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Smith-Njigba chases down Allen's Thursday mark to win Week 2 by 1.7
Josh Allen set the bar at 40.8 on Thursday night. Jaxon Smith-Njigba waited until Sunday afternoon, then cleared it with 42.5 PPR points.
42.5
Smith-Njigba's points, the most of the week
1.7
Smith-Njigba's edge over Allen
28.5
points needed for the top 10
5
players with 30 or more
Josh Allen put 40.8 PPR points on the board before most of the league had played a snap. For three days nobody touched the number. Then Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught three touchdowns at Arizona and finished with 42.5, a 1.7-point edge that won the week.
It took a big week to get there. Five players cleared 30 points, and 28.5 was the price of a top-10 finish. Four of those five 30-point games came from wide receivers.
Week 1PreviouslyCaleb Williams tops Week 1 as one Bears-Panthers shootout fills four top-10 spotsAllen sets the bar on Thursday
Buffalo's 41–31 win over Detroit opened the week, and Allen ran it from the first quarter. He had 17.9 points after one quarter and 28.6 with four touchdowns at halftime. His fifth score pushed him to 38.8, and he closed at 40.8.
The line explains it. Allen went 20 of 31 for 248 yards and three touchdowns, then added 14 rushes for 69 yards and two more scores on the ground. On the other side, Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 9 of 13 targets for 142 yards and two touchdowns for 35.2 points. Jared Goff threw for 327 yards and four scores in the loss, good for 29.8. One game put three players in the final top 10.
A quiet early window
Sunday's early games barely moved the board. Henry had 14.5 early, and DeVonta Smith reached 17.6 by halftime without cracking the leaders. Smith kept working, catching 10 of 13 targets for 117 yards and a touchdown in Philadelphia's 24–20 win at Tennessee. He led the window at 27.7, which sat fourth at the time.
Ja'Marr Chase scored twice in Cincinnati's 20–6 win at Houston to reach 25.0 and finish at 26.5. The window's best story for tight-end managers came from the losing side of that game. Dalton Schultz caught 12 of 14 targets for 140 yards, scored 15.2 points late and finished with 26.0 without a touchdown.
Lamb starts it, Smith-Njigba finishes it
The late window opened with the week's biggest single quarter. CeeDee Lamb scored 19.9 points in the first quarter against Washington and had 21.4 at halftime. Smith-Njigba was right behind him at 20.8.
The second half belonged to Seattle. Smith-Njigba climbed to 32.9 and third place, then kept going past Allen to 42.5. He caught 9 of 11 targets for 155 yards and three touchdowns, including a long of 82, in a 31–7 win. For fantasy managers, that's the shape of a week-winner: elite efficiency on targets and one play that changes the math.
Lamb didn't fade so much as stall. He finished with 8 catches on 9 targets for 153 yards and two touchdowns, 35.3 points, good for fourth. Dak Prescott went 26 of 31 for 279 yards and four touchdowns in the 37–20 win, matching Goff at 29.8.
Sunday night and Monday reshuffle the bottom half
Warren and Travis Kelce started fast on Sunday night, but Jonathan Taylor drove the board. He had 14.9 at halftime and touched 29.5 in overtime to move into seventh before settling at 29.2. He ran 24 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns and caught all four targets for 40 yards, the week's only running back in the top 10.
Patrick Mahomes threw his third touchdown to reach 22.1 and finished with 382 yards on 32 of 47 passing. His 29.0 snuck him into ninth as Kansas City won 33–30. Kelce added 9 catches, 101 yards and a score for 25.1.
Monday night brought the last real climb. Davante Adams had 13.0 early and 25.5 at halftime against the Giants. He finished with 8 catches on 10 targets for 195 yards and two touchdowns, 39.5 points and third place. His quarterback came up just short. Matthew Stafford threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns, but one interception left him at 28.0, half a point below Brock Purdy's 28.5 cutoff. Purdy earned that last spot by completing 20 of 22 passes for 287 yards and two scores and adding a rushing touchdown.
What Week 2 says
The week rewarded receivers who turned modest volume into big plays. Smith-Njigba, Adams and Lamb each saw 11 or fewer targets and still cleared 35 points. Quarterbacks filled out the board, taking five of the top 10 spots, but only Allen got near the top, and he needed five total touchdowns to do it. He still lost the week by 1.7.
The top 10
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR, SEA) — 42.5
- Josh Allen (QB, BUF) — 40.8
- Davante Adams (WR, LAR) — 39.5
- CeeDee Lamb (WR, DAL) — 35.3
- Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR, DET) — 35.2
- Jared Goff (QB, DET) — 29.8
- Dak Prescott (QB, DAL) — 29.8
- Jonathan Taylor (RB, IND) — 29.2
- Patrick Mahomes (QB, KC) — 29.0
- Brock Purdy (QB, SF) — 28.5
