Thursday Night Preview – Week 14 – Pittsburgh Steelers @ Minnesota Vikings

Week 14 is here and I really cannot believe it. We say it every season, but I cannot believe how fast this fantasy season goes. We are a week or two away from fantasy playoffs and we are all scrambling to make the right moves so we can solidify a playoff spot. On a side note, my son was born last Thursday at 6:50pm so I want to give him a big shout out for letting me enjoy his birth while still being able to watch Thursday Night Football. Every Dad’s dream!

The Vikings are coming off a horrific Week 13 loss to the Lions and I really do not know how they could have played a worse game. Maybe the Lions just played a great game, but overall, it was an embarrassing loss. The Steelers are coming off a close win last week against the Ravens and really need to start a winning streak if they want to make a playoff push. So, needless to say, both team NEED a win bad.

We will start with the Steelers and which players we can use for fantasy. Although Big Ben had a near 20-point game last week, it is still hard to trust him any week, even against a weak Vikings D, so I would keep him on the bench. As for the pass catchers, you are starting Dionte Johnson regardless as he is now viewed as a WR1 in fantasy, but you can also trust Chase Claypool. I know Claypool has not given us a big game since he has been back, but the targets and volume are there. It’s just a matter of time for him to break a big TD play and it can come against a weak defense tonight.

Another pass catcher I like in this game and really for fantasy going forward is Pat Freiermuth. I do get that the matchup is tough and the Vikings have done well against TEs, but the Muth is a favorite for Ben down in the red zone, so I hope he grabs a TD tonight since I have that as part of my parlay! For the running game, there is only one man, and that man is Najee Harris. His YPC are pretty bad overall, but any RB would have the same low number behind this awful line. He is doing as much as he can with every touch he gets and is a massive factor in the passing game. He can be played as an RB1 easily tonight,

As for the Vikings, I am always a fan of Kirk Cousins, but this season, he has really been up and down to where I am not sure how much I can trust him. He flirts right between that late QB1, early QB2 play, so if you have to play him, go for it. The reason I would sit him myself is the loss of his red zone weapon in Adam Thielen. With him out tonight, that is a big hole that KJ Osborn will have to fill. That’s some hard shoes to fill, but Osborn can be played as a flex just with the volume he will be getting. You are for sure playing Justin Jefferson since he has been the WR1 in fantasy the last 5 weeks, so not much to talk about there.

The hardest part in this game is figuring out the Vikings’ running game. Last week when Cook was out Mattison had a great game, so Mattison owners were pumped to get another solid start tonight with him. Well, that may not be the case. The Vikings are hopeful that Dalvin Cook suits up and plays which throws a wrench in everything for this running game. We have seen guys like Aaron Jones and Darrell Henderson be ‘active’ after coming back early from injures and either barely used or not used at all. If Cook is active, you have to play him and go down with the ship if he ends up not getting a snap. You would hate to bench him and see him go for 20. If Cook plays Mattison should still be a solid RB2/flex play since the Vikings will take some carries away from Cook.

Well, there you have it and good luck to everyone heading in to fantasy playoffs! Cheers!