Broncos vs. Steelers Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 2

The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 2 matchup between the Broncos and Steelers.

Find a breakdown of every Week 2 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.

Trust = spike production for that player

Quarterback

Justin Fields: Fields will start again this week, doing just enough in his first game paired with Russell Wilson not being fully 100%. 

In his first start with Pittsburgh, Fields completed 17-of-23 passes (73.9%) for 156 yards (6.8 Y/A), while rushing 14 times for 57 yards.

If the Steelers had any red zone success, things could have been better, but Fields closed the week as QB16 (11.9 points).

Fields did not throw an interception but was still sacked on 8.0% of his dropbacks (20th).

He still had the longest time to throw (3.14 seconds), but only 13.3% of his dropbacks resulted in a play of -1.0 EPA or worse, which was 5th-best on the week.

Fields still ran enough to keep him in play as a QB2 with upside, but the Arthur Smith restrictor plates were still present with this offense.

Pittsburgh had a 45.5% dropback rate, 30th in Week 1.

Fields could face more pressure in this matchup.

Denver blitzed a league-high 46.4% of the time in Week 1, pressuring Geno Smith 39.3% of the time (9th).

The Falcons blitzed 16.7% of the time (24th) and only generated pressure on 20.7% of snaps (29th).

Fields was pressured on just 6 dropbacks in Week 1.

But that also could be a blessing in disguise for Fields for fantasy purposes.

Denver played man coverage on 44.4% of passing snaps since their blitz rate was so high, 2^nd in the league.

Since he entered the league, no player has a higher scramble rate against the blitz than Fields (11.6%).

Against man coverage, he is also first with a 13.1% scramble rate.

Bo Nix: Nix quickly undid all of the goodwill he built up in the preseason.

He did what he could by rushing for 35 yards and a touchdown, but as a passer, Nix was 26-of-42 for only 138 yards and two interceptions.

His 3.3 yards per pass attempt was the 9th worst all-time for a quarterback in his first start (minimum 10 passes). 

The only good news was that the No. 1 overall pick this year was worse.

Nix was the least pressured quarterback prospect to come out last season, so we wanted to see how he handled an NFL pass rush.

When pressured in his debut, Nix was 7-of-15 for 1.3 yards per pass attempt. 

It was his first career start on the road in Seattle, so we will let things play out, but this matchup is not appealing to chase Nix as more than a player you have to start due to necessity in 2QB formats.

Pittsburgh was 2nd in the NFL in pressure rate without blitzing in Week 1 (45.8%).

Running Back

More Week 2 Fantasy Breakdowns From The Worksheet: