Week 11 has come and gone. Fourteen NFL games brought joy, laughs and tears to football fans and, of course, fantasy football faithful.

Today, we’ll focus on the latter sadness and break down just how close some came to achieving fantasy football glory.

What follows is a breakdown of all the “Sheesh” moments from Week 11. I’ve watched every game and combed play-by-play data to help determine instances when:

  • Pass-catchers could have scored or picked up big yardage with a more accurate pass 
  • Pass-catchers did receive an accurate pass that should have resulted in a score or big gain, but the ball was dropped
  • Ball carriers or pass-catchers managed to get all the way to the one-yard line, but didn’t score
  • Players scored or picked up big yardage, but the play was nullified by a penalty
  • Other random shit found a way to tilt fantasy football managers of all shapes and sizes

First, let’s break down the single-sheeshiest team effort of Week 11.

Justin Herbert deserves better

A quick look at Herbert's box score offers a perfectly OK performance. Two-hundred-sixty passing yards and two scores through the air alongside an 8-73-0 rushing line. How greedy can fantasy managers truly be?

Well, here’s the thing: Herbert had not one, not two, not three, but four potential TD drives killed by nothing other than straight up brutal drops:

  1. Herbert hits Keenan Allen in the flat for what should either be a seven-yard TD or at a minimum six-yard gain and a fresh set of downs. Alas: Dropped.
  2. Herbert again hit Allen between the numbers near the goal line — this time on what should have absolutely produced a seven-yard score. One problem: Dropped.
  3. Herbert nearly threw a second score to international superstar TE Stone Smartt on a 10-yard strike down the seam. Too bad: Dropped.
  4. Despite all of this, Herbert finds a way to locate rookie WR Quentin Johnston deep downfield on what should have at least been a 40-plus yard gain to set up a game-tying field goal — if not a legit 70-yard house call. But you guessed it: Dropped.

Hell, TE Donald Parham even dropped a 10-plus yard gain that would have converted a fourth and 4 attempt. The drop compilation is truly as brutal as you will ever see.

Herbert’s six dropped passes were tied for the second-highest single-game mark of 2023. Let’s just say the 25-year-old QB was fed up by the fourth quarter; here’s to hoping PFF’s highest-graded QB of Week 11 gets just a little bit more help from his friends in the future.

Can Baker Mayfield get some help in the fourth quarter one of these days?

Yes, the former No. 1 overall pick wasn’t perfect during the Buccaneers’ Week 11 loss to the 49ers, notably taking four sacks and having at least two would-be INTs objectively dropped.

Also yes, Mayfield had not one but two fourth quarter TDs dropped on separate drives (wait for it) in a 13 point loss.

The drop by TE Cade Otton (12 yards) was a bit more egregious than a diving Deven Thompkins (9), but still: Sheesh.

Throw in last week’s horrific Mike Evans drop, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that Mayfield could easily have 18 TD this season — more than guys like Jared Goff (16) and C.J. Stroud. Don’t get it twisted: Baker hasn’t performed close to as well as either of those QBs this season, but credit to the much-maligned veteran for at least putting forward a pretty solid bounce-back campaign through 11 weeks of 2023.

At a minimum, give Mayfield credit for having Evans (17-game pace: 82-1,326-12) well on his way to chalking up his record 10th-straight seasons with 1,000-plus receiving yards. Cool? Cool.

Poor Garrett Wilson

The Jets are shaking things up under center ahead of this week’s AFC East showdown with the Dolphins, meaning by Friday evening Wilson will have caught passes from:

  • Tim Boyle
  • Zach Wilson
  • Joe Flacco
  • Mike White
  • Chris Streveler

The stud second-year WR still very much looks the part of the next-big-thing at the position, but he sadly finds himself near the top of the leaderboard when it comes to one of the sheesh-ier metrics around: unrealized air yards.

Air yards measure the distance that any given pass travels (wait for it) in the air. Subtracting yards after the catch from every player’s receiving yards total before taking the difference with total air yards helps us pinpoint exactly how much opportunity through the air a player failed to come down with for one reason or another.

Garrett Wilson

Nov 19, 2023; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills cornerback Rasul Douglas (31) intercepts a ball intended for New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson (17) in the second quarter at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Sometimes unrealized air yards are more akin to “prayer yards” because the pass wasn’t overly catchable in the first place, so grinding the ole film helps with identifying those sorts of situations.

