Not so much: Amari Cooper and the Raiders passing game was expected to light up the Lions secondary.

The Thomas Rawls Affair

There’s a temptation when a guy is a clear backup to a star player to dismiss him as a necessary part of your fantasy roster. So, when Thomas Rawls ran for 169 yards and a TD in Week 5, many owners thought “that’s nice” and then proceeded to drop him once Lynch was back to presumed good health. Let this be a lesson to us all. ANY running back capable of 169-yard rushing games must be rostered even if they don’t get a single carry when the player ahead of them on the depth chart is healthy. Now, with Lynch’s future in doubt, the Rawls owner in your league (hopefully you) has a top-ten RB on his or her hands moving forward. Rawls’ performance on Sunday was easily Week 11’s biggest story. 255 total yards and a pair of touchdowns tends to elevate a player to that status. Don’t burden your rosters with the likes of Ameer Abdullah when you know for a fact what a guy can do if/when given the chance. As for Lynch owners, keep your fingers crossed…

Great Young Receivers…Depleted Secondary…Equals…WHAT?

That headline takes us to the head-scratcher of the week as injuries to the Lions’ secondary this past weekend were supposed to mean big-time success for Derek Carr and wide receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. Cooper owners were licking their chops at the possibility of a long touchdown or two and possibly Amari’s finest game of the season. What they got instead was a 1-catch, 4-yard effort that took the air out of the balloon in the cruelest of senses. Forrest Gump’s mother said it best- sometimes people do things that, well, just don’t make no sense. Carr and Cooper don’t have another prime matchup until they play the listless Chargers in Week 16 if you can make it that far. If you don’t, I hope you won’t look at Week 11 as the week it fell apart for your team because the perfect storm never came to pass. Sometimes, storms blow back out to sea.

NFC South Offenses are DYNO-mite!

It has been well documented how prolific the New Orleans Saints offense has been for much of this season, but on Sunday, while the Saints took the week off, the rest of the division shone through with Cam Newton and Jameis Winston combining for 10 touchdowns and Doug Martin and Jonathan Stewart running for over 100 yards each…in Martin’s case, it was over 200 yards. Throw in solid performances by WRs Julio Jones, Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson, and Devin Funchess, not to mention TE Greg Olsen and most of Sunday’s high-point performances came from players on NFC South teams. Winston is coming into his own and the fact that Martin, Charles Sims, and the entire rushing attack in Tampa has been so dynamic allows him the ability to face lighter pass coverages and take advantages of his wide receivers’ physical assets. Newton is on another planet this year in terms of high-end production with a below-average surrounding cast. And, look out for Stewart from here on out. J-Stew has quietly slipped into the top ten in most leagues with respect to points scored by a RB. All in all, these four South teams contain players to lean on in the weeks to come, particularly when they play each other. Adjust accordingly.

Injuries, Injuries and More Injuries

The purpose of TMB is not to review the injuries that took place over the past weekend, but in a year in which injuries have grown ridiculously out of control, it is the elephant in the room that simply cannot be ignored. Sunday was especially unkind to the Baltimore Ravens who had already lost WR Steve Smith and now will be without QB Joe Flacco (torn ACL) and RB Justin Forsett (broken arm) through the remainder of the season. With Matt Schaub assuming control of what’s left of the Ravens offense, don’t expect much production in the passing game. In fact, avoid all Ravens WRs altogether. Schaub might check down a lot, which could keep TE Crockett Gillmore relevant. Also, Javorius Allen (115 total yards) looked solid on Sunday after Forsett went down, so if he’s on the waiver wire this week, spare no expense picking him up. RBs with no real competition for carries are hard to find this time of year.

Hopes Rekindled, Hopes Extinguished

Stuck in neutral all season, it was nice to see Eddie Lacy and Jeremy Hill break out a bit on Sunday, albeit in two very different ways. Hill is a goal line menace who capitalizes nearly without fail when given the opportunity to score from 3 yards in. Lacy, meanwhile, cedes goal line carries at times to not only James Starks, but also John Kuhn. He was the superior RB between the 20s on Sunday, granting a shred of hope to the few owners left on his bandwagon and are still in their league’s playoff hunt. Also rekindled on Sunday was a Dallas offense that has been dormant since Week 2. Darren McFadden continued to provide a spark out of the backfield with 129 yards rushing, but it was the two receiving TDs by Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams that signaled a shift forward. As for hopes extinguished, I sympathize with owners of Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates and Danny Woodhead- and I sympathize with those players themselves. The Chargers’ offensive prowess is long gone and the trio of Rivers, Woodhead, and Gates won’t be winning you any games in December. You can (sadly) take that one to the bank.

Best Receiving Corps Ever?

That’s a reach, I know, but the foursome that the Arizona Cardinals have at present is turning Carson Palmer into a fantasy superstar. On Sunday, it was the emergence of rookie WR J.J. Nelson that got everyone’s attention as Nelson led all wide receivers in receiving yards gained with 142 (including a TD). Nelson’s speed and ability to cut on a dime was the best I’ve seen since…well, John Brown last year. With Nelson and Brown’s speed, the savvy route running of Larry Fitzgerald, and the home-run threat with size and strength that defines Michael Floyd, it is time to give this group of receivers their due. In successive weeks, they ripped apart two very good defenses in the form of Seattle and Cincinnati. Palmer remains a must-start throughout the fantasy playoffs to come…and kudos to him for enjoying such a brilliant season- but with a receiving corps this good, it’s not hard to see why Arizona is another NFC team with big offensive numbers.

DeAndre The Giant

Darrelle Revis has spent his career being the ultimate eliminator of fantasy production for wide receivers all over the league. When a WR, thus, truly burns him throughout a game, it indicates that the opposing receiver is truly one of the greats at the position. On Sunday, DeAndre Hopkins indeed had his way with Revis, netting 118 yards receiving and two receiving touchdowns. In dynasty leagues, few wide receivers are on Hopkins's level right now given this only his third year and he's putting up tremendous numbers no matter who is covering him and no matter who (T.J. Yates) is throwing him the ball. By the way, next up for Hopkins and the Texans? That would be the super stellar New Orleans Saints defense. Matches made in heaven should be approached with caution (see Cooper, Amari), but Hopkins owners know by now that they've got a special player.

Tight End Turmoil

Week 11 was not a good week for the usual suspects at tight end. Likely starters like Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, Jimmy Graham, and Jordan Reed were all held out of the end zone while touchdowns were scored by the likes of Cameron Brate, Vance McDonald, Lance Kendricks, Crockett Gillmore, Jordan Cameron, and Darren Fells. There are always reasons why scores are lower from week to week. It was already mentioned that only two quarterbacks threw for 300 yards-plus. But, when the touchdowns go to players below the fantasy radar, it also impacts the scores you see across the board in your league. At least there's Tyler Eifert to make the world right. Eifert now leads the NFL with 11 touchdowns through eleven weeks. Getting out my calculator and doing the math… that means Eifert is good for a TD a week.

That's a wrap for the Buzz. All the bye weeks have now concluded, so fantasy teams will be at full strength even as NFL teams struggle to comprehend what that term means. In most leagues, there's only 2-3 more weeks of “regular” season left, so we'll start shifting our focus next week to the run for titles in December. Til' then, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the next Thomas Rawls!