Matchup: Ravens @ Steelers
Sunday Night Football
Baltimore @ Pittsburgh
Since the Steelers started giving 6-foot-4, 211-pound rookie wideout Martavis Bryant significant playing time two weeks ago, Ben Roethlisberger has completed 76.8% of his passes with a 9.60 YPA and an 8:0 TD-to-INT ratio against Houston and Indianapolis. Pittsburgh has scored 81 points in that two-game span. Big Ben begged Steelers management to give him a big receiver for years, and they finally cooperated. Suddenly playing the best football of his life, Roethlisberger ranks sixth among all quarterbacks in fantasy scoring and will face a Baltimore defense minus top corner Jimmy Smith (foot) on Sunday Night Football. Big Ben has more than earned QB1 treatment. ... Ben's target distribution during the two-week hot stretch: Antonio Brown 26; Le'Veon Bell 15; Bryant 12; Heath Miller 9; Markus Wheaton 7; Lance Moore 5; LeGarrette Blount 3. ... Bryant's emergence has affected Brown in no way, as Pittsburgh's clear-No. 1 wideout has 13 targets in each of Bryant's two games played. Tied with Demaryius Thomas for No. 1 in per-game fantasy scoring among wide receivers, Brown is an easy top-5 WR1 against Smith-less Baltimore. ... Bryant played 36% of Pittsburgh's Week 7 offensive snaps, and 39% in Week 8. His stat lines are 2-40-1 and 5-83-2. Despite A.J. Green-ish physical tools, Bryant's capped playing time keeps him in the risky fantasy WR3 realm. He's in a No. 2-receiver timeshare with Wheaton. ... A full-time wideout in each of Pittsburgh's first six games, Wheaton's snap rates have fallen to 46% and 40% the past two games. Wheaton had his best game of the year in Week 8 (5-56-1 on five targets), but is now a part-time player competing for snaps with a superior talent. If Wheaton pays off as a Week 9 fantasy start, it's not because he was a good bet going in.
Miller went 10-85-1 in Week 4 against Tampa Bay, and 7-112-1 in last week's offensive explosion against the Colts. In his other six games, Miller has averaged 3.8 targets for 31.7 yards without a touchdown. The Ravens have allowed the fifth fewest fantasy points in the league to tight ends, and held Miller to 4-35-0 when these clubs met in Week 2. Miller is just a TE1 streamer option with a tough matchup. ... Bell topped 100 total yards for the eighth consecutive game against Indianapolis and is now on pace for 84 receptions. Bell's upside may be a bit lower than usual versus Baltimore's top-seven run defense, but Le'Veon always offers a comfortable floor due to his all-purpose usage. This is a good week to avoid Bell in daily leagues, but fire him up as an RB1 in season-long formats. ... Blount has handled between 8 and 11 touches in each of Pittsburgh's last four games, but nearly cost the Steelers last week’s game with a fourth-quarter fumble. OC Todd Haley went right back to Blount, giving him two carries on Pittsburgh's following possession. Just a breather back behind Bell, Blount is safe to ignore in Week 9 flex decisions. The matchup isn't favorable and Blount doesn't get the ball enough for serious consideration.
Pittsburgh's defense is coughing up 4.61 yards per carry to opposing running backs and has been especially vulnerable to offenses that run zone. When these clubs met on Thursday Night Football in Week 2, Justin Forsettand since-benched Bernard Pierce combined for 152 yards on 30 carries (5.07 YPC). The pecking order in Baltimore's backfield has since shifted, but the offensive line is at full strength again, and the rushing attack has continued to function at an efficient clip. Although Forsett is losing short-yardage and goal-line work to Lorenzo Taliaferro, the veteran remains a solid RB2/flex play after handling 20-plus touches in back-to-back games. He's just not particularly likely to find the end zone because of Taliaferro's increased role. ... In a close game against the Bengals last week, Taliaferro played only 17 snaps to Forsett's 47. The box-score results were more favorable for "Zo" because he scored twice on red-zone carries and made an impact as a receiver for the first time all year, ripping off gains of 29 and 13 on two catches. Taliaferro should be rostered in all leagues, but until he begins playing more, can't be considered more than an RB3 or desperate flex option in touchdown-heavy leagues. I own Taliaferro in three re-draft leagues and won't be starting him against the Steelers, although I admittedly did consider it in all three. ... In his last five games against Steelers DC Dick LeBeau's defense, Joe Flacco has completed 105-of-164 throws (64.0%) for 984 yards (6.00 YPA) and a 5:1 TD-to-INT ratio. Flacco has played smart football for the most part in those games, but hasn't been very good in fantasy, topping 250 yards just once. Flacco is a low-ceiling Week 9 QB1 streamer option against Pittsburgh's No. 19 pass defense.
Flacco's target distribution with Owen Daniels (knee) out of the lineup last week: Steve Smith Sr. 9; Kamar Aiken 6; Forsett 5; Taliaferro and Michael Campanaro 3; Torrey Smith and Crockett Gillmore 2; Marlon Brown and Kyle Juszczyk 1. ... Steve Sr. posted a solid 6-71 stat line on ten targets in these clubs' Week 2 meeting, and continues to lead Baltimore in targets on a regular basis despite slowing-down production. The Steelers have allowed the second most pass plays of 20-plus yards (33) in the league. The weekly expectations on Smith have diminished since early in the season, but his usage still points to WR2 value, particularly against Pittsburgh's porous cornerbacks. Steve Sr. moves around the formation a ton, but fantasy owners should hope he matches up frequently with LCB Cortez Allen, who has allowed five touchdown passes over his last six games. ... As suspected, Torrey remains a boom-or-bust WR3 despite his surprise Weeks 4-7 touchdown binge. He primarily runs low-percentage routes in Gary Kubiak's offense, and has seen five or fewer targets in 5-of-8 games this season. Both of Torrey's Week 8 targets were intercepted. He went 1-10-0 on two targets when the Ravens and Steelers played in Week 2. ... Making his first career start with Daniels (knee scope) on the shelf last week, rookie TE Gillmore played 79% of the Ravens' offensive snaps. He was only targeted twice, but secured both for 23 yards. Flacco figures to get more comfortable with Gillmore the more they play together, but he's tough to support as a strong streamer because he's primarily blocking. Whereas Daniels was consistently running 25-30 pass routes per game, Gillmore ran only 19 last week. The Steelers do allow the eighth most fantasy points to tight ends, so I suppose you could do worse than Gillmore. He's 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds with 33 3/4-inch arms, and players that big tend to be effective in the red zone.
Friday Update: Owen Daniels (knee) returned to practice Friday and will be a "game-time decision" for Sunday night's clash with Pittsburgh. Daniels is likely to be limited if he's active -- and isn't a standalone fantasy option -- but his potential return takes the air out of Crockett Gillmore's Week 9 streamer balloon.
Score Prediction: Steelers 24, Ravens 20
