Seahawks @ Steelers
Final Score: Seahawks 31, Steelers 17
Writer: Geoff Ulrich (@thefantasygrind on X/Twitter)
This was a very close game late into the third quarter when a couple of ridiculous mistakes by the Steelers turned the tide against them. Despite there being 48 points scored, this was also far from an offensive shootout, as there were very few explosive plays from either team.
In the end, Sam Darnold and the Seahawks also made a few mistakes, but produced a couple of key big plays on offense in the second half that sealed the win. Both of these defenses are mostly sound, but were missing key players, which gave some of the top offensive names a little more room to operate as well. We’ll discuss the key points below.
Three Up
- Cooper Kupp — Nice bounce-back game after a slow Week 1.
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba — I’ll put the same thing here I put after Week 1. “The clear-cut No. 1 option for this offense. He may lead the league in targets and receptions.”
- Kenneth Walker — Looked far quicker in this game and was up against a Steelers D-line that hasn’t looked great vs the run.
Three Down
- DK Metcalf — Scored a TD, but 20 yards in a game where they were behind most of the second half isn’t great.
- Zach Charbonnet — Was completely bottled up this week and has no receptions to date.
- Kaleb Johnson — Is way down the pecking order after a terrible special teams mistake that led to a Seahawks TD.
Seattle Seahawks
Quarterback
Sam Darnold: 22/33, 295 yards, 2 TD, 2 INTs
You have to give Sam Darnold some credit in this game. Despite two pretty bad mistakes, he hung in the pocket and kept delivering pinpoint strikes down the middle to JSN and Kupp all game and nearly hit 300 yards. There weren’t many big plays, but he did manage to air one out to Smith-Njigba in the second half, who was well-covered but came down with a 43-yard gain anyway, in large part because of the placement by Darnold.
When Darnold has time to set and fire, he looks great. His release looks fast, he processes quickly, and it’s clearly working with JSN, who is such an astute route runner and able to get small separation on his routes very quickly. However, when Darnold is pressured, as he was at various points in this game and last week, mistakes happen. The two INTs both came on plays where the Steelers forced him into bad decisions.
That’s pretty life and death with Darnold and the Seahawks’ passing game this season. If they give him time, he’ll be able to chew up opposing secondaries like he did here and put up decent numbers. If not, like he did in Week 1, it’ll likely be ugly.
Running Back
Kenneth Walker III: 13 carries, 105 yards TD | 1 targets, 1 receptions, 13 yards
What a difference a week makes. Kenneth Walker III couldn’t do anything against the 49ers and was somewhat disinterested at times in that game. However, with his O-line getting great blocking on the outside this week, he showcased his usual zip and managed to put 105 yards on just 13 carries, most of which were big gains that he popped to the outside. His biggest run was a third-and-20 TD that he scored on from the Steelers 20-yard line, which he busted out wide quickly and managed to catch the Steelers’ defense completely off-guard.
I’m of two thoughts here. First, Walker did look faster in this game, and he’s probably still getting into top shape after missing camp with a foot issue. That and the threat of losing touches likely was a great motivator this week.
My second thought is that the Steelers aren’t the 49ers. The Steelers have been gashed by the run two weeks in a row now and looked outmatched vs the Seahawks’ O-Line and Walker. It was like watching a varsity squad vs. the JV squad when Walker was running the ball.
You have to be bullish on Walker the rest of the way, just be wary that Seattle’s run game did get shut down vs. the Niners and vs. elite O-lines, Walker isn’t likely going to look this good.
Zach Charbonnet: 15 carries, 10 yards
Not sure what to say here. It was a very strange game for Zach Charbonnet. Whenever he touched the ball, I mean legitimately every carry, the defense would swarm him and not allow him to take more than a step without getting hit. He likely got hit behind the line of scrimmage on at least half of his carries. Honestly, he probably did well not to end the day with negative yardage.
I’m not sure if the defense had a tell or something, but it looked like it. Regardless, Charbonnet is back to being the 1A option after this week. I still think he’s a great runner, but the Seahawks would be crazy not to keep getting Walker 15-plus touches a game with the way he looked in this game.
The big issue for me is that after being a huge factor in the passing game last season, Charbonnet has yet to catch a pass and didn’t have a target in this game.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 10 targets, 8 receptions, 103 yards
Superb, amazing, without peer. Seriously, Jaxon Smith-Njigba just looks so good this season. The entire offense is built around him being able to get open fast 8-15 yards downfield, which he does almost every play. I thought Pittsburgh and Jalen Ramsey might slow him a bit, but they had no answer at the start of the game when he came out hot again with multiple catches of at least 10 yards.
Pittsburgh started double-teaming him, and that left Kupp and Tory Horton wide open for big plays. However, when crunch time came, it was JSN again who Darnold looked to, specifically for a 43-yard gain downfield where he was actually well-covered but caught the ball anyway.
A true WR1 and likely on his way to a top-five season, if not better.
Cooper Kupp: 9 targets, 7 receptions, 90 yards
Kupp’s stat line will probably wow a lot of people, but to be honest, he was just benefiting from the fact JSN was getting so much attention that Pittsburgh had no choice but to leave Kupp open half the time. I’m not suggesting Kupp can’t do well in that role, but he’s a clear possession receiver with little to offer after the catch at this point.
Still, against weaker secondaries like Pittsburgh (which was missing Joey Porter Jr.), Kupp can excel like he did here. I’d likely be looking to sell on him if possible because the Seahawks do have some interesting names they are starting to work in.
Tory Horton: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 32 yards, TD
Looked fine, although he didn’t do anything crazy. Tory Horton’s TD and big play came early on when the Steelers were sick of getting beat by JSN down the middle and left Horton wide open across the field. Darnold made a great throw while getting hit, and Horton walked in untouched.
