Jets vs. Lions Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 3

The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Jets-Lions Week 3 matchup.

Find a breakdown of every Week 3 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.

Trust = spike production for that player

Jets vs. Lions Fantasy Quarterback Preview

Jared Goff

Pushed into a jailbreak game state, Goff delivered buckets of fantasy points for gamers on Thursday night in Buffalo.

Only Josh Allen outscored him last week.

Even if some of the points were cosmetic, we don't give them back.

Goff ended up with 327 passing yards and 4 touchdowns.

That was missing three starting linemen.

Goff was pressured on 47.7% of his dropbacks, the fifth-highest rate in Week 2.

When pressured, he did eat 4 sacks but also went 9 of 16 for 153 yards (9.6 Y/A) with a touchdown.

From a clean pocket, he went 17 of 22 (77.3%) for 174 yards (7.9 Y/A) with 3 touchdowns.

Detroit will not get Cade Mays back, but initial reports are trending positive on Blake Miller and Christian Mahogany returning this week.

We will follow their status throughout the week.

Although he has been much better under pressure in recent seasons than early in his career, you always want Goff operating from a clean pocket.

Since joining the Lions, Goff has the highest rating in the NFL without pressure (114.9), completing 75.4% of his passes for 8.1 Y/A and a 6.2% touchdown rate.

The Jets have been game defensively to open the season, but they only have a 33.3% pressure rate (22nd).

When they have gotten pressure, however, they have converted 27.3% of those pressures into sacks (5th).

Over two weeks, the Jets have allowed only 4.7 yards per pass attempt, second only to Seattle (4.5 Y/A).

The Jets revamped their defense this offseason, but they have also opened the year facing Cam Ward and Jordan Love without an offensive line in the rain.

Maybe I'm just coping with the fact that their turnaround isn't real, since my editor believed their defense was underrated this summer. (Summerlin 1, Hribar 0)

Regardless, they took advantage of both spots, which reinforces that, compared to where they were a year ago, they've improved.

Regardless of whether you share those sentiments, this will be a stronger test as road dogs in Detroit against a team with a rest advantage.

Even with respect for the Jets' new defense, we always treat Goff as a QB1 when the Lions are in Detroit.

Goff has averaged 19.3 fantasy points per game at home with the Lions.

Since joining the Lions, Goff leads the NFL with a 106.3 rating at home, completing 69.3% of his passes (3rd) for 7.7 Y/A (9th), and a 6.2% touchdown rate (3rd).

We'd like to see the Lions start a little faster, though.

In the first half of these two opening weeks, Goff is averaging 6.3 Y/A with 1 touchdown.

Detroit has scored on only 3 of 12 first-half possessions with 1.42 points per drive.

In the second half and overtime, Goff has averaged 7.5 Y/A with 5 touchdowns.

Detroit has scored on 63.6% of those possessions with 4.09 points per drive.

Geno Smith

Smith was not as sharp in Week 2 as in the season opener, but he still delivered a solid QB2 performance in rain-soaked conditions last week against Green Bay.

Smith connected on 27 of 41 (65.9%) passes for 247 yards (6.0 Y/A) and a touchdown.

He added 17 yards rushing to close the week as the QB16 (15.6 points).

That was with no running game to speak of.

In Week 1, the Jets' pass rate was 7.9% below expectations (27th).

This past week, it was 10.6% over expectations (5th).

On the road against this defense, Smith is a matchup-based QB2 with upside.

I would even consider streaming him in 1QB leagues if you lost Jaxson Dart or need to sit Justin Herbert.

Detroit has allowed Tyler Shough (23.2 points) and Josh Allen (40.8 points) to post high-scoring weeks to open the year.

Smith may not be in the same tier as those guys in terms of offensive expectations, but there will be opportunities for points.

One thing Detroit is still doing well is getting pressure.

They have a 37.9% pressure rate (13th) while blitzing 39% of the time (8th).

Kelvin Sheppard was angry blitzing in Week 2 (50% of the time), like a Madden player who couldn't get a stop, so he just spammed blitzes in hopes of creating something.

In Week 1 against the Saints, they still blitzed 32.3% of the time (10th).

Detroit has allowed a league-high 5 touchdowns against the blitz, and Shough had 3 of those.

In two games versus the blitz to open the season, Geno is 14 of 19 (73.7%) for 170 yards (8.9 Y/A) with a touchdown.

The one concern you always have with Smith is when the pressure does get home.

He has always been sensitive to pressure.

To open this year, Smith is averaging 6.3 Y/A when pressured compared to 7.3 Y/A from a clean pocket.

Jets vs. Lions Fantasy Running Back Preview

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