Defense stole the show in Week 11 as eight teams scored 10 points or less and there were some fantasy performances that suffered dramatically as a result. There were some surprises as well with New England’s Jonas Gray scampering for 199 yards and four touchdowns as a member of the free agent pool in most leagues. Just when you thought you’ve seen it all right?
Top 4 Fantasy Woes for Week 12
1. All the top tight ends not named Rob Gronkowski
It is rare when Jimmy Graham, Julius Thomas, Martellus Bennett, Greg Olsen and Antonio Gates all have lackluster games, but that was the case on Sunday. This handful of talent failed to reach the endzone and Olsen had the most receiving yards with a whopping 61 and the next highest in the group was Gates’ 32.
Graham caught all three of his targets for 29 yards, as the Saints’ offense didn’t score its lone touchdown until the fourth quarter in a 27-10 loss at home to the Bengals. Drew Brees didn’t have his best game and Cincinnati’s defense had a lot to do with that. New Orleans has now lost two in a row at home after being undefeated at the Superdome for more than a season. Who Dat missing the playoffs though?
Peyton Manning lost one of his favorite targets in the first half of the Broncos 22-7 loss to the Rams as Orange Julius suffered an ankle injury and did not return. He finished with two catches for three yards and that might not be the worst as his status for Week 12 is up in the air. Some of Thomas’ owners only own one tight end because he is so good and are now contemplating adding Jermaine Gresham off waivers, which is scary to think.
2. The Manning Bros
It was a bad day in the Manning family as the brothers combined for seven interceptions in a pair of losing efforts on Sunday. Peyton not only lost Thomas to injury, but also Emmanuel Sanders to a concussion in the third quarter after catching the lone touchdown pass earlier in the game. It was the first time all season that Peyton failed to throw multiple touchdowns and he has now thrown two interceptions in each of the last thee games. For a guy with the loftiest of standards, this weekend’s performance was painful to watch like Peyton trying to take off his tightest of fitting helmets.
On the other hand, Eli was far worse statistically with five picks on the day as the last one came inside San Francisco’s 5-yard line to squander a chance to take a lead late in the fourth quarter. He spread the ball around to six different receivers on his own team and four others on the 49ers defense as rookie Chris Borland recorded a pair of interceptions. Eli was so bad throwing the ball on Sunday that he would have been intercepted by a squirrel at the park playing fetch with his dog.
3. T.Y. Hilton
Fantasy owners did not get much from the Colts’ No. 1 wideout as Colby Fleener and Reggie Wayne made the most of their targets with a combined 235 yards on 12 total receptions. Hilton had just three catches on seven targets for just 24 yards through the air. The Pats mixed up their coverages against Hilton and didn’t put him on Darrelle Revis all game so it’s not like he was on an island the whole time.
Hilton has three catches in each of the past two weeks after averaging almost six per contest over the eight games prior. Expect Andrew Luck to get his playmaker more involved though this weekend against Jacksonville.
4. Matthew Stafford/Calvin Johnson/Golden Tate
The Lions could only rally for a pair of field goals against one of the league’s best defenses in the Arizona Cardinals who supplied constant pressure on Stafford. It seemed like almost every drive was halted with either a bad pass and/or a dropped pass as the star quarterback only had 183 yards through the air and a pick. Johnson had five catches for 59 yards while Tate had just two grabs for 41 after both guys each had over a 100 in Week 10, combining for 222 on 17 catches and a score.
Detroit’s offense expected a stiff challenge by Arizona, but not to the point where Patrick Peterson, Antonio Cromartie and Tyrann Mathieu look like Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Shia LaBeouf. You can figure out who’s who in that list, but Detroit’s high-powered passing attack led by Megatron was grounded nevertheless.
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