NFL Player News

Goff did not throw an incompletion in the second half until the team’s final drive of the game, when he strung three consecutive incompletions to turn the ball over on downs and give the Chiefs a hard-fought victory. Even so, the Lions were stuck in game where they were unable to play with a lead throughout for only the second time this season, and both the Chiefs and Packers have now targeted slight kinks in the armor in Detroit through six weeks by forcing them into more one-dimensional offensive structures. Goff has proven to be more than capable of sustaining drives and marching the field, but we’ve seen him struggle if forced into clear passing, must-have situations the previous three seasons. The 4-2 Lions host the Buccaneers in Week 7 before their Week 8 bye.

Fannin nearly helped QB Shedeur Sanders engineer a fourth-quarter comeback. Just before the two-minute warning, the two connected for a 25-yard gain after Fannin got open on a post route over the middle. Sanders went back to him shortly after that, nearly connecting on another decent gain, but Fannin was unable to secure the low-aimed pass on the move. Fannin remains a borderline TE1/2 against the Raiders next week.

Carter saw heavy usage in the passing game after Emari Demercado left with an apparent ankle injury in the first half. With the game script heavily favoring the pass, Carter saw a whopping seven targets, catching checkdowns galore from Jacoby Brissett. Knight has a hold on the early-down role as the Cardinals’ starter, but Carter saw 30 passing snaps, totaling 33 total snaps to Knight’s 32 total snaps. Carter only has fantasy relevance if Demercado remains out and if the Cardinals play from behind. Carter has RB4 value as long as both things are true for Week 12 against the Jaguars.

Bond returned from his foot injury this week to no avail. The Browns’ rookie wide receiver earned just one target all night, albeit in the end zone, though QB Shedeur Sanders gave him no real chance to make a play with the poorly aimed pass. Bond is not worth starting against the Raiders in Week 12.

Tillman led the Browns in receiving and helped QB Dillon Gabriel, pre-concussion, complete the longest pass of his career, going for 26 yards, on the Browns’ fifth drive. Tillman could warrant WR4/FLEX consideration against the Raiders next week, though the big-bodied wide receiver possesses a very low floor.

Knight got the start in the Cardinals’ backfield committee once again, taking most early-down and red zone snaps on the day. He scored a six-yard rushing touchdown in the first half for Arizona’s sole touchdown before halftime. Knight also had a 60-yard rushing score nullified by offensive holding in the third quarter and took a direct snap for a failed two-point conversion later in the second half. With the Cardinals down big, Knight lost a lot of passing down snaps to Emari Demercado and Michael Carter, who combined for 10 targets and 39 passing snaps, compared to Knight’s four targets and 18 passing snaps. As long as Trey Benson remains out, Knight is the back to roster in the Cardinals’ murky rotation. He is an RB3 for Week 12 against the Jaguars.

Sanders took over after halftime for starting QB Dillon Gabriel (concussion). Sanders nearly engineered a comeback drive at the end of the game, but the rookie’s performance was far from perfect. He is quick to leave the pocket and tosses errant passes, notably throwing an interception straight into Ravens CB Nate Wiggins’ hands on the Browns’ eighth drive. Sanders then fired a pass straight into a Ravens S Kyle Hamilton’s hands on the ninth drive, but Hamilton embarrassingly dropped the ball, punted it post-play and was flagged for a penalty. Browns rookie WR Isaiah Bond briefly got open in the end zone on the final drive, but a scrambling Sanders delivered a poor pass, leading the receiver by too great a distance. Sanders could warrant QB2 consideration against the Raiders next week if Gabriel is unable to clear the concussion protocol. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said post-game that Gabriel remains the starter.

According to Pelissero, the Packers don’t believe Jacobs’ injury is season-ending. That said, the fact that the Packers are prefacing this diagnosis with “we don’t believe it’s season-ending” is enough to suggest Jacobs could miss time. Backup Emanuel Wilson stepped in to lead the Packers with 11 carries for 40 yards and would get the starting nod in Week 12 against the Vikings if Jacobs is unable to go. We should have more information on Jacobs’ status on Monday.

He had an absolutely essential catch in this game of a low Bo Nix throw on third-and-long at the two-minute warning to keep the Broncos offense on the field. It’s not like Courtland Sutton has been a major fantasy football problem this year. The targets are fine. He’s scored in four-of-11 games. He’s gone over 80 yards five times. But it feels like the Sutton/Troy Franklin alliance has shifted sharply towards Franklin in the last four games. Sutton hasn’t cracked 67 yards since Week 7 and has just one touchdown to show for it. He’ll be on the WR3 line coming out of Denver’s Week 12 bye, but this has felt a little more tenuous than you’d hope lately as Denver has spread the ball around plenty and featured Franklin.

Franklin and Courtland Sutton are essentially co-WR1s in this offense currently, and Franklin managed to reel in a big catch on an adjustment downfield late to clinch an (easier) game-winning field-goal attempt. He also set up Denver’s only touchdown with a 35-yarder that Bo Nix rocketed to exactly the right spot. The Broncos haven’t exactly run up the score on anybody besides the Cowboys this year, but Franklin enters the Broncos bye with at least eight targets in each of his last five games and has turned the corner from his early-season prayer yard usage and become a solid WR3.

Over the past month, Worthy hasn’t scored and has lines of: 3/23, 5/53, 3/25, and 3/35. Patrick Mahomes and him, if it’s possible, seem to have negative chemistry on every deep ball attempt. Outside of his performance in the Super Bowl, it doesn’t seem like Worthy and Mahomes are ever on the same page about the deep balls, and with Rashee Rice stealing the underneath stuff, Worthy isn’t really sustaining WR3 usage at this point. He’s trending perilously close to the FLEX line in Week 12 against the Colts, and only really saved by snap counts and target rates right now.