• The Detroit Lions run to victory: Both David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs ran for more than 85 yards each, consistently moving the Lions down the field.
• The Chicago Bears‘ passing game almost completes the comeback: The Bears made only one first down in the first half, but D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen combined for 170 yards and three touchdowns to keep the early game close.
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Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2024.
Chicago Bears @ Detroit Lions
- Keenan Allen: 5 receptions, 73 yards, 2 touchdowns
- D.J. Moore: 8 receptions, 97 yards, 1 touchdown
Tim Patrick steps up as Detroit's third wide receiver: Patrick consistently took the field for three-receiver sets.
Patrick made his debut with the Lions in Week 2, frequently lining up alongside Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams in three-receiver sets. He played 77% of the snaps in 11 personnel when the full receiving corps was available and saw that number jump to 92% during Williams’ two-game suspension.
The Lions’ fourth wide receiver, Kalif Raymond, was placed on injured reserve earlier this week due to a foot injury. Typically, when Patrick was off the field, Raymond filled his spot in three-receiver sets.
With Raymond sidelined, Patrick played 100% of the snaps in 11 personnel. He also rotated into two-receiver sets whenever someone needed a breather. Former Bear Allen Robinson stepped into the fourth wide receiver role, often taking snaps from Williams in three-receiver sets after Williams made a big play.
While Patrick’s expanded role only resulted in a 30-yard reception this past week, he’s positioned to make a few catches each game moving forward in this slightly increased capacity.
Monitor Roschon Johnson’s health: Johnson was evaluated for a concussion and later ruled out.
Johnson has been the clear second running back on the Bears’ depth chart, playing a significant role on third downs and in some short-yardage situations. However, in this game, he only saw two offensive snaps on third downs before leaving with an injury.
After Johnson’s departure, Travis Homer stepped into the third-down back role. Homer also handled snaps during the two-minute drill to close out the first half. He had begun the season as the Bears’ third-down back, a role he was familiar with during his time in Shane Waldron’s offense with the Seattle Seahawks. While Waldron has since moved on, Homer has another connection with new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, who coached him as both the offensive coordinator and running backs coach during Homer’s three years at Miami University.
If Johnson misses additional time, Homer is likely to fill the role again, and this change should have minimal impact on D’Andre Swift’s fantasy production.
Miscellaneous Notes
- David Montgomery and Amon-Ra St. Brown were questionable heading into this game, but both players were active and played their normal amount of snaps.
- Maurice Alexander was signed off the practice squad on Wednesday to take Kalif Raymond’s roster spot. Alexander was used as a returner.
- Bears backup wide receiver Tyler Scott was a healthy inactive for a second straight game.
New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys
- Rico Dowdle: 22 carries, 112 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 receptions, 11 receiving yards
- Malik Nabers: 8 receptions, 69 yards
Brandin Cooks returns to the Cowboys: The veteran wide receiver missed the last seven games due to a knee strain.
Cooks was activated off injured reserve Wednesday. He returned to the Cowboys starting lineup but didn’t play as much as he did before the injury. That’s because Cooks wasn’t the only wide receiver to play more this week.
Both Jonathan Mingo and KaVontae Turpin were playing significant snaps, finishing with more snaps played this week than last. Turpin played more first-half snaps than any other game since Week 6 with nine, while Mingo played his most first-half snaps since joining the Cowboys with nine. While they both played a lot in the first half, they weren’t used as much in the second half while the Cowboys focused more on running the ball.
Some of this playing time came at Jalen Tolbert‘s expense. While Tolbert remained the clear second wide receiver on the depth chart in terms of playing time and routes run, he was rotated out much more than in recent weeks. He had played at least 89% of Dallas' offensive snaps in every game since Cooks was out, ignoring a blowout loss where backups played in the fourth quarter. Tolbert was a waiver-wire target earlier in the season, but given this rotation, he can likely be dropped by anyone holding onto him.
Jalen Brooks also played significantly fewer snaps. He was playing as many as 56 snaps as recently as Week 9. He was a healthy inactive in Week 11 but played 19 snaps last week. While he only played one snap in the first half, he played more in the second half, potentially for his run blocking.
It’s possible Cooks was just being eased into action due to his injury, but it’s also possible he doesn’t get back to playing 80% of Dallas' offensive snaps, like he was at the start of the season, to give Mingo and Turpin more opportunities on offense.
Monitor CeeDee Lamb’s health: Lamb suffered a shoulder injury and didn’t return.
Lamb left with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Once he left, the Cowboys primarily went with Jalen Tolbert, Jonathan Mingo and Jalen Brooks at wide receiver. He left at a time when the Cowboys were up by two scores and were mostly running the ball. Early in the fourth quarter, he was spotted on the sideline without trainers around him. It’s possible the Cowboys simply didn’t want to risk him given their high win probability.
Given the Cowboys' heavy rotation of five other receivers, outside of Lamb, this week, if Lamb has to miss time, we could see a rotation replacing Lamb rather than just one player stepping up. That will make it hard to find a waiver-wire target. If anyone steps up to become a fantasy-relevant receiver, it would likely be Tolbert or Cooks.
Luke Schoonmaker continues to step up: Jake Ferguson missed his second-straight game due to a concussion.
Ferguson left Week 11 after seven plays, so this was the third game where Schoonmaker has played significant snaps. In the first two games, he and Brevyn Spann-Ford were used interchangeably. Schoonmaker led the rotation, but he only played 88 snaps compared to Spann-Ford's 75.
