Fantasy Football Week 11 Matchup: Oakland Raiders at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 11 Matchup:  Oakland Raiders (5-4) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3)

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Rankings based on top 16 QBs, 32 RBs, 48 WRs, and 16 TEs

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Oakland Raiders (Raiders Schedule)

Opponent Defensive Ranks

Pittsburgh Pass Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed/Game 26th - TDs Allowed T-6th

Pittsburgh Rush Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed/Game 1st – TDs Allowed T-4th

Oakland Offensive Cast

Jason Campbell (QB Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 97/171 – for 1,252 yards & seven TDs

Campbell can’t be trusted as a starting fantasy QB.  Period.

Darren McFadden (RB Week 11 Ranking: No. 19) 2010 Season: 139 carries for 757 yards & four TDs || 24 receptions for 242 yards & two TDs

Pittsburgh’s rush D is one of the best the NFL has seen in the past decade. That said, McFadden has been pretty darn special this year as well and can break off a long one at any time. Something’s gotta give here, and you don’t want Run DMC on your fantasy bench if it happens to be the Steelers.

Michael Bush (RB Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 85 carries for 324 yards & four TDs || Nine receptions for 127 yards & zero TDs

The Raiders have been leaning pretty heavily on McFadden lately, so sit Bush until Run DMC gets injured again.

Louis Murphy (WR Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 21 receptions for 337 yards & one TD

Murphy is back this week, but I wouldn’t be comfortable playing him just yet.  Give him a week to see how he is.

Darrius Heyward-Bey (WR Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 19 receptions for 266 yards & one TD

DHB is “questionable” this week, but even if he plays, he’ll likely be the WR3 behind rookie Jacoby Ford.

Jacoby Ford (WR Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 10 receptions for 185 yards & zero TDs

The rook looks to have some big-play ability, but it’s too risky without seeing him do it in back-to-back weeks yet.

Zach Miller (TE Week 11 Ranking: No. 5) 2010 Season: 34 receptions for 461 yards & four TDs

Miller will be back this week and just in time to face a Steelers defense that actually has a tough time with tight ends. If Campbell gets in trouble on Sunday, which he will quite a bit, Zach could be in line for a ton of dump-offs this game.

Pittsburgh Steelers (Steelers Schedule)

Opponent Defensive Ranks

Oakland Pass Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed/Game 2nd - TDs Allowed T-22nd

Oakland Rush Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed/Game 24th – TDs Allowed T-12th

Pittsburgh Offensive Cast

Ben Roethlisberger (QB Week 11 Ranking: No. 6) 2010 Season: 99/158 – for 1,304 yards & nine TDs

Roethlisberger has always had his good days and his bad. Pittsburgh needs a win to stay atop the AFC North this weekend (especially with 6-3 Baltimore playing Carolina) so I expect nothing less than the Steelers to come out firing in this one to put it away early. With Nnamdi Asomugha still banged up, what’s to stop Big Ben from having his way with this pass D?  Nothing at all, unless they’re up by 35 points at the half…which they won’t be. Oakland beat them last year, and the Steelers will remember.

Rashard Mendenhall (RB Week 11 Ranking: No. 10) 2010 Season: 179 carries for 752 yards & seven TDs || 16 receptions for 98 yards & zero TDs

The Raiders have been great against the run during their three-game winning streak, but the Steelers will look to get Mendenhall going early enough for him to put up some nice fantasy stats by the end of the game. Last year, Rashard put up 103 yards and a TD against these guys, numbers I can easily see him repeating this weekend.

Hines Ward (WR Week 11 Ranking: No. 27) 2010 Season: 30 receptions for 375 yards & four TDs

Ward will still get his targets, but ever since Big Ben took over, he’s taken a backseat to Mike Wallace in terms of TDs and yards. If he’s healthy, (he claims that he is), he could get a little extra action in the offense this week with teams likely sliding an extra guy over to guard Wallace from here on out.

Mike Wallace (WR Week 11 Ranking: No. 8) 2010 Season: 30 receptions for 643 yards & seven TDs

Big Ben loves him some Wallace, and fantasy owners appreciate that love. Wallace has caught a TD in four of Roethlisberger’s five games so far this year, and though the Raiders don’t give up many yards through the air, they do give up a bunch of TDs.  Nnamdi Asomugha still being gimpy doesn’t hurt the cause either.

Heath Miller (TE Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 25 receptions for 303 yards & one TD

Miller hasn’t been consistent enough to rank him this week.