Fantasy Football Week 11 Reaction: Adam Thielen Wins, Patriots Defense Loses

We’re another week closer to the playoffs, fantasy football owners.

Well, that is if your team is in the playoff picture, or at the very least in the hunt for the postseason. Here are some Week 11 winners, losers and surprises which may have helped or hindered those chances:

Winners:
Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings
The veteran wideout recorded the most receiving yards of his season (123) catching eight of the 11 passes thrown his way against a struggling Dallas Cowboys’ secondary, who was without arguably its best cornerback in Trevon Diggs. Thielen scored two touchdowns, his fourth multi-touchdown game of the season, despite the Vikings falling to the Cowboys 31-28.

Deshaun Watson, QB, Houston Texans
Watson lit up the New England Patriots secondary in a surprising 27-20 victory for the 3-7 Texans. Watson threw for his second most completions (28) and second most yards (344) while totaling three touchdowns (two passing). Watson, along with Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert, were among two of the highest scoring fantasy QBs this week.

Losers
Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons, QB
The Falcons signal-caller had his first game of the season in which he threw two interceptions, and his 19 completions (37 attempts) were tied for his fewest this season, as well. Ryan managed just 232 passing yards against the New Orleans Saints defense, which held the Falcons without a touchdown for the first time this season.

New England Patriots defense
The Patriots underachieved mightily during their Week 11 loss to the Houston Texans. New England’s defense scored the second fewest fantasy points as any unit that played the Houston offense this season. Only the Tennessee Titans’ defense scored fewer points Week 6, and that’s a list that includes the Jacksonville Jaguars (twice), Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns.

Surprises
Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Consistently a top-5 play at wide receiver, Jones was targeted just two (!!) times against the Saints, catching both passes but being limited to just 39 yards. His two receptions were the second fewest this season while it was just the third time Jones has been held to 50 yards or less.

JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
The fourth-year wideout celebrated his 24th birthday with an absolute clunker, watching teammates Diontae Johnson (12 rec., 111 yards) and Chase Claypool (four rec., 59 yards, TD) go off. Smith-Schuster saw just five targets, catching four passes for 19 yards — each of which was the second fewest of his campaign.