Fantasy Football Player Notes

The Ravens dropped a massive game against the Steelers last week. This team decided to only show up in the second half, but couldn't complete the comeback. Thankfully, Henry had a decent day with 101 total yards. The good news from last week was that Lamar Jackson looked the best he has in the last three weeks. The healthier Lamar is, the better the entire offense is. With pretty much "must-win" games to close out the season, Lamar and Henry should dominate an abysmal Bengals defense this week. Two weeks ago, the Bengals stunned the Ravens and forced five turnovers. Nearly totalling their total turnovers on the season in one game won't happen again. Despite the loss, the Ravens are heating up, and the Bengals don't have an answer for King Henry this week.

Zay Flowers exploded last week with his first 100-yard receiving game since Week 1. Flowers is the WR27 in fantasy points per game with a 26.7% target share, 68.5 receiving yards per game, 2.32 yards per route run, and a 33.3% first-read share. Flowers leads the team with 15 deep targets, but he has only seven red zone targets, which is tied for second on the team. The last time Flowers faced the Bengals, DJ Turner followed him on 62.9% of his routes, holding him to two targets and zero receiving yards in his coverage. Turner has shadowed six times this season, following Flowers, DK Metcalf (twice), Justin Jefferson, Romeo Doubs, and Gabe Davis on 62.9-90.3% of their routes, holding each receiver to 45 or fewer scoreless receiving yards. I'm worried about Flowers this week. Even if Turner isn't in his back pocket for most of the game, we also need to talk about the fact that the last time Cincy played Baltimore, they utilized two high with 52.6% of their defensive snaps. Against two high, Flowers has had a 23.1% target share, 1.68 yards per route run, and a 30.5% first-read share. The market share against two high remains high, but the efficiency dip isn't great. Flowers could still finish with a solid stat line, but I doubt it will be a boom week.

Mark Andrews has had a wildly disappointing season as the TE20 in fantasy points per game. In his last outing against Cincy, he was the TE17 for the week, securing four of his six targets with 47 receiving yards. Sadly, that is the most receiving yards Andrews has had in a game this season. Andrews has four TE1 weekly finishes this season, but they have all been fueled by touchdowns. The last time the Ravens faced the Bengals, they utilized two high with 52.6% of their defensive snaps. Against two high, Andrews has had a 15% target share with 0.77 yards per route run and a 23.2% first-read share. Andrews could have a strong game against this porous pass defense, and it wouldn't shock me, but he easily could flop again. The range of outcomes for Andrews is wide this week, which makes him tough to trust in the first round of the fantasy playoffs. Cincy has allowed the most receiving yards, yards per target, and fantasy points per game to tight ends.

The last time Isaiah Likely faced Cincy in Week 13, he secured five of his six targets with 95 receiving yards as the TE9 for the week. In that same game, the Bengals utilized two high with 52.6% of their defensive snaps. Against two high, Likely has had a 13.8% target share with 1.41 yards per route run and a 10.5% first-read share. Likely has been the more productive tight end this season for Baltimore against two high this season, and it wouldn't be shocking to see him outproduce Mark Andrews again. Likely is a solid streaming option at tight end this week. Cincy has allowed the most receiving yards, yards per target, and fantasy points per game to tight ends.