Like Myles Garrett with Mason Rudolph‘s helmet, the season is in full swing. Here’s hoping your fantasy team isn’t giving up last-second miracles like the Cleveland Defense. But Week 2 heartaches are in the past. We have an old-fashioned, hard-hitting AFC North rivalry game in the Week 3 Thursday Night game. The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Cleveland, where the Browns will try to bless the Dawg Pound and Brownie the Elf with their first home victory of 2022. The winner remains in first place, but more importantly, this game sets the table for your fantasy victories this weekend. Let’s take a look at the good (Nick Chubb), the bad (Prime’s coverage quality), and the ugly (Pittsburgh’s O-line) for tonight’s matchup.

Note: All point totals and rankings are PPR unless otherwise noted.

Week 3 Thursday Night Preview: Browns’ Offense

After two weeks of Jacoby Brissett‘s leadership, the Browns’ offense looks a lot like what we all guessed it would. Cleveland owns the league’s top rushing offense, with 401 yards through two games. And while the pass offense ranks just 26th in the league in yardage, they have been efficient and relatively effective when choosing to throw. The Browns are 11th in completion percentage, with only one interception and two sacks allowed. According to the Pro Football Reference website, the Browns rank 10th in expected points contributed by the passing offense. “Someone” may have told you that would be the case…

Chase Thornton ⁦@SttChaseFFB⁩ tells us all about the Browns QB situation along with other Cleveland Browns fantasy outlooks!

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Browns’ Offense Big Question

We’re not worried about the Browns’ running backs. If you have either Nick Chubb or Kareem Hunt, you’re starting him without a second thought. The Steelers haven’t been overly effective against the run or the pass, and the Browns should be able to pound the rock at will, especially if they can get an early lead.

But the real question here is can you trust a Browns’ pass catcher in this game? Brissett has been efficient and effective but not prolific. The Browns are 24th in the league in pass attempts, capping the Browns’ pass receivers a bit with Amari Cooper (WR20) currently their best option. Cooper has been the target on 16 of Brissett’s 61 pass attempts, good for a 26 percent share. He’s very startable as a WR2/3.

Donovan Peoples-Jones had an amazing 11 targets Week 1, then came up empty on his lone target last week. He’ll continue to be a boom-or-bust FLEX option, at least until Deshaun Watson takes over at QB. That said, against the Steelers’ porous and beatable pass defense, DPJ makes for an interesting flyer. I like him for a shot-play touchdown at some point tonight, with a few shorter catches landing him in the 15 points-or-so range. He’s a dead-cheap DFS shot.

Tight end is another story. David Njoku got a lot of preseason love after signing a sizeable extension. Thus far, he’s operated as mostly an afterthought in the Cleveland offense, with Harrison Bryant leading him in every stat category in almost literally half the snaps (134 to 69). After allowing the Bengals’ tight ends to catch six of nine targets in Week 1, the Steelers shut out the Patriots’ stellar tight end duo last week. I like Njoku better if you’re looking to play one, but look elsewhere. Seriously.

Week 3 Thursday Night Preview: Steelers’ Offense

The Steelers’ offense has had a time getting going. PFF’s 28th-ranked offensive line has been… well, offensive. Despite an offseason retooling project, the Steelers still aren’t blocking effectively, and it’s limiting what the offense is capable of achieving. We weren’t expecting a juggernaut with Mitch Trubisky under center, but his athleticism would’ve seemed a nice complementary workaround for the weak o-line. To this point, the Steelers rank 26th in rush offense and 28th in pass offense. They’re averaging only 3.8 yards per rush and are dead last in the league in yards per pass attempt. There are too many good weapons on this team for those trends to continue. The line must play better.

Trubisky hasn’t been as terrible as some would have you believe. Calls for Kenny Pickett‘s debut aren’t going away anytime soon, but for fantasy purposes, Trubisky is a useable QB2, ranking just behind Brissett at QB22 overall. If he can raise his completion percentage back up near his career 63.9, and if offensive coordinator Matt Canada can scheme up some deeper pass plays instead of the dink-and-dunk water torture to which we’ve been subjected thus far, Trubisky is capable of putting up decent fantasy numbers. Just don’t expect them against a good Browns defense. Start someone else if you can this week.

Steelers’ Offense Big Question

So Trubisky is a non-option, but what about the rest of the Steelers offense? Najee Harris looks good-to-go, but expecting his efficiency to suddenly skyrocket against the Browns’ number four-ranked rush defense is folly of the highest degree. You’re likely starting him, and you should be, but temper expectations. It’s beginning to look like Harris is solely useable based on volume unless and until the Steelers improve their o-line play. That volume could shrink if they get behind early in this Week 3 Thursday Night contest.

The Steelers’ receivers are too talented to be held down. Diontae Johnson is among the top-10 in the league in targets and should rise up fantasy ranks seeing that kind of usage. Chase Claypool is his normal, frustrating self. Seeing more out of him would be a welcome sight but not one you should count on. Likewise, if you bought a ticket for the George Pickens Preseason Love Train, you’re going to continue to be underwhelmed by the ride.

To this point, Cleveland’s secondary hasn’t performed as well as their reputation suggested they would. Johnson makes a nice play tonight as a low-end WR1. Pat Freiermuth may be the best Steeler to try tonight, as the Browns have proven vulnerable to opposing tight ends. Opposing offenses are 9 of 14 for 94 yards when targeting the tight end so far. Give ‘Muth a start this week as a low-end TE1 with touchdown upside.

Challenge Chase!

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