11 players racked up at least 80 unrealized air yards in Week 11 specifically:

  • Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (153)
  • Raiders WR Davante Adams (112)
  • Steelers WR Diontae Johnson (99)
  • Ravens WR Odell Beckham Jr. (98)
  • Chiefs WR Justin Watson (98)
  • Jets WR Garrett Wilson (94)
  • Raiders WR Tre Tucker (89)
  • Chiefs WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (87)
  • Chargers WR Quentin Johnston (85)
  • Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase (81)
  • Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba (81)

Only five players have north of 600 unrealized air yards on the season: Chris Olave (936, lol), Adams (736), Wilson (660), DeAndre Hopkins (660) and Marquise Brown (655).

Speaking of …

Great to have you back Kyler, but sheesh

Sadly, I didn’t even have to update this section header from last week when Kyler Murray badly missed No. 1 WR Marquise Brown on what should have been a 28-yard TD.

This time around there were not one but two instances featuring an underthrown deep ball to an open Hollywood. The first was a BOMB that best case could have been a 75-yard house call that wound up being intercepted instead, and the second being an eventual offensive pass interference penalty after a possible 46-yard score was again badly underthrown.

There were roughly four other instances where I subjectively believe pass-catchers didn’t receive catchable passes on what would have otherwise been TDs, although differing levels of openness, difficulty of throw and pressure hardly made all of these near misses of the layup variety.

As Benjamin Franklin once said: Not all sheesh is created equal.

  • Rams RB Darrell Henderson (potential 91-yard TD in a best-case scenario, but would have needed to make at least something happen after the catch. Either way: BRUTAL miss on the wheel route by Matthew Stafford to his wide-open RB)
  • Bears WR D.J. Moore (potential 44-yard TD, at least Moore and Justin Fields connected on basically the same play later in the game)
  • Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley (potential 6-yard TD was thrown too far in front)
  • Commanders TE Logan Thomas (potential 5-yard TD was thrown too far behind)

Shoutout to Tucker Kraft on his hurdle TD that never was

Rookie Packers TE Luke Musgrave is the Packers’ starter and has performed quite well with his opportunities this season, but it was fellow day-two selection Tucker Kraft who initially seemed to pull off a pretty freaking cool YAC-filled 39-yard TD before replay showed that his foot was just barely out of bounds.

Kraft’s official statement on the matter: Big clumsy Kraft feet. Lol.

David Montgomery is done sharing TDs with Jahmyr Gibbs

The Lions had little trouble rushing and passing their way down the field on their game-winning drive, but it was Gibbs who initially set the Lions up less than three feet away from the end zone ... and then the Bears called a timeout.

Last week Montgomery told Gibbs to stay in the game and take the opportunity to score the TD upon getting stopped at the one-yard line — not so much this time around with the game hanging in the balance and in a #RevengeGame against his former employer.

Of course, Gibbs’ fantasy managers aren’t too worried about life: The rookie still managed to rip off his fourth (!) consecutive top-three PPR finish. Gibbs and Montgomery are on pace to be the first teammates to both finish as top-12 fantasy RBs in the same season since Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram back in 2017. Nothing too sheeshy about that.

The only other instances of a player getting all the way down to the one-yard line and NOT scoring a TD featured Buccaneers WR Deven Thompkins and Eagles WR DeVonta Smith, although Rams RB Royce Freeman got stopped at the two-yard line on three straight plays. Sheesh.

We get it Matthew Stafford: You like throwing bombs to TuTu Atwell

The Rams' pint-sized (5-foot-9, 155-pounds) speedster (4.44-second 40-yard dash) drew not one but two long defensive pass interference penalties in Week 11, continuing to prove capable of getting behind almost any secondary … even if his fourth-percentile arm length doesn’t exactly present the catch radius of someone like say, an elephant Chad Johnson back in the day.

Overall, the top six players in most yards gained courtesy of drawing DPI flags were as follows in Week 11:

  • Rams WR TuTu Atwell (59 total yards drawn via defensive pass interference)
  • Lions WR Josh Reynolds (34)
  • Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb (28)
  • Jaguars WR Zay Jones (27)
  • Packers WR Dontavion Wicks (24)
  • Buccaneers TE Cade Otton (22 — and got down to the one-yard line)

Also note that Rams WR Puka Nacua (4) and Bears TE Robert Tonyan (1) drew end-zone DPI penalties to position their offense at the doorstep of the goal line, while 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk and (randomly) Cowboys WR Jalen Brooks drew holding penalties on what sure looked like downfield connection had their momentum not been impeded.

