Pittsburgh

Steelers

NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe reports that Maulet is retiring. The 33-year-old slot cornerback began his career with the Saints and Colts and ended it with the Lions, but made the bulk of his impact from 2019-2024 with the Jets, Steelers, and Ravens. Maulet made major noise as a hard-hitting cornerback in the AFC North, going from the Steelers to the Ravens in 2023 and starting a playoff game for Mike Macdonald’s historic Ravens defense. He retires with five career interceptions and five sacks.

Pittman has been on injured reserve since October 10th, and began running last week. While the veteran receiver said he hopes to return after the Steelers’ bye week, he also said that there’s “no time frame” for his return. Pittman’s foot injury was a reaggravation of a previous injury he had earlier in the season, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the Steelers exercised extreme caution to ensure it doesn’t flare up again when he returns. Pittman’s first season in Pittsburgh has been disappointing, to say the least. He has appeared in just three games and has totaled seven receptions for 89 scoreless yards.

Freierumuth is the Steelers’ designated tush push option, which will give him a little added fantasy value here and there. Despite the fact that Darnell Washington outproduced Freiermuth today, Freiermuth ran a route on 11 of the team’s 26 dropbacks, compared to just five for Washington. This simply wasn’t a big day for the Steelers’ passing attack, but we’d expect Freiermuth to remain a mid-range TE2 option going forward.

Washington made a nice 58-yard catch where he broke two tackles, and then tight-rope walked down the sideline before being pushed out of bounds at the one-yard line. It was an impressive display of athleticism from a large human being. Washington was tied for second on the team in targets and played the third-most snaps of any non-offensive lineman or Aaron Rodgers today. However, early data says he ran a route on just five dropbacks, which means he was targeted every single time he ran a route. That type of production can’t hold up in that limited a role.

This wasn’t a big day for Bernard, but it wasn’t a big day for the Steelers’ passing attack either. Pittsburgh was able to control this game on the ground and with its defense. The good news for Bernard is that he was second on the team in targets and ran a route on 22 of Aaron Rodgers’ 26 dropbacks. Bernard is going to be more valuable in PPR leagues because of his shorter route tree, but he should be rostered in most formats given his ability and role.

This was not a great game for Metcalf. He and Rodgers struggled to connect all day, and one of Metcalf’s drops was a near-40-yard pass that hit him square in the chest. The receiver simply dropped the ball and wound up hitting it forward directly into the cornerback’s hands. The good news is that Metcalf ran a route on every single dropback today, but he and his quarterback are not on the same page. Maybe the bye week will help, so don’t drop him yet.

Dowdle looked good in this one, and while he didn’t hit the home run play that Jaylen Warren did, he was ripping off big gains throughout the day. Dowdle played just six fewer snaps than Warren, ran four fewer routes, and had two fewer carries, so he needs to be rostered as an RB3 who would have low-end RB2 value if Warren were to get hurt.

Warren tied a career-high in rushing, but the Steelers opted to try and run out the clock with Rico Dowdle, on Warren’s birthday no less, so Warren was unable to set a new personal best. Warren delivered plenty of chunk gains in this game, including a huge 51-yard run, but he split work pretty evenly with Dowdle. Warren had two more carries and ran four more routes, but this was as close to a split backfield as you can get, so Warren will really need to deliver on his touches to keep producing fantasy value. If you can get an RB1 in a deal for him, it might not be a bad idea to search for offers with Pittsburgh on a bye next week.

Rodgers wasn’t asked to do much in this game with the Steelers dominating on the ground, but he didn’t deliver many big plays on the chances he did have. Darnell Washington had a nice catch-and-run for a 58-yard gain, but the Steelers didn’t threaten down the field much throughout the game. The interception was certainly not Rodgers’ fault, however. He threw a great pass that hit DK Metcalf in the chest, but Metcalf popped the ball up into the air, and it was picked off. Rodgers is going to be a low-ceiling option in fantasy because the Steelers want to win with their defense and running game, but he should have better days than this. They won’t be in Week 9 though, since the Steelers are on a bye.

Steelers declared WR Ben Skowronek, QB Drew Allar, QB Will Howard, CB Brandin Echols, RB Eli Heidenreich, and CB Doneiko Slaughter inactive for Week 8 against the Browns. Skowronek will miss this game with a calf injury while Echols and Slaughter deal with hamstring injuries. Howard will serve as the emergency third quarterback.