Antonio Gibson Week 13 Outlook - Patriots at Chargers

By Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros), Thu, Dec 3rd 2020, 10:25am EST

It's happening. Gibson is getting the role we'd hoped he would as the season went on, as he played a career-high 45 snaps on Thanksgiving. He rewarded that trust with 136 total yards and three touchdowns against the Cowboys. Sure, Peyton Barber got 11 carries as well, but the game was out of reach rather quickly. We knew that matchup didn't favor McKissic's role, but he was still on the field for 28 snaps. Gamescript is still the biggest factor in determining how valuable each player will be. Opponents have put just 17.1 points per game up on the scoreboard against the Steelers, which is not what you want to see from a low-scoring offense like Washington. That has clearly affected the running backs and their production, as the Steelers have allowed the second-fewest PPR points per game to them (17.0 per game). Despite the Steelers winning every single one of their games and being ahead most of the time, running backs aren't targeted much against them. They have faced a league-low 14.8 percent of targets to the running back position, which doesn't bode well for Gibson or McKissic, though Smith has targeted running backs a ton. Washington is big underdogs in this game, right? This doesn't bode well for Gibson, who's really padded his stats in two wins over the Cowboys. Meanwhile, the Steelers have allowed just one top-12 running back since the start of last year. Gibson had his breakout party last week, but he's likely to disappoint in this game. McKissic could have another one of his more relevant fantasy games here, though the lack of targets to running backs doesn't look great for him. But he's been on the field much more in the losses that Washington has had, so he can be considered a flex/high-end RB4 in this contest.