Buccaneers @ 49ers Week 11 Game Preview
Jonathan Fuller breaks down the Week 11 matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers from a fantasy football and betting perspective.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ San Francisco 49ers
The Buccaneers will make the cross-country journey to take on the 49ers in San Francisco on Sunday, with both teams coming off of double-digit victories in Week 10.
Both offenses have been efficient passing the ball this season, but San Francisco has the advantage in the run game, where they rank seventh in EPA per play while the Bucs are dead last.
The 49ers also have the better defense (plus home-field advantage), which explains why they are favored by double digits in this game.
There are plenty of fantasy stars in this matchup so let’s dig in and see which players are your best bets for fantasy production.
For San Francisco, last week was a big bounce-back spot coming out of their bye as they demolished the Jaguars 34-3 to snap their three-game losing streak.
Brock Purdy was highly efficient and has a good matchup against a Bucs defense that has allowed plenty of points to opposing passing games. He is a low-end QB1 in the Fantasy Life consensus ranks for Week 11.
Christian McCaffrey is, of course, locked into your lineup, while Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle all rank highly as well. It’s unlikely all four will deliver big fantasy performances, but it is too difficult to predict who the odd man out will be to risk missing out on when they do hit.
The Buccaneers have been very competitive this season, even if their 4-5 record has them on the outside of the playoff picture at the moment.
Baker Mayfield has kept the offense functional and supported multiple fantasy-relevant pieces, but this is one of the toughest defenses remaining on his schedule for the rest of the season.
Mike Evans remains a WR1 option this week and will look to keep his hot streak going as he has scored in three of his last four games.
Chris Godwin is more in the WR3/FLEX range but has the potential to accumulate volume if the Bucs fall behind and are forced to throw a lot in this one.
Rachaad White has been on an absolute tear, finishing as a top-12 RB in four consecutive weeks thanks to his massive workload. He has averaged more than 20 opportunities (carries + targets) per game over the Bucs' last four games and should be a strong start in any type of PPR format, thanks to his role in the passing game.
All three players should likely be in your lineup, while Cade Otton is a decent streaming TE option if you find yourself in trouble at the position due to bye weeks.
From a betting perspective, I was a bit surprised by how wide the spread on this game was to open the week, and will be watching to see if it narrows as we get closer to kickoff.