Tom Brady continued his quest for MVP with three touchdown passes on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.
Credit:@BleacherReport
Week 11 is all over in the NFL, and while many of the games weren’t too exciting, there is plenty to talk about regarding fantasy football. There were a lot of high scoring matchups and 14 players who gave owners at least 20 fantasy points. So out of those great players from this past week, here are the five best performances of the weekend.
Keenan Allen, WR Los Angeles Chargers:
In what was an absolute blowout of the Buffalo Bills, Keenan Allen was undoubtedly the biggest contributor on offense. The veteran wide receiver caught 12 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns, giving him a whopping 40.2 fantasy points in points per reception leagues. Allen has been quarterback Philip Rivers’ favorite target when healthy, but it hasn’t turned into a lot of fantasy value this season leading up to Sunday’s game. The fifth-year playmaker only had one touchdown coming into the matchup against the Bills and had more than five catches in only two games this year. Even with the continuing emergence of rookie Mike Williams (eight targets on Sunday), Rivers will continue to look for Allen early and often. The Chargers will face some weak defenses as the season wraps up, and the offense should have no problem putting points on the board as they fight for a playoff spot. Allen’s fantasy arrow is pointing straight up, and he should remain a solid WR2 the rest of the way for owners.
Tom Brady, QB New England Patriots:
The MVP talk is only going to start getting louder for Tom Brady following a masterful performance against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. The 40-year-old quarterback passed for 339 yards and three touchdowns, marking his seventh game this season with multiple touchdown passes. The Patriots’ offense has moved on from its slow start to the season by scoring a combined 74 points over their last two games. Even with wide receiver Chris Hogan out for this game, and Julian Edelman out for the season, Brady has been able to spread the ball around evenly and still be very effective. The veteran quarterback targeted three different tight ends and three different running backs, showing his ability to get everyone involved in the passing game. The veteran found wide receiver Brandin Cooks deep on multiple occasions resulting in a total of 149 yards and touchdown. As the Patriots only seem to be getting better as the season goes on, Brady will remain an elite QB1 as he keeps making his case for the best quarterback in the league.
Latavius Murray, RB Minnesota Vikings:
The Vikings’ offense continues to be productive even with Week 1 starters Dalvin Cook and Sam Bradford injured. Quarterback Case Keenum and running back Latavius Murray have filled in to do a fine job, and both have had some solid fantasy value. Murray ran the ball 15 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns, giving owners a season-high of 21.6 fantasy points in standard scoring leagues. Coming into Week 11 as a decent flex option, the former Oakland Raider showed everyone why the Vikings signed him this past offseason with some good running against a top-10 Rams’ defense. Running back Jerick McKinnon also saw a large workload with 14 carries of his own and five catches, however, was not nearly as productive as he only totaled 60 yards. The two players have seen the snaps shared pretty evenly between them this season with Murray touching the ball 117 times and McKinnon getting 128 touches, the latter having a larger number of catches between the two. Minnesota seems intent on giving a lot of work to their backfield, and even with that split in work, both players have a lot of value. Murray and McKinnon are a poor man’s Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara since both can be played in the same lineup and still give owners value. Consider Murray a low-end RB2 the rest of the way with some high potential considering his work at the goal-line.
Kenny Stills, WR Miami Dolphins:
As bad as the Dolphins’ offense has been this season, they have been able to support three fantasy-relevant wide receivers. This past week, the best of the trio was speedster Kenny Stills who caught seven balls for 180 yards and a touchdown, giving owners a season-high of 24 fantasy points in standard scoring. For a good portion of the game, quarterback Jay Cutler looked absolutely terrible throwing three interceptions before he was taken out due to a concussion, but Matt Moore came in to throw for 282 yards and a touchdown during his time filling in. Moore has seemed to have a good connection with Stills which can be seen during their 61-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. It would be great for Stills’ fantasy value if Moore would remain the starter, but we’ll have to see how Cutler’s injury plays out before next week’s game against the Patriots. The fifth-year wide receiver hasn’t had the same kind of chemistry with Cutler, so his fantasy value will take a hit if the veteran quarterback does, in fact, play this week. Stills is worth adding in every fantasy league, and he will have high-end flex appeal if Moore is the starter.
LeSean McCoy, RB Buffalo Bills:
The Bills didn’t have much going for them when they got blown out by the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Rookie quarterback Nathan Peterman threw five interceptions on only 14 pass attempts before getting pulled for Tyrod Taylor, but the game was already out of reach. LeSean McCoy was the only good thing going for the team when he ran the ball 13 times for 114 yards and a touchdown; he also caught his only target for a 12-yard touchdown, giving him a position leading 24.6 fantasy points in standard scoring. After two down weeks, the veteran running back finally got on track and delivered his third game of at least 22 fantasy points in the last five weeks. McCoy is back into the top-10 at his position and should remain there the rest of the year with an easy schedule as the Bills look to fight for a playoff spot. Keep slotting him in as a high-end RB1 no matter the matchup.
