The Las Vegas Raiders already share the worst record in the NFL, and their season continues to go from bad to worse. Alexander Mattison and Zamir White, the Raiders leading running backs on the depth chart, are both designated as “Doubtful” for their visit to Denver in Week 12.

Mattison suffered an ankle injury against Miami in Week 11 and White straind his quadriceps in the same game.

If neither back can play, the Raiders will be left with veteran Ameer Abdullah and rookie Dylan Laube as their top 2 options as the Raiders face the 10th stingiest defense against running backs in fantasy. Whichever tandem Vegas is able to roll out should only be used in emergency or in the deepest of leagues.

The Carolina Panthers are coming off their Week 11 Bye to face the Chiefs. Kansas City just fell to the Bills, marking the defending champs’ first loss of the season. The Panthers downed the Giants in their last game (Week 10), but the Panthers are scoring just 16.7 points per game on the season – the 4^th lowest in the NFL. The Chiefs defense has allowed just 19.4 PPG to opposing offenses, eighth-fewest in the league, and the fifth-fewest yards (297.5).

Bryce Young, who is getting his fourth straight start, threw for 224 yards and two TDs versus a tough Broncos D in Week 8, but threw for 171 yards and 126 yards, respectively, in his last two starts – one pass TD in each. It’s a low-volume pass attack with Young at the helm. No Panthers pass catcher has earned more than eight targets in any of Young’s starts. Jalen Coker drew eight against the Giants, but caught only three. Coker is tied with Xavier Legette for the team lead in targets over the last three with 17.

We could see an uptick in the Carolina passing volume against a middle of the road Kansas City pass defense, as the Chiefs’ run defense is a top-five unit. Adam Thielen is back in the mix this week, which could water down the pass volume, but Thielen will likely ramp up to game action slowly after missing the team’s last seven games. The bottom line is without a touchdown, none of the Panthers’ WRs or TEs is worth much more than a Bye week spot start. Legette is the most likely to get in the end zone, having caught four TDs on 45 targets and 69.8-percent (No. 72) Route Participation.

Miles Sanders is out with a lower leg injury and Jonathon Brooks is slated to make his NFL debut this week. That said, Brooks will merely spell Chuba Hubbard. Hubbard has been getting bell cow work this season – No. 9 with 151.6 Weighted Opportunities. Temper expectations against a stingy Chiefs run D, however, that has not allowed a single running back to gain more 69 total yards in a game this season.

– Joel Ybarra, @metaffb

The Giants face off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 12 fresh off a Bye and after benching $160M quarterback Daniel Jones. Head coach Brian Daboll has named Tommy DeVito the starter, passing over Drew Lock. DeVito played in eight games last season, making six starts. He threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns against the Commanders in Week 11 of 2023. Apart from that, DeVito never topped 200 yards passing, and threw just five other touchdown passes total. Fantasy gamers should not expect an upgrade in the Giants offense with DeVito replacing Jones.

The team faces a Tampa defense that is bottom-half against the run, but even more ineffective against the pass. The Bucs are currently last in the league in Success Rate allowed on opponents’ dropbacks: a soft matchup for DeVito and the Giants’ pass catchers. The G-men will also likely be in a negative Game Script against a Tampa offense that has been in the top quarter of the league this season and getting Mike Evans back. The Giants are used to negative scripts this season (-5.26, No. 27), and are No. 6 in team pass attempts per game with 38.0.

That said, the only auto-start in the pass game is rookie sensation Malik Nabers. Wan’Dale Robinson is flex-ible in PPR leagues as a Bye week fill-in – 8.4 targets per game, but just 394 (No. 50) receiving yards. Fantasy gamers may want to pass up starting Robinson with the uncertainty of the QB situation. Tyrone Tracy Jr. is a startable RB2 against a Bucs run D that is No. 26 in RB fantasy points against. Tommy DeVito is a wild card as a fantasy QB producer, startable only as a desperation bye week sub-in.

– Joel Ybarra, @metaffb

The Atlanta Falcons suffered a brutal loss to the Denver Broncos 38-6. Fantasy goodness was the furthest thing from the menu for Falcons players. Bo Nix carried the day for the Broncos with an 85% completion percentage against the banged up Falcons defense. 

The Falcons were shut out of reaching the end zone on Sunday. Kirk Cousins managed 173 passing yards, 0 touchdown passes, and threw an interception. Drake London had a respectable 3 catches for 61 yards. London’s wide receiver counterpart Darnell Mooney left the game early with a hamstring injury.

Bijan Robinson had his 5 game streak of 100 total yards or more snapped. Bijan, who is agnostic to game script saw his opportunities slip away as the game wore on. Kyle Pitts managed 1 reception for 9 yards much to the chagrin of his fantasy managers. 

The Falcons mercifully have a week 12 bye. Their fantasy football playoff schedule will certainly make this week 11 debacle a distant memory. From weeks 15-17 the Falcons will play on the road against the Raiders, home versus the Giants, and square off in Washington against the Commanders. Up against any trade deadlines, this is the last call for scooping up Falcons players in fantasy football before they soar to new heights!

Jeremiah Retzlaff, @coachretzlaff1

The Giants are benching Daniel Jones for their upcoming Week 12 bout versus the Buccaneers, and most likely for the remainder of the season. The former No. 6 overall pick (2019) was coming off a two-interception game against the Carolina Panthers in Week 10 before the team’s Bye this past week.

The Giants are 2-8, having lost their last game to the lowly Carolina Panthers (3-7) in overtime. Jones has thrown only eight touchdowns on the season to seven interceptions, and has an injury guarantee that kicks in if he is injured and cannot pass a physical by March of 2025. The team is not in contention and if Jones was injured during play, it would cost the Giants an extra $23M in dead cap if they released him. That means Daniel Jones’ time with the Giants is likely done. Tom Pelissero reports the Giants are likely to name Tommy DeVito their starter going forward.

– Joel Ybarra, @metaffb

When the final whistle blows on Monday night, the NFL season will enter its final third. For playoff hopeful teams this is what Redzone’s Scott Hansen would call “the witching hour, where wins become losses and losses become wins.” Unfortunately, the Dallas cowboys have a crack in their cauldron.

From a purely statistical standpoint Dallas, currently, has a 3% chance to make the playoffs. That would drop to 1% if they lose on Monday night. The bleak outlook gets even worse when you consider the current state of the team. With Cooper Rush at quarterback, don’t expect the Cowboys to be able to keep up with the Texans on Monday night.

However, there still may be some fantasy juice to squeeze from this lemon. This week Coach McCarthy made a commitment to feature Rico Dowdle at RB.  “Definitely, you have to get him the ball. That’s my focus to continue to get him opportunities. He’s the lead back.,” McCarthy told the media, per Clarence Hill of All City DLLS.  Even in light of the anemic offense in Dallas under Cooper Rush, this makes Dowdle a flex play for teams in need.

Joe Prinzivalli | @latehottakes