November 16, 2016

Ben Ruppert's Thursday Night Football (TNF) matchups analysis and lineup starts/sits for Week 11 of the 2016 NFL season. Players to target or avoid for fantasy football lineups.

It's time for the Week 11 installment of Thursday night matchups with my start/sit recommendations. This week, divisional foes meet as the Saints travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers.

Each week of the NFL season, we will be breaking down every game and providing you with some fantasy football advice and lineup recommendations based on matchups that we love, matchups that we hate, and injury information as well. Later this week, you will find parts one and two of our Week 11 NFL matchups, which should help you prepare your lineups to win this week. It’s essential to analyze the weekly NFL matchups to find lineup sleepers and gems, while also avoiding those players who may turn out to be busts.

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Saints @ Panthers - Thursday 11/17 @ 8:25 PM EST

Matchups We Love

Jonathan Stewart (RB, CAR)

Jonathan Stewart and the rest of the Panthers team will look to rebound on Thursday night against the Saints. Stewart finds himself in an excellent matchup; the Saints have allowed the fourth most fantasy points on average to the RB position this season. Stewart had his worst game of the season last week against a tough Chiefs defense, which held him to only 39 yards on 13 carries. This Saints defense allows 96 yards rushing per game to opposing RBs, along with 56 receiving yards. Cam Newton will always be around to vulture short TDs, but Stewart should still find the end zone at least once this week.

Brandin Cooks (WR, NO)

Last time these two teams met, it ended up being an air show with the Saints coming out on top 41-to-38. Cooks had his best game of the season, catching 7-of-9 targets for 173 yards, including an 87-yard TD in the first quarter of the game. Since then the Carolina secondary hasn’t gotten any better. They have given up the 10^th most points on average to opposing WRs this season, and have allowed at least one WR to score double-digit fantasy points every week since Week 4. Look for Cooks to rebound in a big way after being targeted only five times against the Broncos defense, his lowest total of the season.

Coby Fleener (TE, NO)

Though Fleener himself has been non-existent at times in this offense, this is one week where you should start him. Over the past four weeks, Fleener has averaged three receptions for 37 yards per game. His last game against the Panthers came five games ago, when he caught six passes for 74 yards and a TD. The Panthers haven’t done a good job against TEs all season long, allowing the fourth most fantasy points to the position. This is one of the easiest matchups on paper Fleener will have the rest of the season. Fire him up this week and then again in two weeks against the Lions (who have allowed the most fantasy points to TEs this season).

Matchups We Hate

Mark Ingram (RB, NO)

The Carolina defense hasn’t been very good this season, but one area it has excelled in is run defense. The Panthers have been one of the stingier teams in the league, allowing only 70 yards rushing to opposing RBs per game. They have given up the third fewest fantasy points to the position, and just did a good job limiting Spencer Ware and Todd Gurley over the past two weeks. Ingram has been losing carries to Tim Hightower as it is, and doesn’t get too involved in the passing game. With Ingram splitting carries against a formidable run defense, don’t count on a big game from him this week.

Notable Players

Kelvin Benjamin (WR, CAR)

Over the past three weeks, Benjamin leads the Panthers in targets with 24. Benjamin has gained 70 or more yards in each of the past five games; however he is without a TD during that time span. This week the highly targeted WR will face off against a Saints secondary that has been below average at stopping opposing WRs. Back in Week 6 against this team, Benjamin caught 8-of-14 targets for 86 yards in the 41-to-38 Saints victory. With Benjamin expected to see a high volume of targets in a high scoring game, Benjamin owners should be looking forward to this matchup.

Greg Olsen (TE, CAR)

The leading receiver for the Panthers will look to make more of an impact than he did last week. Olsen caught 5-of-8 targets for only 39 yards on the day. The Chiefs are one of the better teams in the league at defending the TE position however, compared to the Saints who are about average. Not many teams have a TE like Olsen though, who leads all TEs in targets, receptions, and yards. In what is expected to be a high scoring affair at home for the Panthers, expect a huge bounce back game from Olsen.

Michael Thomas (WR, NO)

Michael Thomas is coming off an extremely rough Week 10. Thomas caught 4-of-6 targets for 40 yards, and lost two fumbles and played a key part in both of Drew Brees’ interceptions in the Saints loss to the Broncos. Though Sean Peyton punished Ingram for losing fumbles, the same treatment isn’t expected with Thomas. Although he has been out-targeted by Willie Snead over the past three weeks, Thomas has out-gained him 176-to-139. As long as Thomas doesn’t become rattled by the mistakes he made last week, he will be able to find success against a soft Panthers secondary.