JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marvin Jones, More Fantasy Reaction from Steelers vs. Lions

The Pittsburgh Steelers eked out a 20-15 win on the road against the Detroit Lions, but fantasy owners were the real beneficiaries from this game.

Even though the final score would indicate a slugfest, both offenses came to play. The Steelers and Lions combined for 874 yards, including 740 from Ben Roethlisberger and Matthew Stafford. JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marvin Jones each had over 100 yards receiving for fantasy players who were smart enough to put them in the starting lineup.

Here is all you need to know about the fantasy standouts from the Steelers-Lions showdown:

JuJu Smith-Schuster Shines

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The Steelers' decision to bench Martavis Bryant for this game following his social media comments thrust Smith-Schuster into the fantasy spotlight, or as Brad Evans of Yahoo Sports put it:

Smith-Schuster didn't disappoint with seven receptions for 193 yards. He showed off his speed on a 97-yard touchdown reception from Roethlisberger in the third quarter.

Despite not being a huge part of Pittsburgh's offense prior to Sunday, he's had a nose for the end zone:

But this was unquestionably Smith-Schuster's breakout fantasy showing. He was targeted 10 times, tied with Antonio Brown, and led the team in receptions and receiving yards in Week 8. He didn't have more than six targets and four receptions in the Steelers' first seven games.

NFL Network fantasy analyst Adam Rank summed up Smith-Schuster's game:

"

It's your world JuJu!

— Adam Rank (@adamrank) October 30, 2017"

When he was playing at his best, Bryant served as Pittsburgh's home run hitter. He averaged 17.3 yards per reception in his first two seasons, using his speed to take the top off opposing defenses.

Smith-Schuster may not have quite as much top-end speed as Bryant, but NFL communications director Randall Liu noted he turned on the jets during that long touchdown catch:

If there were any doubt about Smith-Schuster's spot on the Steelers' wide receiver depth chart, he erased all of them on Sunday. Brown will still be the No. 1 option as long as he's on the field, but the former USC star is going to be an excellent No. 2 for Roethlisberger.

Fantasy owners will need to pounce quickly if they want to add Smith-Schuster, who is still available in 53 percent of all Yahoo leagues as of this writing.

Marvin Jones' Rising Stock

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The Lions have been searching for a playmaker on the outside since Calvin Johnson retired. Golden Tate has been solid, but he's best served as a complementary weapon.

Jones showed big-play ability in his first season with the Lions last year, averaging 16.9 yards per reception. After a slow start with under 50 receiving yards in each of the first four games, the 27-year-old has had a combined 33 targets, 18 receptions and 278 yards over the past three games.

Looking strictly at his work against the Steelers, Jones had a season-high 128 receiving yards and tied his season high with six receptions on 11 targets.

Per Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus, Detroit's coaching staff is making sure Jones is on the field more than any other receiver:

Per Bob Pompeani of KDKA TV, Jones opted to sign with the Lions last year because he wanted to be given a bigger role than he had in three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals:

The Lions are a throwing team, no matter the circumstances. Stafford threw 45 passes against the Steelers, marking the sixth time in seven games he's attempted at least 31 passes.

With so many passes to go around, someone has to be on the receiving end. Jones is starting to emerge as the standout receiver for Stafford to look toward heading into the season's second half.

Jones is harder to come by than Smith-Schuster, as he was already owned in 74 percent of Yahoo fantasy leagues. If he's still available for you to pick up, do it now because more big games are in his future.

The Quarterback Battle

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Roethlisberger and Stafford have had their issues this season, and Sunday's game did nothing to convince anyone they have turned a corner.

Fantasy owners do like seeing those big yardage totals, but Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith noted the Lions' side of things was not a positive:

It's worth noting almost all of Detroit's yardage came from Stafford, who threw for a season-high 423 yards without a touchdown.

That's not the kind of record a quarterback wants to have. This was also the third time in Detroit's last five games Stafford has thrown for zero or one touchdown.

Despite those unfavorable numbers for Stafford, he does have a good matchup next week against the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football. The Packers are playing without Aaron Rodgers and their pass defense gives up the seventh-highest opponent completion percentage (66.5).

Roethlisberger is still not himself, though it could be time to assume this is what he's going to be from now on. The 35-year-old did have his second 300-yard game of the season, but his 9-8 touchdowns to interceptions isn't encouraging.

Glover Quin picked Roethlisberger off on a poor pass that was thrown to a receiver who had four defensive players around him:

It was tempting to give Roethlisberger the benefit of the doubt that he was going to turn things around earlier this season as he was going through his struggles. Even when he threw five interceptions against the Jacksonville Jaguars, it could be chocked up to facing an excellent pass defense.

But the Kansas City Chiefs have the worst pass defense, by yards allowed per game (272), that Roethlisberger has faced. He was fine with 252 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

It is time to accept that Roethlisberger isn't viable as a No. 1 quarterback in fantasy circles. That's not to say he should be dropped from your roster entirely yet, but scouring the waiver wire or trade market for a better option will give you more stability at a crucial position.