Passing
Game Thoughts: Joe Burrow and the collection of young
skill position players are widely considered one of the top up
and coming offensive units in the league. They are the first offense
to have a QB throw for 4,000 yards, two receivers post over 1000
receiving yards, and a running back rush for over 1000 yards -
all of whom are 26 years and younger.
The future is not only bright in Cincinnati. The future is now.
Burrow and the Bengals went into Tennessee last week and beat
the No.1 seed Titans. It wasn’t the prettiest game in the
world, and the Titans managed to sack Burrow 9 times (cue the
principle from Ferris Bueller's Day Off), but the Bengals continued
their magic season and head next to take on the Chiefs in the
AFC Championship Game.
For the Bengals to shock the world and beat the Chiefs, Burrow
is going to have to do two things. First, he is going to need
to go toe-to-toe with the best quarterback in the league and likely
throw for well over 300 yards and multiple touchdowns. Second,
he is going to have to play nearly a clean game with zero turnovers.
The Chiefs just went ham against one of the best defenses in
the league in the Bills, and Patrick Mahomes and the skill position
players on Kanas City will have little trouble scoring on the
Bengals.
The question is can Burrow keep pace and can Burrow not give
up the ball in critical moments.
Bengals did beat the Chiefs 34-31 back in Week 17, with Burrow
throwing for 446 yards and four touchdowns. It took a near-perfect
game from the second-year player to eke out the win, and a similar
performance will be needed on Sunday.
From a matchup perspective, the Chiefs fit well into the passing
offense that the Bengals run, and Burrow should be able to find
success throwing the ball.
A key to watch will be the return of safety Tyrann Mathieu, who
missed most of last week against the Bills. Josh Allen took advantage
of Mathieu’s absence in the middle of the field, hitting
Gabriel Davis for a playoff record four touchdowns.
Mathieu was a full participant on Thursday and should be good
to go.
KC FPts Allowed vs. QBs: No.2
KC FPts Allowed vs. RBs: No.13
KC FPts Allowed vs. WRs: No.15
KC FPts Allowed vs. TEs: No.17
Running Game Thoughts: Joe Mixon had one of his worst games of
the season against the Chiefs, with 46 rushing yards and no touchdown
on 12 carries. The Chiefs are difficult to run against, and the
game scrips dictate that you are not able to run the ball because
you are chasing points.
Look for the Bengals to try and run the ball with Mixon; just
don’t be surprised if they struggle just like they did back
in Week 17.
Both run defenses in this game are solid, and neither present
much value for the opposing running backs for DFS purposes. Sure,
Mixon could get a fluke rushing touchdown, but it is more likely
that he will get around 70 total yards and no scores.
Passing
Game Thoughts: In an instant classic that will live in
Chiefs lore for years to come, Mahomes gave a near-perfect performance
against the Bills last week, including leading a field goal drive
with just 13 seconds on the clock.
While the Bengals do not present the same challenge as the Bills,
Mahomes and the Chiefs lost to Burrow and the Bengals in a shootout
back in Week 17. In that game, Mahomes threw for just 259 yards
and two scores. He will need to do more in the air in this game
for the Chiefs to move on to their third-straight Super Bowl.
From a matchup perspective, the Bengals run defense led by DJ
Reeder makes them more attractive to beat in the air. Although
Darrel Williams did rush for 88 yards and a pair of scores in
the first matchup, the Bengals shut down the run game of Derrick
Henry and the Titans last week and could make it hard to run on
Sunday.
That is not a problem for Mahomes and company, as Tyreek Hill
and Travis Kelce will have a field day against the Cincinnati
secondary.
Despite having a down year based on his standards, Kelce has
at least one score in each of his last five games and a whopping
204 combined yards in the playoffs. One hundred yards and a score
are well within reach for Kelce.
CIN FPts Allowed vs. QBs: No.14
CIN FPts Allowed vs. RBs: No.11
CIN FPts Allowed vs. WRs: No.21
CIN FPts Allowed vs. TEs: No.6
Running Game Thoughts: It may surprise some readers to know that
Jerick McKinnon, the third-string running back for the Chiefs
who only has played because of injuries to Darrel Williams and
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, is second in fantasy points scored by running
backs these playoffs.
He leads all running backs with 11 catches for 135 yards and
a score, and he also has 85 yards on 22 carries.
With Williams returning to the practice field, it is possible
that all three players will be active on Sunday. The matchup is
not great, but Williams did reach pay dirt twice against the Bengals
back in Week 17.