This week, the two tight ends continued to rotate, but Schoonmaker tended to be on the field for passing plays, while Spann-Ford was in for more run plays. Schoonmaker did well in that role, catching five passes for 33 yards.
Schoonmaker has played better than Ferguson on a per-play basis this season, although Ferguson’s MCL sprain from early in the season has likely impacted Ferguson’s play. Ferguson should return to the starting lineup once he’s ready, but there’s a chance Schoonmaker will rotate in more than he was before. This will make it harder to consider starting Ferguson in fantasy leagues again this season.
Devin Singletary starts for the Giants: Tyrone Tracy started in every game since Week 5 prior to this week.
Tracy fumbled twice in Week 10 and fumbled again last week. After his most recent fumble, the Giants turned the offense to Devin Singletary and Eric Gray. His punishment for fumbling continued this week, and Singletary received the start.
Tracy continued to play the most offensive snaps, but he and Singletary nearly split the carries. Tracy had a clear lead in passing situations. In the second half, the Giants were playing from behind, so Tracy played significantly more than Singletary during the half. It’s unclear how much of that was because of Tracy’s role, or if Tracy was out of the doghouse after not fumbling in the first half.
Luckily, Tracy scored a touchdown to help anyone who started him this week, but the decision to start him in your fantasy league in future weeks will depend heavily on who your other options are.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Rico Dowdle remained the Cowboys' clear lead running back rather than partaking in a rotation by drive, similar to last week. He scored his first rushing touchdown of the season in this game.
- Ryan Flournoy was the Cowboys' third wide receiver two weeks ago, but Jalen Brooks returned to the third spot last week. Brandin Cooks‘ return moved Flournoy further down the depth chart, forcing him to be a healthy inactive in this game.
- The Cowboys signed tight end Princeton Fant to the 53-man roster on Wednesday. He was a practice squad elevation each of the last two weeks.
- Last week, both wide receiver Jalin Hyatt and tight end Daniel Bellinger played more than usual for the Giants. This week, they returned to being clear backups.
- The Giants claimed tight end Greg Dulcich off waivers after the Denver Broncos released him earlier in the week. Given his short time with the team, he was a healthy inactive.
Miami Dolphins @ Green Bay Packers
- Josh Jacobs: 19 carries, 43 yards, 1 touchdown, 4 receptions, 74 receiving yards
- De’Von Achane: 7 carries, 14 yards, 8 receptions, 56 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Christian Watson steps up without Romeo Doubs: Doubs was inactive for this game due to a concussion.
Typically, Doubs plays 78%-83% of the Packers' offensive snaps, whereas Watson plays 57%-63%. A big reason they don’t typically play more is that Dontayvion Wicks is there to log 39%-51% of snaps. Jayden Reed consistently plays in three-receiver sets and not two-receiver sets, so Reed’s playing time has been unrelated to those three.
With Doubs out, Wicks took over one of the two starting roles. That also meant Watson no longer rotated with Wicks, so he also played a much higher percentage of offensive snaps than usual.
The Packers were winning and were generally finding success in the passing game in the middle of the field, but that didn’t stop Watson from leading the team in receiving yards for most of the game thanks to two big catches. Wicks made a few plays and finished with four receptions for 30 yards.
Once Doubs is healthy, everyone will likely go back to their usual playing time. The Packers play again next Thursday, so Doubs doesn’t have the usual amount of rest time after playing on a Thursday. Given that Watson has outperformed Wicks over the past few games, Watson could start seeing more playing time. If that happens, he would be worth seriously considering for fantasy starting lineups down the stretch.
Raheem Mostert sees more opportunities: The Dolphins turned to Mostert in the second half as their primary ball carrier.
In recent weeks, De’Von Achane has been the Dolphins' primary back, Jaylen Wright has been the backup on early downs and Mostert has been the receiving-down back. This is exactly how the backs were used in the first half, with Achane seeing more playing time than usual. He was on the field for 26 of 31 plays. The Dolphins were mostly passing the ball because they fell behind early. Achane ran six times in the first half, but two were called back due to penalties.
Achane made several plays as a receiver but was constantly ineffective in the run game, largely because he kept getting stuffed in the backfield. Typically, when teams are down by multiple scores in the second half, the third-down back ends up getting a lot more playing time. The Dolphins gave Mostert more snaps in the third quarter, as well as four carries compared to none for Achane. In the fourth quarter, the Dolphins went back to Achane never leaving the field.
Miami doesn’t play another team with as good of a record as the Packers this season. The game scripts should be better for the Dolphins moving forward, allowing them to continue their heavy use of Achane. Given how much Achane played early in this game, there is a chance he could see even higher shares of touches in future weeks. Mostert should not be a waiver wire target despite leading the team in rushing yards.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Packers running back Chris Brooks has slowly earned more playing time, while Emanuel Wilson has received less. That trend continued this week, although it could have been partially due to Brooks playing his former team.
- Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill played a higher percentage of offensive snaps than normal. While part of this was game script-related, they combined for only one snap off the field in the Dolphins' first 14 plays.
- The Dolphins activated quarterback Tyler Huntley off injured reserve, but he was inactive for this game.
- Dolphins running back Jeff Wilson Jr. has typically been inactive when the other three running backs are healthy. However, Miami decided to have four active running backs for this game.
Table Notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
- Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
- Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.
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