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Welcome to Week 11 of NFL and fantasy football action, RotoBallers.
Each week of the NFL season, we will be breaking down all of the NFL matchups and providing you with fantasy football advice and lineup recommendations based on matchups that we love, matchups that we hate, and some high-risk/high-reward players, as well.
Below, you will find our Week 11 NFL matchups & fantasy football start/sit analysis, which should help you prepare your lineups to win this week. It’s essential to analyze the weekly NFL matchups to find lineup sleepers and gems, while also avoiding those players who may turn out to be busts.
To read about the rest of this week’s NFL matchups, check out Start/Sit & Matchups Analysis for Games 1-7 and our Week 11 Standard and PPR Rankings. And of course you can always stop by the RotoBaller chat rooms for any live advice you may need.
49ers @ Giants - Sunday, 11/16 1:00 PM EST
Matchups We Love
Odell Beckham Jr: Beckham has played in five games this season, and he's managed double-digit fantasy production in four of them. With Victor Cruz on the IR, Beckham is rapidly becoming the best Giants wideout. The 49ers are great against the run, but they aren't quite as tough against the pass. Beckham is worthy of a FLEX spot this week, or a WR2 if you're thin at the position.
Frank Gore: Although he did tally just his second touchdown of the season against New Orleans, the Giants D can be easily run on, and Gore is still the top dog in San Francisco.
Matchups We Hate
...everyone else: Colin Kaepernick is decidedly mediocre this season, and the second-highest scoring Niner is Anquan Boldin, who is 21st among WRs in ESPN standard scoring. Michael Crabtree has suffered as Boldin has risen, and outside of Beckham, over the past five weeks the Giants have been to fantasy what concrete shoes are to mob snitches.
Seahawks @ Chiefs - Sunday, 11/16 1:00 PM EST
Matchups We Love
Marshawn Lynch: If only there was some sort of phrase that could describe how Marshawn Lynch played against the Giants. It was as though he'd been turned into some kind of wild animal or something. Dammit, I swear I had something for this...
Jamaal Charles: While not quite going all...Manimal? No, that's not right, come back to me later... Charles is still an elite RB1 option. Don't get cute and sit him.
Travis Kelce: Kelce's making his case as "The Next Gronk/Graham/Thomas." This is a phrase which here means "a tight end who's really a WR, but shut up about that because TEs are cheaper."
Matchups We Hate
All WRs (Doug Baldwin, Dwayne Bowe): This game may be where the forward pass goes to die.
Other Matchups:
Russell Wilson: His touchdown-free aerial game was rescued by 107 rushing yards and a score on the ground last week. He won't have that luxury in KC, but Wilson's been largely reliable this season.
Alex Smith: Like Russell Wilson, just not as good.
Raiders @ Chargers - Sunday 11/16, 4:05 PM EST
Matchups We Love
Philip Rivers: Let's get this out of the way: "How in God's name do you throw for -2.2 fantasy points in today's NFL, in which defenders who breathe a QB's air get flagged 15 yards and ejected?" This is a valid question to ask, and you now have 2.2 very good reasons for moving on from Philip Rivers...right after he's done playing Oakland. It's still Oakland, after all.
Antonio Gates: Despite his age, Gates is still Philip Rivers's primary red zone target, and despite the fact that it's been 12 solid years, the Raiders still suck.
Matchups We Hate
San Diego WRs: This group has suffered horribly during the Chargers' three-game skid, and there weren't many standouts in it to begin with.
All of the Oakland Raiders: Here's a quick rule of thumb for your fantasy benefit: Consider making the number of Raiders in your lineup equal to the number of victories the Raiders have.
Other Matchups
Branden Oliver: The Chargers running game versus the Raiders defense is like the old "unstoppable force, immovable object" thought experiment. Except the exact opposite of that. One side is going to have to give, though, and I'll take the one with wins.
Lions @ Cardinals - Sunday 11/16, 4:25 PM EST
Matchups We Love
Andre Ellington: I'll concede that the matchup isn't great, but with the loss of Carson Palmer, Ellington becomes more important than ever to the Cardinals. He'd been getting a steady diet of touches before Palmer's ACL tear; it's quite possible he sees even more now.
