What We Saw: Week 7

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Steelers @ Titans

This game was a story of two halves. The Steelers were up 24-7 at half time and then were outscored 17-3 in the second half. The Steelers remain the lone undefeated team in the AFC after Stephen Gostkowski missed a game-tying field goal with 19 seconds to play. In the end, the Steelers defeated the Titans 27-24.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Quarterback

Ben Roethlisberger: 32/49, 268 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs

Ben Roethlisberger has transformed into a true dink-and-dunk quarterback, albeit a very good one. He averaged 7.2 yards per attempt in this one. He also led the position in average time to throw (only 2.27 seconds). He didn’t take a sack in this one and was constantly getting the ball into his receivers’ hands quickly so they could make plays after the catch. He did throw three interceptions but that could be a bit misleading. His first one was the last play of the first half; after a Steelers penalty that pushed them out of field goal range, he took a shot to the end zone that was easily picked. His second interception was deflected at the line of scrimmage and fell right into a Titans player’s hands. His last one was a great defensive play where he threw a one-on-one ball to JuJu Smith-Schuster in the endzone and the defender got his hand in the way and tipped it back to his teammate. Overall, Roethlisberger has great weapons and hit Diontae Johnson (back from injuries) for a couple of touchdowns on Sunday. He is a solid QB2 on a very good team but will likely struggle to put up ceiling games as his defense will always keep the Steelers in neutral or positive game scripts, denying come from behind/garbage time stats. The Steelers get the Ravens next week in a difficult matchup.

Running Backs

James Conner: 20 carries, 82 yards | 5 targets, 3 receptions, 29 yards

Benny Snell: 2 carries, 2 yards, 1 TD

James Conner once again dominated backfield touches and looked pretty good on the 23 touches he got. He got unlucky in terms of touchdowns. He had a touchdown reception that was nullified due to a penalty and then dropped another wide-open touchdown. Benny Snell then ran in a touchdown on the very next play after that drop. Conner is an every-week RB1 and has 18 or more touches in five straight games. His matchup next week is very unappealing against the Ravens.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

JuJu Smith-Schuster: 14 targets, 9 receptions, 85 yards

Diontae Johnson: 15 targets, 9 receptions, 80 yards, 2 TDs

Eric Ebron: 8 targets, 6 receptions, 50 yards

Chase Claypool: 1 target, 1 reception, -2 yards

Vance McDonald: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 14 yards

Ray-Ray McCloud: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards

Welcome back, Diontae Johnson. He had a team-leading 15 targets but only caught nine of them. He did catch two short touchdowns and immediately picked up where he left off after week two (his last fully healthy game). Check out his beautiful second touchdown below in GIF form. Johnson is a WR2 going forward with six or more catches and 10 or more targets in his three fully healthy games. Another welcome back, to JuJu Smith Schuster. His 14 targets on Sunday matched his total from the last three games combined where Johnson missed most or all of those games. He had a couple of red zone looks and a bit of downfield work in this one which is a welcome change from what his role has been through five games. We need to see more from Smith-Schuster before we can trust him but he is a solid WR3/flex play most weeks. Chase Claypool disappeared in this one with Johnson back. He played about 2/3 of the offensive snaps but was only targeted once and was more of a decoy it seemed throughout this one. He can’t be trusted with all of the other receivers healthy. He has a combined six targets, 125 yards, and one touchdown in the three games with a healthy Diontae Johnson.

Diontae Johnson again (his second score of the day)!

Pittsburgh making a statement in Tennessee. #FantasyFootball | #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/iZNKuQsjzu

— QB List (@TheQBlist) October 25, 2020

Tennessee Titans

Quarterback

Ryan Tannehill: 18/30, 220 yards, 2 TDs, 2 Sacks | 2 carries, 5 yards

Ryan Tannehill and the Titans offense could not get anything going early in this one. They had 83 total yards at half time and the Steelers started the game 17 minutes – 1 minute in terms of the time of possession. After he hit Corey Davis on a touchdown late in the first half, he consistently was hitting AJ Brown, and the two connected for 153 yards. Brown padded Tannehill’s stats with a long 73-yard catch and run on a short slant in the third quarter. The Titans really couldn’t get the play-action going. Tannehill only attempted two passes beyond 20 yards down the field. Tannehill and the Titans will look to bounce back against the Bengals’ poor defense next week.

Running Backs

Derrick Henry: 20 carries, 75 yards, 1 TD | 2 targets, 2 receptions, -2 yards

Facing one of the league’s stingiest run defenses, and without his stud left tackle, it was an uphill battle for Derrick Henry to be efficient on Sunday. His day was salvaged on a goalline touchdown as seen below. This is the problem we face with Henry. He isn’t involved in the passing game much at all and needs long runs or multi-touchdown games to really “hit” for fantasy owners. He is of course an RB1 going forward thanks to his great usage but he will continue to be volatile on a week-to-week basis. His matchup is juicy next week against the Bengals.

Derrick Henry goes airborne.

7 TDs in his last 4 games. #FantasyFootball | #Titans pic.twitter.com/ECPvdooOsE

— QB List (@TheQBlist) October 25, 2020

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

A.J. Brown: 8 targets, 6 receptions, 153 yards, 1 TD

Corey Davis: 10 targets, 6 receptions, 35 yards, 1 TD

Jonnu Smith: 4 targets, 1 reception, 9 yards

Anthony Firkser: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 7 yards

The Titans finally had their full complement of receiving weapons available to them on Sunday. A.J. Brown helped his own cause in this one. He had 95 of his 153 yards after the catch, including the majority of his 73-yard touchdown catch on a quick slant. He isn’t getting elite usage most weeks but is the number one option in the passing game week in and week out. He is a high-upside WR2 most weeks. Corey Davis comes back from the Covid List after missing the last two games. He was the most targeted receiver in this one and that included an easy red zone score as seen below. He now has five or more receptions in all four of his healthy games and he has touchdowns in two of those. He is a decent WR3 option weekly.