Fantasy Overview offers a weekly breakdown of key information, stats, and strategies to help you excel in your fantasy league. Stay informed about the ever-changing landscape and gain insights to boost your success.
30 thoughts, stats, and tidbits that can elevate your game
1. Be ready for anything in divisional matchups. There are seven of them this week. Cleveland at Cincinnati, Pittsburgh at Baltimore, New England at Buffalo, Detroit at Chicago, Tennessee at Indianapolis, Philadelphia at Washington, and Denver at LA Chargers.
2. Start players on teams with hot quarterbacks. When in doubt, lean on the quarterback to help in your decision-making. Quarterbacks with 8+ touchdown passes in the last three weeks include Jared Goff (10), Joe Burrow (9), Sam Darnold (8), and Baker Mayfield (8).
3. Monitor injuries for key players, as injuries can significantly impact outcomes. Lions running back David Montgomery (knee) is out for the season, which should only be good news for Jahmyr Gibbs. Patrick Mahomes II (ankle) may sit out Week 16 vs Houston, especially with it being a Saturday game. A.J. Brown also suffered an ankle injury and could be hampered or miss this week's game. Nick Chubb (foot) and Jaylen Waddle (knee) are likely out for the season. Jerome Ford was impressive in place of Chubb last week. He'll have a chance to do the same at Cincinnati this week. Alvin Kamara (groin) and Zach Ertz (concussion) may be out this week.
4. Upset alert - Look for teams with strong defenses or efficient offenses to pull off upsets against favored opponents.
5. Teams with hot streaks tend to play better. The Eagles have won ten straight. The Vikings have won seven straight. The Buccaneers, Chiefs, and Broncos have won four straight. The LA Rams have won three in a row, and the Texans, Commanders, and Bengals have won two straight.
6. Check the weather - It's easy to enter your lineup, but if a game has poor weather and you didn't factor that into your decision, you may cost yourself valuable points.
7. Dome games this week: NY Giants at Atlanta, Tennessee at Indianapolis, Denver at LA Chargers, Jacksonville at Las Vegas, Tampa Bay at Dallas (close enough).
8. All four of Chicago's wins have come at home. They host the Lions this week. This is also only the Lions' second outdoor game all season. Remember, anything can happen in divisional games.
9. Minnesota is 6-0 in outdoor games this year. They will play at Seattle this week. Seattle is 3-5 at home and 5-1 away. They average 19.1 points at home and 27.0 points on the road.
10. Atlanta is 4-1 against their division and 3-6 against everyone else. This week, they host the Giants, who have won both games on the road.
11. With Evan Engram (shoulder) out for the season, Brenton Strange took over as the Jaguars primary tight end threat. He caught 11 passes on 12 targets for 73 yards. Brian Thomas Jr. and Strange accounted for 61% of Mac Jones' targets. If you're in dire need of a tight end, Strange appears to be a decent option.
12. Carolina has a -171 point differential, the most in the league. They are tied with allowing the most passing touchdowns (27) and have allowed the second-most rushing touchdowns. James Conner has 268 yards rushing in his last three games, and this week, he'll face the Panthers, who allow 173 rushing yards per game and 142 rushing yards per game to running backs. They have allowed 400 more rushing yards than the next closest team (NY Giants).
13. On average, the Dolphins allow the most field goal attempts per game at 2.71 - nearly three field goals per game. This week, they host San Francisco and their kicker, Jake Moody. Interestingly enough, Miami also allows the fewest number of plays per game at 58.1.
14. The Bills lead the NFL in average scoring margin at home with +17.3. They host the Patriots this week, whose average scoring margin on the road is -8.4. Interestingly enough, the Bills' average scoring margin on the road is only +3.9 despite averaging 29.4 points on the road.
15. The Bears have lost eight straight games and have not scored in the first half in their last three games.
16. Seven teams have averaged 30+ points per game in their last three games.
- Buffalo 41.7
- Cincinnati 34.0
- Denver 33.7
- Detroit 33.0
- Minnesota 31.7
- Tampa Bay 31.3
- Green Bay 30.3
17. Tampa Bay may be one of the hottest teams entering the playoffs. They could finish 11-6, with a seven-game win streak to begin the playoffs. They play at Dallas this week, followed by two home games against Carolina and New Orleans. They would be likely be hosting one of Green Bay or Minnesota in the Wild Card round.
18. Over the last three weeks, the one player who has the most fantasy points that isn't a lock for your starting lineup is Adam Thielen. He has 22 receptions for 252 yards and 1 touchdown in that span which is more points than Malik Nabers and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
19. Pat Freiermuth has a touchdown in three consecutive games. Interestingly enough, he has 3+ receptions in 9 of 13 games this season. He is the TE5 over the last three weeks.
20. T.J. Hockenson has yet to score a touchdown since he made his debut this season in Week 9. He is TE12 since then. While the Vikings are one of the higher-scoring offenses in the league, Hockenson is not a must-start.
21. In the four games before the Buccaneers' bye in Week 11, Cade Otton had 30 receptions for 293 yards and 3 touchdowns. In the four games since the bye, Otton has 10 receptions for 144 yards and 0 touchdowns. Week 11 also saw Mike Evans return from a hamstring injury. Cade Otton is clearly utilized more when Evans is not active.
22. Jerry Jeudy had 21 receptions for 266 yards and 1 touchdown in Weeks 1-7. Since then, which also corresponds to Jameis Winston taking over at quarterback, Jeudy has 49 receptions for 786 yards and 3 touchdowns. He is the WR5 since Week 8.
23. Is there a more boom or bust player than Garrett Wilson? In 13 games, Garrett Wilson has five games where he ranked in the top 20 wide receivers for the week. He has eight games where he is ranked outside of the top 25.
24. Jordan Addison has 18 total touchdowns in 29 career games. He has scored a touchdown in 13 of those 29 games (45%). By comparison, Justin Jefferson is 52% for his career.
25. Mike Evans needs 83.6 receiving yards per game in the next three games to reach 1,000 yards in 11 straight seasons in the league.
26. Three wide receivers have double-digit touchdowns
- 15 Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati
- 11 Terry McLaurin, Washington
- 10 Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit
27. These are the weeks in which Jaxon Smith-Njigba has scored at least one touchdown. 5, 9, 12, 14.
28. Derrick Henry has scored a touchdown in every game this year except his last three.
29. Josh Jacobs had one touchdown through Week 6. Since then he has 12 and has only not scored at least once in Week 9.
30. If you were to do a weekly three-leg anytime touchdown parlay of the three best touchdown scorers, Ja'Marr Chase, James Cook, and Derrick Henry, you would've lost your parlay in Weeks 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 13, and 14.
Good luck this week, and thank you for reading. Go earn your ticket to the Championship Game.
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