Two players had huge days in Week 11 to go along with a handful of guys who had very good days. The first (Mike Evans) better have been in your lineup. There’s no excuse for leaving Evans on the bench at this point, as he is quickly becoming the class of a very talented rookie wide receiver corps. The second (Jonas Gray) probably wasn’t in your lineup, and no one can blame you for that. If for some reason, however, you did have Jonas Gray in your lineup…well, then it was a Sunday night to remember. Got any good or bad Jonas Gray stories from Sunday? Pass them along to me…as for everything else that happened in Week 11, let’s get the Buzz underway…

Buffalo @ Miami
As is normally the case, a short week of recuperation and preparation meant sluggish offensive performances on Thursday night. Ryan Tannehill and the Miami offense was far superior to Buffalo at least, and Tannehill continues to be a borderline starting QB in 12-team leagues after producing 256 yards and a couple of TDs. Lamar Miller also bounced back from a minor injury to post 98 total yards from scrimmage. Miami’s defense is proving to be a fantasy stopper, so look to avoid starting players up against the Dolphins unless they’re your studs. Aside from Sammy Watkins (who was quiet in this game with only 35 total yards), Buffalo skill position players should be avoided in present, whether the opponent is Miami or not.

Houston @ Cleveland
The Ryan Mallett era may have begun in Houston, but the Texans’ offensive line made it easy on him as the Texans were able to run the ball a whopping 54 times! 36 of those carries went to Alfred Blue (who also gained 156 yards) and Blue would appear to be a worthy starter moving forward anytime Arian Foster is forced to miss time. Meanwhile, those who started Terrance West based on 26 carries in Week 10 were no doubt extremely frustrated with his reduced role on Sunday. Knowing who Cleveland is going to start at RB from week-to-week has become anyone’s guess, making all three guys extremely risky plays. The flavor of the week for now is Isaiah Crowell (91 total yards). Brian Hoyer’s day looked good in terms of fantasy points, but he also only completed 40% of his passes (20 out of 50 attempts). That’s concerning. Maybe Josh Gordon’s return in Week 12 will allow for the passing game to click much better.

Seattle @ Kansas City
Jamaal Charles was the Kansas City offense on Sunday. Sure, Knile Davis vultured a TD late, but by then, Charles had already scored two of them to go along with 178 yards from scrimmage. At this point, Charles is the only Chief worthy of being a fantasy starter, but oh what an asset he is. For Seattle, it was a brave performance (124 rushing yards) by a banged up Marshawn Lynch that would have been even better had he been able to get across the goal line (he got close several times). Russell Wilson continues to provide low-end QB1 production due to his rushing numbers (71 yards on the ground Sunday), but his passing numbers remain down with no explosive target to raise them up. Look for Lynch and Charles to continue carrying both of these teams moving forward in both the real-world sense and with respect to fantasy production.

San Francisco @ NY Giants
It’s always interesting to compare how various leagues penalize for interceptions. Depending on your league scoring, Eli Manning either had a decent day on Sunday or a miserable fantasy outing after tossing FIVE interceptions. He did complete 205 yards worth of passes to his talented young duo of Odell Beckham Jr. and Rueben Randle, but everything bogged down in the red zone. The 49ers had red zone troubles of their own as they settled for three Phil Dawson field goals and only 1 TD (a long reception by Michael Crabtree). Frank Gore’s 114 yards from scrimmage continue to keep him in the RB2 category as fantasy playoffs near, but no one else from this team inspires week in and week out. That includes Vernon Davis, who is now getting out-scored by offensive linemen (Colts) and defensive linemen as well (J.J. Watt).

Mike Evans has seven catches in each of his last three games, averaging 152 yds and scoring five TDs.

