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You want the edge in your fantasy football matchups each week? Then you’ve come to the right place!
In these articles, we’ll highlight the players that may or may not have the best matchups to exploit this week in order to help you know how to set your lineups with confidence!
Let’s examine some important matchups on offense in Week 11!
After brutal weather all around the league in Week 10, I wanted to take some time to discuss when the weather begins to affect fantasy football matchups. So what is the ideal situation for a fantasy football matchup? The answer is always any player playing in a dome. Six stadiums have natural grass in the NFL, but only one is in a dome. State Farm Stadium, home of Arizona Cardinals, uses natural grass that they are able to roll in and out on a railroad-like track. It’s one of the neater things I’ve witnessed at a stadium and the whole process only takes about 70 minutes.
Next, precipitation does have some effect, but it isn’t the biggest aspect of weather to pay attention to. The gloves these guys wear these days are top-notch quality. You’ll even notice quarterbacks opt to wear the glove on their throwing hand on rainy or snowy days. Although rain and snow do make the surface slippery, so cutting, route-running, and even running may be slightly affected.
Wind plays the biggest role in affecting a game plan for NFL teams. Anytime winds are above 15 MPH, take note. In high winds, quarterbacks and pass-catchers get a downgrade. Deep threats are the most affected by wind as taking shots in high winds will be avoided in those conditions. Running backs get an upgrade with the wind due to the game plan leaning in their favor. In high winds, it’s fair to expect you’re running back to see an uptick in touches.
Combine wind and precipitation and you’re looking at a nightmare of a matchup in extreme cases. That’s enough of me doing my best weatherman act, so let’s get to it.
Quarterbacks
Jameis Winston vs. Atlanta
The Saints fan in me can’t wait to see Jameis “eating a W” this week against Atlanta. Last year in two games, Winston passed for 514 yards and four touchdowns. Interceptions are just part of Winston’s game as he threw six in those two games. He has nine picks in nine career games verse Atlanta, but 2,499 pass yards, 25 touchdowns, and 109.1 passer rating. Believe it or not, 21% of his career touchdowns have come against an Atlanta defense. Fortunately for his first start in black and gold, Atlanta is giving up the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season (26.8). They’ve allowed a league-high 26 total touchdowns and 323 pass yards p/g. Jameis was the overall QB3 in Fanduel scoring last season, so he’s not your everyday backup. For the nonsense that Taysom Hill may start, Jameis has 88 career interceptions while Hill has 18 career pass attempts.
Avg. Depth of Target since 2019:
Drew Brees – 6.5 yards (32nd)
Jameis Winston – 10.8 yards (1st) pic.twitter.com/krtrwPFmnf— PFF (@PFF) November 16, 2020
Kirk Cousins vs. Dallas
Cousins finally secured a Monday Night Football win after starting his career off 0-9 in such games. He passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns against a strong Bears defense to break his streak. Cousins has helped the Bears rattle off three straight wins and only thrown one interception in that span. Now, he gets a Cowboys defense that is allowing 20.2 fantasy points p/g and is tied for the third-most pass touchdowns allowed(20) this season. Not only that but the Cowboys just lost their top corner in Trevon Diggs with a broken foot, which is a position they have struggled with all season. Play Cousins only in a pinch, but his matchup isn’t all that bad.
Running Backs
Mike Davis vs. Detroit
Mike Davis’ handcuff, CMC, is out again. That means Davis gets a Detroit defense all to himself that is allowing the most fantasy points (33.2 p/g) to opposing running backs. Over the last three weeks, Detroit allowed Hines, Wilkins, Cook, and Gibson to combine for seven total touchdowns. In each of the last three weeks, a running back has a two-score game verse Detroit as well. The matchup couldn’t get better with the Lions allowing 126.3 rush yards per game and 18 total touchdowns to running backs this year. Davis is actually second among running backs behind Alvin Kamara with 350 yards after the catch. Call me crazy, but Mike Davis has a shot to finish as the top-scoring back in Week 11.
Todd Gurley vs. New Orleans
Todd Gurley has topped 80 total yards in just three games all year. To make matters worse, New Orleans is allowing just 15.9 FPPG to runnings backs this year, least in the NFL. Gurley has yet to score a receiving touchdown but has a rushing score in all but two games. New Orleans has only conceded three rushing scores the entire season and allows just 67.9 rush yards per game to running backs. They haven’t allowed a running back to find the endzone since Week 4. Todd Gurley has his work cut out for him in Week 11!
Colts backfield vs. Green Bay
James Robinson ruined the touchdown streak for the season, but he still shredded this run defense of Green Bay. I can’t be mad at James Robinson, as he had two touchdowns negated due to holding penalties. No matter how fantastic this matchup may be on paper, the Colts’ backfield is an utter mess for fantasy owners. Hines led this trio in touches Week 10. Jonathon Taylor hasn’t been the lead dog in this backfield since before their Week 7 bye. Jordan Wilkins has managed to work his way in with 43 touches over the last three weeks. Your guess is as good as mine with how this thing shakes out this week.
Wide Receivers
Before I get started on wide receiver matchups, I want to stop to give and give a shout out to a wideout that has become matchup-proof! He doesn’t care whether you think it’s “Scary Terry” or “F1 McLaurin”, he’s going out there to produce. He’s matchup-proof. Quarterback-proof. Just an absolute stud. He is WR8 in half-point PPR with the likes of Haskins, Smith, and Allen throwing the ball to him. Over his last four contests, he’s averaged 16.4 fantasy points and 10 targets. He has seven catches in each of the last four games and averaging 93.5 yards p/g in that span. Finding the endzone hasn’t been easy for Terry given the nature of Washington, but fire this man up each and every week with confidence.
Justin Jefferson/Adam Thielen vs. Dallas
I’m so ready to watch Justin Jefferson hit “The Griddy” all over Dallas. Even in a tough matchup against Chicago last week, the duo combined for 178 yards and two touchdowns on 12 catches. Thielen has now found the endzone in six of nine weeks, while Justin Jefferson just recorded his fourth 100-yard game of the season. Now, these two get a Dallas defense that allows the third-most fantasy points (37.0 p/g) to wide receivers. To top it off, their best corner, Trevon Diggs, just broke his foot. Dallas is also tied with Minnesota for allowing the most touchdowns to wide receivers with 16. This matchup is heavily lopsided in favor of the Vikings’ duo.
Tight Ends
Logan Thomas vs. Cincinnati
Logan Thomas has at least 50 yards or a touchdown in three of his last four games. Now, he gets a Bengals defense in Week 11 that has conceded the second-most fantasy points (13.6 p/g) and yards (64.8 p/g) to tight ends this season. Cincinnati has also given up six touchdowns in nine games to tight ends. Logan Thomas is the third-most targeted player with Alex Smith under center, behind McKissick and McLaurin. I hate to go to the Logan Thomas wishing well, but this is one of the better matchups he will see all year.
Jared Cook vs. Atlanta
Atlanta gives up the most fantasy points (15.0 p/g) and the most touchdowns (8) to tight ends on the season. The Falcons allow 6.1 receptions p/g and 66.3 yards p/g to tight ends. Jared Cook has found the endzone in three of the last five weeks, as well. Over the last two weeks, he hasn’t run more than 17 routes. In Week 8, he ran 32 routes and finished as TE2. Without a doubt, Mike Thomas returning put a hamper on his value. Cook was even held without a catch in his previous game, but if there ever was a spot to use Cook, this is it!
Oh, and remember to check your weather reports heading into Sunday morning!
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