Sunday Aftermath: Steelers wake up, Kyren returns and much more

The Steelers’ post Matt Canada uprising was one good game against a bad defense. It was also their most productive effort in a long, long time. Since before Canada’s hiring, to be precise. The details are almost beyond parody. The Steelers gained 421 yards in Cincinnati. A good day, but hardly anything revolutionary in the modern NFL.

For the Steelers? They never had a 400-yard outing with Canada calling plays. The last time they did? The game before his hiring. Again, beyond parody. That’s just raw output. Yards per play? As Adam Levitan points out, the Steelers averaged 4.8 yards per play under Canada in 2021. That number “increased” to 4.9 in 2022. It remained 4.9 in 2023. Sunday? 6.2.

If it felt like you almost had to try to be as bad as Canada, well … maybe you did? Again, one good game, and one good game where Kenny Pickett once again did not throw a touchdown pass. The run remained the engine of this offense. But it’s one good game that could quickly multiply. The Cardinals’ bottom-five defense is on tap for Week 13 before a short-week date with the collapsed Patriots. Indianapolis’ unimposing unit is next before a rematch with … the Bengals. Something like momentum might actually be established for Pickett’s career.

Pickett is still highly unlikely to be a star. His skill-set is simply too limited. The same does not have to be true for his supporting cast. It was Pat Freiermuth’s turn to be revived against the Bengals. Next up could be Diontae Johnson and George Pickens. With six teams on bye for Week 13, both Pittsburgh wideouts are worth a top-36 gander as the Steelers come back out into the world and play actual offensive NFL football.

Five Week 12 Storylines

Direction-less Panthers fire Frank Reich. The Panthers have stolen the Steelers’ move. Don’t expect the same results. A dead man walking since before the season even began, Reich literally said he wasn’t having fun. Maybe it’s because he was rumored to prefer C.J. Stroud to Bryce Young before owner David Tepper intervened. Tepper, of course, has a history of intervention. He has no history of NFL success. That is not going to change any time soon with the Panthers’ fiasco of a season producing a likely No. 1 overall pick that is headed elsewhere. The reason the No. 1 is shipping to Chicago via Charlotte? That Reich was fired? This is a tire-fire roster with no offensive line or skill corps weapons. Now it doesn’t have a coach. That means there is no realistic chance to develop Young, and that Carolina is looking like yet another cautionary tale for franchises looking to take shortcuts.

Calvin Ridley continues to heat up with Zay Jones back in lineup. It didn’t look like that would be the case at halftime. Ridley was sitting on a big, fat zero after dropping a 30-yard touchdown. Week 11 was destined to be a blip, after all. Then… 5/89/1. A Ridley takeover in the second half of a divisional contest the Jags had to have. Whether it is the in-breaking routes or Zay Jones’ return freeing up Ridley for more advantageous matchups — or both together — Ridley is finally looking like the player fantasy managers thought they were getting this summer. By now we’ve learned not to overreact to one or two good Ridley games, but he is almost certainly going to make it three against the Bengals’ collapsing defense in Week 13 before a tougher Browns test in Week 14.

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Zay Flowers steps into the Ravens’ post-Mark Andrews void. Finally, some touchdowns. Hopefully the yards will follow. It’s always a good thing when you’re the only player to find the end zone for your team in a victory. It still would have been nice to post more than 25 yards through the air against the league’s worst pass defense. Is the ceiling just not there in this Ravens aerial attack? If it is, Flowers needs to reach it quick, as an approachable-enough Week 14 Rams matchup is followed by dates with the Jags, 49ers and Dolphins. That’s after a Week 13 open date, meaning you can’t even point chase if Flowers won you your Week 12 matchup. Not being targeted down the field, Flowers needs better opportunities to reach his full potential.

Falcons maintain their Bijan Robinson commitment post-bye. Not even Arthur Smith could mess this one up. Atlanta’s head coach came out of the open date the way he headed into it, shoveling Robinson touches. His reward was the No. 8 overall pick’s second straight 100-yard performance and first ever two-touchdown effort. Tyler Allgeier was relegated to closeout mode. We know it can get lost in the shuffle that Allgeier is actually good, but therein lies the problem: Robinson is great. The Falcons had value in Allgeier. That doesn’t mean it should curb Robinson’s. They learned their lesson in time to still make a run at the NFC South crown. Expect plenty of Robinson in Week 13 against the Jets.

