Winners Club: Bills vs. Dolphins, Rodgers vs. Brady Among Top Week 3 Matchups
Welcome to another NFL Sunday.
There are must-wins, revenge games and division bouts dotting the schedule all day long, which wraps up with another prime-time appearance for the Broncos. No pressure!
In today’s Winners Club you’ll find:
- Updated injury news
- Week 3 NFL spreads
- ATS and prop bet picks
- Fantasy and DFS lineup help
Who’s In, Out and Still Questionable
Yet again, we have a star-studded injury report heading into Sunday afternoon. The most notable name below is, of course, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. His status still being up in the air for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars is responsible for a sizable shift in the spread from L.A. being nearly a touchdown favorite to barely more than a field goal.
There is some good news, though: J.K. Dobbins and George Kittle are both expected to make their season debuts and Michael Pittman Jr. will be back on the field for the Colts, who will surely need him against the Chiefs.
Keep reading to see who’s in, out and still somewhere in between.
Quarterbacks
Justin Herbert, Chargers: QUESTIONABLE (ribs), game-time decision
Jameis Winston, Saints: QUESTIONABLE (back), expected to play
Dak Prescott, Cowboys: OUT (thumb)
Zach Wilson, Jets: OUT (knee)
Ed Zurga/AP
Running backs
James Conner, Cardinals: QUESTIONABLE (ankle), “there is optimism that he’ll play”
D’Andre Swift, Lions: QUESTIONABLE (ankle), will play
Leonard Fournette, Buccaneers: QUESTIONABLE (hamstring), expected to play
Alvin Kamara, Saints: QUESTIONABLE (ribs), expected to play
J.K. Dobbins, Ravens: QUESTIONABLE (knee), expected to play
Josh Jacobs, Raiders: QUESTIONABLE (illness), will play
Tyrion Davis-Price, 49ers: OUT (ankle)
Wide receivers
Gabe Davis, Bills: QUESTIONABLE (ankle), will play
Michael Pittman Jr., Colts: ACTIVE (quad)
Keenan Allen, Chargers: QUESTIONABLE (hamstring)
Jerry Jeudy, Broncos: QUESTIONABLE (ribs), expected to play
Chris Godwin, Buccaneers: OUT (knee)
Julio Jones, Buccaneers: QUESTIONABLE (knee), expected to play
Jakobi Meyers, Patriots: QUESTIONABLE (knee), not expected to play
Christian Watson, Packers: QUESTIONABLE (hamstring), not expected to play
Randall Cobb, Packers: QUESTIONABLE (illness), expected to play
Hunter Renfrow, Raiders: OUT (concussion)
Rondale Moore, Cardinals: OUT (hamstring)
Michael Gallup, Cowboys: QUESTIONABLE (knee)
Corey Davis, Jets: QUESTIONABLE (knee)
Kyle Philips, Titans: DOUBTFUL (shoulder)
Kadarius Toney, Giants: DOUBTFUL (hamstring)
Tight ends
Dalton Schultz, Cowboys: QUESTIONABLE (knee)
George Kittle, 49ers: ACTIVE (groin)
T.J. Hockenson, Lions: QUESTIONABLE (hip), expected to play
C.J. Uzomah, Jets: QUESTIONABLE (hamstring)
Dawson Knox, Bills: QUESTIONABLE (foot)
Hayden Hurst, Bengals: QUESTIONABLE (groin)
Week 3 Game Lines
The wild conclusion to Thursday Night Football is in the running for the worst beat of the season. The Steelers, trailing by six points and buried deep in their own territory with just a few seconds remaining, lateralled the ball a few times in search of a running lane and the play—and game—ended with the Browns recovering a Najee Harris fumble in the end zone for a score, which sent the total, set at 40.5 points, over.
There’s 14 more games on deck Sunday. There are no massive spreads this week (Bengals-Jets is the only line wider than a touchdown), but plenty of road teams have been installed as favorites, perhaps most notably in the AFC East showdown between the Bills and Dolphins, which also comes with the highest over/under of the week: 53.5.
