I'm sitting around Sunday night, minding my own business, compiling the worst fantasy production of the week. Little do I know that the Indianapolis Colts have decided to have one of their worst games of the season, leading to an eleventh-hour rewrite of several entries here.
Fantasy football stats: The worst of week 11
Maybe, if you’re playing the weekend’s last game, you don’t put up such awful performances, Colts? Just a friendly request from a writer on deadline.
So thanks a lot, My Favorite Team.
Anyway, here’s the worst fantasy performances of the week. Hope you avoided them:
Worst quarterbacks in Week 11
Derek Carr, OAK (172 passing yards, 1 fumble lost, 4 fantasy points)
It wasn't that Carr was terrible Sunday. I mean, he was bad, but he didn't throw any interceptions or anything. There was just nothing to the weekend's Raiders-Chargers game. The winning quarterback had only 11 fantasy points, and he was the top fantasy scorer in the game. Carr, though, put up his fourth single-digit fantasy game of the season, and he's only put up more than 15 points once. The Raiders don't have a better option (no, not Matt Schaub or Matt McGloin), so Carr likely isn't going anywhere, but things have been rough.
Next game: The Raiders host Kansas City Thursday night. I have no idea how Oakland got such a nice prime-time game to host, but good lord you are not using Carr there.
Alex Smith, KAN (108 passing yards, 4 fantasy points)
Just like Carr's game wasn't so much bad as underwhelming, the same is true of Smith. He never turned the ball over. He just didn't throw the ball. The Chiefs didn't look to their wide receivers or tight ends much in the game, leaning on Jamaal Charles (and, later, Knile Davis) for the production. It worked, and I'm sure they were trying to grind the clock and avoid the Seahawks' secondary, but anyone who used Smith suffered as a result.
Next game: Aw, the worst two quarterbacks of Week 11 face each other in Week 12. If the circumstances were such that you felt like you needed to use Smith Sunday, then it’s understandable and defensible if you need to do it again Thursday. But it isn’t exciting.
Eli Manning, NYG (280 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 5 interceptions, 5 fantasy points) Matthew Stafford, DET (183 passing yards, 1 interception, 5 fantasy points)
Two quarterbacks who put up awful days in entirely different ways. Stafford just never got anything going against that stout Arizona defense, as the Lions managed only 262 total yards in the game. Manning, meanwhile, led the Giants to 330 total yards, but turned the ball over five times, with three of them coming in San Francisco territory. Just as there is more than one way to skin a cat, there is more than one way to sink a fantasy team.
Next game: The Lions travel to New England, while the Giants host the Cowboys. If I had my druthers, I wouldn't use either of these guys.
Worst running backs in Week 11
Bobby Rainey, TAM (4 rushing yards, 0 fantasy points)
There was a window there, between Doug Martin being terrible/getting hurt and Charles Sims getting healthy, where a productive Bobby Rainey could have locked himself up a starting job somewhere in the NFL for 2015. Instead, he’s put up five fantasy points the last two games and 26 the last five, and Sims got the most touches for Tampa Bay Sunday by a lot. So instead Rainey just has to hope to get more jobs like the one he has -- a second- or third-stringer who is a sprained ankle away from a role, and a bad fumble away from being cut.
Next game: The Buccaneers travel to Chicago next week. Rainey can't be anywhere near your lineup, and frankly might not need to be anywhere near your roster at all.
Ahmad Bradshaw, IND (4 rushing yards, 7 receiving yards, 0 fantasy points)
Bradshaw left Sunday night's game with a leg injury, though that was late in the game, and his status as a Week 11 disappointment was already cemented by that point. Trent Richardson has been getting more carries than Bradshaw, and now that his injury concerns are showing up again, it looks like Bradshaw's days as a top-flight 2014 running back are severely numbered.
Next game: The Colts host Jacksonville next week, which normally would be prime “use your running back” territory, but with Bradshaw’s status so up in the air, you’d have to get some glowing reports to use him again.
Terrance West, CLE (12 rushing yards, 1 fantasy point)
Ben Tate, CLE (-9 rushing yards, 0 fantasy points)
When Friends got seven, eight seasons into its run, the showrunners realized they tended to lean on certain groupings (Joey and Chandler, Rachel and Monica, etc.), and started mixing it up. It led to Chandler and Rachel sharing cheesecake, Phoebe realizing she mugged Ross as a child, and all sorts of other mixes. I don't know if it made for a better show, but at least it kept things moving. Well, the Browns are doing that with their running backs, and it's their first season with these guys.
