Fantasy football start/sit advice, Week 11: Raiders vs. Chargers

The Oakland Raiders are the NFL's lone winless team, but if you go just off the last game played, no one looks worse than the San Diego Chargers coming off their Week 9 scoreless effort. Still, the Chargers are 5-4 compared to the Raiders' 0-9, so there's a clear favorite in Sunday's matchup between the two.

From a fantasy perspective, these are two of the league's healthier teams. The Raiders have no relevant players on the week's injury report, while the only Charger on there is running back Ryan Mathews, expected to make his return after being out since Week 2 with a knee injury.

Start 'em?: I'm still not buying Mychal Rivera overall, but he has been productive of late, and it's not like the Raiders have a lot of other strong fantasy options. ... Sebastian Janikowski has actually had four decent games in a row. Maybe he's back to respectability among kickers.

Sit 'em: A competent rookie season is all well and good, but Derek Carr has averaged only 10.8 fantasy points per game in his last four, and only 12 a game all season.. ... For a while, Darren McFadden was looking like a reasonable flex play, but his production has fallen off the last few weeks. He's still a better option than Maurice Jones-Drew, but that's not saying much. ... Remember when we were all recommending James Jones and Andre Holmes? The last two games, those two have combined for five fantasy points. ... The Raiders' defense has two fantasy points total since Week 3.

Start 'em: It can be hard to shake off the disaster that was San Diego's last game, but Philip Rivers ought to be closer to himself Sunday against a weak offense and after a week's break. ... Antonio Gates has a rough game in Week 9, like everyone on San Diego, but he's been one of the league's best tight ends for most of the season.

Start 'em?: The return of Ryan Mathews puts the San Diego running game into a bit of a quagmire. If you're starting one of him or Branden Oliver, it's obviously Mathews, but if I had my druthers I'd avoid both this week. ... Keenan Allen has had a frustrating season chock full of bad games to make fantasy owners fed up with him, and the occasional bright spot to remind everyone why he was so highly touted. He has upside. ... The Chargers' defense looked really good early in the season, but has negative-six points in each of its last two. You like a unit going against Oakland, but you definitely don't love this one enough to start it unless you have to.

Sit 'em: Since Week 4, Malcom Floyd has outproduced Eddie Royal every game. You probably don't want to use either one, but if you are, it's definitely Floyd. ... Nick Novak's fantasy production has tumbled since early int he season.

Start in every league: Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates