Another week of football is in the books and the Week 11 results were significantly better than Week 10, but I still have to step it up down the home stretch and finished strong. There are a handful of teams that always lose when I pick ’em and then turn around and win when I pick against ’em. It’s incredibly frustrating, so I need to see if I can avoid that.
| Nick W | Nick L | Nick T | ATS W | ATS L | ATS P | O/U W | O/U L | O/U P | Christen W | Christen L | Christen T | Rids W | Rids L | Rids T |
| 9 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous |
| 92 | 57 | 1 | 74 | 72 | 4 | 63 | 72 | 2 | 84 | 64 | 1 | 78 | 71 | 1 |
| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| 101 | 62 | 1 | 83 | 77 | 4 | 69 | 80 | 2 | 96 | 66 | 1 | 84 | 79 | 1 |
It wasn’t a group-winning week for me, but going 9-5 after a 6-8 week was a solid turnaround. I also went 9-5 against the spread but took another sub .500 week on the over/under. For some reason, I took the over on all but two games and that proved to be a bad strategy. Christen dominated with a 12-2 record thanks to some close calls and late-game heroics, but a win is a win. Ridley has slowed the momentum of her cookie-based system, going 6-8.
Week 11 came to a close with the 49ers putting a beatdown on the Cardinals, 38-10, in Mexico City. Arizona kept it close for much of the first half, but their designs on stopping the run game left some massive holes in their secondary, and Jimmy G had the game of his life throwing for 4 TDs. While the Cards managed to slow McCaffrey down as a runner, he still had over 100 scrimmage yards and the Niners still ran for 159 yards as a team. So much for taking away the run.
With the game being at such a high altitude at Estadio Azteca, I figured the Niners’ overall depth at key positions would be a big factor, and that wound up being the case as Aiyuk and Kittle both scored 2 TDs and Deebo Samuel had a good all-around game and scored on a long TD run of his own. I have never thought highly of this iteration of the Cardinals and their season is basically dead now.
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce have owned the Chargers to a ridiculous degree and they went for the hat-trick on Sunday Night Football, scoring three TDs against the division rivals including the game-winning drive to win it 30-27. The Bolts played a pretty good game with Keenan Allen finally returning to the lineup and Justin Herbert had one of his better games on the season as well, but it just wasn’t enough to vanquish their divisional foes.
The Bengals picked up a 37-30 win, sans Ja’Marr Chase, and stay in hot pursuit of the Ravens for the AFC North crown. The Steelers made it tough on them as they had their best offensive game of the season and kept the Cincinnati run game locked down. So, Joe Burrow just went and threw for 355 yards and 4 TDs with three of those going to Samaje Perine. Fantasy owners who have been waiting for Najee Harris to deliver got a pair of TDs and the Pittsburgh offense is coming along when he gets at least 20 carries.
The Vikings got a rude welcome home gift in the shape of an ass whipping at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys, 40-3. It was the first home loss of the season for the Vikings who may have just run out of gas after 7-straight wins. They also don’t play good teams all that often and the Boys knew they had let one slip away last week and came out angry. Tony Pollard exploded for 189 scrimmage yards and 2 TDs and Ezekiel Elliot was back in the lineup, converting 2 short-yardage TDs of his own.
One of those teams that I always seem to pick incorrectly was at it again (the other being the Packers). The Raiders defeated the Broncos 22-16 in overtime. Denver was winning for most of the game and had some chances to put the game away but couldn’t do it. Melvin Gordon had a big fumble in this game on a 3rd & 1 from the Raiders’ 3-yard, right before the end of the half which turned a potential TD drive into a FG attempt. That kick was subsequently blocked. He also botched pass protection on 3rd & 5 while they were still up 13-10, resulting in a sack. The whole loss isn’t on his shoulder, but the Broncos cut Gordon after the game.
The Commanders unsurprisingly covered the spread in Houston as they beat the Texans 23-10. Washington leaned on their ground game and a strong defensive effort that resulted in 5 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, and 2 interceptions including a pick-six.