Tampa Bay @ Washington
I know it wasn’t the toughest of matchups vs. a depleted Washington secondary, but Mike Evans looks like a star from all perspectives, especially fantasy moving forward. Evans now has 458 yards and 5 TDs in his last three games and if you’ve had the foresight to get him into your lineup each of those weeks, you’ve probably won a game or two (or three). Evans was the story of this game as Robert Griffin III checked down all game long to his running backs leaving DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon with 41 yards combined against a defense they should have torched. Much like Gore in San Francisco, Alfred Morris is a steady, predictable RB2, but the rest of Washington’s team should be avoided in lineup aside from DeSean Jackson if the matchup is right.

Minnesota @ Chicago
Just when you think Jay Cutler is down for the count, he comes up with one of his best fantasy performances in several years (330 yards passing, 3 TDs). It was a performance that also elevated the worth of his two primary targets, Brandon Marshall (90 rec. yards, 2 TDs) and Alshon Jeffery (135 rec. yards, 1 TD). Sprinkle in 175 yards from scrimmage for Matt Forte and I guess you could say it was a good day to own a Bear player in general. The same could not be said for Minnesota as the offense is struggling with rookie Teddy Bridgewater trying to figure things out and the running game averaging only 3 yards a carry. This team needs a talent infusion- Adrian Peterson perhaps? Chicago just needs to keep taking shots downfield and letting the chips fall where they may. On Sunday, they fell in all the right places.

Atlanta @ Carolina
For the second week in a row, Cam Newton got rolling late to salvage a decent game from a stats perspective. 322 yards and 2 TDs looks great if you’re talking fantasy football, but Newton’s path to those kinds of numbers has been anything but smooth. Kelvin Benjamin (9 rec, 109 yards, 1 TD) was again Cam’s favorite target and will remain a solid fantasy starter throughout your fantasy playoffs after Carolina’s bye week. In Atlanta, the wins are coming again, but the fantasy prospects of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones continue to sour. Ryan has really leveled off (only 1 TD per game now in 5 of his last 6 games) and since his breakout game vs. the Bucs in Week 3, Jones has zero TDs. That’s eight games since he last found the end zone. It may be time to consider other options at WR if you only start two guys at the position each week.

Denver @ St. Louis
If you are linked to Peyton Manning in years past or present, chances are high that you got injured on Sunday. The Broncos saw Montee Ball, Emmanuel Sanders, and Julius Thomas all get hurt on Sunday leaving Manning with far fewer options to throw the ball to than he prefers. At least Sanders’ owners got 102 yards and a TD from him prior to his injury. Thomas and Ball owners were not so lucky. The story of the day, fantasy-wise, for St. Louis was the play of Kenny Britt (128 yards, 1 TD) and Tre Mason (29 carries, 113 rushing yards). Britt is a player to watch with Shaun Hill now at quarterback again and Brian Quick out for the season. Mason has been a player to watch for several weeks now- he just needs to begin scoring TDs to be considered a rock-solid RB2.

Cincinnati @ New Orleans
Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham are enjoying solid seasons at the QB and TE position by almost anyone else’s standards. The problem is, you drafted one or both to be almost other-worldly…not merely solid. There used to be a day when the Saints at home meant huge numbers for both guys no matter the opponent. Now, after Brees failed to throw more than 1 TD for the third time this season and Graham was held to under 60 yards for the fifth time, it may be o.k. to consider both fantasy disappointments this season, at least slightly. The Bengals, meanwhile, saw everyone rebound from a horrible Thursday night game with Andy Dalton throwing for 3 TDs, Jeremy Hill running for 152 yards, and A.J. Green doing what A.J. Green is supposed to do (6-127-1). Figuring out the Bengals is hard work. We’ll leave that to the FFToday prognosticators…the Buzz just recaps ‘em.

