Pittsburgh

Steelers

Williams has now posted back-to-back zero-target efforts, and has all of one look in three games as a Steeler. We will let you know if you have to start paying attention in fantasy again.

Both the catches and yards were Austin’s second most of the season, while the touchdown was only his third. He contributed a 46-yard grab down the field before hauling in a 23-yard scoring strike where Russell Wilson split the defense over the middle. Austin is capable of pop-up efforts like this evening, but he doesn’t do it anywhere close to frequently enough to be a reliable WR4.

The 59 yards were actually a new season high, which tells you all you need to know about how fantasy un-friendly Freiermuth’s 2024 has been. He still drew four-or-fewer targets for the seventh consecutive contest, and ninth time in 11 games. It just isn’t happening for the seam man as the Steelers try to limit Russell Wilson’s attempts and the quarterback focuses on down-field moon balls to his wideouts. Especially with all 32 teams active for Week 13, Freiermuth will be a weak TE2 despite a plus Bengals matchup.

With flurries turning into more of a snowstorm as the game progressed, Pickens had his quietest contest in five starts since Russell Wilson took over under center. One of his missed connections was an end zone misfire from Wilson where the quarterback and wideout were not on the same page. Pickens raised eyebrows on the final play of the game, a Wilson Hail Mary attempt where Pickens seemed more interested in fighting with Browns CB Greg Newsome than actually coming down with the ball. He then trash talked the Browns afterward. So it goes. The Bengals offer immediate bounce-back potential for Week 13.

Warren out-rushed Najee Harris 45-41 despite handling five fewer carries. He’s now out-gained Harris two of the past three weeks despite taking smaller workloads all three times out. Finally over his early-season injury issues, Warren is again confirming he simply has more juice than his higher-volume backfield mate. Week 13 against the Bengals’ struggling defense should be a “FLEX Warren” kind of matchup.

Harris got out-rushed 45-41 by Jaylen Warren even though Warren handled five fewer carries. After seeming to get hot in mid-October, Harris is averaging just 2.85 yards per carry over the past three weeks. That’s especially bad since it’s a 55-tote sample size. Harris just has no lateral explosiveness, while Warren is finally looking healthy after his early-season injury issues. Harris is in danger of falling out of the top 24 at running back, especially for weeks like Week 13 where no teams are on bye. The Steelers will be visiting the Bengals.

Wilson also took four sacks and lost a fumble. With the lake effect snow swirling in Cleveland, it was another night of “moon ball or bust” for Wilson, who did manage to find each of Calvin Austin, Pat Freiermuth, George Pickens and Van Jefferson for at least one 20-plus yard completion. There wasn’t a whole lot going on beyond that, however, and the Steelers acknowledged as much by continually shuttling Justin Fields onto the field for important plays. Fields made a modest impact with his legs, but nothing that is going to have the Steelers re-thinking their starting situation despite a mini-slump the past five days. That being said, more will be needed and expected from Wilson in a soft Week 13 road date with the Bengals’ nonexistent defense. He will be in the streaming mix for that one.

Highsmith’s absence was already known. Aside from the linebacker, this is about as quiet as a mid-season inactives list is going to get. Highsmith is week to week with what seems to be a high-ankle sprain.

The Steelers are fairly healthy heading into their AFC North showdown with the Browns, but losing Highsmith is a notable blow to the defense. Highsmith missed Week 11 with what is likely a high-ankle sprain and is out again this week. He has three sacks in six appearances this year.

Highsmith missed Week 11 against the Ravens and has been out since Week 10 due to an ankle injury. Mike Tomlin said last week that Highsmith would be week-to-week and he has not been placed on injured reserve. He has three sacks in six games this season, grading out as one of the Steelers’ best pass-rushers. With back-to-back DNPs to begin the week, expect Highsmith to miss Thursday’s Week 12 game against the Browns, though the mini-bye may allow him to recover enough for Week 13.