Getty Images New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees rolling out of the pocket.
This week, the reigning Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles will travel to The Superdome to take on the New Orleans Saints. As the Saints are heavily favored to take down the Eagles on their home turf, don’t be surprised to see an unexpected shootout, as New Orleans understands they have a bit of a trap game brewing.
Drew Brees and the Saints offense has been steamrolling their opponents all year long. Just last week, the Saints put up 51 points on the Cincinnati Bengals defense. And this week, the Saints offense has a highly favorable matchup against the Eagles, who are dealing with a ton of injuries on the defensive side of the ball.
Meanwhile, the Eagles offense hasn’t been as dominant as they were last year during their Super Bowl run. As they are dealing with some critical injuries on that side of the ball as well, they haven’t been able to turn things up on game day. But as they started to find a rhythm on offense in the second half of last week’s game, they have a prime opportunity to take advantage of the Saints’ biggest weakness, which is the defense. Realistically, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz could have one of his best games of the season during Week 11.
Brees vs. Wentz: Who Has the Fantasy Edge?
If you are playing Daily Fantasy for a later slate, and you are looking for a good stack, I must suggest looking at the Eagles versus Saints game for the most upside on the slate. Both, Drew Brees and Carson Wentz could have big games on Sunday, along with their fellow weapons. So, let’s take a look at some potential stacks for this game.
The Saints Stack
Drew Brees is probably at the top of everybody’s list for the later slates this week. Why wouldn’t he be? The 39-year-old gunslinger went off last week and gets to face a damaged secondary from Philadelphia. The Eagles will be without three, of their four starters in the secondary, and have allowed the 12th most amount of yards prior to Week 11.
Drew Brees to Michael Thomas should be a combination worth paying up for. It will be pricey, but truly worth it. Just last week, the Eagles allowed Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott to complete 26 passes, with seven different wide receivers catching multiple targets. While Brees could spread the ball around well, the Brees-Thomas connection will be lethal.
If you don’t want Thomas, then I’d definitely suggest going for Brees and Alvin Kamara. As Kamara is one of the NFL’s most versatile backs, he should be primed for a field day against the Eagles offense. Although they have been one of the better defenses against the run game throughout the season, Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys exposed them last week. Zeke ended up going off for 187 total yards, and two touchdowns. Seeing how well Kamara has been playing all throughout the season, the Kamara could have one of his better days this week.
The Eagles Stack
Now let’s get to the fun part. I know the Eagles offense hasn’t been all that great this season, but neither has the Saints defense. As the Eagles are right on the borderline of missing the playoffs, and somehow winning the division, they know that they almost every week becomes a must-win. Therefore, they will be bringing all of the tricks out of the bag.
Even though the Eagles offense has been underwhelming, their quarterback Carson Wentz has been a bright spot. He’s undeniably the most reliable player on that side of the ball. But if you want to stack Carson Wentz, who you should you put with him? Golden Tate? Alshon Jeffery? Maybe Nelson Agholor?
None of the above. Zach Ertz is Wentz’s go-to target. There are only so many tight ends in the league worth targeting like a receiver in fantasy, and Ertz is one of them. Over the last five games, Ertz has scored in four out of five matchups. Last week, he reached the end zone twice, as he caught 14 of his 16 targeted passes.
If you’re feeling risky, you could throw either Jeffery or Tate into the mix as well. Tate has a decent history against the Saints, but the Eagles only used him for 29-percent of their snaps last week. Although Eagles coach Doug Pederson said he would utilize Tate a lot more in Week 11, it’s unclear if Tate and Wentz will be able to establish chemistry this quick.
As for Jeffery, he hasn’t been much of a factor over the last two weeks. But as we’ve seen in the past this season, Jeffery is known to bust out a big game after a few duds. Regardless of who you select from the Eagles though, Wentz and Ertz are sure to stock your lineup with points.