Oakland @ San Diego
It’s hard to generate much excitement about either of these team’s offenses of late. At least Antonio Gates was able to pinpoint a rib injury for Philip Rivers as a reason for that offense’s demise in recent weeks. Ryan Mathews’ return was certainly decent (70 yards rushing), but he was limping around the locker room after the game leaving fantasy owners to wonder if his health can ever be fully trusted. The only bright spot in this game for Oakland was the 43 yards that Latavius Murray saw on Sunday. With the Raiders 0-10, it’s time to see what they’ve got in Murray and put McFadden and Jones-Drew on the bench for good. Don’t be starting Murray next week, however. His ray of hope is only a dim ray for now…

Detroit @ Arizona
Well, Michael Floyd continued his low reception totals trend on Sunday catching two balls or less for the fifth time this season. The difference this week was that both catches went for touchdowns. Too bad that most probably had Floyd on their bench this week. Elsewhere, Andre Ellington was unable to get much going in the running game vs. Detroit (no surprise as Detroit stops the run well), and Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate were kept out of the end zone and combined for only 100 yards total between the two of them. That was a surprise to me and many others, I am sure. Drew Stanton isn’t going to win you championships, but with adequate weapons, he appears to be a solid backup fantasy QB moving forward. You could do much worse…

Philadelphia @ Green Bay
I know I said this last week, but it seems right now like Aaron Rodgers is playing at another level. A level that defenses can’t keep up with. I had to laugh yesterday when the broadcast listed Green Bay as the 11th-ranked offense in the NFL. They’re only ranked that low because they basically apply the brakes early in the third quarter. So it was on Sunday, but not before Rodgers piled up 341 passing yards, 32 rushing yards, and 3 TD passes. His primary targets, Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson, each had 100+ yards, and RB Eddie Lacy scored a receiving TD for the second week in a row and is averaging 78 receiving yards in his last three games. And, how about the Packers defense & special teams? Three TDs is a pretty nice day. Philly’s main skill position players afforded themselves well in the end with Jordan Matthews and Jeremy Maclin combining for over 200 yards and 2 TDs and Sanchez putting up good numbers as well. I no longer list LeSean McCoy as a “main” player for the Eagles as his production doesn’t warrant that designation. How the mighty have fallen.

New England @ Indianapolis
Many NFL games are forgotten with respect to their impact on fantasy football as the years go by, but this will not be one of those games. Jonas Gray’s amazing night (199 rushing yards, 4 TDs) is kind of like what RB Tim Smith did in the Super Bowl many, many years ago. In other words, it came out of nowhere seemingly. To a lesser degree, Coby Fleener’s 144 receiving yards came out of nowhere as well, but some of that can be contributed to the loss of Dwayne Allen due to injury. I mentioned Peyton Manning’s “old team” earlier as being hit hard by injuries and the Colts are obviously what I was referencing. In addition to losing Allen, Ahmad Bradshaw has been lost for the season due to a fractured leg. Andrew Luck will no doubt find a way to keep chugging along, but don’t be surprised if Aaron Rodgers passes up both he and Manning by season’s end in terms of overall fantasy production. After all, Rodgers’s weapons have remained upright.

Pittsburgh @ Tennessee
Sometimes, the best time to start a running back is right before his bye week as his coach will not mind literally running him into the ground. Such was the case with Le’Veon Bell last night as Bell toted the rock 33 times for 204 yards in leading the Steelers to a hard-fought victory over the Titans. After four big weeks in a row, Martavis Bryant netted only 11 yards as Pittsburgh had trouble picking up the blitz most of the night, making shorter passes en vogue. That meant the usual production from Antonio Brown, though, so Ben’s low numbers didn’t impact all of his receivers. Zach Mettenberger, meanwhile, had numbers (263 yards passing, 2 TDs) bolstered by a long TD to Nate Washington late in the first half. Still, it was an improvement over what the Titans have been in recent weeks. Make no mistake, though…Le’Veon Bell was the fantasy star of this game. Only Jonas Gray will keep his great performance off the front page, so to speak.

And, that’s the Buzz for Week 11. Let me know how you’d recap your week. I’d love to hear some of your stories. Until next time, good morning from the TMB.