Steelers WR George Pickens caught 4 of 6 targets for 83 yards and a TD in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. He had 2 other targets wiped out by penalties, 1 an offensive hold and the other a defensive PI. Pickens also dropped a 2nd-half deep ball that would have added significant yardage to his line. WR Diontae Johnson matched Pickens' 4 catches but tallied just 21 yards. Next comes a potential pass-funnel matchup with the Colts and then the soft Atlanta defense.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth doubled his nearest teammate in targets in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. His 12 looks accounted for 28.6% of Pittsburgh's total pass attempts. Freiermuth's 8 catches also doubled the nearest Steeler, while his 79 yards trailed WR George Pickens' team lead. It's the 2nd 8-catch game among the past 4 for Freiermuth, who has seen 7+ targets in 4 straight and 7 of his 8 healthy outings for the year.
Steelers Kenny Pickett didn't do anything special in Sunday's loss to the Bengals, but he did enough to sit 14th among fantasy QBs heading into the Monday night game. The rookie completed 25 of 42 passes (59.5%) for 265 yards (6.3 per attempt) and 1 TD. He missed connections with WR George Pickens on 2 other occasions that could have added quite a bit more -- 1 a drop by the rookie wideout. Pickett did hit Pickens for his only score from 24 yards out. He also took just 2 sacks and avoided turning the ball over. The QB added 14 yards on just 2 carries. The rushing has helped him be viable for 2-QB and superflex leagues. You should still be able to do better in 1-QB formats. Pickett and the Steelers visit the Colts and Falcons the next 2 weeks.
Steelers RB Najee Harris took 20 carries for 90 yards and 2 TDs in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. Its' the 2nd straight game in which he has reached 20 carries, 90 yards and 4.5 yards per rush -- coming out of the Week 9 bye -- after Harris failed to reach any of those marks through the 1st 8 games. Harris also seemed to benefit from Jaylen Warren's early departure for a hamstring injury. Harris tied for 2nd on the team with 6 targets and 4 catches after losing receiving work to the rookie in Week 10. Harris gets a tough rushing matchup with the Colts in Week 12, but a much better spot at Atlanta in Week 13. His final 4 fantasy weeks find potentially tough matchups with the Ravens sandwiching a pair of softer rushing matchups: at the Panthers, home for the Raiders.
Bengals QB Joe Burrow finished Sunday as the #2 fantasy QB for the week, trailing only Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. Burrow racked up 355 yards and 4 TDs in the win over the Steelers. It's his 1st 4-TD game of the season but 3rd game with 3+ among his past 5 outings. Burrow also threw 2 INTs, meaning 6 of his 8 INTs for the season have come against Pittsburgh. WR Tee Higgins dominated the market shares for targets, catches and yards, but RB Samaje Perine claimed 3 of the 4 receiving TDs. The other went to WR Trenton Irwin. Burrow gets a pass-funnel matchup at Tennessee in Week 12.
Bengals WR Tee Higgins set season highs in targets (13), receptions (9) and receiving yards (148) in Sunday's win over the Steelers. He accounted for 33.3% of QB Joe Burrow's pass attempts, 37.5% of the completions and 41.7% of the receiving yardage. RB Samaje Perine was the only other Bengal to catch more than 3 passes. WR Tyler Boyd finished 2nd on the team with 7 targets but caught only 2 for 42 yards. TE Hayden Hurst caught 2 of 3 targets for 28 yards. Week 12 presents a Titans matchup that should further motivate the Bengals to go pass-heavy -- especially if RB Joe Mixon (concussion) is out. The team reportedly hopes to have WR Ja'Marr Chase (hip) back for that game. His return would hurt the fantasy outlook for Boyd more than Higgins.
Bengals #2 RB Samaje Perine claimed 3 of QB Joe Burrow's 4 TD passes in Sunday's win over the Steelers. The 1st came before Joe Mixon left with a concussion, but the other 2 followed his 2nd-quarter departure. Perine caught 4 passes for 52 yards in all. He also led an inefficient run game, carrying 11 times or 30 yards (2.7 per rush). Mixon also averaged just 2.9 yards per carry on his 7 attempts before leaving. Mixon's injury gives Perine a pretty good chance at starting Week 12. Unfortunately for him, that will come against the league's top run defense (Titans).
Vikings QB Kirk Cousins managed only 12-of-23 passing for 105 yards in Sunday's beatdown at the hands of the Cowboys. He took 7 sacks and lost a fumble in the 40-3 defeat, giving way to Nick Mullens for late mop-up duty. TE T.J. Hockenson led Minnesota pass-catchers with just 5 catches and 34 yards. WR Justin Jefferson checked in just behind with a 3-33 line on 5 targets. WRs Adam Thielen and K.J. Osborn were the only other Vikings to catch more than 1 pass. (They each caught 2.) Minnesota gets challenging matchups the next 2 weeks as well, against the Patriots and Jets. The 1st of those comes on Thanksgiving night.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott completed 22 of his 25 passes in Sunday's blowout win over the Vikings. He tallied 276 yards and 2 TDs, with both going to RB Tony Pollard. Prescott doesn't have a worrisome matchup on the schedule until Week 16 against Philly.
