2022 Week 13 Game Recap: Steelers 19, Falcons 16 (by Ross Jacobs)
The Steelers looked to be in complete control of this one until the 4th quarter. They led 16-6 at the half and 19-6 until the very end of the 3rd quarter when Atlanta suddenly got a few drives going. The Falcons actually looked like they were going to take the lead on the next drive but a Patterson walk-in TD was called back for a hold and then a false start set them even further back. Atlanta had to kick a field goal to cut the lead to 3. That left about 5 minutes on the clock but Atlanta couldn't stop Najee Harris and Pittsburgh burned a bunch of time off the clock before pinning Atlanta at their own 2 yard line with less than a minute remaining. Mariota threw an easy INT to Minkah Fitzpatrick on the last play to end it.
Pittsburgh held on against a weaker opponent and are now 5-7, winners of their last 2 and 3 of their last 4. The team is improving slowly week by week as the young players adapt but this still isn't a particularly good team. With a few good off-season additions they might be a surprisingly competent team in 2023. The core is there, now they just need a few complementary pieces and more depth. Looking over the schedule they'll win 1-2-3 more games maybe, depending on their luck and finish with a losing schedule, but considering how they looked to us at the start of the year it's been a decent campaign really. We knew this team was going to be at their weakest in years and that happened but they are obviously getting better now.
Atlanta continues to find new and interesting ways to blow football games. It seems like every game they've played this year, win or loss, has been close. Arthur Smith has caught a lot of crap this year for good reason, but if you really take a step back and think about what this team has accomplished, it's honestly quite impressive considering their overall talent level. They were not expected to be able to compete at all this year. We all thought they were one of the worst teams in the league and yet they have rarely been completely out of a game this year. Yes, they've blown a lot of winnable games but the mere fact that they were even in these games to begin with is a testament to what they are doing.
It's easy to get caught up in the game to game details but in the grand scheme of things I do think Smith has greatly improved this team since he took over and I'm curious to see what he can do with better talent, particularly at QB. I think it's perfectly reasonable to think that Smith and Atlanta could start dominating this division as early as next year the way that Tennessee has been dominating the AFC South with Vrabel. Before we all grab our pitchforks and run Smith out of here, let's let him have a chance with something approximating a reasonable NFL QB first...fair?
Fantasy Player Notes:
– Cameras caught George Pickens mouthing off at the end of this game about wanting the ball more and I've seen a lot of criticism of that. “Rookie thinks he's a vet...” and other such nonsense. The reality is that he is the best playmaker they have already...I think he's perfectly entitled to call for more than 2 targets in a game where they only scored 19 points. This offense has struggled to create explosive plays all year and they would have basically none if it weren't for Pickens. He's good. He knows he's good. Everyone knows he's good. This is how the best players in the NFL are...you think Michael Jordan would have wanted anyone on his team taking the final shot with seconds left to win the game? Hell no, he'd do it himself because he was the best. Tomlin said it best after the game. “I'd rather say 'Whoa' than 'Sic 'em'”
I don't know why Pickens got so few targets here. It was like Pickett wasn't even looking at him. I have to assume this was part of the gameplan by Matt Canada and if so it was a stupid call. I honestly don't like this cute, dink and dunk offense but that's what we're working with for now. I do expect Pickens will be more involved moving forward but I also don't expect to see a massive 1-game boost the way a lot of bigger name vets might get after an outburst like this. They aren't going to suddenly throw Pickens 14 passes next game like a Hopkins or A-Rob might get, but he should go back to his more normal 6 targets per game (which is plenty for him considering his proclivity for big plays). This passing offense isn't high volume yet, they want to run the ball and control the clock with Najee but Pickens has been a nice WR2 the past 4-5 weeks and this seems like just a blip.
Diontae Johnson was clearly the main option here as he has been most of the year. He gets more targets because he's the safe, underneath throw for Pickett. It just hasn't translated into fantasy points this year. 0 TDs on the year for Diontae and he's only been averaging around 5 catches and 50 yards per game despite the relatively heavy targeting. I'd much rather have Pickens. The team made a mistake trading Claypool instead of Diontae.
– The most productive passing option is actually not even one of the receivers, it's TE Pat Freiermuth. Just 5 targets here but he turned it into a decent day by breaking a couple of tackles on a simple catch and run. Just 1 TD on the year for Freiermuth which is holding him back from being a TE1 this year but at least he consistently gets catches and yards. That's more than you can say for most other TEs this year. I like Freiermuth as an undervalued player for 2023.
– I've never been a huge Najee Harris fan but I have to say, he's looking the best I've ever seen him right now, quicker, more shifty instead of just being a straight ahead power guy. He's still just a RB2 for fantasy because the offense as a whole is so bad and he's not getting all the sweet dump off passes like he did from Ben last year, but just like Freiermuth, I like him to have a bounceback year next year...maybe...
– I've got nothing new on Atlanta. We know what they are at this point, a run heavy team that's splitting carries evenly between Patterson and Allgeier. Love their run game as a whole but hate the passing game. Mariota is just awful to watch and has held back Drake London all year although London finally put together a nice game here on 12 total targets. London is a very good receiver and looks exactly like how we scouted him, like a big Keenan Allen. He could be fantastic for fantasy with a decent QB next year.
IDP Notes:
– I called it several weeks back, Rashaan Evans has been on fire for weeks now, 9+ tackles in 10 of his last 11 games, double digits in 9 of the last 11...he now leads the league in total tackles with no signs of slowing down.
Pitt Dad: https://youtu.be/gIofOuFNCR4
Snap Counts of Interest:
53 = Diontae
44 = Pickens
25 = Sims
36 = Freiermuth
43 = Najee
47 = London
47 = Zaccheaus
34 = Hesse
27 = Pruitt
28 = Allgeier
25 = Patterson
