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Game Stack - New England vs Pittsburgh - It is easy to look ahead to Week 15 and see this game as the game you want to roster players from. The Vegas total in this game is 53.0 points with New England as a 3-point favorite. Lets talk game stacking on this game. It may be viable to stack 3 or 4 players for cash games this week from this game alone. Give me your top game stack from this game (at least 3 players) and tell me why?
Phil Alexander: After three consecutive home games with at least 29 fantasy points, we're back to trusting Ben Roethlisberger at Heinz Field. Any Pittsburgh-New England stack should start with Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown, who has scored between 35 and 45 PPR fantasy points in each the Steelers aforementioned previous three home games.
For GPPs, I'd bring it back with Brandin Cooks. Cooks just flopped in a national TV spot on Monday night (1-38-0), which could limit his ownership, but the Patriots top downfield threat is the player to target in this matchup. Since Week 8, Pittsburgh has allowed 24 pass plays of 20+ yards (sixth-most in the league). According to Pro Football Focus, Cooks has the highest target percentage and catch rate in the NFL on targets that travel 20 or more yards through the air.
If I was to stack this game, Rob Gronkowski is the obvious place to start. He has averaged 6.0 receptions, 99.2 yards and 1.6 touchdowns per game in his career against the Steelers. Pittsburgh plays a lot of zone and has a weak spot down the seam that New England and Gronkowski have exploited mercilessly over the years. Tom Brady has torched the Steelers as well in recent years and has averaged 2.7 passing touchdowns per game against Pittsburgh. Rex Burkhead is still priced favorably despite his recent uptick in usage. You can stack Brady, Gronkowksi and Burkhead and hope that Burkhead scores a receiving touchdown. It is difficult to run it back with Le’Veon Bell or Antonio Brown due to pricing but JuJu Smith-Schuster is a more reasonably-priced option. If the Patriots consistently double-team Brown, Smith-Schuster could see extra opportunities to make plays against single coverage.
Dan nailed it. My top stack starts with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski as they have been thorns in Pittsburgh side in past matchups. Gronkowski went to high school in the Pittsburgh area and always "gets up" when playing the Steelers. The loss of Ryan Shazier cannot be understated as he was the glue that held their defense together. Without Shazier, the Steelers were less disciplined with routine tackles.
If I am starting with a Brady/Gronkowski stack, the most likely third piece is either Leveon Bell or Antonio Brown. It will be interesting to see if Bill Belichick's game plan is to try to minimize either Brown or Bell. The Ravens sold out to stop Bell and that didn't work out so well as it left wide open space across the middle where Steelers receivers and tight ends feasted with crossing routes. For GPP tournaments, it may be wise to squeeze someone like JuJu Smith-Schuster or Jesse James with the hope that they find the end zone.
