The NFL returns to London this week when the Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts square off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Commanders and Colts are middle of the pack in terms of offensive scoring, but being "mid" is a welcome relief in Tottenham, a club that didn't score their first goals of the English Premier League season until Week 4 against Liverpool. And it didn't score at home until the following week before the international break.
As we head into October, Tottenham is also still winless ... wait a minute, this is supposed to be a fantasy football column.
I will say this about Commanders QB Marcus Mariota, he finds a way to make Terry McLaurin more efficient. McLaurin has notched nine targets in back-to-back weeks, and he has a great matchup against the Colts, who have struggled against the pass this season. And isn't this what Sauce Gardner was supposed to prevent? McLaurin is a great WR2 start this week. On the other side, Josh Downs should have a good opportunity against the Commanders who have given up a league-leading six touchdown receptions to the position this season.
I know it's tough to get up early for these games (though U.S. fans of the EPL are veterans at this), but you're going to want to see this show. And if you're a Tottenham supporter, you're going to want to see people actually scoring in your stadium. Let's look at some other notes you need to know heading into Week 4.
Quarterback notes
What are we doing with our Los Angeles Chargers? Sorry, don't mean "our" like a team we support. But "our" as in players we (mistakenly) drafted. Justin Herbert might still be a start for you because most of the good quarterbacks have already been streamed off waiver. Herbert has yet to top 250 passing yards in a game this season. He has gone four consecutive games with one or no touchdowns dating back to last season. I've made the decision to move on from Herbert and will start Mariota this week, which will probably mean that Herbert will have the week of his life against the Seattle Seahawks in what will be Mike Macdonald's first time facing his former head coach at Michigan. I just can't stand the thought of playing Herbert again.
C.J. Stroud was another streaming option, considering the matchup against the Dallas Cowboys who just recently traded for Joey Porter Jr. The Cowboys have given up more than 27 points per game this season (25th). They have allowed a third-down conversion rate of 59%, which is the worst in the NFL. The matchup is there for Stroud, but there is just something about the Houston Texans' offense that doesn't sit right with me. The return of Nico Collins would help, but I'd rather stick with Mariota or Sam Darnold in desperate times.
Kyler Murray is a top-10 quarterback this week for me, with or without Justin Jefferson. And you can almost reason that the Minnesota Vikings would be better served to just keep Jefferson on the bench because it's the Miami Dolphins. Still, Murray has a 70.6 Total QBR against AFC teams in his career, the second-highest Total QBR against AFC teams since he entered the league in 2019. I'll give you one guess who is first ... and you're right, it's Patrick Mahomes.
Running back notes
The Dolphins' running back situation makes me sad. Ollie Gordon II was a top waiver-wire add this week, but I don't know how you can get him into your lineup. I'd start him over Isaiah Davis, Blake Corum and Woody Marks, for instance, but that's not exactly what you call a glowing recommendation. It's sort of like trying to pick out the best sushi roll at the gas station.
Did the Pittsburgh Steelers expose the Cincinnati Bengals defense last week, or was that a one-week thing? I don't know, I'm kind of worried that the Bengals' defense (that looked great the first two weeks of the season) is regressing. Aaron Rodgers threw for three touchdowns and the Bengals also gave up 138 rushing yards. This feels as if we could have the Bhayshul Tuten breakout game a lot of fantasy analysts have been beginning for.
There was concern Jeremiyah Love was going to be eased into the Arizona Cardinals' offense, because there wasn't much to play for. But the Cardinals have been frisky so far this season, as Love has had career highs in attempts (20), rushing yards (90) and receptions (five) against the San Francisco 49ers. And I know his NFL career has been three games. Still, show me the lie -- those are career highs.
Wide receiver notes
Green Bay Packers WR Christian Watson has four receiving touchdowns, the highest total along with Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But I'm telling you, Matthew Golden needs to be started. Golden has 253 receiving yards this season (eighth most). He needs 109 more receiving yards to surpass his total of 361 from last season.
I get a lot of questions about the Chicago Bears' receiving room moving forward. Most seem to agree Luther Burden III is the No. 1 receiver in the offense. Which, fine. I'll concede that point as he does lead the team in targets. But has Kalif Raymond moved past Rome Odunze as the team's No. 2 receiver? Raymond leads the Bears in receptions (19) and receiving yards (214). Odunze leads the team in routes run. He's third in the NFL in targeted air yards (17.2). And the fact remains, had he come down with that ball in the end zone, nobody is wrong about his fantasy statistics. But as a Bears supporter who watches the games with a little more emotion, it's easy to see Raymond is coming up with clutch plays. That said, I'm not starting Raymond this week, but he's on my roster.
Tight end notes
The point about Odunze also extends to Colston Loveland, in that if he had extended the ball over the goal line, those six points put him on another level among tight ends. He didn't. But he's still used in the same way in this offense. He's heavily involved and the big game is coming soon. The Jets are a tough defense, but I'm not going to trust any waiver wire target tight end to take his starting spot in my lineup. Loveland it is.