O-Line Rankings and Matchups to Exploit: Week 11

Nov 12, 2025

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Evaluating offensive line play regarding its effect on fantasy football output has been a stone unturned throughout our game within a game. Here at 4for4, we’re dedicated to looking at fantasy pieces from all angles, including an offensive line's positive and negative impact on that team’s fantasy assets.

Below, I’m going to be digging into specific weekly matchups between offensive lines and the opposing defense's aFPA —one of the many useful tools available to us here at 4for4. Many sites publish raw fantasy points allowed by position, but 4for4 goes a step further and adjusts those numbers for a defense’s relative year-to-date schedule strength. These numbers will continue to strengthen through more data points as the season progresses and, when compared to a team’s advantages within the trenches, will expose fantasy pieces we may not have otherwise considered

Editor's Note: Check out the complete set of Week 11 rankings here.

Let’s begin by diving into the passing game to see what offensive line/defense matchups we can exploit.

Favorable Quarterback Matchups

Quarterback Matchups
O-Line Ranking	Team	Opponent	aFPA	Difference
12	PIT	CIN	31	19
8	NE	NYJ	26	18
4	PHI	DET	19	15
2	BUF	TB	17	15
6	LAR	SEA	18	12
19	MIN	CHI	29	10
15	WAS	MIA	23	8
16	GB	NYG	24	8
10	CHI	MIN	16	6
1	DEN	KC	6	5
9	SF	ARI	13	4
18	ARI	SF	22	4
25	MIA	WAS	28	3
14	SEA	LAR	15	1
3	IND	BYE	3	0
31	NO	BYE	31	0
32	LVR	DAL	32	0
30	LAC	JAX	30	0
27	CIN	PIT	27	0
26	NYJ	NE	25	-1
13	NYG	GB	11	-2
11	DAL	LVR	9	-2
5	KC	DEN	2	-3
7	DET	PHI	3	-4
20	ATL	CAR	12	-8
29	CLE	BAL	20	-9
17	TB	BUF	8	-9
28	HOU	TEN	14	-14
24	CAR	ATL	7	-17
22	BAL	CLE	5	-17
23	JAX	LAC	4	-19
21	TEN	HOU	1	-20

Steelers vs. Bengals

It hardly matters who’s playing the Bengals defense, but when it’s an above-average offensive line on the other side, it makes the click that much easier. This week, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers who get to face off against a soft pass rush, secondary, and tackling group, and it presents a bounce-back opportunity for Aaron Rodgers and the gang after the 42-year-old looked like he had one foot in retirement on Sunday.

With the Chargers mustering a surprisingly effective pass rush, Rodgers completed a pedestrian 51.6% of his passes, a figure that nosedived to 0.0% (!!) under pressure. That should come as no surprise to anyone watching the late career of the future Hall of Famer, as his 53.8% on-target rate when under pressure ranks 30th out of 32 qualifying quarterbacks, and his 236 passing yards while under pressure rank 32nd.

This shouldn’t be much of an issue in Week 11, as the Bengals' pass rush has the league’s fifth-lowest pressure rate (29.2%) on the lowest rate of blitzes (17.5%). While Rodgers is in the streaming conversation, we should also feel comfortable slotting DK Metcalf back in as a fantasy WR2 after what has been a slow month-plus since the team’s Week 5 bye.

Patriots vs. Jets

Thursday Night Football figures to be quite the slog for the second week in a row, with the New England Patriots serving as massive 11.5-point favorites against the dreadful New York Jets. As Stephen Hoopes pointed out in his game-by-game breakdowns, the Jets finished last week with an incredible -21.3% pass rate over expected and a 26.0% success rate as Justin Fields continues to play himself out of a job. The Patriots would have found themselves in the “Defensive” portion of this article if they weren’t already rostered in most leagues, so let’s focus on their passing attack, which has been more impressive than not in Year 2 of Drake Maye.

Of the 38 quarterbacks who have thrown at least 50 in-pocket passes with no pressure, Maye has the second-highest completion rate (80.9%), fourth-highest adjusted yards per attempt (10.0), and ninth-most fantasy points per dropback (0.61). The last of those numbers may not seem super impressive, but when you’re competing with the legs of Lamar Jackson/Josh Allen/Jalen Hurts, you’re always going to be pushed down the list a little bit.

That’s not to say Maye won’t use his legs when necessary —he’s tied for the most scramble yards in the league (283)— and he’ll be in a good spot to do it on Thursday. The Jets allow the third-most scramble yards per game (29.4) and the highest yards per attempt (10.7) when quarterbacks take off. When Maye isn’t running around, expect him to provide Stefon Diggs with another WR2 output, while both Mack Hollins and Demario Douglas are in deep-league FLEX consideration.

Eagles vs. Lions

The long-awaited Eagles’ passing game renaissance seemed to hit a brick wall coming out of their bye, as Jalen Hurts completed only 15 passes on 29 dropbacks as they eked out a 10-7 win against the Packers on Monday night. They’ll have the chance to right the ship against another NFC North opponent this week, and things should (hopefully) turn around for the group, particularly A.J. Brown. When the offense is humming, Brown is a bona fide fantasy WR1, as evidenced by Week 3 (6-109-1) or Week 7 (4-121-2), but when Hurts is stuck in neutral, Brown is no better than a WR4.