A part of SI Sportsbook’s “Perfect 10” Contest, members of the SI Betting team each picked their best bet for Week 3.
“The weekly game requires bettors to make 10 selections against the spread (ATS) for a chance at a $10,000 prize. Every bettor who picks at least six games correctly will be awarded consolation prizes in the form of free bets.”
Sign up at sisportsbook.com and head over there to find the latest game lines, over/unders, player props and more. Jen Piacenti made the case for her favorite player prop picks for today’s games and listed the players she likes at each position in different price groupings to fill out last-minute DFS lineups.
1 p.m. ET (CBS): Texans vs. Bears (-3.5)
1 p.m. ET (FOX): Raiders (-1.5) vs. Titans
1 p.m. ET (CBS): Chiefs (-5.5) vs. Colts
1 p.m. ET (CBS): Bills (-4.5) vs. Dolphins
1 p.m. ET (FOX): Lions vs. Vikings (-6.5)
1 p.m. ET (FOX): Ravens (-2.5) vs. Patriots
1 p.m. ET (CBS): Bengals (-5.5) vs. Jets
1 p.m. ET (FOX): Eagles (-6) vs. Commanders
1 p.m. ET (FOX): Saints (-2.5) vs. Panthers
4:05 p.m. ET (FOX): Jaguars vs. Chargers (-3.5)
4:05 p.m. ET (CBS): Rams (-3.5) vs. Cardinals
4:25 p.m. ET (FOX): Falcons vs. Seahawks (-1)
4:25 p.m. ET (FOX): Packers vs. Buccaneers (-1.5)
8:20 p.m. ET (NBC): 49ers (-1) vs. Broncos
8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN): Cowboys vs. Giants (-1.5)*
*Monday
Fantasy Football Starting Lineup Decisions
There’s quite a few players on the injury report above whose status will be decided very close to kickoff. So you have to be prepared with contingency plans.
If Justin Herbert doesn’t play, I’m plugging in Jimmy Garoppolo. That kind of thing. Insurance is important, because you really don’t want to end up with a goose egg in your starting lineup—that’s difficult to overcome.
To help make those tough calls, consult the SI Fantasy experts’ weekly series: Michael Fabiano’s Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em as well as his positional rankings, Shawn Childs’s detailed scoring projections, which is also a great tool for the DFS crowd, and Matt De Lima’s cheat sheet.
Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: Quarterbacks | Running backs | Wide receivers | Tight ends | Kickers and defenses
Player Rankings: Quarterbacks | Running backs | Wide receivers | Tight ends | Flex | Kickers | Defenses
Stat Projections: Quarterbacks | Running backs | Wide receivers | Tight ends
Nam Y. Huh/AP
If you want specific questions answered about your team and lineup situation, head over to the @SINow and @SI_Fantasy Twitter accounts at noon ET for the “Winners Club: By SI Sportsbook” Spaces to hear from our experts. And I’ll be doing a Twitter takeover on the @SI_Fantasy account starting at noon as well to answer your most-pressing start/sit dilemmas.
In Other News
SI’s College Football Top 10: Georgia remains the best of the best, while Florida State and Kansas made surprising leaps into the top 10 following 4-0 starts. Saturday was a wild day around college football, as it usually tends to be.
Bills’ Micah Hyde Placed on IR: Buffalo’s All-Pro safety suffered a herniated disc in his neck in last week’s game against the Titans and will be placed on season-ending injured reserve. This is yet another blow to the Bills secondary, which is still without Tre’Davious White and likely won’t have Jordan Poyer against the Dolphins, either.
Pelicans Extend C.J. McCollum: New Orleans signed McCollum, whom they traded for midway through last season, to a two-year extension worth $64 million. The new deal keeps him with the team for the next four seasons.
Thank you for reading Winners Club! Be sure to keep checking the injury report until kickoff, and good luck with all your wagers and fantasy matchups this week. I’ll be back in your inbox Tuesday morning.
