When the Steelers and Patriots meet in Pittsburgh to open Week 14 of the 2023 NFL regular season on "Thursday Night Football" (8:15 p.m. ET), no one -- especially fantasy football owners -- is expecting a repeat of last week's TNF shootout between the Cowboys and Seahawks.
With Bailey Zappe and Mitch Trubisky starting at quarterback and no Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) running for the Patriots, the over/under for the game is at a modern low of 30 points. That doesn't bode well for a lot of fantasy points, so it's best to fade most of the starting options in a critical pre-playoff week for most seasonal leagues.
That said, Pittsburgh and New England do still offer some viable lineup options. Here's looking at who to start and sit and some DFS lineups for the latest edition of TNF:
MORE THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
DK lineup | FD lineup | ATS pick | Top props | Najee update
Patriots: Who to start, sit in fantasy football on TNF
Sit: QB Bailey Zappe
Instead of watching Zappe go to work as a Mac Jones clone with a limited wide receiver and tight end corps vs. a nasty pass defense, can we suggest watching the classic Charles in Charge combination of Scott Baio and Willie Ames in the horrible early-1980s comedy "Zapped!" (Six percent on Rotten Tomatoes, 10 percent on Metacritic). Or watch an old episode of "Party of Five" starring Scott Wolf as Bailey Salinger. You can just check the bad Zappe box score later.
Start: RB Ezekiel Elliott
You know what they say: "Zappe and Zeke, Pray For a Week." While we're bailing on Bailey, let's hope for some Ezekiel 25:17 (The Pulp Fiction version) going HAM in place of Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) with high volume against a rather weak overall Steelers' run defense that just gave it up big to the similar James Conner.
WEEK 14 FANTASY ADVICE:
Sleepers | Busts | Projections | Start-sit
Sit: WR DeVante Parker
UPDATE: Parker (knee) has been ruled OUT, giving slightly more value to JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Parker was their best receiver in a shutout vs. the Chargers' bad secondary last week, yielding some passable WR3 results with Zappe. However, this week, Parker should see plenty of young stud corner Joey Porter Jr., so no.
Sit: WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
Oh boy, what a revenge game change for JuJu with Zappe! The former Steeler, who was once a dominant fantasy football receiver as a rookie, has become a JAG after actually being pretty good for the Chiefs last season (they miss him, too). Avoid the bad mojo and JuJu even with Pop Douglas (concussion) out of the lineup again.
WEEK 14 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Sit: TE Hunter Henry
The Steelers are pretty good at erasing tight ends in general even though the Cardinals' Trey McBride flexed on them last week. Henry is not being used in a similar way, so you can't go here.
WEEK 14 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Start: Patriots D/ST
Now we're talking. The Patriots' defense almost single-handledly won the games vs. the Giants and Chargers. Bill Belichick hasn't lost his groove here despite making yet another bad decision with the direction of his offense. The Pats' D/ST will make some rich plays vs. Mitch Trubisky.
Sit: K Chad Ryland
Live from the Ryland Auditorium, it's the No. 31 kicker in most fantasy leagues!
WEEK 14 DFS:
DK lineup | FD lineup | Best values | Best stacks
Steelers: Who to start, sit in fantasy football on TNF
Sit: QB Mitch(ell) Trubisky
Is he Mitch, aka David Hasselhoff, from Baywatch, or Mitchell, Tom Cruise's first name in The Firm and last name in Top Gun? Also, have you ever realized signing his full name to the tune of "Eleanor Rigby" is kind of cool, way cooler than starting a completely flawed big-arm QB vs. Bill Belichick.
Start: RB Najee Harris
The Steelers won't be flying fighter jets much with Trubisky. but rather turning to a grinding ground attack with their big tank of a running back. Harris has been running well of late and will be tasked with wearing down the Patriots' front with volume. He should get 60 yards and one of the game's TDs.
Start: RB Jaylen Warren
Warren figures to be busy in the passing game to some degree, and he can form a 1-2 scrimmage punch with Harris, padding his numbers more with receptions than scoring potential.
Sit: WR Diontae Johnson
Johnson was fortunate to save his fantasy value with a late garbage TD from Trubisky last week, but he simply didn't look great otherwise in a smash spot vs. the Cardinals. He's not their true No. 1 wideout anymore.
Start: WR George Pickens
That No. 1 designation is pivoting to Pickens now that Matt Canada is out of the equation. Pickett to Pickens was hot again before the former went down vs. Arizona. Trubisky does have a big enough arm to take one successful downfield shot to Pickens, who can speed past the Patriots' outside corners a few times.
Sit: TE Pat Freiermuth
'Muth was silenced by the Cardinals after they gave up a pair of scores to Tyler Higbee. The Patriots aren't a good matchup for TEs, and no Pickett hurts him most.
Start: Steelers D/ST
T.J. Watt should have a monster day leading the way in getting after Zappe, and a lot of other talented Steelers defensive dudes will also make some plays in prime time when the team badly needs a rebound win.
Start: K Chris Boswell
What James Boswell is to diarists, Chris Boswell is to kickers. He's only 18th in kicker scoring, but he can have some big games when needed, especially at home. Pencil him in for at least eight points.
Patriots vs. Steelers: DraftKings Showdown lineup
- Captain (1.5X): Steelers WR George Pickens $15,000
- FLEX: Patriots RB Ezekiel Elliott $9,400
- FLEX: Steelers RB Najee Harris $8,400
- FLEX: Steelers D/ST $6,600
- FLEX: Patriots D/ST $5,000
- FLEX: Steelers K Chris Boswell $5,400
The Patriots give up a lot of downfield pass plays to speedy perimeter receivers (see Jalin Hyatt two weeks ago), so Pickens is a sneaky Captain given he had a great game last week and should build on it here with a long score. We're also attaching the two lead power backs, correlated with the defenses and a money-winning kicker.
Patriots vs. Steelers: FanDuel single-game lineup
- MVP (1.5X): Steelers WR George Pickens $11,000
- AnyFLEX: Steelers RB Najee Harris $14,000
- AnyFLEX: Patriots RB Ezekiel Elliott $12,000
- AnyFLEX: Steelers D/ST $10,000
- AnyFLEX: Patriots D/ST $9,000
This follows the exact same logic as the DK construction, only without the kicker and paying a little less for Pickens and more for Harris.
