Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh is a top-three D/ST play in Week 8 rankings, and the case rests on the matchup and recent form more than on a track record of sacks.
Role
This is a team defense, so there are no snaps or touches to report. Week 8 is at home against Cleveland. One outlet has Pittsburgh favored by 3.5 with a total near 38.5 (Rotoballer, 10/27), and another lists an implied opponent score of 17.5. A FantasyPros preseason note named Cameron Heyward, Joey Porter Jr. and Jamel Dean as the core of the unit. I did not read a current depth chart.
Rotoballer ranks Pittsburgh No. 1 this week. Its argument is that Cleveland's offensive line has allowed the most sacks in the league, with 25 through seven weeks, and that Pittsburgh ranks eighth in EPA per play. In Week 7 the unit held New Orleans to 10 offensive points, with two sacks and an interception. Football Nation notes a plus-four turnover margin and a run defense allowing 91.0 yards per game, seventh best.
Rotoballer says Week 7 was the first game this season with multiple sacks, so the pass rush has not been producing much. Football Nation also says Cleveland already beat Pittsburgh once this season and has a disruptive pass rush, so Pittsburgh is not a comfortable favorite. The most recent game log on FantasyPros, a Week 8 loss to Green Bay (35-25), shows -4.0 fantasy points. That log looks like it belongs to a prior season, so treat it with caution.
Where analysts split
The split is small: the ranks run from No. 1 (Rotoballer) to No. 2 (Draft Sharks) to No. 3 (SI, Sportsnaut). The open question is whether Pittsburgh's low sack volume can still produce fantasy points against a Browns line that gives up a lot of sacks. Rotoballer says yes. Football Nation is more cautious, because Cleveland has beaten Pittsburgh once already.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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