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What a week it has been. Crazy upsets, injuries and a ton of missed field goals. Let's take a trip around the NFL and review everythign that happened in week 11.
This is the Fantasy Football NFL Week 11 Recap:
9 – Buffalo at Miami – 22
We learned tonight that Lamar Miller indeed had a shoulder separation and not just an AC joint sprain. Miller got more playing time tonight and played better but this is obviously still a concern moving forward.
Jarvis Landry is tough to start as anything more than a FLEX play still but I absolutely love him in dynasty formats.
The Brandon Albert injury is going to hurt the Dolphins offense more than people realize the rest of this season.
I’ve said it for years and will state it again just for good measure: Never trust Brian Hartline in fantasy football.
Chris Hogan has become Kyle Orton’s go to WR lately. I actually am going to be adding him next week as roster depth in a couple of leagues. It never hurts to have depth to the WR bench.
Injuries: LT Brandon Albert (knee), CB Will Davis (knee), LB Jonathan Freeny (hamstring), CB Leodis McKelvin (ankle)
20 – Seattle at Kansas City – 24
The Seahawks defense just isn’t what it was last season and their offense is also not coming up with the magic they had a year ago. The Super Bowl champs are going to struggle to get into the playoffs in 2014.
Marshawn Lynch remained on the sideline during halftime. It was a very strange site to behold and looked like a player that is no longer engaged with his teammates. The Seahawks tried to say that Lynch was getting treatment on his injured calf at halftime but the head trainer and assistant were both in the locker room with the rest of the team.
There is no reason to own a Chiefs WR in fantasy football. They still do not have a single TD pass to WR and will basically ride the hand of Jamaal Charles and whoever is at TE.
The Knile Davis TD came after a 47 yard run by Jamaal Charles. So, when Charles went out to take a breather, Davis came in and punched in the TD.
Even with Anthony Fasano out, Travis Kelce was only able to acquire five targets and three receptions on the day.
Injuries: C Max Under (ankle)
19 – Atlanta at Carolina – 17
Both of these teams are terrible. Bad offense, bad defense, this game was a lesson in futility.
I remember hearing a couple fantasy industry folks telling people that Jonathan Stewart was a solid play this week because of Atlanta’s poor run defense. Please know that there are no good matchups for bad players.
As bad as Cam Newton has been playing it is extremely hard to sit him in fantasy football. His last two games were awful yet he’s posted 600 yards and four TD’s. His running ability gives him that extra upside that forces Newton into lineups each week.
On the flip side, Matt Ryan doesn’t have that rushing upside and thus is on the outside looking in at QB1 value each week.
Injuries: WR Devin Hester (ankle)
27 – Cincinnati at New Orleans – 10
Some things you just can’t explain. The Bengals defense that couldn’t shut down the Browns offense last week was able to stifle the Saints at home. #Confused
The Saints ran the ball too much today. Mark Ingram was having no success yet still touched the ball 30 times. That is just impossible when playing from behind and having receiving weapons like Jimmy Graham, Brandin Cooks and Kenny Stills.
This was Jermaine Gresham’s first 2 TD game of his career.
Jeremy Hill has done enough to continue to have a role on the Bengals offense even when Giovani Bernard comes back. But, his role will be minimal and most likely not startable in 12 team fantasy leagues.
Andy Dalton fell back in love with A.J. Green today which is a great sign for fantasy owners. Green has been a big letdown thus far this season but will be a featured part of the Bengals offense the rest of the way.
Injuries: RT Zach Strief (concussion)
27 – Tampa Bay at Washington – 7
The Redskins had two weeks to prepare for a home game against a 1-8 team. The problem is that RGIII is just not an NFL caliber starting QB. The Redskins are better off with Kirk Cousins or Colt McCoy.
I apologize to everybody that started Pierre Garcon on my recommendation this week. Evidently, he and RGIII are no longer on the same page. Remember that coming into this season Garcon had double digit targets in every game started by RGIII. Garcon is a fringe WR3 at this point in time.
Mike Evans just keeps getting better and better. He is without question an every week starting WR and is charging toward WR1 status. I will be interested in seeing what his price will be next week in DFS as he certainly could be a top five WR.
