What You Need to Know From Week 11

Photo: USA Today Sports

ARI @ SEA

1. Kyler Murray’s throwing shoulder got hurt by a resurgent Seahawks defense and he didn’t run nearly as much or as effectively. We’ll see if this carries over to a matchup against the Patriots.
2. Carlos Hyde and the Seattle running game came alive and could give the Seahawks a balanced offense down the stretch. We’ll see if Hyde’s value persists or if Chris Carson returns for Week 12 on Monday night in Philadelphia.
3. Kenyan Drake was bottled up as a runner, but scored and had his biggest involvement in the passing game this year, keeping him in RB2/Flex consideration. Chase Edmonds role in the passing game equaled another score, also keeping him in RB2/Flex consideration.
4. The Seahawks defense has firmed up in all aspects and didn’t allow a big game to a Cardinals receiver. We’ll continue to evaluate whether this is a matchup to exploit for opposing passing games with the struggling Eagles up next.
5. Russell Wilson wasn’t as prolific against the Cardinals, although a dropped score by DK Metcalf would have helped his fantasy outcome get into strong QB1 range. An improved defense and the return of at least one of the top two running backs could lower his fantasy ceiling.
6. Greg Olsen went out with a foot injury that will give Will Dissly and Jacob Hollister an outside chance of being fantasy relevant down the stretch.

PIT @ JAX

1. James Conner created more on his own against the Jaguars defense, but the Steelers running was still not winning big against the Jaguars run defense.
2. Juju Smith-Schuster seemed bothered by a toe injury that is worth monitoring going into Thursday.
3. Eric Ebron had another score and healthy target number despite Ben Roethlisberger relying heavily on his wideouts and he has established himself as an everyweek tight end starter.
4. Jake Luton looked overwhelmed and we will see Mike Glennon start in Week 12. Maybe this helps DJ Chark?

DET @ CAR

1. The Lions looked like they have packed it in for the year on both sides of the ball. We can’t trust anyone from this offense no matter the matchup until we see a more spirited effort, but should break ties in favor of players facing the Lions.
2. PJ Walker looked like a good backup quarterback and only faltered in the red zone with two terrible interceptions, which kept Teddy Bridgewater’s job safe, not that it was really in danger. It’s hard to know how much of this was the Lions lackluster defense, but there’s some hope of all three Panthers receivers remaining viable if Walker needs to start against the Vikings this week. Signs do point to Bridgewater being ready to play.

NE @ HOU

1. Deshaun Watson was nearly flawless, which bodes well for Will Fuller and Brandin Cooks value going forward.
2. Jordan Akins seemed to assert his presence in the passing game and could be a viable TE1 for fantasy for Week 12 against Detroit and beyond.
3. The Texans run defense did better this week, or at least the Patriots lost their nerve to keep testing them. Damien Harris at least scored and ran well on an early drive.
4. Rex Burkhead went down for the year, which will make James White a PPR RB2/Flex going forward.
5. Damiere Byrd had his first touchdown as a Patriot and gave us desperation play hope going forward as the Texans paid more attention to Jakobi Meyers, who had his first down game.
6. We can still count on the Texans to give up a lot of yards as Cam Newton had his biggest passing day since the Week 2 shootout with Russell Wilson.
7. The Patriots were firm against the run and Duke Johnson Jr found nowhere to run. Johnson is only a desperation play despite being a starter.
8. Randall Cobb caught a score but left with a toe injury that looks like a multi-week absence. Keke Coutee scored in relief of Cobb and will have a chance to rehabilitate his dynasty value.

TEN @ BAL

1. J.K. Dobbins took over the backfield and looked worthy of it… and then tested positive for covid and will miss at least Week 12 since the game is on Thursday (Week 13 is also a Thursday game for Baltimore). Mark Ingram also tested positive, so Gus Edwards will get the start against the Steelers, assuming the game goes forward, which might not happen if the Ravens have more positive tests after Tuesday brought five more.
2. Ryan Tannehill fought his way out of the corner and had a good game against a good defense, which helps us when deciding whether to play Corey Davis and Jonnu Smith.
3. Marquise Brown had a couple of drops and didn’t come through in a good matchup, undermining whatever confidence we had left for better matchups on the fantasy playoff schedule.
4. AJ Brown was a big bully with the ball in his hands on two consecutive plays with the game on the line to salvage a good fantasy day and keep him in our good graces.
5. The Ravens run defense is ailing without Brandon Williams and Calais Campbell and they couldn’t stop Derrick Henry from landing the death blow in overtime.

