Pittsburgh Steelers: Fantasy breakdown for Week 6 game at Kansas City

We are through five weeks of the NFL season and the Pittsburgh Steelers offense had not been the force many projected it to be this year.

With the offense entirely healthy and featuring a returning Martavis Bryant, the Pittsburgh offense was to be one of the premier units in all of football.

Fast forward a month-plus and that has yet to play out.

The Steelers enter a week 6 game at undefeated Kansas City with an offense that sits 12th in passing yards with 241.8 per game and 24th in rushing with 90 yards per game.

Those numbers will need to improve if the Steelers hope to take home their seventh Lombardi Trophy in February.

Here is a quick position-by-position fantasy breakdown for the Pittsburgh Steelers week 6 game at 5-0 Kansas City.

Quarterback

The Chiefs defense has been very good this year, that being said, they are vulnerable to the pass.

According to ESPN, Kansas City’s defense is 27th this year in points allowed by a quarterback as teams average 19 points against the Chiefs defense.

New England has allowed the most with 25 points while Jacksonville have given up 5.5 points. That Jaguars number was surely aided by Ben Roethlisberger’s five interceptions against them last week.

The Steelers, coincidentally are second, allowing just 8.8 points to quarterbacks so far this season.

Advice: Start Ben Roethlisberger. Sit Alex Smith.

Running back

Two of the premier running backs in the NFL in Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt and Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell will be in this game.

Hunt gets a matchup against the 29th ranked team against running backs according to ESPN. The Steelers have allowed an average of 28.3 points to running backs this year.

Bell, on the other hand, gets a matchup against the third best team against running backs. The Chiefs allow an average of 17.9 points against running backs.

There’s no reason you should ever bench a player selected as high as Bell. That won’t start this week.

Start: Bell and Hunt. Sit: None

Wide Receivers

The Kansas City defense give up a lot of points to quarterbacks, they also give up a lot to wide receivers.

That being said, the points against the Chiefs defense seem to be in long gains and touchdowns. The Chiefs have allowed 54 catches on 101 targets to wide receivers this year. They’ve given up 823 yards on those catches and nine touchdowns.

Those numbers along spell good things for Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and even Juju Smith-Schuster.

MORE: Was Antonio Brown’s tantrum a distraction?

The Steelers are on the opposite side of the spectrum, allowing a league low 18.6 points to wide receivers in 2017. They’ve allowed 41 catches on 75 targets for 417 yards and two touchdowns.

Start: Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Tyreek Hill. Sit: Albert Wilson. Flex consideration: Smith-Schuster.

Tight End

Both teams defenses have been fairly efficient against the tight end in 2017. The Steelers rank ninth in the league giving up 10.2 points per game to tight ends. The Chiefs are 12th giving up 11.1 per game.

The Steelers have allowed 23 catches on 33 targets for 219 yards and a touchdown. The Chiefs have allowed 19 catches on 40 targets for 365 yards and no touchdowns.

Pittsburgh tight end Jesse James ranks among the top 10 tight ends in football, but that can be largely attributed to week one when he caught six passes for 41 yards and two touchdowns. Since then he’s been relatively quiet with 12 total catches for 110 yards and no touchdowns.

More from Ben Roethlisberger

• Without Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers Season is on the Brink of Disaster
• Pittsburgh Steelers: Grades for week 6 win over Kansas City
• Pittsburgh Steelers: Is Antonio Brown tantrum a distraction?
• Steelers: Quarterback Breakdown, Grades
• Steelers: Roethlisberger, DeCastro, Brown named to Pro Bowl

Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce is one of the absolute best in football. He’s had two games with over 100 yards and another with 98 yards.

All that said, Kelce sustained a concussion last week and may be unavailable for Sunday’s showdown. That could force some adjustments to the Chiefs attack, which was covered here on Arrowheadaddict.com.

Start: Kelce (if he is cleared to play). Sit: James and any Kansas City tight end if Kelce can’t play.