NFL Week 13 Fantasy Football Recap: Atlanta Falcons vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

• Drake London: 6 receptions, 95 yards

• Najee Harris: 17 carries, 86 yards, 1 reception, 6 receiving yards

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GB@CHI | PIT@ATL | NYJ@MIN | JAX@DET
TEN@PHI | CLE@HOU | WSH@NYG | DEN@BAL | MIA@SF
SEA@LAR | LAC@LVR | KC@CIN | IND@DAL

The Steelers are relatively healthy at running back: The Steelers were down to their third- and fourth-string running backs on Monday Night Football in Week 12 but had everyone ready for this game.

• Najee Harris didn’t practice to start the week, dealing with an oblique injury he suffered on Monday Night Football, but surprisingly didn’t have an injury designation on Friday.
• His playing time was comparable to other recent weeks, and if anything, he played one or two snaps fewer than usual.
• Harris finished above 5.0 yards per carry for the first time all season.
• Jaylen Warren also returned to the Steelers after missing last week and most of Week 11. He regained his passing-down back role.
• He handled both fewer snaps and fewer touches than in recent weeks when he was healthy.
• Benny Snell Jr. took snaps as the third back. He also showed up on the injury report with a knee injury.
• It wouldn’t be surprising if Snell goes back to not seeing any playing time going forward.
• The Steelers have a mix of good and bad matchups for their running backs the rest of the way.

Reason for concern for Pat Freiermuth: The Steelers tight end led the team in yards (76) thanks to three catches, but his playing time has been on the decline.

• Freiermuth has consistently been on the field for third downs and two tight-end sets all season.
• He is almost never on the field in 21 personnel and shares snaps in 11 personnel with Zach Gentry on early downs.
• There has always been a trend of Freiermuth playing more in passing situations from that personnel group and Gentry more on rushing, which remained true.
• Typically, Freiermuth ends up with more snaps than Gentry in this situation, but against the Falcons, Gentry played 18 such reps compared to five for Freiermuth.
• This might be a one-time thing, or it could be a sign of things to come.
• It’s still worth keeping him in fantasy starting lineups due to his talent, but this could hurt his ceiling over the rest of the season if it continues.

Drake London’s big game: London recorded the highest receiving yardage total of his career, but that doesn’t necessarily mean his stock is on the rise.

• The Falcons didn’t change how they used London.
• London was targeted on over half of his routes, which isn’t a sustainable rate.
• He accomplished this against a Steelers defense that had allowed the most fantasy points to wide receivers coming into the week.
• The Steelers use man defense on nearly 40% of their pass plays, which is the fourth-highest rate for defenses this season.
• London had a target share of 27.7% heading into the week against defenses using man, compared to 23.3% against zone.
• Atlanta has a bye next week and then faces three defenses that have allowed fewer fantasy points to wide receivers and play less man defense.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.