Nov 20

NFL Week 11 Twitter Takeaways

By now if you’ve been following you know the drill, and if you’re new to the post I’m guessing you’ll get a sense of what we’re trying to do in this post pretty quickly. Here go our Week 11 NFL Takeaways; twitter style.

In short… quick hits of subjects of interest that you may have missed from the weekend that was. You won’t necessarily see headlines or big statistical outputs that are likely covered elsewhere… just some moments of intrigue from the weekend that was. I’m big into numbers, particularly snap counts and relative target share, but you won’t see an overwhelming amount of that here as there is lots of time to collect that data through the week. You’re just getting some unfiltered thoughts to help you guide your lineups for the week ahead.

D.J. Moore has a superlative worthy performance

Ok… we probably got a little carried away this weekend:

But D.J. Moore had an emphatic outing in the loss to Detroit this week. You’ve likely seen the breakaway speed and body control exhibited on his long catch and run this week, but what you may have missed were similar and consistent tough-to-tackle traits exhibited on more modest plays. Take this one for example:

I’ve spent more time in this space in recent weeks focusing on the other upstart Moore receiver (David, in Seattle) but D.J. has been a consistently strong contributor to the Carolina offense and finally found the endzone (for just the second time this season) this week. He hasn’t been held below 48 total yards since returning from the team’s Week 4 bye and while that’s not a stat line to hang your hat on it shows a consistency that fantasy owners would appreciate from their WR3. It’s also a consistency his QB and playcaller should come to appreciate. On a week where Devin Funchess corralled just two of his eight targets, Moore reeled in seven of his. Funchess continues to be inconsistent and I’d expect more and more looks to be funneled Moore’s way (sorry… I didn’t mean to do that) over the season’s final six weeks.

Andrew Luck had a field day. Yet again.

And this week he did it against the NFL’s top scoring defense. I was down on Luck coming into the year and said I’d learned my lesson. I then told FantasyPros this week that Luck was my top deadline deal candidate given a tough slate coming up that featured the Titans twice, among others.

CDCarson_6 was wise enough to call me on it, and through one week he certainly looks correct:

Luck and the Colts got it done following the same script they have during their five week run.

In short, don’t doubt him. Unless you’re boasting two elite options, Luck is as matchup proof as they come. And, when he’s rolling T.Y. Hilton joins him there (9/9/155 this week). Sure, the sledding could be tougher against the Titans on the road in two weeks but I’m not betting against one of the league’s hottest QBs again. After all, he’s never lost to the division rival.

Adrian Peterson is still running angry

In a week that started without half of his offensive line and ended without his starting QB, against a defense wreaking havoc, Adrian Peterson still got his. The 33-year-old back is showing no signs of slowing down.

Sure, his YPC could have been a lot prettier (16-51) but again with limitations on the line and in a tough matchup he performed admirably. Peterson’s two scores were near mirror images of each other with a quick cut and acceleration to the endzone.

Given the obstacles he overcame this week, his owners don’t need to overthink lineup decisions in light of injuries moving forward. Roll with him until performance dictates otherwise.

A strong rookie rushing debut in Baltimore

Gus Edwards‘, that is.

Sure, we could spend a lot of time detailing Lamar Jackson‘s historic rush attempts and generally strong production but you’ve heard that already. You’ve heard about Gus Edwards, too, but I’m not sure you’ve heard a compelling argument that his success will continue. For me, it’s simple. As long as Jackson remains under centre.

First of all, while the naysayers are critiquing Jackson as a run first QB, he did attempt 19 passes against the Bengals (more than fellow winners Eli Manning and Blake Bortles this week, by the way) and looked fairly strong when so doing. Sure, he didn’t take a lot of chances, but a 13/19 line with 7.9 YPA is nothing to turn up your nose at. Even if they were all underneath passes, his threat as a runner was opening up lanes in the passing game.

And, as Gus Edwards saw, in the running game as well.

Consider this, when Jackson crossed the 100-yard plateau he became the first Baltimore Raven to do so all year.

Edwards wasn’t long behind him (he finished with 17 carries for 115 yards).

A mobile QB willing to tuck and run 27 times a game creates coverage and decision making problems for a defense. In short… the threat of the run at QB is opening up holes for the run game. And Edwards was able to take advantage. As long as the game script allows Baltimore is going to take commit to the ground game. Alex Collins owners will defend their guy and his potential share of that work, mind you:

But at the end of the day, Baltimore rode the hot hand and Collins wound up with just seven totes. There’s always the risk that Baltimore will turn back to him if you’re spending your FAAB, but the undrafted rookie profiles as a power back that could balance Jackson’s rushing style quite well. Certainly, he warrants a roster spot and I’d expect him to continue to be productive for as long as Jackson is under center, at least.

It’s week 11 folks. He’s available everywhere… unload your FAAB. The Ravens will draw a should-win game against the Raiders this week and a soft run defense in Atlanta in Week 13.

Other Notes and Quick Hits

  • He didn’t score (one was called back on a Ricky Seals-Jones hold) so you may not have noticed, but David Johnson kept rolling against the Raiders with 170 total yards.

  • I wouldn’t read too much into an abysmal offensive (all around) performance from Philadelphia this week, but it is worth noting that Golden Tate seems to have a sufficient grasp of the offense to be trusted in PPR leagues moving forward. He led the team with eight looks this week and took most of his snaps from a familiar position in the slot:

  • In case you missed it, DeAndre Hopkins is on a tear (his TD this week was a degree of difficulty catch!)

  • Atlanta picked on Chidobe Awuzie this week. And sure, having Julio Jones makes it easy to pick on anyone, but it is becoming a trend.



    There aren’t a ton of options on the Colt McCoy led offense to take advantage of him this week, mind you.

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