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11/14/19 Week 11

Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. Cleveland Browns

By: Joulian Wilmer

Week 11 kicks off with an AFC North matchup between the (3-6) Browns and the (5-4) Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland this Thursday night. These two teams will be playing each other again quite soon as week 13 will bring a showdown in the Steel City, but first we will concentrate on this game.

Coming into the season the Browns were expected to reach places beyond where they had been in ages, but so far, the hype isn’t translating into on the field play. The Steelers come into almost every season expecting good things, but this is the first year in sometime where they haven’t lived up to expectations. Some of this can be lent to the fact that Big Ben isn’t playing, but regardless the team isn’t performing at the caliber most Pittsburgh fans are used to. The Steelers haven’t lost to Cleveland since 2014 (there have been 8 matchups in that time) so the Browns are truly itching for a win.

https://triblive.com/sports/steelers-cb-joe-haden-listed-as-questionable-for-game-against-browns-due-to-illness/



Coming into the week there were some notable players on both team’s injury report, but there looks to be good news on both sides. For the Steelers, James Connor, who didn’t play last week, practiced in full all week and looks to be running at full capacity this Thursday night which is good news for any Connor owner. Wideout Ryan Switzer, RB Benny Snell, and fullback Roosevelt Nix are all listed as out for this week, but this shouldn’t change too many fantasy game plan. Linebacker Anthony Chickillo and CB Joe Haden are both questionable coming into the game for Pittsburgh.

As for the Browns, wideouts Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry were listed on the injury report this week but after fully participating in practice thus far, they seem to be good to go. Tackle Kendall Lamm and tight-end Ricky-Seals Jones are both battling knee injuries, but after practicing fully on Wednesday, they should be good to go Thursday. The only players currently listed as out for Cleveland looks to be safety Eric Murray and defensive end Olivier Vernon.



Looking into fantasy output, the quarterback position on Thursday looks to be on shaky grounds. Drafted quite high this year Baker Mayfield has done nothing short of disappoint his owners and this week likely will be no different against a Steeler defense that has been playing very well thus far. While the Browns defense hasn’t been anything to write home about, neither has Mason Rudolph’s play and I don’t see that changing this week. Altogether I would avoid both QBs as you can definitely do better elsewhere, most likely even on the waiver wire (where both players probably are).

https://www.upi.com/amp/Sports_News/NFL/2019/11/11/Steelers-James-Conner-on-playing-Browns-I-think-Ill-be-good-to-go/2831573526609/

With James Connor good to go this week I would slot him in without question even with the possibility that Jaylen Samuels eats some extra touches this week. Things are getting interesting now with Kareem Hunt returning to the fold, but I’d still start Nick Chubb without hesitation as he has proved to be one of the better running backs in the NFL time and time again. I would leave Kareem Hunt on your bench for the time being as although he did gather 74 total yards last week, his role is still “up in the air” and the presence of Chubb will definitely cap his ceiling unless injured.



A guy who I really liked coming into this season but has been a major dud thus far is Juju Smith-Schuster. He has three total touchdowns all season and has hauled in over 80 receiving yards only three times all year, which has really disappointed all of Juju’s owners who expected big things. The problem is that the Pittsburgh passing game has been subpar all season, and unfortunately, I don’t see this trend changing coming into Cleveland Thursday night. Unless you don’t have any other options, I would keep Juju out of your lineup until we see a legitimate reason to slot him back in as most teams can’t afford to keep throwing him out there with nothing to show. Keep Juju on your roster obviously and watch him closely, but until he starts producing keep him out of your lineup.

https://www.steelcityunderground.com/2018/01/08/stats-stood-steelers-set-2017-nfl-records-milestones/

Neither Odell nor Landry have been lighting the world on fire, but this week I like their matchup against a Steelers D that ranks middle of the pack against wideouts this season. Landry has been performing better as of late and even though Odell isn’t performing up to expectations, I would still look to slot them in unless you have noticeably supreme options. Oddly enough Jarvis Landry has scored more points than Odell this season which no one would have predicted, leading me to throw some trust his way.

https://www.fanduel.com/theduel/amp/posts/would-you-rather-own-odell-beckham-jr-or-jarvis-landry-for-rest-of-2019-fantasy-season-01dsdqfe120b



The tight ends for both teams haven’t done anything spectacular thus far and I wouldn’t expect too much this week either. Vance McDonald is a borderline play if you don’t have much else as the Browns have given up the 20th most points to tight ends this season, but his floor leaves much to be desired. If you have any Cleveland tight end on your roster, I would suggest re-evaluating your fantasy strategy as they have proved to be useless this season and this won’t change even against a Steelers defense that has been generous to TEs this season.

The Steelers offense hasn’t been a defense killer, but I would stay away from the Browns lackluster D as they should continue to produce subpar numbers for the rest of the season. The Steelers defense is one I’d be looking to play as they have been producing at a high level this year on the real field and in the fantasy world.

Thank you for reading this article, for more insight into the fantasy sports world, read the rest of our articles on The Fantasy Coach’s twitter (@coachesfantasy) or at www.fantasycoaches.com.

By: Joulian Wilmer