Indianapolis Colts vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Indianapolis Colts
Quarterback
- Jacoby Brissett: 4/5, 59 yards
- Brian Hoyer: 17/26, 168 yards, 3 TD, 1INT
Brissett started the game well but got rolled upon by his own offensive lineman and left the game early. He never returned and Hoyer played most of this one. Hoyer looked solid; he took four sacks and threw an interception but also threw three touchdowns and put the Colts in position to win. Unfortunately, kicker Adam Vinatieri shanked the game-winning field goal. If Brissett is set up to miss time, Hoyer would be a matchup play in two-QB leagues.
Running Backs
- Marlon Mack: 21 carries, 89 yards
We know the deal with Mack by now. He is going to get heavy volume in the run game but not much in the passing game. He usually needs a score to pay off for fantasy owners. In this game, he had no passing game work and had 89 scoreless yards. His backup running backs had five targets and two carries and will remain somewhat involved, especially in the passing game.
Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends
- Zach Pascal: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD
- Chester Rogers: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 22 yards, 1 TD
- Parris Campbell: 5 targets, 5 receptions, 53 yards | 3 carries, 27 yards
- Jack Doyle: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 22 yards
- Eric Ebron: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards
We were interested in seeing what the Colts would do without star receiver T.Y. Hilton. They wound up spreading the targets out to a lot of different receivers. Nine players had targets and eight of them had multiple targets. Pascal was the number one, pacing the team with six targets. He caught five of them for a strong 76 yards and found the endzone. He will be streamable while Hilton is out. Campbell had his second-most targets of the season and the most touches of the year this week. It was nice to see him involved heavily in the game plan and hopefully that is a trend moving forward. Keep an eye on him for sure. We know the story with the tight ends. Neither of them provide weekly TE1 value while they are both active and healthy.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarterback
- Mason Rudolph: 26/35, 161 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rudolph did not force the issue against this Colts zone defense. 22 of his 35 attempts went to tight ends and running backs as he was constantly checking the ball down. Rudolph hasn’t shown much of a ceiling this year averaging 14 fantasy points per game coming into this game. He isn’t even in the streaming conversation right now. Leave him on your waiver wires.
Running Backs
- Jaylen Samuels: 8 carries, 10 yards, 1 fumble lost | 13 targets, 13 receptions, 73 yards
- Trey Edmunds: 12 carries, 73 yards
With James Conner and Benny Snell ruled out, we knew it was going to be the Samuels show. He had 21 touches to Edmunds’ 12. I feel like Edmunds would have been less involved but he had a 45-yard carry on his first attempt, thus buying him extra opportunities. Samuels showed he is an RB1 given a full workload, putting up 20 PPR points without a touchdown. We will have to wait and see on the status of Conner and Snell going forward as they will eat into his touches for sure.
Wide Receivers
- JuJu Smith-Schuster: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 16 yards
- Dionte Johnson: 2 targets, 1 reception, 3 yards
- James Washington: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 69 yards
- Vance McDonald: 7 targets, 5 receptions, 30 yards, 1 touchdown
Rudolph was not pushing the ball downfield much in this one, targeting running backs and tight ends as noted before. Smith-Schuster is going to be an unreliable WR2 going forward as he was third in targets this week and fourth in yards on the team. He has had good games with Rudolph but he has had a couple of clunkers as well. Washington popped up for his best game of the season and it just so happened to coincide with Johnson’s worst game. Johnson has been the number two receiver in terms of production all season but if Washington continues to play well, then Johnson won’t be usable. McDonald has been a low yardage guy all season. This was his second game above four targets and he needs a touchdown to provide starting value pretty much every week.
–Kevin Taylor (@ktbeast918)