The Week 4 matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers features division rivals renewing old acquaintances on Thursday Night Football. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 4: Ravens-Steelers featuring Steve Smith Sr., Michael Vick and Antonio Brown
We break down the Week 4 matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens gave it quite an effort in trying to mount a come-from-behind win against the Cincinnati Bengals last week. From a fantasy perspective, the fact they were trailing for most of the game benefited owners of quarterback Joe Flacco. He finished with 32 completions on a season-high 49 attempts for 362 yards and two touchdowns. He likely won’t have to throw that much against a depleted Steelers team on Thursday Night Football, but it’s encouraging to see him throwing at a high volume in general.
With rookie Breshad Perriman highly unlikely to make his season debut after re-aggravating a knee injury and tight end Crockett Gilmore doubtful as well, wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. will likely be getting the bulk of the work load in the team’s passing game against the Steelers. After a slow start in Week 1, Smith has 23 catches for 336 yards and two touchdowns in the two games since. He should see double-digit targets against Pittsburgh and is an automatic starter in fantasy lineups this week.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are about to come to grips with the reality of life without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He’s out for the next 4-to-6 weeks with an MCL sprain. That means Michael Vick is the team’s new starting pivot. The offense sputtered with him under center last week in St. Louis. He completed just five passes for 38 yards in the game despite the fact the Steelers hung on for the win. Vick will undoubtedly be added in fantasy leagues because Big Ben is dealing with a multi-week ailment, but at his age and on a new team, he probably won’t remind people of his early days with the Falcons this time around.
That doesn’t bode well for fantasy owners of wide receiver Antonio Brown. Brown looked to be headed for a career day before Roethlisberger went down in the second half. While he finished with 11 catches and 108 yards, 90 percent of those yards came with Vick watching from the sidelines. Brown is still a must-start receiver in all fantasy formats, but his upside may be limited for the next month or so.
