NFL Week 11: Preview

Modified Nov 17, 2018 03:34 GMT

Potential Game Of The Week - Kansas City Chiefs vs Los Angeles Rams

Patrick Mahomes is the potential MVP winner, but if there is a test of him being an MVP it is this week. Both the Los Angeles Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs come into this week being 9-1. Someone this week will be a ten game winner, who will it be?

The Los Angeles Rams are coming into this week winning another close game against the Seattle Seahawks in week 10. The biggest worry of late for the Rams has been their defence which could not stop the Seahawks mediocre offence from scoring 31 points.

Players like Ndamukong Suh, Aaron Donald, and Marcus Peters have to get this defence back on track because the high-powered attack of the Kansas City Chiefs will score more points on them if they operate anything like last week. Head coach Sean McVay will not have any reason to worry about the offence against a below-average defence.

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The Rams will have to continue to give the ball to Todd Gurley and run this offence through him and it will result in the passing game opening up. The loss of Cooper Kupp will be significant, but Josh Reynolds has done a commendable job in place of Kupp before in the receiving game.

Kansas City continue to dominate games with their potent offence led by second-year quarterback Mahomes.

Mahomes has continued to distribute the ball all over the field and Kareem Hunt has never looked more lethal in the run and passing game. Last week, wide receiver Tyreek Hill had an explosive game. Look for Travis Kelce looked upon in this game.

The ferocious front four of the Rams can get to Mahomes, look for the young QB to dump it down to his tight end Kelce quickly. When it comes to the Kansas City defence, it will have to contain Todd Gurley in the run game. If the Chiefs can contain Gurley, it will pressure quarterback Jared Goff to be compelled to throw the ball more which is commendable, but the Rams offence starts with Gurley and ends with Gurley.

Mexico City's Estadio Azteca had some poor field conditions which have led the game to be moved to the Los Angeles Coliseum which becomes a home game for the Rams. Hopefully, we see more Rams fans in the stands then the passionate Chiefs fans. Whoever wins this game will become NFL's first and only ten-game winner this season.

Potential Upset Of The Week - Carolina Panthers vs Detroit Lions

I might be going left field here in my potential upset game, but I have a good feeling about this. The Carolina Panthers are coming into Ford Field in Detroit getting defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers in a romp-fest.

The Detroit Lions also lost to a team that is turning the corner in a big way: the Chicago Bears. This game could be perfect for the home team Detroit to bounce back against a Carolina squad that might still be reeling after their 52-21 loss to Pittsburgh Steelers.

One of the biggest question marks for me with the Panthers this season was who is going to run away as the best receiver for them. If you thought running back Christian McCaffrey, then you made a good guess. The likes of Devin Funchess, Torrey Smith, and D.J. Moore have been less than impressive. Tight end Greg Olsen has not been as good this year like his dependable self in previous years.

What I am afraid of is the Panthers becoming one dimensional in the offence. If defences understand that McCaffrey is the individual that you will have to stop to have the Panthers offence stalled, then I don't see Cam Newton being able to win it with the set of receivers that he has. The defence got lit up last week by the Steelers showing some fundamental flaws in their performance. The Panthers are also a dismal 1-3 on the road; a perfect recipe for the Lions to take advantage.

The Lions are 2-2 at home, where playing in a dome can be a massive advantage for the home team. They have come into this game losing their past three games to playoff-contending teams in the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and the Seattle Seahawks.

Detroit's offence has been playing a lot better when they decided to allow rookie running back Kerryon Johnson run the ball. Losing Marvin Jones in the receiving game is a significant loss, but having Theo Reddick healthy and Kenny Golladay having a career year will all help quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Just like the Pittsburgh Steelers, if they play through their running back in Kerryon Johnson, he will open up the passing lanes for Golladay and Michael Roberts. On defence, the return of Darius Slay will only make the secondary stronger. Darius Slay, Quandre Diggs, and Glover Quin will put up a fight against the Panther receivers. Lions front four got stronger with the addition of Damon Harrison at the trade deadline.

All the scenarios I see have the Lions coming into a close game and winning against the reeling Carolina Panthers. This week might be the game Kerryon Johnson goes all out.

Fantasy Football Starters

The Minnesota Vikings have struggled to cover the passing game. Good pass-catchers highlight the Chicago Bears. When you think of Chicago's good receivers, players like Trey Burton, Allen Robinson, and Tarik Cohen comes to mind. The one player on the Bears that has been overlooked is rookie wide receiver Anthony Miller who week after week in the last couple of games has been awakened, and against the Minnesota Vikings, I would look at starting Miller.

RB Saquon Barkley, New York Giants vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

QB Eli Manning, New York Giants vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

WR Anthony Miller, Chicago Bears vs Minnesota Vikings

TE Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs vs Los Angeles Rams

Sleeper Christian Kirk WR, Arizona Cardinals vs Oakland Raiders

Fantasy Football Bench

I am not too fond of the matchup for the Jacksonville Jaguars against the hottest team in the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Leonard Fournette is back from injury, but for how long. The Jaguars will probably use TJ Yeldon as a pair because how successful Yeldon was when Fournette was injured. I think against the Steelers the Jaguars will want to show different packages which will lead the Jaguars to use much more of Yeldon then you like.