The three-headed monster approach makes all of these players
risky for DFS. If forced to choose one, I would go with Williams
if he is active.
49ers at Rams
- (Caron) Line: LAR -3.5 Total: 45.5
Passing
Game Thoughts: With only four teams remaining in the
playoffs, the San Francisco 49ers certainly look like they’re
the odd-team out when it comes to quarterback play. Garoppolo’s
horrible performance against the Packers in the divisional round
was nearly the death blow to the team’s Super Bowl aspirations
as he threw for just 131 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
While the Packers’ defense isn’t one of the worst,
it’s certainly not nearly as good or filled with as many
superstars as the Rams defense that Garoppolo will be facing in
the NFC Championship. Garoppolo faced Los Angeles twice during
the regular season, throwing for a total of 498 yards, three touchdowns
and two interceptions in those contests. His Week 18 game saw
him throw multiple interceptions and it was nearly enough to cost
the team their chance at the playoffs as it was a must-win game.
At this point, Garoppolo is fairly obviously the worst QB on the
board and it’s just not worth playing him in fantasy this
week unless you’re hoping to make the ultimate contrarian
play in a DFS tournament.
With Garoppolo struggling as of late, so too have his receiving
options. Tight end George Kittle has now failed to find the end
zone in six straight games and he’s only twice reached even
30 receiving yards over that stretch. His four catches for 63
yards led the 49ers this past week in what was an ugly offensive
performance overall, but it’s obvious to say that Kittle
has to be considered a step down from Travis Kelce right now in
the overall tight end rankings, although he’s firmly the
second-best option at the position given the competition.
Wide receiver / running back hybrid Deebo Samuel finally turned
in a not-so-great performance against the Packers this week, but
even in that game he ended up touching the ball 13 times for 83
total yards. His contributions as a runner and a pass catcher
make him nearly impossible to bench, but pure receivers like Davante
Adams, Cooper Kupp and Tyreek Hill are still on the board this
week, so Deebo has tough competition. Consider that he scored
three times against the Rams in their two previous contests this
year, though, and Samuel looks like a strong option.
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk was held catchless against the Packers
this past week in what was one of the worst 49ers passing game
performances in recent memory. Aiyuk was targeted just once and
it’s obvious that he’s not going to see a high total
target volume in San Francisco’s run-heavy offensive system.
There are a lot of great pass catching options available for fantasy
this week so be careful about using Aiyuk, but remember that his
107-yard game against the Rams in Week 18 was his highest yardage
total of the season. Unfortunately, he’ll likely be lined
up against Jalen Ramsey quite a bit, so there’s some heavy
risk involved here.
LAR FPts Allowed vs. QBs: No.28
LAR FPts Allowed vs. RBs: No.21
LAR FPts Allowed vs. WRs: No.9
LAR FPts Allowed vs. TEs: No.20
Running Game Thoughts: Another 20-touch day for Elijah Mitchell
would normally mean some nice fantasy numbers, but that didn’t
happen against the Packers as the 49ers running back was held
to just 71 total yards and no scores on the day. Still, it’s
encouraging that, despite Samuel also seeing 10 carries, Mitchell
continues to see a very heavy workload in the running game and
that type of volume has regularly turned into some nice fantasy
production this season. Mitchell carried the ball 27 and 21 times
in his two games against the Rams so expect him to be heavily
involved again this week and he could very well be the top running
back on the board.
Passing
Game Thoughts: While Jimmy Garoppolo was seemingly carried
to victory by his teammates in the Divisional Round, the Rams’
lack of success in the running game forced quarterback Matthew
Stafford to put the team on his back. Stafford responded by throwing
for 366 yards and a pair of touchdowns while out-dueling Tom Brady
on his way to victory. Stafford struggled with turnovers down
the stretch in the regular season, but he’s now avoided
throwing an interception in each of the Rams’ playoff games
while still putting up some solid yardage totals. It’d be
tough to rank Stafford above Patrick Mahomes this week, but he
and Joe Burrow each have a strong case to be made as the second-best
QB in the conference championship round.
Cooper Kupp’s dominance from the regular season has spilled
over into the playoffs and the wide receiver completely lit up
the Buccaneers in this past week, catching nine passes for 183
yards and a touchdown, including a monster catch down the field
near the end of the contest that helped seal the deal for the
Rams. Kupp has been incredible this season and it would’ve
been hard to ever predict that he’d be ranked above the
likes of Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill this week, but that’s
exactly where he is. He was the best fantasy receiver in the regular
season, he torched the 49ers for over 100 yards both times he
played them, and he has to be the top receiver this week.
Teammate Odell Beckham Jr. has been a touchdown scoring machine
down the stretch, but this past week’s six catch, 69-yard
performance was actually inspiring in a way despite the lack of
touchdown. Beckham had been struggling to do really anything other
than score short yardage touchdowns since joining the Rams, so
seeing him get targeted eight times and convert six of them for
over 10 yards per reception is a welcome change. Beckham can’t
compete with the likes of some of the other top receivers remaining,
but he’s still an interesting WR3/Flex option against the
49ers.
Van Jefferson’s mediocre end to the regular season has dragged
on into the playoffs and the receiver has now been held to fewer
than 50 receiving yards in five of his past six games while failing
to score a touchdown in any of them. With Beckham now much more
involved in the offense, Jefferson has become an even more situational
contributor and unless he scores on a long pass down the field,
it’s tough to imagine that he’s going to deliver for
fantasy this week.
Tight end Tyler Higbee has been extremely up and down - but mostly
down - this season, but if you’re looking for a sneaky option
to start outside of Kelce or Kittle, he’s your man. Higbee
actually scored three touchdowns against the 49ers in the two
games he played against them, so it wouldn’t be all that
surprising to see him do damage in this one.
SF FPts Allowed vs. QBs: No.22
SF FPts Allowed vs. RBs: No.23
SF FPts Allowed vs. WRs: No.14
SF FPts Allowed vs. TEs: No.26
Running Game Thoughts: We thought that the Rams might end up splitting
touches in their backfield for the remainder of the season, but
their divisional round play calling slammed the door on that opinion
without much debate. Second-year back Cam Akers carried the ball
a whopping 24 times in his second game back from a serious Achilles’
injury and while he was less than spectacular with those touches,
what’s most important is that teammate Sony Michel saw just
one carry on the day.
With Akers now having completely re-taken over the backfield,
he joins Joe Mixon as one of only two backs who truly has a firm
grasp on the carries in his team’s offense. Sure, we still
need to see more from Akers before we can confidently rank him
as an RB1 again, but volume is king in this game and Akers should
be in line to see plenty of it.
Passing
Game Thoughts: Joe Burrow and the collection of young
skill position players are widely considered one of the top up
and coming offensive units in the league. They are the first offense
to have a QB throw for 4,000 yards, two receivers post over 1000
receiving yards, and a running back rush for over 1000 yards -
all of whom are 26 years and younger.
Passing
Game Thoughts: In an instant classic that will live in
Chiefs lore for years to come, Mahomes gave a near-perfect performance
against the Bills last week, including leading a field goal drive
with just 13 seconds on the clock.
Passing
Game Thoughts: With only four teams remaining in the
playoffs, the San Francisco 49ers certainly look like they’re
the odd-team out when it comes to quarterback play. Garoppolo’s
horrible performance against the Packers in the divisional round
was nearly the death blow to the team’s Super Bowl aspirations
as he threw for just 131 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
While the Packers’ defense isn’t one of the worst,
it’s certainly not nearly as good or filled with as many
superstars as the Rams defense that Garoppolo will be facing in
the NFC Championship. Garoppolo faced Los Angeles twice during
the regular season, throwing for a total of 498 yards, three touchdowns
and two interceptions in those contests. His Week 18 game saw
him throw multiple interceptions and it was nearly enough to cost
the team their chance at the playoffs as it was a must-win game.
At this point, Garoppolo is fairly obviously the worst QB on the
board and it’s just not worth playing him in fantasy this
week unless you’re hoping to make the ultimate contrarian
play in a DFS tournament.
Passing
Game Thoughts: While Jimmy Garoppolo was seemingly carried
to victory by his teammates in the Divisional Round, the Rams’
lack of success in the running game forced quarterback Matthew
Stafford to put the team on his back. Stafford responded by throwing
for 366 yards and a pair of touchdowns while out-dueling Tom Brady
on his way to victory. Stafford struggled with turnovers down
the stretch in the regular season, but he’s now avoided
throwing an interception in each of the Rams’ playoff games
while still putting up some solid yardage totals. It’d be
tough to rank Stafford above Patrick Mahomes this week, but he
and Joe Burrow each have a strong case to be made as the second-best
QB in the conference championship round.
