leaders are:
- Sam LaPorta (8 recs, 84 yards, TD)
- Travis Kelce (7 recs, 69 yards, TD)
- George Kittle (7 receptions, 90 yards)
- Pharaoh Brown (2 receptions, 71 yards, TD)
- Donald Parham (2 receptions, 4 yards, 2 TDs)
The return of Kelce and solid production from Kittle brought some normalcy to Week 3, but each week there have been top-5 performances by tight ends who went mostly undrafted in all fantasy formats. Parham has been a top-5 TE in both Weeks 1 and 3.
Reaction No. 5: C.J. Stroud Proving the Doubters Wrong
C.J. Stroud guided the Texans to their first win of the season, a 37-17 destruction at Jacksonville. Stroud now has 906 passing yards in his first three NFL starts, becoming only the third player in NFL history to eclipse 900 passing yards in that span. Stroud was a forgotten man on draft night, rumored to be a reluctant pick of the Texans with the No. 2 overall pick. Stroud now has four passing touchdowns and no interceptions through three games. The extremely accurate passer is also connecting on over 65% of his passes this season.