Calvin Johnson: It didn't take long for full-strength Megatron to start doing Megatron things. At his best, he redefines the phrase "matchup-proof."
Matchups We Hate
Matthew Stafford: Even with Johnson back, Arizona boasts a terrifying secondary. Hold off on Stafford this week.
Cardinals WRs (Michael Floyd, Larry Fitzgerald): This was going to be where they stood in this matchup before losing their starting QB. They're only still here because "Matchups We Super-Hate" isn't part of the weekly rundown.
Joique Bell: He's followed his top-15 campaign from last year with a top-28 campaign this year. There are some defenses against which a talented guy should be able to turn it around, but the Cardinals certainly aren't one of them.
Reggie Bush: As Bell, but with "top-44."
Other Matchups
Golden Tate: Expect Tate's torrid production to slow now that he's not "the only guy Matt Stafford will ever throw to."
Eagles @ Packers - Sunday 11/16, 4:25 PM EST
Matchups We Love
Aaron Rodgers: What Rodgers did to the Bears is actually still illegal in the red states.
Jordy Nelson: The Eagles are surprisingly allowing the third-most fantasy points to WRs this year. Jordy Nelson has scored the third-most fantasy points among WRs this season. This should be fun for Jordy owners.
Randall Cobb: And Randall Cobb hasn't failed to score a touchdown since Week 3. Which was OK, because he had three touchdowns going into that game.
Eddie Lacy: Lacy's muscled his way back into RB1 consideration, especially with the threat of catching TDs out of the backfield.
Jeremy Maclin: Maclin remains someone who can blow a game wide open, despite his three receptions for just 3.0 fantasy points last week. Wow, that's a lot of threes. Take notes, Valve.
Other Matchups
Mark Sanchez: Because he played well on Monday, but the terrible smell of the buttfumble lingers. There's probably a better way to phrase that.
LeSean McCoy: Shady's got two touchdowns on the season, but the Packers D is bad against the run. I don't hate him yet, but his production is suffering enough this season to keep him out of the love category.
Jordan Matthews: He's probably already been picked up in your league, but you're just chasing TDs until Matthews proves he can consistently string 25-point games together.
Patriots @ Colts - Sunday 11/16, 8:30 PM EST
Matchups We Love
Andrew Luck: Even after a bye week, he kept his crown as the No. 1 QB overall in fantasy. He's scary good.
Ahmad Bradshaw: He's always a threat to score with his ability to run and receive.
T.Y. Hilton: Whereas Hilton was a frustrating "boom-or-bust" player last year, this year he's more like a "boom-or-slightly-quieter-boom" player. He's an elite WR1, as long as Luck is throwing to him.
Tom Brady: I wish the NFL would start scheduling the Patriots for morning games so I wouldn't have to write this.
Rob Gronkowski: Healthy Gronk Terrifying. In Other News, Water Still Wet. More at 11.
Julian Edelman: The loss of Brandon LaFell to strep throat increases Edelman's value.
Other Matchups
New England RBs: Bill Belichick is to RBs what Sean Payton is to WRs.
Reggie Wayne: Hilton's emergence has relegated Wayne to FLEX duty, but he's certainly capable of performing there.
Steelers @ Titans - Monday 11/17, 8:30 PM EST
Matchups We Love
Antonio Brown: Well, last week was weird, certainly, but there's no way Brown fumbles twice again going forward. Against a weak Titans secondary, expect Brown to bounce back.
Martavis Bryant: Five touchdowns in three games is a stat that demands notice, and considering how bad the Steelers looked last week, just getting one TD was impressive.
Le'Veon Bell: He was finally held below 10 points for the first time all season last Sunday, but after seeing what Justin Forsett did last week, I'd expect Bell to get back on the horse soon enough.
Ben Roethlisberger: We've seen what the Steelers were capable of, and though the wheels fell off last week (or, more accurately, exploded from their axles, ricocheted off the guardrail, killed the driver and sent the bus off the cliff), Big Ben should bounce back against the Titans.
Matchups We Hate
The Titans: Denzel would be so sad.
