Top 5 Rushing Matchups
Cleveland vs Carolina
Cleveland's offense has major issues, but Deshaun Watson had his best game in Cleveland last week, pushing the team to victory over Tampa Bay. Cleveland's major issue is its complete inability to run the ball. While the Browns aren't ready to give up on Quinshon Judkins yet, it's time to start having real concerns about his lack of vision. It's not all Judkins' fault, as he's running behind a completely rebuilt offensive line, but he's averaged a league-worst 3.1 yards per carry over his last 12 games. Along the offensive line, this continues to be a work in progress. Starting two rookies and some journeymen, the Browns attempted to replace all five starters this offseason. So far, only third-round rookie Austin Barber looks to be playing at a quality NFL level, while first-round left tackle Spencer Fano has been inconsistent, and the rest of the free agents the Browns brought in are replacement-level players.
Through two games, Carolina is allowing a staggering 174 rushing yards per game. While they looked improved in Week 2 against Atlanta as they "only" allowed 123 rushing yards to Bijan and Brian Robinson Jr., that was mostly thanks to Atlanta needing to abandon the run in a 34-3 game. The good news for Carolina is their pass defense looks much improved, but teams are simply taking this and running the ball against a very weak front seven. The Panthers do get some relief this week as edge rusher Patrick Jones II returns after missing the first two weeks, which should help a defensive line that has seen multiple injuries in the preseason. Carolina's problem, however, is that their All-Pro defensive tackle Derrick Brown has struggled through two weeks. At 320 pounds, he has consistently been asked to do a lot in Carolina. When he's at his best, this is a defense that can shut down just about anyone, but his play has been inconsistent throughout his career due to primary health issues. At linebacker, it remains to be seen whether this experiment will work. The Panthers replaced their linebackers in the offseason with Bobby Okereke, who came from a Giants team that simply could not stop the run, along with Devin Lloyd, who had a good year last year in Jacksonville, but Jacksonville is not missing a beat at all without him this season. Overall though, this is a story about Derrick Brown, and if he can just get back to being an above-average player, this defense will quickly improve.
Houston at Indianapolis
As great a fantasy performance as David Montgomery had in Week 1, there are some major concerns for the Texans' running back, as he had just six carries for 10 yards last week against Cincinnati. Montgomery's Week 1 was propped up by three touchdowns and 23 touches. However, he averaged just 3.0 yards per carry against Buffalo and is at just 2.7 for the season. If there is a silver lining for Montgomery, it is that Woody Marks has not had much success running the ball either, averaging just 2.9 yards per carry, including last week, when he had eight carries for eight yards. The Texans need some of their young offensive linemen to improve, as their left side is a mess. 2026 first-round pick Keylon Rutledge and 2025 second-round pick Aireontae Ersery are both struggling through the first two weeks, while center Evan Brown has always been a below-average run blocker despite his 320-pound frame. Offensive coordinator Nick Caley has always been a pass-first coach, and we could see the Texans turn into a pass-heavy team if they don't find success soon, as they threw 55 times last week in a game they were trailing.
Indianapolis' defense has been among the most disappointing units in 2026. Through two games, they've allowed 147 rushing yards per game to opposing running backs, which is the second-most in the NFL, as both Ken Walker III and Derrick Henry topped 110 yards against them. This defense has holes at every level. Along the defensive line, Grover Stewart's 2025 decline has worsened as he's 33 and doesn't appear to be recapturing some of his early-career dominance. Next to him is Jerry Tillery, who has been a subpar run-stopper throughout his career despite some pass-rush ability, but the Colts are asking him to play far too many snaps, averaging 35 per game. The problem doesn't get resolved at linebacker or safety either, as the team moved on from Zaire Franklin and Germaine Pratt, who amassed 228 tackles last season, and replaced them with struggling players. Most notably, Jaylon Carlies, who was the team's 2024 fifth-round pick, has been a disaster through the first two games. Carlies has just six tackles in two games, which is not competitive for a player who has been on the field for 92 snaps. Meanwhile, at safety, 2026 A.J. Haulcy has really struggled. Overall, the hope for the Colts was that Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward would lock down the outside coverage and that the Colts could get away with a rebuild of their run defense, but the problem has been that Gardner and Ward have not been nearly as good as they were earlier in their career, thus forcing the Colts to place more emphasis on their pass coverage and force the young, inexperienced players into more of a solo role to stop the run. The matchups will be easier than Kansas City and Baltimore, but it's a defense with major issues.
LA Rams at Denver
The committee between Kyren Williams and Blake Corum appears likely to continue throughout the season as Sean McVay came out and said he envisions the running backs continuing to split carries. It's hard to argue when both running backs averaged over 6.5 yards per carry last week against the Giants. While the offensive line had issues coming into the season, they've been great through the first two weeks. 2023 second-round pick Steve Avila has taken a significant step up at left guard, while veteran Coleman Shelton has looked like an elite center after a journeyman career. They won't face the Giants every week, but this should be another favorable matchup this week against a Denver defense that has struggled to stop the run through the first two weeks of the year.