We should see something closer to the former than the latter against a Lions defense that ranks 28th in DVOA against opposing WR1s. It could be argued that DeVonta Smith is the actual WR1 in Philadelphia, but with AJB lining up outside on 90.7% of his routes, he operates as the “true” WR1, even if the target share doesn’t exactly reflect that. Regardless, the Lions rank 25th in WR aFPA, so both Smith and Brown should get there in what should be a great game that could end up blowing past its 46.5 total.

Favorable Defensive Matchups

Falcons vs. Panthers

Over the past two games, the Atlanta Falcons have piled up 13 sacks and four takeaways versus the Patriots and Colts; both far more competent offenses than the one they’ll face this week. Meanwhile, Bryce Young has totaled just 226 passing yards, thrown two interceptions, and taken three sacks in that same span. Yes, Carolina routed Atlanta 30-0 back in Week 3, but that feels like a distant memory for a Panthers team that’s scored 17 or fewer points in five of its last six.

With the Panthers ranking 29th in schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed to opposing D/STs, this is a prime spot for Atlanta to deliver another multi-sack, turnover-friendly outing against a Panthers’ offensive line dealing with mounting injuries and a 42.0% pressure rate allowed.

Chargers @ Jaguars

The injuries to both Travis Hunter and Brian Thomas Jr. are the most obvious problems ailing the Jaguars’ offense, but let’s not look past the offensive line, which allowed five sacks in Week 10. Six of their allowed pressures —and one of the sacks— were credited to left tackle Walker Little, who has looked overwhelmed in Year 5, sporting a 94.0 pass-blocking efficiency mark, ranking 57th out of 59 qualifying tackles on the season.

The Chargers' pass rush may not be what it was when Joey Bosa was still in L.A., but Walker and the rest of the Jags o-line will still have to deal with Tuli Tuipulotu, Odafe Oweh, and Justin Eboigbe, who have combined for 39 pressures and 10 sacks since Week 6. In that same time span, the Jaguars’ pressure rate allowed has jumped from 25.8% to 36.5%.

Favorable Running Back Matchups

Running Back Matchups
O-Line Ranking	Team	Opponent	aFPA	Difference
12	PIT	CIN	32	20
2	BUF	TB	21	19
7	DET	PHI	23	16
16	GB	NYG	31	15
17	TB	BUF	28	11
8	NE	NYJ	19	11
9	SF	ARI	17	8
11	DAL	LVR	18	7
19	MIN	CHI	25	6
5	KC	DEN	11	6
6	LAR	SEA	12	6
1	DEN	KC	6	5
15	WAS	MIA	20	5
18	ARI	SF	22	4
24	CAR	ATL	27	3
28	HOU	TEN	30	2
3	IND	BYE	3	0
31	NO	BYE	31	0
4	PHI	DET	4	0
25	MIA	WAS	24	-1
10	CHI	MIN	8	-2
29	CLE	BAL	26	-3
32	LVR	DAL	29	-3
20	ATL	CAR	16	-4
13	NYG	GB	5	-8
23	JAX	LAC	13	-10
21	TEN	HOU	9	-12
14	SEA	LAR	1	-13
22	BAL	CLE	2	-20
30	LAC	JAX	10	-20
27	CIN	PIT	7	-20
26	NYJ	NE	3	-23

Buccaneers @ Bills

Getting blown out by a two-win Dolphins team is bad enough, but now the Buffalo Bills have a much tougher task ahead of them when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Miami running backs racked up 188 yards on 6.7 yards per attempt, accruing 0.19 EPA per attempt a week after mustering a -0.10 mark against the once-crumbling Ravens rush defense.

The Bucs look as if they’ve got Bucky Irving back at practice, but after missing so much time, Rachaad White should still be on fantasy radars, even if his backfield mate suits up. Consider White an RB3 here in Week 11.

49ers @ Cardinals

The 49ers' offensive line has proven to be far more serviceable in pass protection than in creating rushing lanes in the 2025 season, but they’ll have a chance to move the trenches this weekend against a Cardinals defense that ranks 29th in defensive adjusted line yards (4.76). Though they managed to hold Christian McCaffrey to a nominal 52 yards rushing back in Week 3, they’ve been lit up in the two games since their bye to the tune of 321 yards, 283 of which came after contact. The tackling at the second level and beyond has been an issue for the team all season long, as they rank fifth in stuff rate (22.4%) yet 29th in broken-plus-missed tackles allowed (13.3%).

It seems pretty clear that McCaffrey has lost a step this season, but when he’s getting nine targets a game, that doesn’t really matter for our purposes. He’s an obvious play regardless of the opponent, but the more interesting click could be Brian Robinson, who has been seeing more work as the clear No. 2 option in this backfield. He should be added as a handcuff in nearly all league sizes, and in a positive situation, he could be used as a desperation FLEX for managers in need.

Running Backs with Bad Matchups

As opposed to breaking down every bad matchup through the rest of the slate, here are some running backs I’m looking to avoid because of their poor offensive line and/or the strong defensive fronts they will be facing: