NFL Fantasy: Could Los Angeles Rams and Chargers meet in Super Bowl LVI?
Hannah Wilkes helps you navigate your way through the 2021 season in her weekly column; Watch NFL Overtime with Hannah and Josh Denzel, as well as guests Kay Adams and Will Blackmon, every Thursday from 9pm on Sky Sports NFL
Thursday 30 September 2021 08:51, UK
Sky Sports' NFL Fantasy Football guru Hannah Wilkes helps you navigate your way through the 2021 season in her weekly column, as she looks at the league's remaining undefeated teams, talks Christian McCaffrey's injury and ponders the possibility of an all-Los Angeles Super Bowl...
It's really hard to start a season 3-0. Just five of the 32 NFL franchises have managed it and as it's not the 'usual suspects'; the 2021 season feels poised to be an absolute thriller!
Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Rams: they're your unbeaten teams. No previous contenders from last year's big finale, or even the Conference Championship games, in sight.
For context, the last time Arizona went 3-0 to start a season, in 2015, they made the NFC Championship game; in the same year, the Panthers made the Super Bowl after a three-win start; the last time the Raiders managed a perfect start through three weeks was all the way back in 2002 where they ended their season in, you guessed it, the Super Bowl.
It almost goes without saying that none of this means these teams are guaranteed success in 2021, but it does speak to the importance of a strong start. And the same applies to, yep, you guessed it, Fantasy Football…
Now, I'm not pointing fingers, and I refuse to be the kind of person that berates a player for getting injured because of the impact it had on their Fantasy team, but my RB1 getting hurt on Thursday night made Week Three difficult.
A certain Denver Broncos tight end continuing to not live up to the hype also isn't ideal. My team, 'The Greatest Show on Paper', will be moving in a different direction for Week Four as long as a certain Mr Rob Gronkowski is all ok after a hit to his ribs on Sunday against the Rams. (I'm sure Ian Rapoport will be reporting this nugget on NFL Network imminently).
So, in the ultra-competitive, careers-on-the-line competition that is the Sky Sports NFL Fantasy League, I took my first loss of the season. To Neil Reynolds, who, after sensationally picking him first overall in the draft, benched Josh Allen, and still beat me! Bragging rights to NR.
- The Final Word: Stafford handles big stage in L.A.
- NFL Week Three Stats: Raiders make history with 3-0 start
I'm still second in the standings though and ready to rally with a big Week Four showing against Coach Jeff Reinebold. As the Kansas City Chiefs are also discovering this week, it's not about how you start, its about where you are in February (or January when it's Fantasy).
Don't Panic, CMC will run again!
If you're a Fantasy Football rookie and find yourself SHOOK by the injury to Christian McCaffrey and unsure what to do with your line-up, here's some simple advice: keep calm and carry on.
Much like we're having to do when it comes to fuelling our cars to get to work, panicking and stockpiling only makes it worse. Taking every single running back available, at the detriment to the rest of your bench, is unwise. So work the Waiver Wire well, aim for Chuba Hubbard (OBSESSED with his name, by the way) and remember that McCaffrey is only looking like he's out for a couple of weeks, so you'll be ok down the stretch.
Dem Bears!
My goodness. Where to begin? One net passing yard seems like as good a place as any for the Chicago Bears as Justin Fields made his debut as a starter.
Be under no illusion that this is not the fault of the 11th overall pick in the 2021 draft. Matt Nagy's play calling, the whole offensive design, and a Cleveland Browns defense that sacked Fields nine times in all played a major part here.
However, if you did not heed the sound advice of Kay Adams on NFL Overtime last week and started Fields in your Fantasy line-up, there is no one to blame but yourself. You were warned of the perils of a rookie QB, we've seen the others struggle enough already, and so you have no right to complain.
Wouldn't it be wild if…
We had an all LA Super Bowl, in LA!? This thought occurred to me in a sleep deprived state some time on Monday and I want to be the first to have committed it to print, just in case it comes true.
The Rams' win over the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a huge statement. Not just a win, but a convincing performance across all three phases of the game.
The Los Angeles Chargers' win over the Chiefs was a statement of a different kind. Now, they may not be there yet, but the victory proved this team are learning and do have the ability to close it out when it matters. The Chargers might have just stopped 'Chargering' it up.
I'm not nailing this down as a prediction for the big dance, but it is a tantalising thought…
Some 'Moderately Useful' Fantasy Info for Week Four
Don't overreact and pick up DeShaun Jackson. When he goes off, he goes off, but his 75-yard TD catch and 21-point Fantasy game from Sunday is still likely to be the anomaly given the bromance between Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp.
We know tight ends are a struggle in 2021 Fantasy Football so, if you're up for trying something new, you should know that Minnesota Vikings TE Tyler Conklin is available in 99.5 per cent of leagues. After a 70 receiving yards and one touchdown day against the Seattle Seahawks last week, he is snuggled in behind Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen in the Vikings' pass game pecking order. They play the Browns in Week Four and he may just pass under their radar and have a decent day out before hosting the Detroit Lions the following week…
Taking the Cincinnati Bengals defense in Week Four might not be the worst idea… they're allowing just 18 points per game and, more pertinently, are against the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. I'm sure they'll be careful on kick returns!
Join Hannah Wilkes and Josh Denzel, with Kay Adams and Will Blackmon, on NFL Overtime, every Thursday at 9pm on Sky Sports NFL.
