The New York Giants (3-1) face off against the Green Bay Packers (3-1) at Tottenham Hotspur in London this Sunday morning.
Here is a quick rundown of fantasy football options, for both season-long and in weekly DFS.
Where the teams stand after four games
Both teams are 3-1 but are being perceived quite differently by pundits and fans. To put things plainly, the Packers are a good 3-1 while the Giants are a bad 3-1.
The fact is both teams have major flaws. The Giants have managed to eke out wins over Tennessee and Carolina, lost by six to Dallas and then handled the Bears last week at home.
The Packers opened the season with an uninspired road loss to the Vikings before running off three wins over offensively-challenged Chicago, Tampa Bay and New England.
The Giants are actually averaging more points per game (19.0) than the Packers (18.8), and Green Bay is allowing 17.3 PPG versus the Giants’ 17.8.
The over/under had dropped down to 40.5 points as injuries, jet lag and uncertainties on both offenses are being baked in.
Matchup-proof players
Giants running back Saquon Barkley is always a ‘must-play.’ He leads the NFL in both rushing and total yards from scrimmage. The Packers are tough against running backs (14th overall) but they haven’t faced a Barkley yet. They may hem him in on most plays but he’s had several huge plays that have broken the backs of defenses this year.
Many would think of playing Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon against the Giants’ soft run defense. But which one? That’s always the issue with the Packers. It’s a timeshare and fantasy players hate those.
All three players should be in your year-longs at the very least this week.
Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers is averaging just 14.3 points per game on DraftKings and is still acclimating to his new receiving corps. He also hasn’t been a threat as a runner. It’s hard to green light him until we see him have a breakout game.
He’ll be facing a pretty tough pass defense this week and he’s never played overseas, so there are some concerns. Rodgers is not an ideal fantasy QB this week.
Daniel Jones is dealing with an ankle injury which will greatly reduce his ability to run, which is his strength. If he can’t go, Davis Webb will get the call and if you put any chips on him, you are a riverboat gambler and a bad one at that. Stay away.
The defenses and special teams
There are very few wide receivers and tight ends that can be trusted in this game. So, you if you have to, rookie Romeo Doubs and Allen Lazard might be your best bets.
Your better bets are the two defenses and the kickers. I would favor the Green Bay defense in this game and Giants’ kicker Graham, Gano.
