Welcome to Wild Card Weekend Razzballers! We’ve got Tebow vs Ben Gimpy Burger, 5k vs 5k in Stafford vs Brees, Eli-te 4th quarter vs. Matty Ice, oh, and I guess the rookie pair of Yates and Dalton might be ok. The bulk of the fantasy points will most likely come from the Saints, Lions, Giants and Falcons. I put together some FanDuel teams and it was difficult for me not to just stack Lions and Saints players. That game should be the definition of a shootout. Matthew Stafford actually had more passing yards in the second half of the season than Drew Brees who as you know broke the record. Rotoworld’s Evan Silva picks the Lions to upset the Saints in his always well done Matchups article and he makes some good points. He sees the Lions pass rush compared to the Saints pass rush as being the deciding factor. I still see the Saints winning at home but the 10.5 spread does seem hefty. I think the Lions will have no problem scoring on the Saints weak defense just as the Saints will have little problem doing the same against the Lions who just gave up 6 touchdowns and a mile of yards to a backup quarterback.
Cincinnati goes to Houston in what looks to be the crapper of the weekend. Yes Pittsburgh and Denver could be a crapfest as well but I’m more keen to see Big Ben and Big Tim face off for some reason. I may be fooling myself though. Both games should be defensive affairs. The Bengals best offensive weapon is A.J. Green and he seems to have been slowed down by his shoulder injury and will most likely be covered by Jonathon Joseph. The game should hinge on how well the Texans run the ball and with Foster and Tate I see them doing a fair enough job at it to win.
Tim Tebow has shown his true colors of late and if he goes ahead and open up his game more against the Steelers they will most likely pick him off 5 times. The Steelers led the league in overall defense giving up the least amount of yards and points per game. That is what will win the game for them. If Roethlisberger’s ankle is ok it could be a blowout. If he can’t get avoid the Broncos pass rush they will have a tough time and we could see a 6-0 Steelers win.
The Falcons and Giants game is a tough one for sure. Like the Saints and Lions I think this could be a high scoring affair. Matt Ryan came on strong in the second half of the season. In the first half he averaged 244 yards passing, 12 TDs/9 INTs and in the second half he averaged 277 yards passing, 17 TD/3 INTs. That’s a nice bump there and gives him some momentum going into this game but I still feel that the Giants have better all around players and home field advantage which when playing the Falcons actually means something.
Hot Links:
We have our Playoff League going so make sure you join in. It’s free and you might win a cool Razzball mug.
Check out Grantland’s extensive previews of the four games this weekend starting with the Giants vs. Falcons.
The Cold Hard Football Facts looks at Wild Card history.
This thing is cool looking but I haven’t figured it out yet.
Pete Prisco’s tape review is always a great read.
Maurice Jones-Drew had one of the most amazing seasons by a running back ever.
Carl tells Ryan Clark there is no “I” in spleen.