Aidan O’Connell wasn’t quite as bad as his box score indicated

While the box score doesn’t account for whom to blame on any particular interception, Joshua Dobbs a rocket scientist isn’t always required to figure out that sometimes the QB wasn’t overly at fault.

Lions QB Jared Goff had one really bad INT and two more potential ones dropped. That said: His first interception was a throw where he was already in the motion of getting the ball to TE Sam LaPorta ... before the rookie was knocked off his route by a Bears defender going to cover the flat, leading to the seemingly accurate ball getting picked off. Goff’s other INT that deserves a little bit of slack occurred when the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage before going directly to a Bears defender.

Raiders QB Aidan O'Connell technically threw three INTs. That said …

There were roughly five additional interceptions that shouldn’t be overly blamed on the men who threw them:

  • Commanders QB Sam Howell didn't exactly throw good balls on any of his three INTs on Sunday, although the second was more or less an arm punt under heavy pressure on third and 10.
  • Texans QB C.J. Stroud deserves all the blame for two of his three INTs vs. the Cardinals, but the second pick bounced off a tightly covered Tank Dell's hands.
  • Bills QB Josh Allen only threw one INT on Sunday, and it was on a desperate hail mary heave with just two seconds remaining in the first half.
  • New (!) Jets starting QB Tim Boyle didn't play particularly well overall, but his lone INT was admittedly on a fourth and 5 with a Bills defender breathing down his neck. Bad throw either way; just realize the situation called for him to throw it no matter what.
  • Vikings QB Joshua Dobbs was hit while throwing on his only INT, undoubtedly altering the trajectory of the checkdown.

Zay Flowers was ROBBED

TDs usually get nullified by a penalty for a good reason, but that doesn’t make the roller coaster of adrenaline any less sheeshful for fantasy managers to deal with.

Key work in that previous sentence: Usually. This was NOT the case last Thursday night, as Ravens WR Zay Flowers was absolutely robbed of what should have been a 68-yard house call due to a phantom holding penalty on Odell Beckham Jr.

Lamar Jackon agrees: This should have counted.

Luckily, the Ravens still scored a TD on the drive courtesy of an all-time great “ball don’t lie” tipped pass to Nelson Agholor, but Flowers’ sheeshy nullified score remains on the short list of “Sheesh of the Year” candidates.

The only other TD wiped off the board due to a penalty featured Matthew Stafford throwing a six-yard TD to Darrell Henderson before offensive pass interference on TE Tyler Higbee wiped away the score. The veteran RB went on to score a one-yard TD later in the same drive anyway, although Stafford simply handed the ball off on that one.

Don’t look, Cooper Kupp fantasy managers

Or anytime TD bettors for that matter.

Whether you want to blame Matthew Stafford for not exactly throwing the most catchable pass, or Kupp for falling to make the tough — but doable — catch: Sheesh.

Overall, there were roughly 10 dropped TDs in Week 11, which sucks because, you know, football is pretty cool when players make great catches and score points:

  • Chargers WR Quentin Johnston (40-yard gain to set up game-tying field goal if not a 70-yard TD)
  • Chiefs WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (51 – and it would have potentially won the game)
  • Rams WR Cooper Kupp (35)
  • Buccaneers WR Deven Thompkins (12)
  • Bills TE Quintin Morris (12)
  • Chargers TE Stone Smartt (10)
  • Buccaneers TE Cade Otton (9)
  • Chargers WR Keenan Allen (7, arguably another 7)
  • Browns TE David Njoku (6)
  • Rams RB Darrell Henderson (5, the pass was a bit low, did finish the drive with a rush TD anyway)
  • Rams WR TuTu Atwell (2)

Correct: I’m not including Jerry Jeudy. While he had a chance to make a great one-handed snag to secure the 10-yard TD, slow-motion replay does indeed seem to show he was getting his right arm grabbed prior to the ball arriving.

I think I speak for all of us when I say for one last time: Sheesh.

We’re on to Week 12.

Sheesh Report