Next game: At Atlanta next week. I guess Isaiah Crowell is now the running back to have from the team, but lord knows I wouldn't feel comfortable using any of them any time soon.
Worst wide receivers in Week 11
DeSean Jackson, WAS (35 receiving yards, 3 fantasy points)
Pierre Garcon, WAS (6 receiving yards, 0 fantasy points)
Washington's leading receivers Sunday were the team's two running backs, as Roy Helu Jr. and Alfred Morris combined for 93 receiving yards. Jackson, Garcon and Andre Roberts, meanwhile -- theoretically a strong receiver corps -- combined for 62. And while you're willing to look past Jackson's rough game, as he had four double-digit fantasy games in the five games before Sunday, Garcon's numbers have taken a nosedive, and you have to wonder how relevant he is now.
Next game: Washington plays at San Francisco next week. Again, you’ll keep trusting Jackson in your lineup, but at this point, Garcon isn’t startable in fantasy, and you would be forgiven if you dropped him outright.
Mohamed Sanu, CIN (23 receiving yards, 2 fantasy points)
Sanu’s season can be divided into three chunks:
- Early season, in which Sanu put up fantasy numbers through fluky plays (like his touchdown pass to Andy Dalton) that didn't appear to be repeatable;
- The middle of the season, when A.J. Green was out, and Sanu became the de facto No. 1 receiver, and produced as one;
- Recent games, with Green back on the field, and Sanu's numbers have suffered as a result.
Sanu might get some of his fluke plays again, but his reliability is largely gone with Green back and healthy.
Next game: The Bengals play at Houston next week. Sanu should probably be owned, because Green's health will always be a concern, but you can't start him.
T.Y. Hilton, IND (24 receiving yards, 2 fantasy points)
It had been a great run for Hilton, averaging 15.2 fantasy points a game in his last six, before running into Darrelle Revis and the Patriots Sunday. New England chose to go with the "Hilton won't beat us" route, leading to plenty of yards for Coby Fleener and Reggie Wayne, and it worked, as the Patriots cruised to an easy win. It's hard to view this as a serious indictment on Hilton's rest-of-season value.
Next game: Against Jacksonville next week, Hilton looks like a very strong fantasy play yet again.
Worst tight ends in Week 11
Dwayne Allen, IND (0 receiving yards, 0 fantasy points)
The No. 1 Indianapolis tight end injured his ankle in the second quarter Sunday night and was carted off. He never even saw a target before that, making Sunday only his third game all season with fewer than eight fantasy points. A healthy Allen is a great fantasy play, but we might not be seeing that version of him again for a bit, pending further injury report Monday.
Next game: Who knows when Allen’s will be? Stay tuned.
Julius Thomas, DEN (3 receiving yards, 0 fantasy points)
Thomas was lost for the game early Sunday, spraining his ankle in the first quarter and keeping him from putting up any sort of numbers. The good news is that Thomas’ injury isn’t thought to be a high sprain, but he’ll get an MRI Monday to be sure. There isn’t much else to say about Thomas’ game, as he barely played, or his status, as when he’s healthy he’s back in your lineup.
Travis Kelce, KC (37 receiving yards, 1 fumble lost, 1 fantasy point)
Everything looked like it was shaping up great for Kelce Sunday. Fellow tight end Anthony Fasano was out, meaning he'd be on the field more, and the Seahawks tend to struggle against tight ends. And early in the game, it was going pretty well. He had a 23-yard reception to set up a score, he had 37 yards in the first half. But his fumble near the end of the half was the end of Kelce's game, as he didn't catch another pass. Whether that was punishment, we don't really know, but it definitely was deflating.
Next game: At the Raiders Thursday night, Kelce will be where Kelce pretty much always is: Near the back end of starting tight ends.
Worst defense/special teams in Week 11
Philadelphia Eagles (53 points allowed, 1 sack, -5 fantasy points)
Indianapolis Colts (42 points allowed, 2 interceptions, -5 fantasy points)
The Eagles were the best defense in fantasy in Week 10. The unit put up 36 fewer fantasy points in Week 11 than in Week 10, which is pretty incredible. And the Eagles entered Sunday as the best fantasy defense in the NFL. All of this is really just a testament to Aaron Rodgers and the ridiculous Green Bay offense. Meanwhile, the Colts’ defense had a strong run in the middle of the year, but has fallen straight back. They averaged 12.8 fantasy points a game between Week 3 and 7, and have averaged minus-2.8 otherwise.
