Week 3 hands us the highest total of the season so far, and it's happening in Sao Paulo of all places. Using Vegas totals, spreads, and DK/FD ownership data, here's how we're attacking the Week 3 main slate: thirteen games running from Ravens-Cowboys at the top of the totals board down to Giants-Titans at the bottom.

Best NFL DFS Game Environments for Week 3

Ravens-Cowboys leads the way at 53.5, the highest number on the board and a rare neutral-site game (Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil) that hasn't slowed the total down one bit. Chargers-Bills (50.5) and Jets-Lions (48.5) are right behind it, with Cardinals-49ers (47.5), Patriots-Jaguars (46.5) and Chiefs-Dolphins (45.5) rounding out the top six.

From there it gets crowded fast: Raiders-Saints sits at 43.5, and four different games, Texans-Colts, Bengals-Steelers, Vikings-Buccaneers, and Panthers-Browns, are all tied at exactly 42.5. Seahawks-Commanders (40.5) and Giants-Titans (37.5) close out the board, with Giants-Titans the clear low point of the week.

 

 

 

Best NFL DFS Games to Stack

Ravens-Cowboys

BAL -3.5 | 53.5 Total

The highest total of the season deserves the attention it's getting. Lamar Jackson is oddly cheap on ownership, especially on DraftKings, while Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman are both drawing a lot more love on FanDuel than DraftKings, worth knowing depending on the site you are playing on. Derrick Henry is still going to touch the ball plenty even in a track meet like this one. Zay Flowers carries a Questionable tag, and if he's active, the expectation is a snap count rather than his usual workload, so don't bank on a full-season role there even if he suits up. On the Dallas side, CeeDee Lamb is the most-owned receiver in the whole game, and Dak Prescott with George Pickens gives you a way into the same shootout from the underdog's side. Javonte Williams is the cheap, lightly-owned running back comeback if you want to attach a piece to Dallas without paying up for Lamb.

Chargers-Bills

BUF -7 | 50.5 Total

Josh Allen is a different player depending on which site you're on: barely 9% owned on DraftKings but pushing 19% on FanDuel, one of the bigger site splits on the entire slate. Dalton Kincaid has an even wilder gap, practically ignored on DraftKings but sitting near 30% on FanDuel. James Cook and Khalil Shakir round out the Buffalo pieces evenly across both sites, and DJ Moore is trending toward playing for Buffalo this week too, still carrying a Questionable tag but worth adding to the pass-catcher mix if he's cleared, since the field hasn't fully caught up to that news yet. On the Chargers side, Justin Herbert is shockingly cheap on ownership for a game with this kind of total, and Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, and Oronde Gadsden give you a correlated way into the upset. Omarion Hampton is the low-owned running back comeback if you're building around Buffalo's passing attack instead.

Jets-Lions

DET -6.5 | 48.5 Total

Jahmyr Gibbs is the single most-owned player on the entire slate, sitting close to 40% on both sites, and Amon-Ra St. Brown isn't far behind him. That's a lot of chalk to fight through if you're building around Detroit. The more interesting side is New York: Detroit's secondary has been banged up and its pass defense has been a soft spot, which lines up well with Garrett Wilson, quietly one of the higher-owned receivers in the whole player pool, and Breece Hall gives you a correlated running back piece in a game the Jets are expected to be trailing most of the day, which usually means checkdowns and garbage-time volume for both of them. Geno Smith himself is dirt cheap on ownership, especially on FanDuel where he's barely rostered at all, so if you like the matchup for New York's passing game, he's a near-zero-cost way in.

Raiders-Saints

NO -3 | 43.5 Total

New Orleans might be the most stacked backfield of pass-catchers on the whole slate: Tyler Shough, Chris Olave, Devaughn Vele and Juwan Johnson are all drawing real ownership, with Vele and Olave both pulling more attention on DraftKings than FanDuel. On the Las Vegas side, Ashton Jeanty is the running back comeback here, and the site split matters: notably more popular on FanDuel than DraftKings. Brock Bowers carries a Questionable tag and the field has already priced him at basically zero, so don't be the only one holding him if he sits.

 

 

 

Highest-Scoring Games to Target

GameVegas TotalSpreadTop Stack to Build
Ravens-Cowboys53.5BAL -3.5Jackson / Andrews
Chargers-Bills50.5BUF -7Allen / Cook III
Jets-Lions48.5DET -6.5Goff / St. Brown
Cardinals-49ers47.5SF -8.5Purdy / McCaffrey
Patriots-Jaguars46.5JAX -3Lawrence / Washington
Chiefs-Dolphins45.5KC -10Mahomes / Kelce
Raiders-Saints43.5NO -3Shough / Olave
Texans-Colts42.5HOU -1.5Stroud / Schultz

Best Contrarian NFL DFS Stacks

These four are further down the totals board or just plain unpopular right now, and that's exactly the point.

New York Jets

Geno Smith, Garrett Wilson and either Adonai Mitchell or Isaiah Williams as the true dart throw. Mitchell carries a Questionable tag of his own, so check that before kickoff, but Williams is priced at just $3,300 and barely registers on either site if you want to go all the way off the board.

Los Angeles Chargers

Justin Herbert, Ladd McConkey and Oronde Gadsden. All three are lightly owned given the size of this game's total, and Gadsden specifically is the cheap tight end play the field hasn't caught onto yet at just $3,500.

Minnesota Vikings

Kyler Murray, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. This entire Minnesota passing game is being ignored right now, all three barely registering on either site despite a game total that's tied for the middle of the pack.

New York Giants

Jameis Winston, Malik Nabers and Isaiah Likely. About as far off the board as it gets, all three sitting under 1% owned on both sites in the lowest-total game of the week, which makes this the true leverage play if you're chasing a wildly different lineup.

 

NFL DFS Games to Fade

Patriots-Jaguars | 46.5 Total

The number looks appealing, but this is two solid defenses and a Patriots offense the field doesn't trust at all right now. Drake Maye is sitting under 2% owned on DraftKings and under 4% on FanDuel, which tells you the sharp money doesn't see this turning into the shootout the total implies.

Texans-Colts | 42.5 Total

A low number to begin with, and outside of Dalton Schultz, who's still worth playing given the real chalk he's drawing at tight end, the rest of this game can likely be faded. Everything else on both sides is barely registering with the field.

Panthers-Browns | 42.5 Total

Tied for the lowest total outside the bottom two games on the slate, and neither offense has enough proven juice to make this worth a full build.

 

NFL DFS Stack Rankings for Week 3

A mix of straightforward game stacks worth building around this week.

RankStackGameTotalSpreadDK Own%FD Own%
1Prescott / Lamb / PickensDAL/BAL53.5BAL -3.510.6%10.0%
2Burrow / Chase / HigginsCIN/PIT42.5CIN -3.53.9%3.3%
3Herbert / McConkey / GadsdenLAC/BUF50.5BUF -76.4%6.6%
4Murray / Jefferson / AddisonMIN/TB42.5MIN -1.54.3%2.4%
5Shough / Olave / Vele / JohnsonNO/LV43.5NO -312.5%8.8%
6Smith / Wilson / MitchellNYJ/DET48.5DET -6.513.1%9.4%

Ravens-Cowboys tops the board on total and carries real ownership on both sides, making it the game to build around this week. If you want the truest leverage play on the slate, the Giants stack above is about as far off the board as it gets.