A tough Ravens defense should mean a tough matchup for this Chiefs offense … right?
Not so last year. Patrick Mahomes and crew racked up 503 total yards in their Week 3 win over Baltimore. The Chiefs had just 1 other game with more yardage (530 in a Week 10 loss at Tennessee).
Mahomes threw for 374 yards and 3 scores, despite having no Tyreek Hill on the field. He found LeSean McCoy, Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson for TDs, while Travis Kelce posted a 7-89 line. Darrel Williams delivered 109 total yards on 9 carries and 5 catches.
On the Baltimore side, then-rookie Marquise Brown caught just 2 passes but drew a game-high 9 targets. Lamar Jackson had a quiet game (for him) at K.C., completing just 22 of 43 passes for 267 yards and adding 8-46-1 on the ground. But the Ravens put 28 points on the board, let by Mark Ingram’s 103 yards and 3 TDs rushing. Gus Edwards added 53 rushing yards and hits the rematch off an up game last week.
Kansas City arrives to this round rated just 23rd in overall defensive DVOA by Football Outsiders: 17th vs. the pass, 26th vs. the run.
It’s early. That’s based on just 2 games. But that’s probably not the breakdown you want as you head to Baltimore.
Let’s look at the values for tonight’s highly anticipated showdown …
DraftKings
Both kickers look like good showdown options for what should be a high-scoring Monday night affair. They can help you fit both stud QBs, and each sports 50+ yard range.
Gus Edwards and Miles Boykin are also cheap options and potential differentiators vs. more popular target at their positions. Boykin has run just 2 fewer routes than Marquise Brown so far, and played 7 more snaps in total. Willie Snead trails Boykin in snaps (88-80), routes (51-40) and targets (9-6).
Edwards sits close to Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins in playing time through 2 weeks. Ingram leads the group at 48 total snaps, with Dobbins at 43 and Edwards at 35. Edwards trails Ingram by just 1 in run-play snaps (25-24) and has doubled Dobbins in that category.
That doesn’t make him the #2 RB necessarily, but it represents upside on his tiny showdown salary.
We’ll see whether Sammy Watkins is ready to return from his concussion.
FanDuel
Do what you must to fit the QBs on here. Don’t let the matchup scare you off Clyde Edwards-Helaire, either. Cleveland RBs averaged 5.7 yards per carry across 24 rushing attempts in their Week 1 blowout loss to the Ravens.
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