Fantasy Football Takeaways from the Bengals' Win Over the Steelers: Joe Flacco, Pat Freiermuth and More

Another Thursday night NFL game, another surprising finish.

The Cincinnati Bengals upset the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC North clash. Let's take a look at some of the fantasy football performances from that contest and discuss some takeaways.

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Chase Powers Cincy Offense

Ja'Marr Chase's fantasy outlook seems to have been revived after the trade for Joe Flacco.

Chase went off for 161 yards and a score on 16 catches and 23 targets. Flacco looked his way early and often, and Chase delivered again and again.

He had 94 yards and a score on 10 receptions and 12 targets in Flacco's first game with the team, so Chase is regaining some lost fantasy value, and doing it in a hurry. His fantasy owners no longer have to worry about what to do with Chase - get him in those lineups and be confident he's going to keep delivering.

Higgins also Delivers

Chase wasn't the only Bengal wideout who had a nice fantasy showing. Tee Higgins tallied 96 yards and a score on six grabs and 10 targets.

I liked Higgins in this matchup, but that performance definitely was better than I was anticipating. I had him as my No. 30 PPR wideout for week 7, but he's very likely to finish way higher than that.

Higgins had 62 yards on five catches and eight targets last week, so his fantasy value has risen since the trade for Flacco. You can more confidently start Higgins going forward, meaning using him in a wide receiver slot instead of your last flex spot.

Speaking of Flacco…

Flacco was sensational on Thursday night. He completed 31-of-47 passes for 342 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He rushed five times for three yards, was sacked twice and didn't fumble.

It was a pretty favorable matchup for him, but he exceeded most people's expectations in this one. He's been really good in his first two games with the Bengals, and he's back on the streaming map for standard leagues now.

He was 29-of-45 passing for 219 yards, two scores and no picks in his first game with Cincy. Flacco was only sacked once in that game.

He'll be a waiver wire option heading into week 8, and will remain a decent weekly option until the return of Joe Burrow. Many were expecting the Bengals to keep losing and maybe for Burrow to sit the rest of the year, but Flacco could keep the team in the playoff hunt, so for those holding on to Burrow, you might actually see him play again now thanks to Flacco.

Other Notable Bengals

Running back Chase Brown finally had a good offensive showing. 

He ran for 108 yards on just 11 carries. Brown caught half of his four targets, but lost eight yards.

Brown was ripping off big runs all game, but the nature of the game led to Cincinnati throwing the ball nearly 50 times. It still was one of his better showings of the year, and the emergence of Flacco and the passing game should open things for Brown moving forward.

If you've held on to him this long, I'd keep rostering Brown to see if his season is going to start rolling after the past couple weeks.

One negative for Brown was that backup RB Samaje Perine had seven carries, so that took away more fantasy points. Perine had 31 rushing yards, while not being targeted in the passing game.

Those are valuable touches that Brown is losing, so some fantasy owners are still going to be panicking with him, even though he looked good on Thursday. It could be a time to sell Brown for a bit higher return. You still won't get a ton back for Brown, but it might be worth putting his name on the trade block now that he's earned back some value.

Andrei Iosivas is the team's third wideout, while Noah Fant was the top tight end last night. They got the remaining targets that Chase, Higgins and Brown didn't.

Iosivas had 49 yards on three grabs and four targets. Fant had 44 yards and a score on four receptions and targets.

It was a solid fantasy showing for each guy, but their fantasy outlooks still top out as deep-league assets. Chase and Higgins are going to continue dominating the targets in the passing game, and only an injury to one of them would help Iosivas and Fant to fantasy relevance.

Both could be solid deep-league starting options in favorable matchups. Fant is a bit more valuable than Iosivas because of the position he plays, and could be a waiver pickup for some heading into week 8.

Freiermuth Breaks Out

The Steelers had some really favorable fantasy matchups, but it was tight end Pat Freiermuth who ended up stealing the show in a big surprise.

He went for 111 yards and two scores on five catches and six targets. Freiermuth had a 68-yard score along the way.

Freiermuth had just 76 yards on eight catches and 11 targets coming into the game, so you can see why I called it a surprise. There's room in the Steelers' offense for a tight end like Freiermuth to deliver, but he'll need to stack good fantasy outings to get into more leagues.

As is, he'll be added in a healthy amount of fantasy leagues before week 8. That's a given since he'll likely lead the position in scoring this week. At least give him an add in deeper leagues in case this was his breakout game this year.

Warren Dominates Backfield

I highlighted both Pittsburgh backs in a favorable matchup, but Jaylen Warren absolutely dominated things. He went for 127 rushing yards on 16 carries and added 31 receiving yards on four catches and five targets.

Kenneth Gainwell had three rushes for 14 yards and caught both of his targets for just one yard.

Warren played 65% of the team's offensive snaps, while Gainwell was at 39%.

This game shows that Warren is the clear lead back in Pittsburgh, and that he's the only startable back for the time being. I still would keep rostering Gainwell in deeper leagues, but it will be tough to start him after this contest.

Rodgers has Mixed Results

Many fantasy owners liked Aaron Rodgers in this matchup, but he got outplayed by Joe Flacco.

He was 23-of-34 passing for 249 yards, four scores and two interceptions. He rushed once for six yards and avoided a sack.

The two picks really hampered an otherwise big-time performance for the aging QB. He still delivered a nice fantasy score, and will remain a good deep-league starting option, with some occasional standard league streaming upside.

Other Notable Steelers

DK Metcalf was limited to 50 yards on three catches and five targets. It was a disappointing performance, and will knock him down a peg or two going forward.

Jonnu Smith had 28 yards and a touchdown on three receptions and six targets. It was his best showing of the season, which shows you how little he's produced - he's at least a deep-league option.

Nobody else had over 20 receiving yards for the Steelers, although Darnell Washington found the end zone. He had two yards on three catches and five targets. Washington has three catches and three or five targets the past three weeks, so he's an option in deeper leagues, and someone to keep an eye on.

The return of Calvin Austin could take away production from Freiermuth, Smith and Washington though, so don't overreact to any of the tight end's performances this week. 

IDP and Kicker Stats

Cincinnati's Barrett Carter had 12 tackles to lead the way in this game. He has 40 tackles on the season and 28 over the past three contests, so he's an emerging IDP asset.

Cincy's Jordan Battle had five tackles and an interception. He has 50 tackles and three picks on the season, so that shows his IDP value.

DJ Turner also had a pick for the Bengals. He also had a tackle and two passes defensed. He has 16 tackles, two picks and 13 passes defensed on the season, so there's some IDP value if those stats are counted in your league.

Joey Porter Jr. had five tackles and two passes defensed for the Steelers. He has 11 tackles and four passes defensed in three games played, so he too has a little IDP value. 

Cincinnati kicker Evan McPherson made all three of his extra points and all four of his field goals to deliver a big-time fantasy score.

Pittsburgh's Chris Boswell was 4-for-4 on his extra points and also made his only field goal.