Our Week 10 D/ST streamer picks did alright last week, with our top pick, the Titans, putting up 12 points as the second-best performance of the week. The Raiders and Broncos were disappointments, but the Giants came through with nine points in a win over Houston, and the Saints and Steelers played in a low-scoring battle as predicted that resulted in seven points for New Orleans’ unit and 10 for Pittsburgh’s.
Week 11 brings bye weeks for the Jaguars, Dolphins, Seahawks, and Buccaneers. While none of those teams are a massive loss for their fantasy owners, the Bucs are owned in 84% of leagues, and the Seahawks are a top-10 unit in fantasy scoring. There are also some top-tier defenses with tough matchups this week, like Dallas traveling to Minnesota to face the one-loss Vikings, and Tennessee facing a seemingly rejuvenated Green Bay team on Thursday night.
Let’s see who our top Week 11 waiver wire options are this week.
CINCINNATI BENGALS (27% ROSTERED)
Week 11: @ Pittsburgh, 4:25 PM EST
Coming off a Week 10 bye, the Bengals travel to Pittsburgh this week to face its division rival. The Steelers are coming off a win over New Orleans last week, which wasn’t due to an offensive explosion as much as holding Andy Dalton to 174 yards and two INTs and giving up only 29 total rushing yards on the day. Pittsburgh’s offense is still one of the league’s worst, coming in at 31st in scoring with 15.6 points per game and giving up the third-most fantasy points to opposing defenses.
The Bengals’ defense is ranked 16th in fantasy this year, coming in at 10th in total yards allowed and 13th in takeaways. They recently lost Chidobe Awuzie to a torn ACL but should get Mike Hilton and Tre Flowers back for this contest, which should help shut down Pittsburgh’s 24th-ranked passing offense that’s thrown 10 INTs, tied for the second-most in the league. I’m predicting a pretty low-scoring divisional battle in this one, and I think Cincy will shut down Kenny Pickett en route to their sixth win.
ARIZONA CARDINALS (37%)
Week 11: vs. San Francisco, 8:15 PM EST (Monday Night Football)
After a so-so start to 2022, Arizona’s defensive unit has come on strong as of late, averaging just under 11 FPPG over the past five weeks with 13 sacks, five interceptions, and four defensive touchdowns. They’ll host the 49ers on Monday Night Football after winning another divisional game last week over the Rams.
The key in this one for Arizona will be their ninth-ranked run defense coming to play. San Francisco showed in the second half last week that when guys like Christian McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell are humming, it doesn’t matter how inept Jimmy Garoppolo is under center. The 49ers are the most creative team in the NFL when it comes to running the football, and you never know if they’ll hand it to CMC, Mitchell, Deebo Samuel, Kyle Juszczyk, or some guy you’ve never heard of who’s about to have his breakout game. Arizona’s ability to keep track of San Francisco’s personnel changes and limit their impact in the run game will be hugely important. If they’re successful, they should put up solid numbers in this one.
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (4%)
Week 11: @ Houston, 1 PM EST
The Texans have yielded the ninth-most fantasy points to opposing defenses this year, and are 28th in scoring with just 16.6 points per game. That alone is enough to stream their opponents almost every week, but the way Washington matches up with them makes this pick even safer.
Houston’s throwing for less than 200 yards per game in 2022, so their run game behind rookie Dameon Pierce is their saving grace. Washington is ranked 12th against the run and boasts a strong front seven that includes Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen, and hopefully the return of Chase Young, who returned to practice last week but was not activated for Week 10. This group also hopes to take advantage of a Houston offense that’s given up 23 sacks, 12th-most in the league.
Cincinnati and Arizona are safer options, but if you’re in a bind and want to take advantage of a solid matchup, Washington will almost certainly be available.
OTHERS TO TARGET
Green Bay Packers (43%): The Packers pulled out a huge home win over the Cowboys in Week 10, and now face the Titans at home on Thursday Night Football. It’s Derrick Henry season, and Green Bay will need to outperform its #26 ranking in run defense to keep this one close.
Atlanta Falcons (18%): The Falcons come off a TNF dud against Carolina to host Chicago. The Bears offense has seemed to figure things out lately, but we’ll see if that’s a fluke or a sign of things to come. Detroit’s bad defense had ten points against the Bears a week ago, and Atlanta will hope for more of the same.
Las Vegas Raiders (48%): It’s a thin week for streamers so unfortunately, I have to include the Raiders, who continue to disappoint in essentially every facet of the game. Las Vegas is dead last in the league in both sacks and defensive takeaways, but if there’s any team that can change their fortunes, it may be the Broncos, who are last in the league in scoring and gave up six sacks to Tennessee last week.