PHI @ CLE

1. Carson Wentz struggled for reasons that were both his fault and not his fault. Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson are being held together by duct tape, but Wentz is also playing with no confidence. Only Dallas Goedert can be trusted in this passing game until Wentz gets it together.
2. Miles Sanders still looks great, but his first quarter fumble inside the five helped set the tone on a long afternoon for the Eagles.
3. The Browns offense is content to lean on their running backs. Even though the Eagles did a terrific job neutralizing the Browns ground game, Nick Chubb eventually broke through for a run that basically clinched the game after Kareem Hunt finished the drive with a score.

ATL @ NO

1. Julio Jones aggravated his hamstring issue from earlier in the season and the whole Falcons offense suffered as the Saints defense continues to carry the team since they lost Drew Brees. Calvin Ridley is the only reliable play from their offense if Jones is out for Week 12 against Las Vegas.
2. Taysom Hill is a credible NFL quarterback - well at least against the Falcons. He made a lot of valid reads and accurate passes. He wasn’t used as a runner by design as much as expected, but still scored twice and should be a QB1 as long as he’s the starter.
3. Alvin Kamara didn’t record a catch and was basically in a 50/50 committee with Latavius Murray. Maybe his foot issue is worse than they have let on.
4. Michael Thomas got a little over half of the targets and should be safe to keep in lineups. Emmanuel Sanders might be too, after he caught one prayer of a deep ball and another by design for a long score that was called back by penalty. Jared Cook is not so going to be viable based on the target share in Hill’s first start.

CIN @ WAS

1. Joe Burrow went down for the season with a multi-ligament tear and chances are no Bengals player will be a consistent start for the rest of the year. Tyler Boyd was a decent play with Ryan Finley in two of three games last year, but that was with Joe Mixon keeping defenses honest. It also appears that Brandon Allen will start instead of Finley, which is good news for Tee Higgins because Allen was able to keep Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, and Noah Fant fantasy relevant in two of three starts for Denver last year. This helps keep the offense more viable which might also save Gio Bernard’s value while we wait (maybe until 2021) for Joe Mixon to return.
2. Antonio Gibson looks like he’s getting it and should be in lineups every week until he lets us down.
3. If Washington can control a game, J.D. McKissic won’t get a huge target total. He played well vs. the Bengals and wasn’t a bust, but his PPR upside is capped when Washington plays with a lead in the second half.

NYJ @ LAC

1. Lamical Perine got off to a good start with a score, but left with a high ankle sprain that landed him on injured reserve. Frank Gore scored his first touchdown of the year later. We’ll see if the Jets use Ty Johnson and Josh Adams more to spell Gore with an eye towards the future.
2. Joe Flacco is still good for Breshad Perriman and good for fantasy defenses. The Chargers had a pick six and Perriman reeled in another long score.
3. Kalen Ballage is going to be involved enough as a passcatcher to be a safe PPR RB2 start, but that might be for only one more week as Austin Ekeler is going to practice this week.

MIA @ DEN

1. Brian Flores isn’t afraid to pull Tua Tagovailoa if he isn’t getting it done, but he isn’t going to officially bench him. Ryan Fitzpatrick came in after Tagovailoa was ineffective and brought Devante Parker and Mike Gesicki’s values back to life, but he threw a pick in the end zone to end the Dolphins chances to win. Tagovailoa will start against the Jets this week, but now we have to worry about him getting pulled while the Dolphins are in playoff contention. In the meantime, the Dolphins passing game doesn’t look promising for fantasy values.
2. The Broncos running game was the offensive star of the contest, with Melvin Gordon scoring twice, but fumbling at the goal line to open up a path for the Dolphins to come back. Phillip Lindsay ran well as always, but didn’t get any receptions or touchdowns to cap his ceiling. We’ll see if yet another costly Gordon fumble motivates the coaches to give Lindsay the majority of the work or looks at the goal line against the Saints this week.
3. Salvon Ahmed’s workload wasn’t threatened by Matt Breida, but the game script and a spirited performance by the Broncos limited his output. He did still catch five passes in a good sign for his floor in PPR leagues while we wait for Myles Gaskin to return from injured reserve.
4. Drew Lock was mostly safe with the ball and spread targets around, which gives us an accurate picture of what this passing game can produce when he isn’t facing garbage time defenses. Keep expectations low for all Broncos passcatchers against the Saints this week. Tim Patrick’s 100-yard day against Miami was fueled by a meaningless deep ball on the last play of the game.

