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Fantasy football projections, Week 7: Patriots-Steelers featuring Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, more

We break down the Week 7 matchup between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

By Jack Choros
Cincinnati Bengals v New England Patriots Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images

The Week 7 matchup between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers features teams with plenty of offensive weapons facing off. We've got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

New England Patriots

Just two weeks into Tom Brady’s return and the Patriots appear to be firing on all cylinders. Brady has an unbelievable 782 passing yards and six touchdown passes in his two starts. His display of dominance should continue on the road in Pittsburgh given that the Steelers will be without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the next few weeks thanks to a knee injury. The Patriots could be up big at halftime if backup quarterback Landry Jones struggles to keep up with Brady. That’s a highly likely scenario going into Week 7.

Brady’s return should also spark the dominance of tight end Rob Gronkowski. While he took a backseat to teammate Martellus Bennett against the Cleveland Browns two weeks ago, Gronk was the star of the show in Week 6. He caught seven passes for a career-high 162 receiving yards and a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals. He’s no longer listed on the team’s injury report. Gronk should be in Pro Bowl form at Heinz Field.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The last time Ben Roethlisberger missed significant time due to injury, it greatly affected the fantasy stats of wide receiver Antonio Brown. That’s not good news for his owners. Even with Roethlisberger in the lineup against Miami in Week 6, Brown caught just four passes for 39 yards. He will of course do better than that against the Patriots because he’s just that good, but Roethlisberger’s absence still hurts No. 84. Still, if the Patriots do get out to an early lead, Brown will probably get a ton of looks in the second half against New England.

Running back Le’Veon Bell should also get a lot of work. He lined up at receiver regularly against Miami and finished with 108 total yards on 16 touches. With injuries at the wide receiver position as well, the Steelers may call for a conservative game plan early against the Pats. That could mean lots of carries for arguably the NFL’s best running back. Bell is probably the best bet the team has for touchdowns this week. His numbers will be huge in Week 7.