NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Falcons TE Kyle Pitts tore his right MCL in Sunday's win over the Bears and will require surgery. Pitts is reportedly getting a 2nd opinion before making a final decision, but it seems his season is likely over. We'll watch for confirmation over the next day or 2. Don't bet on any Falcons TE stepping forward for real fantasy help if Pitts is done. No other Atlanta TE has caught more than 5 passes this season, and Pitts has consistently come up short for fantasy football managers.
The Buccaneers have designated RB Giovani Bernard to return from IR. Bernard has been out since suffering a Week 2 ankle injury. There's now a 3-week window to return him to the active roster -- or rule him out for the season. It might not matter for fantasy purposes. Bernard played 0 offensive snaps through the season's 1st 2 weeks.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports that Cardinals QB Kyler Murray (hamstring) might not return until after the team's Week 13 bye, "depending how the injury heals this week." It's already assumed Murray will miss tonight's game against the 49ers. This would mean he also misses next Sunday's clash with the Chargers. We'll watch to see what happens on that front this week. Colt McCoy remains the next man up.
Giants CB Adoree' Jackson suffered an MCL sprain in Sunday's loss to the Lions and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The long end of that would keep him out until the final week of the regular season. Jackson is certainly OK to drop in redraft IDP leagues.
The Lions announced Monday morning that rookie WR Jameson Williams will practice this week. It'll mark his 1st practices with the team, coming off the ACL tear that closed out his college career. HC Dan Campbell said in October that he believed Williams would get on the field before the season ended. We'll see how soon the 1st-round NFL Draft pick is ready for game action.
There's "some confidence" that Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins (hamstring) will play vs. the 49ers tonight, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. It sounds like Hopkins is likely to play, although it's not quite a lock. We'll get Arizona's inactives around 7 pm ET tonight.
Giants WR Wan'Dale Robinson tore his right ACL in Sunday's loss to the Lions, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. That ends Robinson's rookie season and might threaten his availability for the start of the 2023 campaign. Richie James figures to step in as New York's primary slot receiver the rest of the way, but Darius Slayton will likely be the only Giants WR that's trustable in fantasy lineups.
Chargers RB Austin Ekeler caught just 2 passes for 17 yards in Sunday night's loss to the Chiefs, setting season lows in each category. But he carried a season-high 19 times for 83 yards (4.4 per rush) and a TD. It was Ekeler's 6th game among the past 7 with at least 1 rushing score. Isaiah Spiller followed him in the backfield, drawing 4 carries (11 yards) and 2 targets (2 catches, 11 yards) in roughly one-third of Ekeler's playing time. Sony Michel totaled just 5 snaps and converted a 3rd-and-1 with his only carry. The Chargers find positive rushing matchups each of the next 2 weeks -- but challenges beyond that -- according to our adjusted fantasy points allowed to RBs.
Despite the returns of WRs Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, WR Josh Palmer led Chargers receivers in Sunday night's loss to the Chiefs. Palmer paced the team in targets (10), receptions (8), yards (106) and claimed both of QB Justin Herbert's TD throws. Williams' early departure after he aggravated his sprained ankle certainly helped. Allen, meanwhile, finished 2nd in targets (8), catches (5) and yards (94). No other charger drew more than 3 targets. We'll see about Williams' status heading into a Week 12 visit to Arizona.
Chargers QB Justin Herbert posted a season-high 9.3 yards per pass attempt in Sunday night's loss to the Chiefs, finishing with 280 yards on 23-of-30 passing. He got WR Mike Williams back only briefly, as Williams tweaked his sprained ankle after just 1 target. WR Keenan Allen, however, racked up 5 catches for 94 yards among 8 targets in his most extensive action of the season. Allen had appeared for abbreviated stretches in just 2 previous games because of a nagging hamstring injury. There's room for Herbert to be a fantasy difference maker the rest of the way, with the league's 2nd-best remaining QB schedule.
Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco racked up 107 yards on 15 carries in Sunday night's win over the Chargers. It marked the rookie's 2nd straight game with at least 15 carries and 80+ yards. Clyde Edwards-Helaire appeared headed for a larger role than in Week 10 before an ankle injury sidelined him. RB Jerick McKinnon led the backfield in snaps but saw most of that work in the passing game. Pacheco and the Chiefs get worse rushing matchups over the next 3 games. An enticing date with the Texans awaits in Week 15, though.
Teammate injuries presented opportunity for Chiefs rookie WR Skyy Moore in Sunday night's win over the Chargers. he finished 2nd on the team in targets (6) and receptions (5), trailing only TE Travis Kelce. Moore's 63 yards ranked 3rd on the team. Moore still finished just 3rd among K.C. wideouts in routes and 6th among all Chiefs. We'll see about the injury situations for JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kadarius Toney heading into Week 12. Mecole Hardman is out at least 3 more games on IR.
