It’s a bummer that blocked kicks aren’t super-useful in FantasyLand, because yesterday’s NFL slate was loaded with amateurish field goal attempts that my 15-pound havanese could’ve batted down.
The block party got me to thinkin’, what if a thwarted FG earned your PrizePicks selections ten bonus points? (Ten bonus points for a blocked kick sounds about right, right? Right.) This would’ve given you points that would’ve made your life a whole lot happier, especially if you didn’t snatch up Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (102 yards, 3 tuddies) or Vikes RB Jordan Mason (116 yards, 2 tuddies).
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But PrizePicks scoring is PrizePicks scoring, and when there’s scoring, there are winners, and there are losers.
Let’s pick three of each.
(All fantasy point totals and rankings via FantasyPros.)
NFL Fantasy Football Week 3 Winners and Losers
Winner: Bears QB Caleb Williams
Has a quarterback tabbed as generational earned his stripes after one masterful performance? Of course not, but Chicago’s sophomore QB — who, with 4 touchdowns and 29.1 fantasy points, finished as Week 3’s QB1, and helped the Bears beat the tar out of the Dallas Cowboys’ dreadful defense 31-14 — looks to be a viable fantasy entity.
Fantasy’s season-long QB3 behind Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson (27.7 fantasy PPG) and Buffalo’s Josh Allen (24.5), Williams and his 23.8 fantasy PPG average are making him a plug-and-play QB1. And when’s the last time you said that about a Chicago Bears skill player?
Been a minute.
Loser: Falcons RB Bijan Robinson
Fantasy players hate hate hate when a garbage performance from a meh quarterback ruins the box score for his teammates, as was the case on Sunday, when, during Atlanta’s 30-0 beatdown at the hands of the Carolina Panthers — yes, those Carolina Panthers — Robinson killed fantasy owners, because QB Michael Penix Jr. killed the Falcons.
For the second consecutive week, Penix racked up — or, more accurately, racked down — less than 6 fantasy points, (5.8 this week; 5.3 in Week 2). In both the real world and in FantasyLand, Bijan relies on receptions for stat-padding, and Sunday’s 6 targets and 5 receptions — not to mention Week 2’s 5 targets and 3 receptions — aren’t making fantasy managers who drafted Robinson at the one-spot super-happy.
Fantasy managers like me.
Winners: Any Team That Has the Dallas Cowboys on Their Schedule
After three weeks, the once-proud Cowboys have allowed 1,193 total yards, 92 points, and 864 passing yards.
For contrast, the Green Bay Packers have given up 697 yards, 44 points, and 193 passing yards. Yes, the Packers have EDGE Micah Parsons and the Cowboys don’t, but that's just silly.
Dallas’ next game is a Sunday Night homer against the Packers (ironic), then they’re looking at back-to-back roadies against the Jets and the Panthers.
Since Dallas is atrocious at defending the pass — those 864 yards allowed through the air are the worst in the league by a relatively wide margin — fantasy players might want to eyeball whoever’s behind center for New York in Week 4 (could be Justin Fields, could be Tyrod Taylor), then Carolina QB Bryce Young in Week 5.
And while we’re on the subject of Mr. Young, you could make an argument for including him in the fantasy loser sector, as the dude managed just 11.6 fantasy points (QB25) in his team’s aforementioned surprising 30-0 win.
Loser: Broncos QB Bo Nix
Before the season kicked off, some pundits had the Broncos taking the AFC West title. (Not me. I’m rational.) After losing a 23-20 heartbreaker to the undefeated Los Angeles Chargers, Denver is 1-2, and Nix, as was not the case in his rookie season, is a below-average field general, managing just 43.5 total fantasy points here in 2025 (QB25).
His 5-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio is, y’know, bad, and his 71 rushing yards (3.1 average) is, y’know, mediocre, so unless your starting QB plays in Cincinnati and is named Jake Browning, Nix should probably stay on your bench until further notice. Or maybe even the waiver wire.
Winner: Commanders QB Marcus Mariota
Yesterday afternoon, as their second-year stud QB Jayden Daniels chilled out on the shelf with a bum knee, Washington took Las Vegas out behind the woodshed and whupped them but good, 41-24.
Daniels’ fill-in, Marcus Mariota, looked positively Jayden-esque, compiling a touchdown through the air and 1 on the ground to go with a passer rating of 118.6, all of which gave him 20.3 fantasy points and landed him at QB5.
Yeah, we know, the Raiders defense, in a word, stinks, but Mariota ran the Commanders’ offense as well as Daniels ever did, which has one wondering if the Commanders are good because of Daniels, or if Daniels is good because of the Commanders.
Loser: Texans QB CJ Stroud
It’s probably not fair to say that the Ohio State product is a shell of his former self, but year-three Stroud doesn’t resemble year-one Stroud.
Average-wise, comparing his rookie campaign with his three games here in 2025, he’s taken a massive step back in passing yards (-74.2), while trending up in both sacks taken (+0.14) and interceptions (+0.67). More importantly, Houston is 0-3, while the AFC South-leading Indianapolis Colts are 3-0, putting the Texans on the precipice of being eliminated from the postseason by Week 8.
Fantasy players who thought the former Buckeye would find his rookie form are just about as irked as Texans fans, as Stroud is averaging 12.4 fantasy points per game (QB32), and is another stinker or two away from becoming a waiver wire candidate.
Winners: Depth-Chart-Destroying Los Angeles Chargers Receivers
Ever so quietly, the Bolts have become AFC contenders.
Yesterday’s thrilling 23-20 win over the Denver Broncos kept L.A. undefeated at 3-0. And QB Justin Herbert’s second 300-plus-yards outing of the season has him sitting at fantasy’s QB7.
The sixth-year man’s QB7-ness can be attributed to both his general awesomeness and the work of WRs Quentin Johnson and Keenan Allen.
Heading into the season, Ladd McConkey sat atop L.A.s WR depth chart, well ahead of Johnson and Allen. Now, not so much.
Johnson finished Week 3 as this season's fantasy’s WR7, with Allen parked at WR8, and McConkey way down at WR57. A generous young man, Herbert has been spreading the ball quite nicely — yesterday, five Chargers saw 7-plus targets — so fantasy managers who drafted McConkey in round four ain’t exactly doing cartwheels.
But fantasy managers who grabbed Johnson off the waiver wire after Week 1 — managers like This Guy — are, to paraphrase James Brown, jumping back and kissing themselves.
Loser: Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase
I’m sure Jake Browning is a wonderful person, kind to children, pets, and autograph seekers, but he’s not great at quarterbacking, and this is a problem for his WR1, Ja’Marr Chase, as well as fantasy owners who selected Chase at the top of their draft.
Facing an admittedly impressive Vikings defense, Chase caught 5 of his 6 targets, racking up just 50 yards. He managed 3.9 fantasy points (WR50), a terrible statistical outing just two weeks after his 2.8 fantasy point mess on opening day, which landed him as WR1's WR75. And in Week 1, he was catching balls from QB Joe Burrow.
Burrow could miss the remainder of the season, thus Chase could miss being an elite fantasy option. Ugh.
Here in Week 3 of the NFL season, some of your PrizePicks picks won, while others lost — that’s the nature of fantasy sports, of course — but regardless of how it all panned out, you had a ton of fun making your selections, and will continue to do so as the NFL season progresses.
And if you enjoyed our NFL Week 3 fantasy winners and losers, stick with Playbook all season for advice, predictions, and takes.