DAL @ MIN

1. Andy Dalton and the Cowboys offense got back on track, at least in part due to moving Zack Martin to right tackle. We can’t say yet how this offensive line will perform against a better defense than Minnesota, but Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, and Ezekiel Elliott’s values are all trending up coming out of this game. Washington’s defensive line smothered the Cowboys offense earlier in the year and that’s the next test for the new look Dallas O-Line on Thanksgiving.
2. Adam Thielen put on a route running show against the Cowboys secondary, but his status for Week 12 is up in the air after he was placed on the covid list Monday.
3. Michael Gallup is the one mouth that didn’t get fed by the rejuvenated Cowboys offense. Even if he has a big game in him later this year, his value doesn’t appear to be sustainable.

GB @ IND

1. Jonathan Taylor was running strong in the second half and appeared to regain the confidence of the coaching staff. He had what could have been a game-clinching long score called back by penalty. The Packers are an easy matchup for opposing running games, but most of the games left on the schedule for the Colts are, so Taylor is back in our circle of trust… for now.
2. After there was talk before the game that Nyheim Hines would be the “hot hand” going into this one, he did very little as a runner and was only barely adequate as a flex play. He did have a touchdown called back by penalty and he faces the Titans defense that he lit up in Week 10, so he still has some flex appeal for Week 12.
3. Philip Rivers got a little banged, but continues to play well after a rocky start to the year. He has an easy schedule going forward and the Colts passing game should be viable, but Michael Pittman appears to be the only trustworthy target as defenses keep forgetting about him on crossing routes. He took one to the house in this game.
4. Robert Tonyan Jr had his best fantasy game with Davante Adams in the lineup and appears to be a fantasy TE1 going forward despite his ups and downs.
5. Allen Lazard played 60% of the snaps but was a nonfactor in the game. He isn’t worth a preemptive pickup with Marquez Valdez-Scantling playing better in recent weeks despite his costly overtime fumble in this one.
6. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers wilted in the second half against a physical team after a 28-point first half. Rodgers is still a viable QB1 but the soft underbelly of the Packers offense is visible to the Bears who play Green Bay on Sunday night this week.

KC @ LV

1. Clyde Edwards-Helaire finally had a multi-touchdown game, encouraging trust in him as a fantasy options, but he and the Chiefs running game (which they are willing to abandon) face the stonewall Bucs front this week.
2. Nelson Agholor was the #1 receiver in snaps and production for the Raiders and it appears that he’ll be the only even semi-reliable option from this passing game going forward.
3. Byron Pringle got hurt, Sammy Watkins missed the game, and Mecole Hardman was eased in coming off of the covid list, so Demarcus Robinson was a bigger part of the pass offense. He could have some value in deep leagues down the stretch.

LAR @ TB

1. Tom Brady’s struggles with the deep ball continued as both of his interceptions came on downfield passes and almost all of his successful throws were within 15 yards of the line of scrimmage. He is proving to be very matchup sensitive this year and the Chiefs game this week has a boom/bust profile for him.
2. The Rams smartly passed more than twice as much as they ran against the Bucs with good results. The Bucs defensive backs couldn’t cover Robert Woods or Cooper Kupp, who both had massive games with lots of run after catch yards. We’ll watch the Tampa defensive backs chase the Chiefs receivers around this week. Goff is past his last tough pass rush matchup and has low QB1 value going forward.
3. Ronald Jones II and the Bucs running game was contained by Rams and Leonard Fournette got more carries than expected. Both had their share of drops in the passing game, too. One week after seeing hope that Jones will become a reliable play, we’re back to feeling nervous about starting him.
4. Cam Akers did score on a short reception, but there were no signs that the Rams are moving away from their three-headed backfield in this game.
5. Mike Evans was shadowed by Jalen Ramsey for most of the game, but scored when he was matched up with a different corner. The Bucs pass offense should have enough volume to support him, Chris Godwin, and Antonio Brown as weekly starts in PPR leagues.