There is no big move to get him more involved, although he could take more secondary targets away from Kupp as the season moves on.
Elijah Arroyo: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 31 yards
The ‘Hawks did design one nice semicross-screen play for Elijah Arroyo early on, which worked very well and showcased his after-the-catch ability.
I see Arroyo as likely the second-most talented pass catcher of this group, so he may be someone to get in front of. AJ Barner (3 targets, 2 receptions, 26 yards, and a TD) is still a factor as well, but would be more of the inline TE. Neither are fantasy football viable right now, but for dynasty and deep leagues, Arroyo has value.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers: 18/33, 203 yards, TD, 2 INTs| 1 carry, 3 yards
His stat line doesn’t look great, but honestly, Aaron Rodgers was not the problem for the Steelers. His arm strength is still great, and he looked mobile behind the line of scrimmage on multiple plays where he rolled out to make something happen. One of those plays was the Steelers’ longest play from scrimmage, a 65-yard short hit down the sidelines to Jaylen Warren, who got in front of his opponent and broke some tackles to get into scoring position.
Rodgers is using his TEs quite a bit in this Arthur Smith scheme and continued to do so this week. He targeted Pat Freiermuth downfield a couple of times, including once in the end zone, where he should have had a score if not for a botched route by Calvin Austin, who tipped the ball before it could get to Freiermuth and into the hands of the defense. An INT that will show up on Rodgers’ stat line but was clearly not his fault.
Warren is also going to keep being a steady PPR performer with Rodgers. He’s a great receiver, and Rodgers’ ability to keep the play alive will give him good opportunities like he had here.
Running Back
Jaylen Warren: 14 carries, 48 yards | 4 targets, 4 receptions, 86 yards
I wouldn’t worry too much about the lack of efficiency from Jaylen Warren in this game on the ground. The Seahawks’ front is great against the run and proved it for the second week in a row. He still got the majority of the carries and was able to move the pile on a couple of occasions.
As a receiver, Warren is so good moving along the line of scrimmage and when his QB escapes the pocket. He took a quick pass on the first play of the game for over 10 yards, and then had his big play on an improvisation play with Rodgers outside the pocket. He’s not the fastest runner, but his open-field running is phenomenal, and he broke multiple tackles on his way to a 65-yard gain.
A weekly start and essentially matchup-proof. He’s got blowup potential as he’s likely to get first crack on red-zone carries as well. A great trade target if anyone in your league is undervaluing his position in Pittsburgh.
Kenneth Gainwell: 5 carries, 20 yards | 5 target, 3 receptions, 16 yards
Kenneth Gainwell looks fine. There isn’t too much dropoff between him and Warren, to be honest, and he’s nearly as good a receiver. I don’t see any reason for the Steelers to give him more work, but he looked fine here and had a couple of decent runs up the middle in a game where the Steelers were unable to get much going on the ground.
His touch count went down in Week 2, but he’s the clear backup to Warren and would inherit big touches if Warren went down. Kaleb Johnson (1 carry, 1 yard) is a complete nonfactor for the time being.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
DK Metcalf: 6 targets, 3 receptions, 20 yards, TD
DK Metcalf essentially has two routes that he runs for the Steelers. A quick slant and a sideline fade-jump ball. In this game, he didn’t get much chance to break a big play on any of his six targets and dropped his first pass, a quick slant down the middle. He did convert on an end zone fade-jump ball in the first half, which saved his fantasy football output, but the usage here was not great.
Not a player I’m particularly jazzed about going forward, although if you have him, he’s not someone you need to bench. Just realize that there will be days when he doesn’t find the end zone or come down with a 50-yard sideline pass and ends up with two catches and minimal yards.
If you were looking to upgrade WR and someone overvalued Metcalf or looked at him as a buy-low target, I’d be willing to let him go.
Calvin Austin: 4 targets, 1 reception, 22 yards
Very disappointing follow-up to his Week 1 breakout. Calvin Austin had four targets, but his only catch came late when the game was out of hand. He also broke up a TD pass to Freiermuth when he broke out of his route and mistakenly tried to make a play on a ball he thought was for him. It’s even worse when you factor in Devon Witherspoon was out for this game, so the slot was open for Austin.
I thought Austin looked so good in Week 1, and as a slot receiver, the Steelers have something with him long term. Unfortunately, there is no game plan from the Steelers to get him the ball, as they prefer to throw to their TEs a ton or lob it up to DK in some manner.
If Austin was in the Cooper Kupp role in Seattle, he’d likely be balling out beside Jaxon Smith-Njigba. For now, he’s a high-variance boom or bust option for fantasy.
Jonnu Smith: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 27 yards
Jonnu Smith didn’t do much in this game but did convert all four of his targets, almost all of which were short completions from the slot. On weeks when he breaks one of those for a big gain, he’ll be a nice streamer. On weeks like this, where he gets bottled up, Smith is not going to offer a ton.
This is a frustrating position to target on the Steelers for fantasy because both Smith and Freiermuth are solid players and getting targets, but they eat into each other’s production.
Pat Freiermuth: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 31 yards
I thought Pat Freiermuth looked solid in this game. He just missed out on a long completion early on from Rodgers, who overthrew him slightly on a crossing route towards the sideline and then had the botched TD that turned into an INT, courtesy of his teammate Austin. In another universe, Freiermuth could have gone for 4-5 catches, 45-60 yards, and a TD.
Like I mentioned with Smith, it’s a weekly guessing game as to which Steelers TE will have the better day, but Freiermuth is averaging around 9.5-10 yards per catch, which is nearly double Smith, so if you were stuck for a streaming option, I’d lean Freiermuth.