NFL Player News

On Thursday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said that Montgomery, who sat out Week Three with a thigh injury, is moving toward getting back in the lineup this week. “Two that are trending the most positive right now would be Decker and D-Mo. Those are the two I’m starting to feel pretty good about,” Campbell said. The Lions will have another walkthrough on Wednesday, but Campbell feeling good about Montgomery right now is a strong sign for his ability to play. If he is able to see the field, Jahmyr Gibbs would likely go back to something closer to his Week 2 usage, while Craig Reynolds would maybe be relegated to a small handful of carries, depending on how Montgomery feels.

Kelce led the Chiefs in targets and receiving yards, but his game will be remembered for a play that didn’t count. With just over a minute left and the Chiefs down by three, Kelce caught a deep pass from Patrick Mahomes over the middle of the field and, as the Bills defenders were converging on him, lateralled the ball to Kadarius Toney at the Buffalo 15-yard-line. Toney was able to waltz into the end zone for what would have been the game-winning touchdown had he not been lined up offside before the snap. Still, while the game could have been bigger, Kelce remains the focal point of the Chiefs offense and should be in for a big day against the Patriots next week as the Chiefs look to break a run of three loses in their last four games.

Per usual, Gardner Minshew locked onto Pittman from the first snap and didn’t stop until the final whistle. His 11 targets were good for a 28 percent target share. He now has at least eight catches in six straight games and more than 80 yards in four consecutive contests. Pittman has been a cheat code in PPR leagues this year and that isn’t stopping anytime soon. He ranks as a high-end WR2 for his Week 15 matchup with the Steelers.

Diggs was in a one-on-one battle with L’Jarius Snead for most of the afternoon and did not come out on top. Early in the game, the Bills were moving the ball easily with the tight ends and running backs, so Josh Allen didn’t try to force it to Diggs, but when the Chiefs defense tightened up, the Bills tried to get Diggs the ball on screens and quick-hitters. None of them worked. The coverage from Snead was strong, and Diggs also dropped at least two passes. It’s been a poor run of form for Diggs recently, and he certainly doesn’t appear to be playing at 100 percent, but the Bills have so much on the line with each of their next games, and all of them set up to be games where they will need to score point, so we should expect Diggs to bounceback in the coming weeks, even with a tough matchup against the Cowboys on deck next week.

It would’ve been a quiet day for Sutton if not for a 46-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Sutton battled through pass interference in the end zone to make a one-handed catch to give him his 10th touchdown of the season. Sutton’s score marks the first time since 2014 that the Broncos have had a pass-catcher with 10-plus scores (Julius Thomas and Demaryius Thomas), as he’s now up to 53-699-10 on the year. Sutton has caught four or fewer passes in each of his last four games, but his touchdown upside will put him on the WR3 radar in Week 15 against the Lions.

With as good as the Chiefs’ secondary has been this year, the Bills came into the game with a clear gameplan to get the ball to James Cook often in the early going. His receiving touchdown in the first half was a beautifully designed play that used motion to draw the Chiefs’ safeties to the sideline and then released Cook up the middle on a seam route. When the Bills came out in the second half and looked to establish the ground game, Cook ripped off huge chunk plays. Yet, the offensive line started to lose the battle up front for the remainder of the game, and the Bills continued to mix in Latavius Murray and Ty Johnson to grind out the clock on the final drives, which put a damper on Cook’s big day. Still, he remains an explosive playmaker and now a clear priority in the Bills’ offense under new offensive coordinator Joe Brady. That makes him a low-end RB1 going forward.

The Bills made Mahomes work for it on Sunday, doing everything they could to force Mahomes to use his wide receivers to win the game. Yet, Mahomes continued to lift his offense as he has all season, evading pressure in the backfield, and making throws that only he and the quarterback going up against him on Sunday could make. However, the weapons may simply not be there this season for Mahomes to be a top tier QB1 like we’re used to. The Chiefs have yet to find a consistent passing weapon aside from Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice, and the running game takes a big hit with Isiah Pacheco sidelined. Fortunately for both Mahomes and the Chiefs, they get a very winnable matchup against the Patriots next week.

Hockenson’s 22.9 percent target share led the team, though it didn’t mean much with Josh Dobbs struggling to make even the simplest throws before being benched for Nick Mullens in the fourth quarter. Hockenson made a couple critical catches down the stretch and would seem to benefit big time from Mullens under center. If Justin Jefferson misses time with a chest injury, Hockenson could return to a target-hog fantasy option in Week 15 and beyond.

As NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport points out, given where we are at this point in the season, it’s possible this finger fracture will be a season-ender for Herbert. Staley said Herbert’s status will be determined over the next few days, but he’s all but a lock to miss Week 15 against the Raiders on Thursday night. Easton Stick will likely draw the start with Herbert sidelined, as the Chargers (5-8) are simply playing out the rest of a disappointing season. Stick is a massive downgrade for the Chargers at the quarterback position and would undoubtedly hurt Keenan Allen’s fantasy stock.

In what has become a consistent trend for Josh Allen this season, he looked unstoppable at times and made plays no other quarterback can make; however, he also made a costly mistake on the interception and led an offense that simply stalled for far too long. Allen came out of the gates on fire, driving the Bills down the field and even converting a touchdown with his legs while pushing a pile of defenders en route to building a 14-0 lead. He also made a ridiculous throw in the fourth quarter while backpedaling out of bounds. However, the Chiefs defense prevented any big plays and started to ramp up their pressure in the second half, which caused Allen to hold the ball too long and try to do too much. Still, Allen made enough plays at the end of the day and now that he’s running more again, he remains one of, if not the top quarterback in fantasy.

Samuel has been on a tear since returning from injury and today was no different. He seemed to take some of the soul from the Seahawks when he ran past Jamal Adams on his way to a 54-yard touchdown reception. While he wasn’t involved much as rusher, he ran in a one-yard touchdown on his only carry after being stopped right before the goal line. Samuel is looking like he’s a WR1 again in fantasy.