Don’t dismiss New Orleans’ inability to stop the opposing quarterback.
Kirk Cousins is living proof that whoever suits up against the Saints, is a high-level fantasy football option.
Cousins concluded week 10 with the most fantasy football points among quarterbacks with 28.96. Cousins has been erratic this season, but he’s shown the ability to have big moments.
This is his third time with more than 20 points, so if the matchup is right, Cousins can produce.
And while some of the usual suspects were atop the leaderboard, with Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning, another quarterback is resurrecting his career in fantasy football.
Jay Cutler had another good showing, giving him more than 17 points for the sixth straight game. His totals haven’t necessarily been monster performances, but he’s as consistent as almost any quarterback at the moment.
But that’s it for week 10. Here’s our start ’em, sit ’em guide for week 11 for quarterbacks.
Daily fantasy start of the week
Cam Newton vs. Washington Redskins
Cam Newton is having his way with NFL defenses. During the previous four weeks, Newton has 85 points, good enough for fifth-best among quarterbacks.
Two of the quarterbacks ahead of him during that time, Andrew Luck and Drew Brees, won’t suit up this weekend.
Newton is beating defenses through the air and on the ground. On Sunday, Newton was efficient, going for 217 yards on 21-of-26 passing, and 23 yards on nine carries on the ground. He tacked on two touchdowns.
In the past two weeks, he’s gone for 33 and 20.98 points. He’s also limiting his turnovers, throwing for six touchdowns compared to two interceptions in the previous three games.
And while Washington has a good reputation for a quality defense, it’s not really that great compared to other NFL teams. The Redskins own the 12th-worst total defense in the NFL, and actually are in the bottom five in yards allowed per play at 6.1.
Newton and the weapons on Carolina continue to get better, and we’re starting Newton this week in DFS.
Start
Derek Carr vs. Detroit Lions
Don’t freak out about Detroit’s newfound secondary. We know the Lions were really good against Green Bay on Sunday, but we’re not going to rush to judgment.
Detroit is still one of the worst against the pass in the NFL, ranking in the bottom 10 in passing defense. The Lions also allow 8 yards per completion, good enough for fifth-worst in the NFL.
Sunday’s result was more about the problems residing in Green Bay with its receivers not able to get open than the Lions secondary magically getting better overnight.
And many may have jumped off the Carr bandwagon after Sunday’s loss to the Vikings. That would be a mistake, too.
Carr still threw for more than 300 yards against the Vikings, and despite the two interceptions, he still hurled two touchdowns. He wasn’t great, and a lot of his production came with the Raiders in desperation mode, but the Vikings are showing the rest of the NFL that they are for real.
The Lions aren’t for real. Carr will bounce back in a big way against Detroit and the Raiders should have their way offensively.
Blake Bortles vs. Tennessee Titans
We’ve been riding the Blake Bortles hype train for a little while now, and we’re staying on board.
Bortles is showing a good maturation from his rookie season to now, and we believe that will continue this week against the Titans.
Bortles has reached more than 20 points in three of his past five games and he’s throwing plenty of touchdowns.
He’s gone for 13 touchdowns in five games. Those numbers would be even better if he took care of the ball more since he has eight interceptions during that time, but we’re willing to stick with Bortles during some growing pains.
He has more than 300 yards in three of his previous five games, and we don’t see any reason why that won’t continue this week against the Titans.
The Titans give up eight yards per completion, ranking them fifth-worst in that category in the NFL. The Titans also have allowed a good amount of passing touchdowns at 16, tied with several other NFL teams for 12th-most allowed in the NFL.
Tennessee started strong against the pass, but in the last three weeks, the Titans have given up 17.30, 31.38 and 20.98 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.
We see that trend continuing and are going with Bortles.
Daily fantasy sit of the week
Ryan Tannehill vs. Dallas Cowboys
Dallas has been bad enough to lose games without Tony Romo. We won’t say they’ve been completely bad, since every game has been close, but the Cowboys are finding ways to lose.
But during that time period, the Cowboys have played quality pass defense.
Dallas is limiting the opposition to 241 yards per game passing and has allowed only nine passing touchdowns this season. Only Denver and St. Louis have allowed less passing touchdowns.
Tannehill, on the other hand, hasn’t been great lately.
He helped get the Dolphins into the win column on Sunday, but it was helped with a catch by Jarvis Landry in the end zone on a high tipped pass. For the majority of the game, Tannehill was pedestrian, much like he has been since having a monster game in week 7 against Houston.
Tannehill has two touchdowns, compared to two interceptions and one fumble in the previous three weeks, and we don’t see that getting much better this week against Dallas.
Sit
Kirk Cousins vs. Carolina Panthers
Let’s not get too excited with Cousins.
Depending on the matchup, Cousins is a decent play. But this week isn’t a good week for Cousins and the Redskins.
The Panthers are one of the best defenses in the NFL. Carolina allows only 234.6 yards per game through the air and has 14 interceptions, tied for the most in the NFL.
Carolina also gets to the quarterback at a high rate, with 26 sacks this season, good enough for the sixth-best mark in the NFL.
And with this game being on the road, that makes it an even higher probability that Cousins will struggle.
In games away from Washington, Cousins has seven interceptions against four touchdowns in four games. His highest point total in those four road games for fantasy points is 14.64, while two of his other three road showings have featured single-digit totals.
We’re dismissing this past week for Cousins and staying away from him this week.
Joe Flacco vs. St. Louis Rams
St. Louis ran into a tough week this past week, but much like Cousins, we’re not taking too much stock in the outcome.
The Rams have been consistently good against the pass this season and they ran into a hot Jay Cutler and Bears team on Sunday.
Against the Ravens, we don’t anticipate the same level of motivation from the opposition. Flacco has been good recently, but that’s been against below-average pass defenses in San Diego and Jacksonville.
He has been one of the only good parts of the Ravens offense, but we can’t imagine he can continue his throwing prowess without any weapons. Without Steve Smith, the Ravens are having a tough time finding any quality options on the outside.
That will be a detriment against the Rams, with a solid pass rush and the ability, for the most part, to stop the opposing team’s passing game.
We’re not dismissing Flacco for the long run, but we’re benching him this week against the Rams.