Although no Tampa Bay RB was productive today, it was clear that Charles Sims was the feature guy all day. Doug Martin is due to return next week so it will be interesting to see which RB gets shut down.
Injuries: LT Trent Williams (knee)
7 – Denver at St. Louis – 22
No, C.J. Anderson wasn’t going to be the primary ball carrier for the Broncos today. But, Montee Ball went down early on and thus Anderson wound up getting the majority of snaps ahead of Juwan Thompson today.
This was the least amount of points the Broncos have scored in a game since Peyton Manning came to town in 2012.
The Broncos have lost all three games in which they’ve trailed by 6 or more points this season.
Despite the 29-113 on the ground, I do not expect the Rams to give Mason 20+ carries per game going forward.
Leave Kenny Britt on the bench or waiver wire in your league. Sure Shaun Hill likes him more than Austin Davis did but that and $5 will get you a foot long sandwich from Subway.
Injuries: TE Julius Thomas (ankle), RB Montee Ball (groin), WR Emmanuel Sanders (concussion)
16 – San Francisco at N.Y. Giants – 10
Each team had the exact same number of offensive plays (68) today. This is the first time all season that two teams have run the exact same amount of offensive plays.
This was a MISERABLE performance by Eli Manning. If his name was Eli Smith or Eli Mans he would have been benched without a doubt.
Rashad Jennings had 22 touches (18 carries, 4 receptions) in his first game back from a sprained MCL. He’s a high end RB2/low end RB1 going forward.
Michael Crabtree’s 48 yard TD reception included him running 36 yards after the catch. That was more yards after the catch yards then Crabtree had the entire season up until that point.
Vernon Davis had just one catch for seven yards today. I’ve said many times that Davis needs to have a big finish to this season but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. I think it is time to drop Davis now in leagues of 12 or fewer teams.
Injuries: RT Justin Pugh (quad)
13 – Minnesota at Chicago – 21
The clocks at Soldier Field stopped working after halftime. Neither the players on the field nor the viewers at home had any idea of how much time was left as only the officials had a running clock.
The Vikings had absolutely no running game whatsoever today. It’s not that McKinnon or Asiata did poorly, rather the gameplan was for Teddy Bridgewater to attack the soft Bears secondary which was a mistake.
I have honestly ALWAYS liked Vikings WR Charles Johnson. He was originally with the Packers and I thought he’d be the replacement for James Jones which didn’t work out. Then I was stunned that the Browns cuts him this summer which didn’t make any sense. I think he is the type of WR who has the talent to put up some big weeks the rest of this season.
Alshon Jeffery absolutely kills the Minnesota Vikings. He racked up 11-135-1 today and had 12-249-2 last season against the Vikings.
Bears WR Marques Wilson got his first action of the season today hauling in two catches for 11 yards on the day. He is a guy to watch and possibly grab on waivers down the stretch of this season because of his immense upside.
Injuries: WR Greg Jennings (ribs), WR Jarius Wright (hamstring)
23 – Houston at Cleveland – 7
Ryan Mallett’s first career TD pass went to…DE J.J. Watt. That’s right, Watt was an eligible receiver and caught a two yard TD pass early in the first quarter to set the tone of the game for the Texans.
J.J. Watt was all over the field. Not only did he score his second receiving TD of the year (his fourth TD of the season BTW) but he also had a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in this game. Watt also got called for two costly roughing the kicker penalties, which almost let the Browns back into the game. This kid is one of if not the best player in the NFL right now.
I know that everybody wants to kneel at the alter of Arian Foster but Alfred Blue is only a minimal drop off from Foster in talent. Blue has more power than Foster by far but lacks the lateral quickness that has made Foster so successful.
The pregame hoopla surrounding who was going to be the Browns starting RB was ridiculous. It speaks to just how bad this situation really is for fantasy owners. I really like the Browns dedication to the run game but at this point I cannot trust any of the three RB’s in my starting lineup.
It’s a very simple formula actually. When the Browns throw the ball over 38 times in a game, they lose. Today Brian Hoyer threw the ball 50 times. Josh Gordon coming back next week will not help this principle. If the Browns suddenly become a throwing team they will lose ballgames.
Injuries: LB Karlos Dansby (knee), LB Jabaal Sheard (foot)
6 – Oakland at San Diego – 13
There were times during this game where I wondered why it was even being played. Neither team seemed interested and if the Raiders cannot capitalize on this sort of effort of the Chargers, they are not going to win a game this year.
Philip Rivers is not going to be healthy for awhile after this game. Rivers had significant leg and rib injuries in this game and will likely be limited in practice this week.
Keenan Allen isn’t scoring the TD’s but he is still on pace for 85 receptions and 997 yards this season.
It’s Latavius Murray time in Oakland. The youngster was used heavily in the second half today and will likely supplant Darren McFadden as soon as next week as the primary ballcarrier in Oakland.
The Raiders offense literally crossed the 50 yard line just twice in this game.
Injuries: C Rich Orhnberger (ankle), DT Ryan Carrethers (elbow)
6 – Detroit at Arizona – 14
Unlike other low scoring games this weekend this one actually featured some real good defense.
Be careful here folks. Sure Michael Floyd had a great fantasy game today catching two TD’s from Drew Stanton. But those were his only two catches of the day which isn’t good. I am not going to put Floyd in any of my lineups next week unless I am absolutely strapped for WR help.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Larry Fitzgerald had a significant knee injury. He left the game temporarily due to a knee injury but played through it for nearly three quarters. It’s a testament to the kind of player and man that Fitzgerald is but if there is an MCL sprain he will miss time. Grab John Brown if he is available in your league.
Joique Bell was as good as I have ever seen him today. He showed speed, flexed power and did everything that he could to move the chains for the Lions today.
Calvin Johnson had extensive treatment on an elbow injury after the game today. His status will be updated early in the week.
My apologies for recommending Theo Riddick in PPR leagues. Although he was mildly involved today, Riddick was a big fantasy disappointment.
Notice that Eric Ebron was finally back for the Lions and caught 4-22 today. He is certainly on your waiver wire right now and may be worth a stash for those suffering with the likes of Vernon Davis, Jordan Reed and Jordan Cameron.
Injuries: WR Larry Fitzgerald (knee), TE Troy Niklas (ankle)
20 – Philadelphia at Green Bay – 53
So much nonsense about this game. The Packers defense isn’t all that good. They are getting credit for the offense allowing them to play one dimensional football which would make any defense in the NFL better.
Speaking of perception and the Green Bay Packers, last week Jay Cutler took the heat for the Bears being destroyed 55-14. This week I can already tell that Mark Sanchez will be the whipping boy for another Packers domination. Neither Cutler nor Sanchez is to blame for these losses. Sure, neither played very well but when you are down 20 points before the end of the first quarter it becomes quite hard to bring your team back.
Nope, you still shouldn’t be starting Davante Adams on your fantasy especially with the bye weeks coming to an end.
It was not reported whatsoever but Jordy Nelson did grab his hamstring a couple of times on Sunday. He played less than normal late in this game also which could have been precautionary or directly injury related.
Aaron Rodgers broke Tom Brady’s streak of 288 consecutive home pass attempts without an interception.
This was a big game for Jordan Matthews. If he can be productive on the road in bad weather and when your team is down by a million points, you can produce anywhere. He is a WR2 going forward and must be started in all league formats.
Injuries: No injuries reported
42 – New England at Indianapolis – 20
Jonas Gray rushed for four TD’s tonight against the Colts. There were only four rushing TD’s by the entire rest of the league in week 11.
I’ve been touting Jonas Gray for weeks now and it finally paid off in a big way tonight. Gray popped off for 38-199-4 to single handedly destroy the Colts. Gray needs to be owned in all league formats.
Julian Edelman temporarily left the game with a lower leg injury but later returned.
Andrew Luck led the Colts in rushing today with 3-15.
Ahmad Bradshaw & Dwayne Allen going down will open up massive opportunities for Trent Richardson and Coby Fleener moving forward.
This is why I simply cannot call T.Y. Hilton an elite WR. He is quite easily taken out of games and isn’t a player that rises to the occasion. Eagles WR Jordan Matthews is already ahead of Hilton in terms of star potential in this league.
Injuries: TE Dwayne Allen (ankle), RB Ahmad Bradshaw (ankle/foot)