The Los Angeles Chargers will face the Atlanta Falcons in Week 13. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Justin Herbert.
Is Justin Herbert Playing in Week 13?
Herbert is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Chargers’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Justin Herbert in Week 13?
Monday night was another underwhelming performance as a passer for Justin Herbert in what was a perfect matchup for a second straight week. In two games against the struggling secondaries of the AFC North, he completed just 52.8% of his passes with two scores on 72 attempts.
I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and blame his pass catchers. The Chargers have averaged 1.9 drops per game during the Herbert era, the fifth most over that stretch.That excuse would be completely justifiable, but at some point, a carpenter can’t continue to blame his tools.
Even so, he’s been able to keep the fantasy ship above board with 6.5+ fantasy points on the ground in three straight contests, versatility that was on display early against the Ravens (2/2 passing for 35 yards with nine rushing yards and a touchdown on the opening drive).
At the end of the day, we are talking about a team trending toward the playoffs that is counting more now than ever on its franchise QB, and that’s more than enough for me to trust him in our game.
The last time we saw this Atlanta defense, they allowed Bo Nix to post a 145.0 passer rating (our third best QB+ performance of the week). While a bye week to prepare for a team on short rest is a nice advantage, it’s not even close to preventing me from ranking Herbert inside my top-10 this week.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 13 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Justin Herbert’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 13
As of 8 AM ET on Sunday morning, Herbert is projected to score 21.7 fantasy points in Week 13. This includes 306.2 passing yards, 1.9 passing touchdowns, and 0.6 interceptions. It also includes 4.2 rushing attempts for 16.2 yards and 0.1 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Chiefs' Defense
We hear a lot of hype about the Kansas City Chiefs defense, but the metrics don't back up the hype. In Week 13, they ranked inside the top 10 for the first time since before their bye (Week 5).
Against the Raiders, the Chiefs were superb inside the red zone, preventing Las Vegas from scoring any touchdowns when inside the 20-yard line. That is an area of relative strength this year (Kansas City ranks 10th with a 51.3% touchdown rate allowed). The Chiefs were also good on third downs this week and took full advantage of a Raiders' mistake to get a crucial turnover at the end of the game.
In the prior four weeks, Kansas City has ranked 23rd, 22nd, 19th, and 16th, respectively, resulting in a downward trend in its overall ranking. The Chiefs are good against the run but mediocre against the pass and largely league-average in most metrics.
This is Steve Spagnuolo's sixth season as Kansas City's defensive coordinator, but 2023 is the only season in which his defense has ranked inside the top 10. The Chiefs are on pace for their fourth finish between 11th and 20th in our rankings over those six years, which tells you that this is largely what this unit is under his leadership.
Last year's fourth-place finish appears to be the outlier rather than the norm.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Justin Herbert’s Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:40 AM ET on Sunday, December 8. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 14 QB PPR Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF (at LAR)
2) Jalen Hurts | PHI (at CAR)
3) Joe Burrow | CIN (at DAL)
4) Kyler Murray | ARI (vs. SEA)
5) Baker Mayfield | TB (vs. LV)
6) Tua Tagovailoa | MIA (vs. NYJ)
7) Patrick Mahomes | KC (vs. LAC)
8) Brock Purdy | SF (vs. CHI)
9) Jared Goff | DET (at GB)
10) Justin Herbert | LAC (at KC)
11) Sam Darnold | MIN (vs. ATL)
12) Jordan Love | GB (vs. DET)
13) Russell Wilson | PIT (vs. CLE)
14) Geno Smith | SEA (at ARI)
15) Will Levis | TEN (vs. JAX)
16) Matthew Stafford | LAR (vs. MIN)
17) Derek Carr | NO (at NYG)
18) Jameis Winston | CLE (at PIT)
19) Caleb Williams | CHI (at SF)
20) Bryce Young | CAR (vs. PHI)
21) Kirk Cousins | ATL (at MIN)
22) Aaron Rodgers | NYJ (at MIA)
23) Aidan O'Connell | LV (at TB)
24) Cooper Rush | DAL (vs. CIN)
25) Drew Lock | NYG (vs. NO)
26) Mac Jones | JAX (at TEN)
27) Justin Fields | PIT (vs. CLE)
28) Tommy DeVito | NYG (vs. NO)
29) Desmond Ridder | LV (at TB)
30) Brandon Allen | SF (vs. CHI)
Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs Trends
Los Angeles Chargers
Team: The Chargers have lost six straight to the Chiefs, but the basic stats suggest that is unlucky. Five of those games have been decided by seven or fewer points (three by a field goal or less), with the Chargers winning the time-of-possession battle five times and losing the turnover margin just twice.
QB: In games played on November 25 or later, Justin Herbert has one touchdown pass on 157 attempts since the beginning of last season.
Offense: Los Angeles averaged 18.5 yards per drive on Sunday against the Falcons, their lowest mark in a victory this season.
Defense: For the sixth time in their past seven games, the Chargers held the opposition out of the end zone on at least half of their red zone drives (Sunday at ATL: one touchdown on four red zone trips).
Fantasy: Ladd McConkey has surpassed fantasy expectations based on his targets in six straight games and has done so with only earning a single look in the end zone -- he's caught 81% of his targets across those contests.
Betting: Seven of the Chargers’ past nine divisional games have gone under the total.
Kansas City Chiefs
Team: Of Patrick Mahomes’ 100 wins as a starter, nine have come when scoring fewer than 20 points. Three of those wins have come this season, meaning six of his first 90 wins came in such a spot.
QB: Mahomes completed a season-low 56.5% of his passes on Black Friday, and it was the sixth time he failed to throw multiple touchdown passes in a game this year.
Offense: One week after scoring a touchdown on a season-best 37.5% of their drives (at Carolina), Kansas City found paydirt on a season-low 8.3% of drives against the Raiders.
Defense: The Chiefs held the Raiders to a field goal on their red zone trip, making Week 13 the first time this season in which they did not allow a red zone TD.
Fantasy: Isiah Pacheco played 32.8% of the Chiefs snaps in his return to action, and while he had just eight touches in the win over the Raiders, he had a 34-yard run, something he only did twice last season.
Betting: Under tickets have come through in seven of the Chiefs’ past eight games played on short rest.