EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR WEEK 2! 🏈🤑

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL PREVIEW 🏈👀

Eagles vs. Vikings | Tonight at 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video

We get our first Amazon Prime game of the 2023-24 NFL season this Thursday night! The Philadelphia Eagles will have their home opener, facing off against the Minnesota Vikings at Lincoln Financial Field and coming off a season-opening win against the New England Patriots last weekend.

The Vikings were a trendy pick to regress a little bit this season after surprising nearly everyone with a 13-4 record last season, but losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 really underscores the meaning of “regression.” The Eagles, on the other hand, are the defending Super Bowl runners-up and can always be counted on for some explosive firepower.

This game promises a lot of that firepower, as both of these offenses have a great reason to throw at each other. The Eagles will look to attack a Vikings secondary that ranked 26th last season in defensive EPA (expected points added), while the Eagles themselves are missing starting CB James Bradberry to concussion protocol this week and may also not have starting RB Kenneth Gainwell.

Given what we know, give me the Eagles -6 on DraftKings Sportsbook, as I think they could get out to an early lead and their defense is better than Minnesota’s by a long shot.

The last time these two teams played in 2022, the Eagles forced punts on four of the Vikings’ first five drives and ultimately held them to only seven points. I like the Under 49 in this game as Thursday night tends to introduce some variance.

Darius Slay was a major contributor, holding WR1 Justin Jefferson to six catches on 12 targets for only 48 yards. Expect Slay to shadow Jefferson once again, leaving 2023 rookie WR Jordan Addison up against second-year CB Josh Jobe in a plus matchup for Addison. I like Addison to go over his 39.5-yard receiving total for our prop bet in this game.

BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR BETS, CHECK OUT THIS OFFER!👇

WEEK 2 FANTASY RANKINGS 🥇🥈🥉

Our Frank Ammirante takes you through his personal weekly fantasy rankings and reasonings into some of those decisions.

QB Fantasy Rankings This Week

Josh Allen finished as QB20 last week, but this is a terrific bounce-back spot at home against the Raiders. The Bills have a projected total of over 28 points — the highest on the slate — so we could see Allen hit his ceiling in this game, making him my QB1 for Week 2.

RB Fantasy Rankings This Week

You had to love what you saw from Travis Etienne in Week 1. The Jaguars’ star running back rushed 18 times for 77 yards and a touchdown while also hauling in 4-of-5 targets for 27 yards. We can fire up Etienne as a top-six running back in a potential high-scoring game vs the Chiefs.

WR Fantasy Rankings This Week

Amon-Ra St. Brown is my overall WR1 this week since we just saw this Seahawks defense get burned by Puka Nacua on intermediate routes over the middle. The Rams’ rookie caught 10-of-15 targets for 119 yards in his NFL debut. Look for the Sun God to do something similar on Sunday.

TE Fantasy Rankings This Week

I’m assuming that both Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews will return to the lineup this week. I’m ranking Kelce at TE1 (obviously) and Andrews at TE3, as T.J. Hockenson is in a terrific spot against the Eagles, who just allowed a combined 92 yards to Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki.

PLAYER NEWS & RUMORS 🤭📰

Travis Kelce (Knee):

As of Wednesday afternoon, Kelce was practicing in a limited fashion, per Ian Rapoport. There is no word on whether he is a go for this weekend’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars yet, but him practicing at all is a nice sign to see as he recovers from his bone bruise.

As long as Kelce goes this week, he is locked in as TE1. If he misses another game, Noah Gray was the main beneficiary of the Kelce snaps last week.

In other Kelce news, he is reportedly “quietly hanging out” with Taylor Swift. Adjust the rankings, people.

Austin Ekeler (Ankle):

Ekeler did not practice on Wednesday, but he was reportedly at a funeral, so take that into account. He has been recovering from what was termed a simple ankle injury, with no clarification on whether it was a low or high ankle.

I’m assuming it’s a low ankle, given the relative lack of news we’ve heard this week, but Joshua Kelley does have standalone value whether Ekeler suits up or not.

MATCHUPS TO EXPLOIT ⭐️🗑

Each week, Sam Wagman breaks down his favorite matchups to exploit that weekend in the NFL, from WR/CB to RB/DL. Let’s go through a couple favorites he likes this weekend.

WR/CB: Jahan Dotson vs. Damarri Mathis/Essang Bassey

This is a pretty specific matchup look here, as I am avoiding the expected Terry McLaurin vs. Pat Surtain II shadow matchup that will be occurring on the outside.

Last week, Mathis was absolutely COOKED by Jakobi Meyers for two touchdowns, while Surtain shadowed Davante Adams and locked him down. Dotson will see Mathis (1.33 Fantasy Points per Pass Route allowed) when he lines up outside (42%) and Bassey (0.32 FPpPR) in the slot.

RB/DL: Rachaad White vs. Bears’ DL

We saw a true bust game from White in Week 1, especially after it was harped on how weak the Vikings could potentially be against receiving backs. Going back to White here in Week 2 against a Chicago defense that was obliterated through the air last week by Aaron Jones and Co.

Despite the weak statline, White still had the 10th-most attempts among RBs last weekend with 19 total touches. The inefficiency isn’t great to see, but the Bears’ DL is not strong enough to really stifle White this weekend.

Parlay of the Week 💰(+964)