INDIANAPOLIS — If you've advanced this far in your fantasy playoffs, congratulations. Even if you're like me and you ended up facing Alvin "Six Touchdowns" Kamara in the first round of your league championships, you're still here. What a run.
But if you've landed here looking for an Indianapolis Colts player or two to make a difference in your lineup this week, I've got bad news for you: the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Colts' Week 16 opponent today, simply don't give up fantasy points in bunches to, really, any position.
But we'll still give you the rundown so you can decide for yourself.
(Weekly positional rankings from FanDuel. Ranks as of Saturday.)
QB Philip Rivers
» FanDuel Week 16 Position Rank: QB30
» Steelers vs. QBs: 2nd (15.5 FPPG)
OK, the Steelers' defense is really good — arguably the best in the league. But to put Rivers, one of the most consistent quarterbacks in the league over the past several weeks, at No. 30 in this matchup seems a bit dramatic. That being said, Rivers likely isn't going to be the play you want to make if you need a second quarterback today.
RBs Jonathan Taylor, Nyheim Hines
» FanDuel Week 16 Position Rank: Taylor RB10, Hines RB36
» Steelers vs. RBs: 1st (16.1 FPPG)
That Taylor is still at No. 10 against the league's best defense at limiting running backs (fantasy-wise) is pretty telling, to be honest. Taylor, of course, has had four consecutive games with at least 80 rushing yards, becoming the first Colts running back to accomplish that feat since Joseph Addai in 2007, and while the Steelers are darn good against the run, they're still known to give up an explosive play or two on the ground. With both tackles (Anthony Castonzo and Braden Smith) out in this game, one might imagine Indy adds extra emphasis on its run game with Taylor and its quick-passing opportunities with a guy like Hines; so while I wouldn't be surprised if either had a decent showing fantasy-wise, it's tough to argue against what Pittsburgh has done to opposing running backs this entire season.
WRs T.Y. Hilton, Michael Pittman Jr.
» FanDuel Week 16 Position Rank: Hilton WR39, Pittman Jr. WR56
» Steelers vs. WRs: 8th (32.5 FPPG)
The Pittsburgh defense is prone to allowing some big fantasy performances to wide receivers; the Buffalo Bills' Stefon Diggs had a huge outing just two weeks ago against the Steelers, for example. But, for the most part, after some shaky performances the first half of the season, it seems as if this Pittsburgh defense has mostly figured it out when it comes to cutting down on those big plays through the air. I'm still not sold that Hilton, who, like Taylor at running back, remains red-hot for this Colts' offense, being dropped all the way down to No. 39 overall at WR makes much sense this week, but, like at QB, I'm not sure I can say with confidence that he should definitely be in your lineup, either.
TEs Trey Burton, Mo Alie-Cox, Jack Doyle
» FanDuel Week 16 Position Rank: Burton TE33, Alie-Cox TE38, Doyle TE44
» Steelers vs. TEs: 1st (6.2 FPPG)
Not a good week to play a Colts tight end against the league's No. 1 defense when it comes to limiting fantasy points to tight ends. Also, one has to imagine these guys will be counted on to provide all kinds of help to whoever plays left and right tackle in place of Anthony Castonzo and Braden Smith, both of whom are out. A big performance out of one of these three guys would certainly be an awesome surprise, however.
Colts Defense/Special Teams
» FanDuel Week 16 Position Rank: DST15
» Steelers vs. DSTs: 10th (5.9 FPPG)
The Steelers are great on defense, but one of the main reasons they've struggled in their current three-game losing streak is their offense. They haven't had a running attack to speak of, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is dinking and dunking way more than he ever has. James Conner is expected to be back at running back for Pittsburgh on Sunday, however, which could help its running attack; that, coupled with the outdoor December conditions for a rookie kicker in Rodrigo Blankenship doesn't make this an ideal DST matchup for Indy, but it's also not one that, I think, will lose you any matchups this week.
Weekly NFL Fantasy Rankings from numberFire, a FanDuel company. Visit FanDuel to play daily fantasy sports contests.