Through two weeks, Denver's defense has been among the most disappointing. Allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs, Denver is allowing 143 rushing yards per game to the position. After Ken Walker III's 173 yards in Week 1, Bhayshul Tuten followed up in Week 2 with 65 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. Denver's challenge is that this team is built almost entirely to stop opponents' passing attack. Their 3-4 scheme puts a lot of pressure on the defensive line, and through two weeks, D.J. Jones and Eyioma Uwazurike have struggled. At linebacker, Justin Strnad had an outstanding 2025 but has regressed to a league-average linebacker over the past two weeks, while safety Talanoa Hufanga has not provided the spark he did in his first season in Denver. This team needs to figure it out quickly, as opponents will try to avoid throwing against them as much as possible. With elite pass rushers in Nik Bonitto and Zach Allen, along with arguably the game's best corner in Patrick Surtain II, opponents will take the easiest path to moving the ball, which is on the ground at the moment.
Kansas City at Miami
Through two weeks, Ken Walker III is aiming for more hardware beyond the 2025 Super Bowl MVP. If he keeps this pace up, he'll be a strong contender for Offensive Player of the Year and league MVP as he's been outstanding through two games. Walker has topped 100 yards in each of his first two games, but the volume has been impressive, as he's averaging 23.5 carries and 4.5 receptions. Walker no longer has to share carries with Zach Charbonnet like he has the past few seasons, and he's also improved significantly at offensive line compared to his time in Seattle. Anchored by the league's best center, Creed Humphrey, the Chiefs' offensive line is rated the fourth-best by Matt Bitonti, and would likely be number one if they could get their starting left tackle, Josh Simmons, back at some point this season.
Through two games, Miami seems like a team that may have quit before the season started. After losing their first two games, 27-13 and 35-13, they look completely overmatched, which is to be expected from a team with a higher dead cap value than its actual roster. Things are only going to get worse for Miami, as they have next to zero depth and could be without both Chop Robinson and Jordan Phillips along the defensive line. (Both are questionable this week.) They have massive holes at every level, relying on rookies and completely unproven players throughout the defense. Over two weeks, Miami has allowed the most fantasy points to opposing running backs, averaging 37.1 PPR points per game, and has allowed five touchdowns in two games, with both Ashton Jeanty and Christian McCaffrey scoring multiple times.
Baltimore at Dallas
While Derrick Henry didn't have the explosive Week 2 to build off of his tremendous Week 1, he was more than productive. Henry gained 68 yards on 16 carries as the Ravens were upset by New Orleans. (The Ravens only ran 53 offensive plays.) Henry will have better days ahead, and at least he found the end zone. The encouraging part for Henry is that despite being 32, he's showing no signs of slowing down despite a significant workload dating back to high school. This is a player who had an irresponsibly high 1,397 carries in high school, 603 in college (including 395 in his senior season), and now 2,702 carries in the NFL. Depending on how many more years he plays, he's likely to finish in the top three in NFL carries, though he's unlikely to catch Emmitt Smith's 4,409 NFL record. At center, the Ravens had concerns about Tyler Linderbaum's departure and turned to unproven 2023 seventh-round pick Jovaughn Gwyn. While Gwyn has been abysmal in pass blocking, he has been an excellent run blocker through the first two weeks, which would be a tremendous boost to Henry's full-season outlook.
Dallas' run defense has been relatively unchallenged through two weeks, but unimpressive. Last week against arguably the league's worst rushing unit in Washington, Dallas allowed 110 yards to the combination of Rachaad White, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, and Kaytron Allen, while Jayden Daniels added another 69 rushing yards, all in the first half. In Week 1, the Cowboys allowed 111 to Cam Skattebo, Devin Singletary, and Tyrone Tracy Jr. Dallas will face a tougher matchup in Week 3 as they take on one of the league's best run offenses in Baltimore, with both Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Last season, Dallas allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs. While they've tried to fix the problem at linebacker and safety, other problems have sprouted. The good news is that third-round rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham seems to be a player that the Cowboys hit on. He's been the bright spot of this defense through the first two weeks. Meanwhile, safety is a major problem. The Cowboys invested their first-round pick in safety Caleb Downs, but because they need a slot corner, he's had to move there, leaving Jalen Thompson and Markquese Bell to get playing time since the Cowboys are without starters Malik Hooker and P.J. Locke. This defense will need its defensive line to improve, since the Cowboys have invested heavily in it. Quinnen Williams, Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark, Von Miller, and Donovan Ezeiruaku are all players that Dallas has spent a lot of money or draft capital on, and so far, outside of Ezeiruaku, they have not produced.