Monday, November 18, 2013

FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 11 WRAPUP: 4:00 GAMES AND LATER

Moving right along with the wrapups for fantasy football Week 11, we now delve into the 4:00 games and later to bring it all to a conclusion.

-Peyton Manning owners are in a perpetual state of holding their breath every time he gets hit due to the double ankle sprains that have taken some of the zip off his passes and make him an injury risk going forward.  However Manning made it through just fine against the hard-hitting Kansas City Chiefs defense but wound up throwing for a season-low one TD.  Still Manning threw for 323 yards and the TD total was fluky since the Broncos got in close on some throws that made running the right call.  Just to show you the trends however with Manning, the owner of the Broncos QB in the Experts League suffered his first loss of the season which just so happened to coincide with his subpar TD total. 

-There is no question Knowshon Moreno is the bellcow back in the Broncos offense which was reinforced by the 27 carries for 79 yards he achieved Sunday night.  However in close Montee Ball got the call and the rookie successfully converted on both of his chances.  This was a curveball no doubt for Moreno owners as the Georgia back has done just fine picking up the in-close scores himself all season which made Jack Del Rio's usage here puzzling.  Be that as it may, coaches always fall back on things that work so Ball could be the goal-line specialist now which is a hit to Moreno's fantasy football value.

-Have to watch the concussion suffered by Wes Welker closely.  Welker took his turn being the man in the Broncos passing attack Sunday by catching 8 balls for 72 yards.  However Demaryuis Thomas was no slouch in picking up 123 receiving yards on five catchers.  Eric Decker mopped it up with 5 grabs for 70.  Decker figures to move up in value if Welker misses next week. 

Speaking of injuries, Broncos tight end Julius Thomas is headed for testing on his injured knee after scoring yet another touchdown on his 3 catches for 43 yards.  Thomas has been a dream find for fantasy football owners but this is the second time in three weeks we are talking about injuries here.  Joel Dreesseen in the backup to own if Thomas is out.

-Dwayne Bowe put his DUI issue behind him for the game by catching 4 passes for 57 yards and a score.  That was about all she wrote for the Chiefs offense as even Jamaal Charles didn't do too much in catching 2 passes and rushing for only 78 yards on 16 carries.

-Both Philip Rivers and Ryan Tannehill threw for a TD and an INT.  Rivers has drastically slowed down since his big September.  Meanwhile Ryan Matthews has picked up the slack in rushing for 127 yards on 19 carries and catching 2 balls.  Truth be told Matthews has been really good since mid-October but we all know he can never be totally trusted. 

-Speaking of slowing down, Keenan Allen is possibly hitting the rookie wall as injuries are piling up for him as well.  Allen came in with only 3 catches for 45 yards before hitting the sidelines for good with a knee issue.  Antonio Gates was left to himself to make plays in the passing attack but other than his one score, was mostly a non-factor.  The entire Chargers passing offense is struggling, with the shoddy offensive line bearing a lot of the responsibility. 

-No one is paying attention to the nice season put forth by Dolphins tight end Charles Clay who scored a TD while catching 6 passes for 90 yards Sunday.  With Tannehill under constant duress, his most effective play has been to look for his tight end.

-The 49ers defense did a great job against Drew Brees. holding him to only 1 TD pass on 305 yards.  Brees owners are spoiled rotten so no shedding tears for them.  Colin Kaepernick meanwhile actually threw for two touchdowns but only 127 yards as Rob Ryan's defense has him on the run all day.  Once again Kaepernick is grossly overrated which is what I warned about in the summer.

-The Kenny Stills show crashed and burned Sunday as he caught only 1 pass for 11 yards.  Stills is not to be touched in PPR formats as he is a clear boom or bust guy whose value is solely determined on getting into the end zone each week.  When he doesn't do so, there is not much to discuss.

-Finally some signs of life by Anquan Boldin who caught 6 passes for 56 yards and a TD.  The Kaepernick struggles have had a huge effect on Boldin's value which is nothing more than a WR 3 now.

-Eddie Lacy had his first poor game since coming back from his concussion in October so we can't get on him too much for rushing for only 27 yards on 14 carries.  He did score which helped save the day somewhat but Lacy had a tough go with the Giants stacking the box with Scott Tolzien at QB.

-Victor Cruz has been in the midst of his least effective season since coming into the league but he was a big time force Sunday by catching 8 passes for 110 yards.  Still we want to see more scores.  Hakeem Nicks too who has yet to hit paydirt this season.

-Jordy Nelson's fantasy football value seemed in peril with Aaron Rodgers out but he is getting by with Tolzien just fine after grabbing 8 passes for 117 yards.  Even Jarrett Boykin is shockingly holding his value even with the return of James Jones as he caught 6 passes for 91 yards.  Boykin is a big play waiting to happen and should be held onto.

-Was interesting to see Brandon Jacobs called on to convert on a goal-line carry and not Andre Brown who is more than capable there.  Brown came back to earth some by rushing for 66 yards on 18 carries but he is the clear top runner which spells out RB 2 value.

-Three touchdowns by Marshawn Lynch Sunday as the guy just always finds a way to get into the end zone.  Despite rushing for only 54 yards on 17 carries, Lynch scored twice running the football and once on a shovel pass from Russell Wilson.  Wilson himself threw for two more scores and is actually moving close to top 7 or so territory this season.

There you have it.  Let us hear your thoughts.

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