The Cincinnati Bengals will visit the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, specifically regarding QB Joe Flacco.
Is Joe Flacco Playing in Week 11?
Flacco (shoulder) was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice, Jay Morrison of SI.com reports.
We’ll continue to monitor the Bengals’ injury report leading up to kickoff for any changes. You can also visit and bookmark our Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Flacco in Week 11?
Can he keep doing it?
The obvious answer is no, but how much regression do we build in, and what does it look like?
Joe Flacco’s 17-Game Pace As A Bengal
- 5,330 passing yards
- 47 touchdown passes
- 9 interceptions
- 736 pass attempts
Realistically, it’s that last one that is what is fueling this house of cards. We saw Flacco spin his magic in this matchup in Week 7 (47 passes, 342 yards, 3 TDs), with the majority of his completions (16) and targets (23) going to Ja’Marr Chase.
That’s a pretty simplistic game plan that is hard to rely on as it is, not to mention trying to run back the exact same plan against the same unit.
In Week 7 specifically, Cincinnati was trailing for each of its first 26 offensive snaps, and things got ramped up after halftime with five straight scoring drives coming out of the break.
Everything was working for both teams, and that allowed the environment to get out of control. In that game, Pat Freiermuth turned six targets into 111 yards, Jaylen Warren and Chase Brown ran for 235 yards on 27 carries, Noah Fant caught every target thrown his way with a touchdown, and that’s even without bringing the Chase game up.
We saw the Steelers slow down a Colts offense in Week 9 that felt unstoppable, a reminder that there is a natural wide range of outcomes that takes place in this league week over week. The Bengals coming off their bye is a plus, and their defense is going to continue to struggle, but no reputable projection is going to spit out 76.8 points scored in this game, the average from Cincinnati’s three games pre-bye.
As the pace slows, the volume declines and magnifies any natural drawing back of numbers. League-wide over the past five seasons, we’ve seen defenses put a cap on pass upside, forcing opponents to beat them via papercuts.
For whatever reason, we haven’t seen as much of that against Flacco up to this point. In his four starts, five of his 27 completions past the sticks (18.5%) have resulted in touchdowns, well ahead of the league average that annually hovers in the 11-12% window.
From a more macro standpoint, I think we see a shift in defensive approach now that the Flacco renaissance of this offense has stuck for a month. In his four weeks with the team, the Bengals are the eighth least blitzed team and allow pressure at the second-lowest rate.
We have a blueprint as to what doesn’t work, and I expect, for better or worse, to see a complete shift in approach to handling this offense. The low blitz rate is very much how Cincinnati was defended last season, with a fully healthy Joe Burrow calling the shots.
I’m projecting more aggression from the Steelers (a top-10 pressure rate when blitzing), and that puts Flacco on the fringes of viability this week, something that might seem crazy if you’re simply tracking box scores.
Is he that much different than fellow gray-beard Aaron Rodgers in this spot?
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Cheat Sheet.
Flacco’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 11
Flacco is projected to score 17.9 fantasy points in PPR formats.
We project Flacco to throw for 272 yards and 1.9 passing touchdowns with 0.9 interceptions. Flacco could also add 2 rushing yards on the ground.
Check out the free PFSN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
Week 11 Weather Impact: Bengals at Steelers
The forecast for kickoff is 47 degrees Fahrenheit with 13 mph winds. These are ideal conditions for fantasy production.