Chiefs TE Travis Kelce scored all 3 of his team's TDs in Sunday night's win over the Chargers. He led the way in targets (10), receptions (6) and receiving yards (115), accounting for 35% of Kansas City's passing yardage. It was Kelce's 4th 100-yard game of the season and 2nd with multiple scores. He leads all TEs by more than 6 PPR points per game for the year.
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes overcame a slow-ish start for his team to throw for 329 yards and 3 TDs in Sunday night's win over the Chargers. He found TE Travis Kelce for all 3 scores and 35% of his yardage. K.C. entered the game without JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman, and then lost Kadarius Toney to a hamstring injury. That left Skyy Moore and Justin Watson as the most productive wideouts, at 63 and 67 yards, respectively. It was Mahomes' 6th game this season of 3+ TDs and his 5th straight with more than 300 passing yards.
Steelers WR George Pickens caught 4 of 6 targets for 83 yards and a TD in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. He had 2 other targets wiped out by penalties, 1 an offensive hold and the other a defensive PI. Pickens also dropped a 2nd-half deep ball that would have added significant yardage to his line. WR Diontae Johnson matched Pickens' 4 catches but tallied just 21 yards. Next comes a potential pass-funnel matchup with the Colts and then the soft Atlanta defense.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth doubled his nearest teammate in targets in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. His 12 looks accounted for 28.6% of Pittsburgh's total pass attempts. Freiermuth's 8 catches also doubled the nearest Steeler, while his 79 yards trailed WR George Pickens' team lead. It's the 2nd 8-catch game among the past 4 for Freiermuth, who has seen 7+ targets in 4 straight and 7 of his 8 healthy outings for the year.
Steelers Kenny Pickett didn't do anything special in Sunday's loss to the Bengals, but he did enough to sit 14th among fantasy QBs heading into the Monday night game. The rookie completed 25 of 42 passes (59.5%) for 265 yards (6.3 per attempt) and 1 TD. He missed connections with WR George Pickens on 2 other occasions that could have added quite a bit more -- 1 a drop by the rookie wideout. Pickett did hit Pickens for his only score from 24 yards out. He also took just 2 sacks and avoided turning the ball over. The QB added 14 yards on just 2 carries. The rushing has helped him be viable for 2-QB and superflex leagues. You should still be able to do better in 1-QB formats. Pickett and the Steelers visit the Colts and Falcons the next 2 weeks.
Steelers RB Najee Harris took 20 carries for 90 yards and 2 TDs in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. Its' the 2nd straight game in which he has reached 20 carries, 90 yards and 4.5 yards per rush -- coming out of the Week 9 bye -- after Harris failed to reach any of those marks through the 1st 8 games. Harris also seemed to benefit from Jaylen Warren's early departure for a hamstring injury. Harris tied for 2nd on the team with 6 targets and 4 catches after losing receiving work to the rookie in Week 10. Harris gets a tough rushing matchup with the Colts in Week 12, but a much better spot at Atlanta in Week 13. His final 4 fantasy weeks find potentially tough matchups with the Ravens sandwiching a pair of softer rushing matchups: at the Panthers, home for the Raiders.
Bengals QB Joe Burrow finished Sunday as the #2 fantasy QB for the week, trailing only Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. Burrow racked up 355 yards and 4 TDs in the win over the Steelers. It's his 1st 4-TD game of the season but 3rd game with 3+ among his past 5 outings. Burrow also threw 2 INTs, meaning 6 of his 8 INTs for the season have come against Pittsburgh. WR Tee Higgins dominated the market shares for targets, catches and yards, but RB Samaje Perine claimed 3 of the 4 receiving TDs. The other went to WR Trenton Irwin. Burrow gets a pass-funnel matchup at Tennessee in Week 12.
Bengals WR Tee Higgins set season highs in targets (13), receptions (9) and receiving yards (148) in Sunday's win over the Steelers. He accounted for 33.3% of QB Joe Burrow's pass attempts, 37.5% of the completions and 41.7% of the receiving yardage. RB Samaje Perine was the only other Bengal to catch more than 3 passes. WR Tyler Boyd finished 2nd on the team with 7 targets but caught only 2 for 42 yards. TE Hayden Hurst caught 2 of 3 targets for 28 yards. Week 12 presents a Titans matchup that should further motivate the Bengals to go pass-heavy -- especially if RB Joe Mixon (concussion) is out. The team reportedly hopes to have WR Ja'Marr Chase (hip) back for that game. His return would hurt the fantasy outlook for Boyd more than Higgins.
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