3 NFL Storylines to Watch in Week 3

Cam Newton: Superman Returns?

This is a bellwether game for the embattled Cam Newton. His opponent this week is the New Orleans Saints. They are winless, traveling to Carolina, and have already allowed nearly 800 passing yards in their two games. Both Sam Bradford and Tom Brady threw for 3 touchdowns apiece against New Orleans, and neither was intercepted.

Compounding the problems, the Saints -- already sorely missing Delvin Breaux, who had a leg injury that was misdiagnosed by team doctors -- could also be without their first round rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who has not practiced this week due to a concussion.

If Newton is still capable of putting up the kinds of big performances that earned him the 2015 NFL MVP, this is the ideal matchup to prove it.

During a span of 11 games that ran from Week 9 of 2015 through Week 2 of 2016, Newton threw for 3 or more touchdowns on six occasions -- however, he hasn't accomplished that feat in the 15 games since. During that time, he's only thrown 16 touchdowns and a relatively whopping 13 interceptions. On the ground, Newton has averaged 20 rushing yards per game, to go with 4 scores.

Newton -- who had surgery on his throwing shoulder in the offseason -- has battled through various injuries in recent years. More problematically for the immediate future, he'll be without his top target for an extended period of time -- tight end Greg Olsen suffered a broken foot last week against the Buffalo Bills and was placed on injured reserve. He might not return to the field for two months.

Fantasy Takeaway

Despite early-season struggles, Newton will not come as a discount on FanDuel. With a price tag of $8,100, he's the sixth-most expensive quarterback, despite a 13.0 fantasy points per game average. However, Kelvin Benjamin ($6,600) is extremely affordable even though he's only averaging 6.8 fantasy points per game on FanDuel.

One very intriguing Panthers option is Devin Funchess ($4,800), who switched from tight end to wide receiver in 2014 when at Michigan. Last week against Buffalo, Funchess caught 4 of his 6 targets for 68 yards. Without Olsen, Funchess could be worth a filer in DFS and makes for a worthwhile speculative addition in season long formats as the likely number two target for Newton going forward, as mentioned in 15 Fantasy Football Transactions for Week 3.