Fantasy plays: Players to start and sit for NFL Week 3

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Fantasy plays: Players to start and sit for NFL Week 3

2024-09-18 02:55 Last Updated At：03:01

It's been a roller coaster so far in the first two weeks of the NFL season.

Especially for some of the most reliable and coveted fantasy football players.

There are still plenty of solid plays to take advantage of in Week 3 though, and we’ve got them right here for you.

Start: Derek Carr, Saints vs. Eagles

Carr is off to a fast start with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, with 443 yards and five touchdowns and one interception. His dominant performances haven’t just come against winless teams such as the Panthers. This past week, Carr threw for two TDs and ran in one against the Cowboys. He could have a big game in Week 3 against the Eagles secondary.

Other locks:

—Baker Mayfield vs Broncos

—Jared Goff vs Cardinals

—Joe Burrow vs Commanders

—Lamar Jackson at Cowboys

Avoid: Jayden Daniels, Commanders at Bengals

Daniels had 2 rushing TDs in Week 1 and finished with 44 rushing yards and failing to find the end zone in Week 2 against the Giants. Daniels will face a Bengals defense this week that is top five in defending QBs.

Start: Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots at Jets

Stevenson is really the only thing the Patriots have going offensively, aside from Hunter Henry last week, surpassing 20 carries for the second straight week, on the way to 90 combined yards and 1 TD. In Week 3, he’ll face a Jets team that just allowed more than 100 yards rushing to the Titans.

Other locks:

—James Cook vs Jaguars

—Derrick Henry at Cowboys

—Jordan Mason at Rams

—Alvin Kamara vs Eagles

Avoid: Kyren Williams, Rams vs. 49ers

You might think Williams is in for a big game, considering all the other injuries the Rams offense has sustained over the past two weeks, but with fewer premier players to worry about, the 49ers defense can stack the box and give all of their attention to the Rams run game. And if the game gets lopsided in the 49ers’ favor, the Rams could move to Blake Corum in the backfield, as they did when the Cardinals got out to a big lead in Week 2.

Start: Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals vs. Commanders

Chase is off to a slow start, but he was on a snap count in Week 1, and he was bracketed all Week 2 with Tee Higgins absent. Even if Higgins sits this week, Chase should still be able to put up good numbers, as the Bengals will go up against the Commanders’ league-worst secondary in Week 3.

Other locks:

—Marvin Harrison Jr. vs Lions

—Nico Collins at Vikings

—Chris Godwin vs Broncos

—Brandon Aiyuk at Rams

Avoid: Drake London, Falcons vs. Chiefs

With an improved QB situation, there was hope London could put up big numbers this season. But aside from a last-minute TD against the Eagles on Monday night, London is off to a slow start. London and the Falcons passing game could struggle against the Chiefs’ top-five secondary in Week 3 on Sunday night.

George Kittle, 49ers at Rams

Kittle caught seven of his eight targets for 76 yards and a score against a stout Vikings defense in Week 2. With Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel out this week, he’ll need to be a major part of the 49ers offense again. His opponent, the Rams, are a top-10 matchup for opposing TEs, so Kittle shouldn't have a difficult time getting open.

Other locks:

—Trey McBride vs Lions

—Brock Bowers vs Panthers

—Pat Freiermuth vs Chargers

—Noah Fant vs Broncos

Avoid: Isaiah Likely, Ravens at Cowboys

Likely had a huge game in Week 1, catching 9 of 11 targets for 111 yards and a score, before catching only two passes for 26 yards in Week 2. With Mark Andrews getting four catches for 51 yards in Week 2, I want to keep Likely on the bench until we see him build some consistency.

This column was provided to The Associated Press by RosterWatch, www.rosterwatch.com.

Germans mourn attack on Christmas market with no answers about why

2024-12-21 15:18 Last Updated At：15:21

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germans began Saturday mourning another violent attack and their shaken sense of security after a Saudi doctor drove a black BMW into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers on Friday evening, killing at least two people, including a small child, and injuring at least 60 others in what authorities called a deliberate attack.

Authorities identified the suspect as a 50-year-old who has been living in Germany for nearly two decades and practicing medicine there. He was arrested Friday evening at the site of the attack as medical officials tended to the injured, and was taken into custody for questioning.

But on Saturday there were still no answers as to what caused the man to drive into a crowd in the eastern Germany city of Magdeburg.

The violence shocked the country and the city, bringing its mayor to the verge of tears and marring a festive event that’s part of a centuries-old German tradition. It prompted several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser were due to travel to Magdeburg on Saturday, and a memorial service is to take place in the city cathedral in the evening.

“My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives," Scholz wrote on X. "We stand beside them and beside the people of Magdeburg.”

Magdeburg is a city of about 240,000 people, west of Berlin, that serves as Saxony-Anhalt’s capital. Friday’s attack came eight years after an Islamic extremist drove a truck into crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.

Verified bystander footage distributed by the German news agency dpa showed the suspect’s arrest at a tram stop in the middle of the road. A nearby police officer pointing a handgun at the man shouted at him as he lay prone, his head arched up slightly. Other officers soon arrived and took the man into custody.

The two people confirmed dead were an adult and a toddler, but officials said additional deaths couldn't be ruled out because 15 people had been seriously injured.

“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city," Saxony-Anhalt's governor, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters. “Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many.”

Authorities identified the suspect as a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who moved to Germany in 2006 and who had been practicing medicine in Bernburg, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Magdeburg.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned the attack on X but did not mention the suspect’s connection to the kingdom.

Christmas markets are a German holiday tradition cherished since the Middle Ages, now successfully exported to much of the Western world.

Hours after Friday's tragedy, the wail of sirens clashed with the market’s festive ornaments, stars and leafy garlands.

Magdeburg resident Dorin Steffen told dpa that she was at a concert in a nearby church when she heard the sirens. The cacophony was so loud “you had to assume that something terrible had happened.”

She called the attack “a dark day” for the city.

“We are shaking,” Steffen said. “Full of sympathy for the relatives, also in the hope that nothing has happened to our relatives, friends and acquaintances.”

The attack reverberated far beyond Magdeburg, with Haseloff calling it a catastrophe for the city, state and country. He said flags would be lowered to half-staff in Saxony-Anhalt and that the federal government planned to do the same.

“It is really one of the worst things one can imagine, particularly in connection with what a Christmas market should bring," the governor said.

Moulson reported from Berlin.