Quentin Johnston continues to look like a mega-bust. If Flowers and Robinson are first-round rookies getting on the right track, Johnston continues to fall off of it. The young man is fighting for targets with Alex Erickson, and doing almost nothing with the looks he does command. A supposed boundary threat, Johnston is averaging a pathetic nine yards on his 21 catches. He is 99th out of 102 in Pro Football Focus’ yards per route run. Only Terrace Marshall, Allen Robinson and Van Jefferson have been worse. Failing both before and after the Chargers’ biblical wave of receiver injuries put him on the spot, there is no light at the end of Johnston’s rookie tunnel.

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Three More Week 12 Storylines

Kyren Williams goes thermonuclear in return from injured reserve. Williams and the Arizona Cardinals had already met. He torched them for 158 yards rushing in Week 6 before injuring his ankle. Six weeks later he was at it again in his return, this time supplying 143 yards on the ground and adding 6/61/2 through the air. Although two good games against an awful defense paint an incomplete picture, there are a few obvious takeaways. This is again Williams’ backfield, for instance. No other Rams back has had a performance come close this season, against the Cardinals or otherwise. We also need to see it happen against someone else before parking Williams in the top 12, and his next two matchups are as tough as it gets. Vs. Cleveland, at Baltimore. If Williams reaches even half of his Week 12 production against the Browns, we will have a new RB1 on our hands.

Rashee Rice finally puts it all together with 8/107/1 effort. Rice dropped two passes in Las Vegas. Then he got to work. His eight catches were a new season high by three while his 107 yards were a new career high by 35. His 39-yard touchdown was his longest grab of the season, and the kind of YAC job big play the Chiefs have been painfully lacking. Rice has been inconsistent enough that Sunday can’t be declared some kind of turning point, but it still restores him to the WR3 mix for a Week 13 where six teams are on bye. The Packers will be a far tougher road challenge than the Raiders.

Jalin Hyatt clears 100 yards in Pats/Giants toilet bowl. Hyatt had never exceeded five targets in a game before Sunday. Sure, that number was only six against the Patriots, but Hyatt made his looks count, adding to his growing number of big plays and furthering his argument for more snaps. Seven of Hyatt’s 17 receptions have gained 20-plus yards. That, of course, hints at a boom/bust nature but also desperately needed play-making ability for this moribund offense. It was the exact perfect effort to have going into the Giants’ bye week. The post-bye rookie bump is a very real thing, and Hyatt got the process started before the open date. Whether it is Tyrod Taylor or Tommy DeVito under center for Hyatt’s Week 14 return, he has finally earned some WR4 benefit of the doubt in the Rashid Shaheed mold.

Questions

1. At least Frank Reich made it longer than Urban Meyer? Oh … oh my goodness.

2. Remember when the Eagles were “only beating backup quarterbacks”?

3. You’re telling me the Broncos allowed 70 points? In one game?

Early Waivers Look (Players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)

QB: Derek Carr (vs. DET), Gardner Minshew (@TEN), Kenny Pickett (vs. AZ), Bryce Young (@TB)

RB: Ty Chandler, Ezekiel Elliott, Tyjae Spears, Samaje Perine, Royce Freeman, Jeff Wilson

WR: Jayden Reed, Tutu Atwell, Curtis Samuel, Khalil Shakir, Jalin Hyatt, Jonathan Mingo, Cedric Tillman, Greg Dortch

TE: Pat Freiermuth, Cade Otton, Chig Okonkwo, Gerald Everett, Tyler Conklin, Juwan Johnson, Tanner Hudson

DEF: Jaguars (vs. CIN), Bucs (vs. CAR), Falcons (@NYJ), Chargers (@NE), Rams (vs. CLE)

Stats of the Week

Two of the past three No. 1 overall picks have played for a first-year head coach who got fired before Christmas.

Via Gregg Rosenthal: “Between his MLS and NFL teams, David Tepper has fired four head coaches in the last 18 months."

Rich Hribar on the Cardinals’ defense: “46.1 percent of the drives against the Cardinals have now reached the red zone or scored prior. The league average is 33.0 percent.”

Jerome Ford is averaging 0.29 rush yards over expected per attempt. Kareem Hunt is at -0.58. Perhaps it is time to whittle this committee down again.

Awards Section

Week 12 Fantasy All-Pro Team: QB Josh Allen, RB Kyren Williams, RB Christian McCaffrey, WR Tyreek Hill, WR Mike Evans, WR Rashee Rice, TE Pat Freiermuth

Tweet of the Week, from Mario Puig: “[Watches Justin Herbert throw multiple times to Alex Erickson in an attempted game-winning drive in 2023] If this guy doesn’t win the game I swear to god.”

Tweet of the Week II, from Jakob Sanderson: The Chargers weapons are good except that nobody can run deep, nobody run can run after the catch, and most of them have questionable hands.

The That Actually Happened Award: The Patriots jettisoning Jakobi Meyers in favor of JuJu Smith-Schuster.