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Fantasy Football: Stars of Week 2 Thursday Night Football

By Dan Salem

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NFL Week 2 kicks off Thursday night, and these are your Fantasy Football stars of the night. Denver versus Kansas City is sweeter when fantasy stars shine bright. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Check out more of the brothers in Seesaw Sports Debate on BuzzChomp. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.

TODD:

Last week, for our first installment of predicting the players who will perform the best on Thursday Night Football, we made some easy yet fair prognostications.

I grabbed Ben Roethlisberger to outshine Tom Brady. He didn’t, but Ben did have a pretty good game nonetheless. You named Antonio Brown as the best bet, and he was stellar indeed, despite good coverage most of the game by New England corner Malcolm Butler.

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For Week 2 of the NFL season, Thursday’s contest is another great one, pitting the Denver Broncos against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Denver’s defense showed up to play in week one, but its offense was sorely lacking. I could see a similar outcome against a good Chiefs defense. My breakout star for the night is Broncos corner Chris Harris. While Aqib Talib grabs the headlines in Denver’s secondary, Harris is just as good if not better at his job.

Look for Alex Smith to have a much harder time of things in this game. If Talib gets the task of covering Jeremy Maclin, Harris will shut down the other half of the field and come away with a number of passes defensed and maybe a pick or two. The Denver defense is an excellent fantasy football play for this reason.

Sep 13, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver

Emmanuel Sanders

(10) reaches for a pass as Baltimore Ravens cornerback

Jimmy Smith

(22) defends in the second quarter at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

DAN:

Singling out Chris Harris is a solid prediction, with Denver’s defense aiming to shine once again and make a splash from a fantasy perspective. I’m not so down on the Broncos offense, however, and am looking to the other side of the football for my star of the night.

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The Chiefs gave up a huge number of yards and points in the passing game against the Texans in week 1. Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett combined to throw for 334 yards and 2 touchdowns. Two Houston receivers nearly crossed the 100 yard mark, with DeAndre Hopkins falling two yards shy, yet grabbing two touchdowns instead. All of this means that the Broncos are in for a major rebound in the passing game.

Emmanuel Sanders is my breakout star of the night. Expect big things from him for fantasy purposes this week. After only getting 65 yards on eight receptions to start the season, Sanders will be able to take full advantage of the Chiefs less than stellar pass defense. Denver did not run the ball well in week 1, and I don’t see that aspect of their offense improving much. This puts more pressure on Manning to pass, and gets the football into the hands of Sanders on the outside.

I envision another tight contest on Thursday Night Football, with Emmanuel Sanders dominating the field of play. Denver needs him to shine in order to win, and fantasy players need him to star because another six points won’t cut it. He comes through in a big way.

Dan Salem is a Staff Writer for NFL Spinzone. He’s also Lead Editor, Staff Writer, and Featured Vlogger at BuzzChomp, and a New York Jets Analyst for Pro Football Spot. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or Instagram.

Todd Salem is a Staff Writer for NFL Spinzone. He’s also a Contributing Editor at BuzzChomp, a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, and an Analyst for Tipster Labs, among others. Follow him on Twitter.

Next: NFL Week 2 - Best Picks Against the Spread

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