Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals
It was a game of backups for the Steelers, and they all looked pretty solid against what was a pretty weak Cardinals defense. Meanwhile, Kyler Murray showed off his raw athleticism and talent but was plagued by a poor offensive line and some rookie mistakes.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarterback:
- Devlin Hodges: 16/19, 152, 1 TD | 5 carries 34 yards
Devlin Hodges actually looked pretty decent in this game. This was a pretty rush-heavy attack for the Steelers (35 total carries for the team) and Hodges threw the ball just 19 times, but he looked accurate and made some really good throws. His touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson was a tough throw that he made look pretty easy. He’s pretty quick too, rushing for 34 yards. Not a game you can really use from a fantasy perspective, but from a real-life NFL perspective, he looked good.
Running backs:
- Benny Snell Jr.: 16 carries, 41 yards
- Jaylen Samuels: 7 carries, 34 yards
- Kenneth Whyte: 5 carries, 41 yards
- Diontae Johnson: 1 carry, 16 yards
- Jordan Berry: 1 carry, -8 yards
The Steelers went fairly run-heavy, even with James Conner missing this game, and gave the majority of their carries to Benny Snell Jr., who looked pretty solid. Still, Jaylen Samuels and Kenneth Whyte split 12 carries among them, so it’s going to be really hard to trust any Steelers running back if Conner is still out.
Wide receivers/Tight ends:
- Diontae Johnson: 8 targets, 6 receptions, 60 yards, 1 TD
- James Washington: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 33 yards
- Jaylen Samuels: 2 targets, 2 catches, 18 yards
- Deon Cain: 1 target, 1 catch, 22 yards
- Kenneth Whyte: 1 target, 1 catch, 9 yards
- Trey Edmunds: 1 target, 1 catch, 7 yards
- Vance McDonald: 1 target, 1 catch, 3 yards
This was the Diontae Johnson show with JuJu Smith-Schuster still nursing a knee injury, and Johnson looked pretty good. The Steelers ran a reverse play for him and some screen plays and he was able to move quickly and make guys miss in open space (he also did that returning a punt for a touchdown). I said earlier that his touchdown catch was a tough throw, it was also a tough catch, and as long as JuJu is out, Diontae Johnson looks like he’ll be leading the Steelers receiving corps. Unfortunately, he’s kind of a boom or bust receiver, so he’s little more than a flex play and not someone I’d feel awesome about trusting in the fantasy playoffs.
Arizona Cardinals
Quarterback:
- Kyler Murray: 20/30, 194 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INT | 6 carries, 2 yards, 1 fumble
Murray has a lot of talent, I don’t think that’s ever been in doubt, and we saw plenty of flashes of it here. Since the Cardinals have such a poor offensive line, Murray was forced out of the pocket pretty frequently and man is he quick, it’s impressive. However, he also made some pretty bad rookie mistakes. He had three interceptions, two of which were just dumb throws by him and the third was a desperation throw on 4th down on the Cardinals final shot of coming back in the game. That one was just a YOLO ball he tossed up and a Steelers defender came down with it. He also had a fumble that occured as he was running and bumped into someone, though he was able to recover it. Murray is hampered by a poor offensive line, and the Steelers defense did a solid job limiting him and taking advantage of his mistakes. He’s a usable fantasy asset most of the time, but he can also be pretty inconsistent.
Running backs:
- Kenyan Drake: 11 carries, 37 yards | 3 targets, 3 catches, 30 yards
- David Johnson: 3 carries, 19 yards | 2 targets, 2 catches, 34 yards, 1 TD
- Chase Edmonds: 1 carry, 9 yards
- Christian Kirk: 1 carry, 4 yards
There’s just not a whole lot here. David Johnson continues to be a ghost of his former self, though he did snag a touchdown at least. Kenyan Drake got most of the carries but there wasn’t a whole lot of rushing going on and Drake wasn’t all that efficient with his carries. There’s just no one here in this rushing game you can trust.
Wide receivers/Tight ends:
- Christian Kirk: 9 targets, 8 receptions, 85 yards
- Larry Fitzgerald: 7 targets, 3 catches, 20 yards
- Damiere Byrd: 1 target, 1 catch, 10 yards
- Charles Clay: 1 target, 1 catch, 5 yards
- Pharoh Cooper: 1 target, 1 catch, 5 yards
- Andy Isabella: 1 target, 1 catch, 5 yards
Christian Kirk led the team in targets and looked good, as he usually does. He’s little more than a flex play most weeks, given the inconsistency of this offense, but his involvement in the passing game helps keep him relevant. Meanwhile, Larry Fitzgerald had a pretty muted game. Again, the Steelers defense was solid, especially its secondary, and that proved difficult for the Cardinals passing offense to overcome.
-Ben Palmer