Cowboys RB Tony Pollard matched Ezekiel Elliott's 15 carries in the latter's return from a knee injury. Pollard, of course, out-gained Elliott 80 yards to 42 on the ground. Elliott claimed both rushing scores, however. Pollard made up for that with a huge receiving day. He led the team in targets (6), catches (6) and receiving yards (109), while scoring both of the team's receiving TDs. Those came from 30 and 68 yards out. There might be weeks of frustrating usage for Pollard going forward, but he'll be tough to sit.
After 3 weeks short of 100-yard territory, Raiders RB Josh Jacobs returned in Sunday's OT win at Denver. He ran for 109 yards on 24 attempts, adding 51 more yards on 3 receptions. Jacobs claimed all Raiders carries for the game. RB Ameer Abdullah (4) and Brandon Bolden (1) each drew targets, however.
Raiders WR Davante Adams racked up 141 yards and 2 TDs on 7 catches among 13 targets. He claimed both of the team's TDs, scoring from 31 and 35 yards out. The latter won the game in OT. WR Mack Hollins followed with 6-52 receiving on 9 targets. No other Raider exceeded 4 targets. TE Foster Moreau caught just 1 pass for the game, though it was a 33-yarder in OT to set up the Adams play.
Raiders QB Derek Carr racked up 307 yards in Sunday's OT win over the Broncos. Carr finished regulation with just 239 yards. But then he hit TE Foster Moreau for a 33-yard catch-and-run and found WR Davante Adams for a 35-yard game-winning TD. It was Carr's 2nd 300-yard game of the season and first since Week 3. Next comes a visit to Seattle, which had been playing tough defense before softening in a Week 10 loss to the Buccaneers in Germany.
Broncos RB Melvin Gordon opened Sunday's game against the Broncos by leading Latavius Murray 5-4 in carries and 3-1 in targets for the 1st half. But he ceded that lead to Murray after fumbling near the goal line late in the 1st half. Denver recovered that fumble but then had a FG attempt blocked on the ensuing play. Murray finished with a 17-49-1 rushing line to Gordon's 8-31. He also drew 3 second-half targets to Gordon's 2. It also appeared that RB Chase Edmonds was in for a larger role before his early ankle injury. We'll see about this backfield heading into a Week 12 trip to Carolina.
Lions RB Jamaal Williams had a mediocre rushing day ... except for his 3 scores from inside the 5-yard line. Overall, Williams gained 64 yards on 17 attempts. D'Andre Swift remained limited, carrying just 5 times and seeing 3 targets. He did manage to score on the ground and caught all 3 of his targets but produced just 32 total yards. We'll keep watching for signals of his workload increasing. Justin Jackson also chimed in with a 9-66 rushing line and an 11-yard catch. Williams has been a TD-reliant fantasy play, but he's now up to 12 rushing scores for the season.
Giants RB Saquon Barkley managed just 22 yards on his 15 carries in Sunday's loss to the Lions. He added only 13 more on 2 receptions among 5 targets. It was even more disappointing for such a performance to come against a Lions defense ranked 27th in Football Outsiders' rushing DVOA. The rest of Barkley's season, of course, means we need to dismiss this one and continue playing the fantasy stud. Week 12 holds a Dallas defense that allowed him 126 total yards in their Week 3 meeting.
Giants WR Darius Slayton caught 5 of 10 targets for 86 yards in Sunday's loss to the Lions. It marked his 2nd straight game of more than 80 receiving yards. Slayton looks like the de facto lead wideout for the Giants going forward, assuming Wan'Dale Robinson's knee injury is as serious as feared. We'll see what Monday brings on that front.
Giants QB Daniel Jones tossed 2 INTs in Sunday's loss to the Lions. His team trailed 17-6 by halftime and then 24-6 before the middle of the 3rd quarter, which helped drive up passing volume and boost Jones' fantasy numbers. He completed 27 of 44 passes for 341 yards, Jones' 1st game of 300 yards this year and just his 3rd with 200+. Jones threw just 1 TD pass (to WR Richie James) but added 50 yards and a TD on the ground. Jones entered Sunday night as the #2 fantasy QB for the week. Week 12 holds a challenging matchup with the Cowboys.
Saints RB Alvin Kamara endured another lackluster rushing day in Sunday's win over the Rams. His 42 yards on 12 carries came out to just 3.5 per rush. Kamara fared better as a receiver, though, catching 4 balls for 47 yards among 5 targets. His 89 total yards marked an improvement over the previous 2 games. Kamara still hasn't found the end zone, though, outside of his 3-TD game against the Saints in Week 8. A Week 12 matchup with San Francisco doesn't look especially promising for a rebound. David Johnson carried once for a 4-yard loss and caught his lone target for 11 yards in his New Orleans debut.
Coming off a pair of bad outings, Saints QB Andy Dalton proved efficient and productive in Sunday's win over the Rams. He completed 21 of 25 passes for 260 yards and 3 TDs. Dalton found WR Chris Olave for a 53-yard score, tossing his other 2 TDs to TE Juwan Johnson and WR Jarvis Landry. Olave was the only Saint to crack 50 receiving yards, taking his 5 catches for 102 yards. New Orleans heads to San Francisco in Week 12.
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