History Lessons: Expect more from McGahee

If you have Willis McGahee on your Fantasy team, you might have benched him through the first two weeks of the season. Don't make the same mistake in Week 3.

McGahee has been the late-round steal of Fantasy drafts so far thanks to not only getting a good share of the rushing duties for the Ravens but also for working inside the 10-yard line almost exclusively. He has four touchdowns through two games and even has more rushing yards than DeAngelo Williams, Matt Forte and Steve Slaton.

And in Week 3, he takes on a Cleveland Browns defense he has absolutely owned over his career.

Since joining the Ravens, McGahee has met the Browns three times. He has not only scored in each of his last two against them but also owns two 100-yard rushing efforts. McGahee has ran with better-than-average consistency against them as well, never failing to average less than 4.3 yards per carry with a three-game average of 5.4 yards per rush.

Now it's no secret that the Browns' run defense hasn't played well this season as the Vikings and Broncos had their way on the ground with them. But even if the Browns had been stout against the run heading into Week 3, the Ravens would still plan on running early and often. In two meetings last season with John Harbaugh and Cam Cameron in their first years as head coach and offensive coordinator, respectively, Baltimore ran the ball over 35 times each contest. The result? Over 150 total rush yards in each meeting with four total scores. McGahee's rushing partner Ray Rice had his first 100-yard game (actually, first 150-yard game) against Cleveland late last season.

Bottom line? McGahee is not only one of the hottest running backs in Fantasy Football right now, but he's got an awesome matchup ahead of him. You've got to find room for him in your starting lineup.

Gonzalez owned by Belichick?

We've got an interesting matchup in Week 3 when the Falcons fly to Foxboro to play the Patriots. Atlanta's offense has been very impressive thus far, thanks in part to tight end Tony Gonzalez opening things up and forcing defenses to pick their poison between him, Roddy White and Michael Turner. Gonzalez has scored in each game this season and has 144 yards on 12 catches.

But the fun might be ending for Gonzalez, as his history against Bill Belichick-coached defenses is not good. How bad is it? Gonzalez hasn't scored on a Belichick defense since 2000, and it's his only touchdown ever against Belichick, whether he was dialing up defenses with the Jets or the Patriots.

To be fair, all of those meetings came when Gonzalez was with Kansas City, not with Atlanta. But Belichick's familiarity with Gonzalez -- they've faced off six times -- shouldn't be lost on anyone here. In fact, it's probably Belichick's ability to effectively scheme his secondaries that has been the biggest factor.

All this said, there's still the matter of opposing offenses scoring on the Patriots with their tight ends: Bills rookie Shawn Nelson did it in Week 1 and Jets second-year standout Dustin Keller did it in Week 2. Both were short-area touchdown flicks. Other than those plays, the Patriots have been stellar against opposing tight ends, holding them to five catches for 35 yards.

With New England's pass defense sharper than its run defense, Belichick has the personnel to limit Gonzalez once again. And with Gonzalez being such a key part of what the Falcons have been doing, not to mention the tight ends finding the end zone, it will be a priority for New England to focus on Gonzalez near the goal line. Benching Gonzalez doesn't make sense in Fantasy play, but lowering expectations is something his owners should do.

Rex Ryan effect -- part two

Last week we tipped you off on Rex Ryan's history against Tom Brady. If you had read it, then it shouldn't have been a surprise to see Brady struggle against the Jets. We're going to go back to that well here in Week 3 as Chris Johnson and the Titans are coming to the Meadowlands to take on Gang Green.

We've already chronicled Johnson's efforts against 3-4 defenses, and we even saw him take on a 3-4 front in Week 1 when the Steelers limited him aside from an early-game 32-yard run. But Rex Ryan had the rare opportunity to coach against Johnson twice last season as the defensive coordinator with the Ravens. Here are the results:

We took a look at both games and saw two different versions of Johnson. In the first matchup he struggled to find room to run and also might have been a little gun shy because the Ravens chipped away at him. Johnson was more prepared in the second meeting but really only had three notable plays (two runs, one catch) against them, struggling the other nine times he ran with the ball.

But it's the home-run potential Johnson has that makes him an intruguing Fantasy option. The Jets, whose defense looks very much like the aggressive Ravens' defenses under Ryan's guidance, have been awesome against the run but haven't faced a speedy threat like this yet in 2009. Like Gonzalez, you probably can't get away from sitting Johnson in Fantasy play, but keeping expectations in check isn't a bad idea since it's unlikely he'll replicate the production he had against the Texans in Week 3.

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