Baltimore also took care of business against the Panthers, 13-3, but it was a concerning win. That game was tied 3-3 going into the 4th quarter and there wasn’t a whole lot going on for the Ravens’ offense. I had the Panthers covering 13 points, but I didn’t expect it to be like that.
The Detroit Lions picked up their third-straight win, surprising the Giants 31-18. The Lions dominated the ground game, splitting the work mostly between Justin Jackson and Jamaal Williams as D’Andre Swift is still recovering. Williams probably won some fantasy matchups as he punched in 3 TDs and the Lions’ defense picked off Daniel Jones twice.
Matthew Stafford returned from concussion protocol and had the Rams ahead of the Saints at halftime, but a couple of sacks sent his helmet bouncing to the turf and Stafford left the game and went right back to concussion protocol after a quick 3 & out on their first drive of the 3rd quarter. Andy Dalton threw for 260 yards and 3 TDs to lead New Orleans the rest of the way to a 27-20 victory.
New England was locked in a defensive struggle with the Jets, tied 3-3 all the way until the very end where rookie Marcus Jones returned a Jets’ punt 84 yards for the game-winning TD. Nick Folk missed a pair of FGs in the wind, much to my fantasy dismay, but the Pats still hung on to win it 10-3 and leapfrog the Jets in the AFC East standings. Both teams are still behind the 7-3 Bills who took care of the Browns, and the 7-3 Dolphins who were on their bye week.
Jeff Saturday has rejuvenated the Colts who damn near beat the Eagles, but couldn’t quite hang on until the end. Indy led most of the way but it’s hard to keep a good team down forever and Jalen Hurts put the team on his back when they needed it and punched in the 17-yard TD run to take the lead in the game’s final minutes. The Colts would turn the ball over on downs but this was one of their better-looking losses overall.
Atlanta is quickly becoming the third team in the mix of teams that only win when I pick against them, as they beat the Bears 27-24. As I expected, Chicago looked good early and jumped out to a 10-point lead when Cordarrelle Patterson took a kickoff return 103 yards to the house for the TD. It was a huge momentum play near the end of the first half and the start of their 17 unanswered points. Justin Field suffered a shoulder injury at some point and tried to gut it out, but it wasn’t enough. On the other side of the field, Kyle Pitts injured his knee and will likely require surgery.
The Eagles stay on top and the Texans stay on the bottom but there was some jockeying for position inside the Top-10 of the Sheist Power Rankings.
| 1. Eagles 9-1 (=) |
| 2. Chiefs 8-2 (+1) |
| 3. Vikings 8-2 (-1) |
| 4. Cowboys 7-3 (+4) |
| 5. Dolphins 7-3 (=) |
| 6. Bills 7-3 (+1) |
| 7. Giants 7-3 (-3) |
| 8. Titans 7-3 (+) |
| 9. Ravens 7-3 (+2) |
| 10. Bengals 6-4 (+2) |
| 11. 49ers 6-4 (+2) |
| 12. Seahawks 6-4 (-2) |
| 13. Patriots 6-4 (+2) |
| 14. Jets 6-4 (-8) |
| 15. Commanders 6-5 (+1) |
| 16. Chargers 5-5 (-2) |
| 17. Buccaneers 5-5 (=) |
| 18. Falcons 5-6 (+3) |
| 19. Colts 4-6-1 (-1) |
| 20. Lions 4-6 (+3) |
| 21. Saints 4-7 (+6) |
| 22. Packers 4-7 (-3) |
| 23. Cardinals 4-7 (-3) |
| 24. Browns 3-7 (-2) |
| 25. Steelers 3-7 (-1) |
| 26. Rams 3-7 (-1) |
| 27. Broncos 3-7 (-1) |
| 28. Bears 3-8 (=) |
| 29. Jaguars 3-7 (=) |
| 30. Raiders 3-7 (+1) |
| 31. Panthers 3-8 (-1) |
| 32. Texans 1-8-1 (=) |
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