NFL Week 15 Recap: Instant Fantasy Football Tips from Dolphins-Steelers Monday Night Football

• Pittsburgh Steelers win with an efficient passing game: The Steelers sustained several long drives by relying on short, methodical passes, capped off by a touchdown from recent acquisition Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

• De’Von Achane was healthy, but it wasn’t enough: Achane was the only source of offense for the Miami Dolphins before it was time to rumble despite suffering a rib injury last week.

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Miami dolphins @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers rely more heavily on their new receivers: Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Adam Thielen both received more playing time in their second game with the team.

Pittsburgh opened the season with DK Metcalf as the X receiver and Calvin Austin III as the No. 2, while Roman Wilson, Ben Skowronek and Scotty Miller rotated for the remaining snaps. Metcalf was the only wide receiver from that group to provide consistent fantasy production.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling started the year with Seattle, was released before the season and spent the first six weeks with San Francisco before landing on the Steelers’ practice squad once the 49ers got healthier. Adam Thielen started the season with Carolina and was traded Minnesota as insurance for Jordan Addison’s suspension, but failed to secure a role and ultimately joined Pittsburgh upon his release.

Both wide receivers made their Steelers debuts last week, leading to Roman Wilson becoming a healthy inactive. Adam Thielen joined DK Metcalf in 12-man, while Marquez Valdes-Scantling rotated with Thielen at the Z receiver spot. Calvin Austin III mainly handled the closing duties, alternating with Ben Skowronek.

This week, Valdes-Scantling’s role was significantly expanded. After being signed to the 53-man squad prior to the match, he was part of 11-man full-time rather than being part of a rotation. Thielen instead shared closing snaps with Austin in a nearly 50-50 timeshare. Skowronek saw limited use, primarily on short-yardage plays, while Scotty Miller served as Metcalf’s primary backup. Wilson was inactive again.

Some of the quick split may have been affected by injuries, as Austin was limited by a calf issue late in the week and Skowronek dealt with a hand injury. However, it is also possible that the staff prefers the veteran presence of Valdes-Scantling and Thielen. Neither receiver was heavily involved in the passing game, although Valdes-Scantling did find the end zone. While fantasy value remains limited, the shift indicates Pittsburgh is clearly moving away from most of the receivers who opened the season behind Metcalf.

Monitor Ollie Gordon II’s health: Gordon suffered an ankle injury and played just two snaps in the second half.

Miami spent most of the season with De’Von Achane as the clear lead and Gordon as its main backup. When Achane suffered a rib injury last week, Jaylen Wright surpassed Gordon on the depth chart and took advantage of the opportunity, rushing for 107 yards on 24 carries with a touchdown after being dealt the hot hand.

Achane was set to return last week but wasn’t needed for a big win, and after being limited early in the week he returned to his normal role in this match.

Wright was again the first backup off the bench, with him and Achane rotating in standard early-down situations. Ahmed handled a close-range carry late in the second quarter but was tackled for a loss and suffered an ankle injury, sidelining him until the final minutes of the match. Whether his absence was injury-related or game script-driven remains unclear.

Miami’s backup running back situation may not matter much for the rest of this season, but it is one to keep an eye on long term. All three backs are on rookie contracts, and if Achane were to miss time in the future, Wright or Gordon could have meaningful fantasy value if someone can clearly separate themselves into the No. 2 role.

Various comments

• Steelers starting running back Jaylen Warren was listed as questionable early Monday due to an illness, but he was active. He didn’t play as much as usual on early downs, which could be related to the illness, or Kenneth Gainwell just had the hot hand.
• Kaleb Johnson started seeing playing time in the final 10 minutes of the game. Since Week 6, he has been held to single-digit offensive snaps in every game.
• The Steelers waived wide receiver Ke’Shawn Williams on Monday to make room for Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the roster.
• Steelers tight end Darnell Washington was limited in practice all week with a concussion and was questionable but played.
• Although this was a revenge game for Jonnu Smith, he played less than usual. The Steelers had more than 11 personnel usual, and Pat Freiermuth played more often on early downs at 11 personnel, leaving fewer snaps for Smith. However, the Steelers threw him the ball in the fourth quarter, resulting in a touchdown run against his former team.
• Dolphins tight end Darren Waller played a higher percentage of snaps in two tight end sets and on third downs compared to last week, with his scores in those situations nearing their peak from earlier in the season before his injury. With the Dolphins losing time of possession and focusing on the run game for most of the game, he caught seven passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns, almost all of which came in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Table notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays have been removed from the other three statistics.

• Objectives may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be the result of an obviously thrown pass, where the NFL could give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.

• Carries are only possible on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward the total number of carries in the game.