5 Things I Learned From Week 11 of the NFL Season

Jay Cutler Isn't Completely Irrelevant

Raise your hand if you started Jay Cutler in fantasy football this week. Lower your hand, Mrs. Cutler.

Cutler started in just 31.5% of ESPN.com leagues this week, but how could you blame owners? After two single-digit performances in three weeks, Cutler was facing a Vikings' pass defense that ranked in the top five in fantasy points allowed to opposing passers. That's no fluke, either - according to our schedule-adjusted metrics, Minnesota has a top-10 secondary.

That didn't matter yesterday. Cutler ended the day with a Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) score of 13.25, which was roughly 17 points better than what we saw from rookie Teddy Bridgewater. In other words, without Cutler's performance, the Bears more than likely weren't winning this game, or at least by the margin they did.

Fantasy owners should recognize that Cutler gets the league's worst secondary next week, Tampa Bay, in Chicago. We shouldn't give up on him just yet in our fake game.