Injury Roundup
QB Justin Fields - Chicago Bears
Shoulder: Fields was carted off the field with an injury to his left (non-throwing) shoulder. HC Matt Eberflus said that an update will be available on Wednesday. At least it is not his throwing shoulder.
QB Matthew Stafford - Los Angeles Rams
Head: Stafford left to be evaluated for a concussion but returned to the game. Stafford recently missed a game due to a concussion so the Rams could be cautious with him next week.
RB Joe Mixon - Cincinnati Bengals
Head: Mixon was ruled out with a concussion and could miss a week under the new concussion protocol. Mixon manager should keep an eye on his practice reports.
RB Chase Edmonds - Denver Broncos
Ankle: Carted off the field but no indication of the severity.
WR Wan’Dale Robinson - New York Giants
Knee: Robinson has unfortunately been diagnosed with a torn ACL. His 2022 season, and likely most of his 2023 season, is over.
TE Kyle Pitts - Atlanta Falcons
Knee: Pitts jogged off the field and initial reports are encouraging in that it is not anticipated to be an ACL or MCL tear. Severity likely to be announced on Monday.
Game Recaps
Titans @ Packers
Christian Watson Will Regress
Christian Watson can’t keep this up forever, can he? The rookie WR has caught 5 TDs in his past two games despite only catching eight total passes. His target share in Week 10 was 40% but that dropped to 15.4% in this past Thursday’s loss to the Titans. Allen Lazard was still the main WR option but Randall Cobb complicated things as well. In his first game since Week 6, Cobb matched Watson/s target share and finished with more receptions and yards. Cobb has been on the Packers for nearly the entirety of his career and is someone who Rodgers is familiar with and trusts in big situations. Cobb’s snap share indicates that he will still operate as the WR3 but higher volume games like this will occasionally force Watson to rely on this unsustainable TD rate. Expect the rookie WR to continue to grow but face inconsistency.
Panthers @ Ravens
Demarcus Robinson the WR to Roster
The Ravens offense was atrocious on Sunday but they still managed to scrape together a win against the lowly Carolina Panthers. Demarcus Robinson was the lone bright spot in the Baltimore offense. Robinson caught all nine of his targets for 128 yards. Mark Andrews was the only other Ravens player with more than 8 receiving yards in the entire game. Since Rashod Bateman hit IR in Week 8, Robinson has drawn 21 targets through three games. Devin Duvernay was finding mild success early in the season but has been losing ground and cannot be relied on as a fantasy option at this point. The bye week may have shaken things up in the Baltimore WR room as well. Lamar Jackson is not having great days through the air but the offense usually benefits one WR and Mark Andrews. Make sure you grab that WR.
Browns @ Bills
Buy High on the Browns Offense
The Cleveland Browns are the definition of a bad defense benefiting an offense. Jacoby Brissett had a day against Buffalo, throwing for 324 yards and 3 TDs. WRs Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones were the main beneficiaries but RB Nick Chubb also had more value as a receiver than a rusher, a rare occurrence. TE David Njoku was quiet in his first game back from injury but should regain his role soon. The Browns have an RB1, WR1, WR3 and TE1 with their backup QB and a run-heavy coach. Deshaun Watson has not played a regular season snap since 2020 so there will be an adjustment period but if Jacoby Brissett can feed these weapons, a shaky Watson can do even better. The fantasy playoff matchups are not particularly easy but these pass catching weapons have succeeded against tough matchups plenty of times.
Commanders @ Texans
This Defense is Legit
When you think of a great defense with a bad offense, the Colts and Broncos usually come to mind. After upsetting the then undefeated Eagles on Monday Night Football, however, the Commanders have put the league on alert. Washington’s defense ranks 8th in EPA/Play and they are now the 3rd best run defense after limiting Dameon Pierce to just 8 total rushing yards. The Commanders defense has improved tremendously after a rough start to the season. Washington hasn’t allowed more than 21 points in a game since Week 4’s loss to the Cowboys. They may not be a true Super Bowl contender but they usually beat out the middling teams and could pull off a win or two against similarly mediocre playoff teams this year.
Eagles @ Colts
How to Beat the Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles may just be hitting their first rough patch but they are showing their vulnerabilities during it. After losing 32-21 to the division rival Commanders a week ago, Philly came back from a ten point deficit to just barely beat the Indianapolis Colts, 17-16. One common occurrence across these two mediocre games was the Eagles propensity to beat themselves. Great drives where yardage was being handed to them were halted thanks to a slew of penalties. Uncharacteristic turnovers were not helpful either.
The worst offensive games this season for the Eagles have come against above average defenses like the Cowboys, Commanders and Colts and they seem to suffer when they rely on their passing game, as dominant as it can be at times. Philadelphia faces the Titans, the best run defense in the league, in two weeks. The Cowboys await as well, this time at home with Dak Prescott. Don’t be shocked if two solid offenses with strong run defenses get the best of the Eagles.
Jets @ Patriots
The Jets are Not Screwed…But They’re Close
I’d like to give the Jets the benefit of the doubt. The defense played incredible, limiting the Patriots to just three field goal attempts on the day, two of which were missed due to windy conditions. They also sacked Mac Jones six times.
The offense, on the other hand, was embarrassing. The Jets only gained 2 yards of offense in the entire second half. There were maybe one or two pass attempts downfield and there was no trust in WR Garrett Wilson, who beat the Patriots several times in their previous matchup two weeks ago. The running game was expectedly shut down but Wilson needs to take accountability for this performance. We know that the Jets have utilized a great running game to keep Wilson above water but games like this, where the running game is stymied, cannot result in such disastrous performances. A bounce back home game against the Bears awaits in Week 12. If they cannot patch these issues together by then, they need to rethink their QB situation.
Rams @ Saints
Fade Tutu Atwell
With Cooper Kupp expected to miss the rest of the season, a new receiver needed to step up for the Rams offense. Tutu Atwell looked the part from a fantasy perspective as he led the team with 62 receiving yards and a TD. This is not something to bank on moving forward. Atwell gained all of his 62 yards and TD on his one and only target in the game. Per PFF’s Nathan Jahnke, that was also Atwell’s only route run. Atwell only has 4 other targets the entire season and his only other catch was a 54 yard gain. He has yet to even play 10 snaps in an entire game. TE Tyler Higbee led the team in targets while Allen Robinson and Van Jefferson led the WRs. Even Ben Skowornek is a better add, although he did not get much out of his 4 targets.
Cowboys @ Vikings
Jerry Jones, BOW DOWN TO YOUR KING
Tom Fox/Dallas Morning News
Not even the stubborn Jerry Jones could prevent Tony Pollard from his inevitable ascent to RB1 status in the Cowboys offense. If you only look at the rushing numbers, things don’t look too bad for Jerry. Both Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott ran 15 times, and while Pollard significantly out-gained him, Elliott scored twice on the ground.
Receiving ability is what truly sets these two apart though. Pollard caught all six of his targets in this game for 109 yards and 2 TDs. That is a phenomenal game for any team’s WR1, let alone a RB. These are numbers you used to see from Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley or David Johnson in their best seasons. A blowout win contributed to this insane performance but Pollard is continuing to prove that he deserves a big workload. Jerry Jones may continue to feed his golden boy to justify his massive contract but Pollard is just going to continue to prove why he deserves to lead the backfield.
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By Themi Michalakis
For a second straight season, I am betting against Mahomes.