The first week of the playoffS usually give me about 7 hours of crippling nerves during the afternoon while the match-ups slowly shake out before the final two games. This week is no different. I am in a really close match up as I write this late on Sunday afternoon. It is in my main home league and it’s likely going to come down to Adam Thielen Vs. Allen Robinson. I hope that your match ups went well or you’re at least in a position to get the win tonight. Let’s talk about some of the performances from the Sunday afternoon slate.
- There are a couple of ways to look at Saquon Barkley’s game today. He had over 150 yards and a touchdown by half time but it could have been a much bigger day for him if he was able to get some reps in the 2nd half. The Giants were ahead by over 30 at halftime so it was fairly obvious that Barkley’s 2nd half touches would be limited. At the same time, if you had Saquon Barkley, odds are in your favor that you did pretty well this week. It’s actually nice to know that you are going to have a healthy Saquon Barkley going into the semi finals.
- I had a feeling about Dak Prescott in the fantasy playoffs when I wrote up a quarterbacks preview for the playoffs. The more and more times that he gets with Amari Cooper, the better and better things get. The Cowboys have won five games in a row and Prescott has looked awesome lately and will likely finish as the QB1 for the week.
- I was wrong about Chris Godwin on Sunday. But, he saw 10 targets on the day which led the team so it was obvious that I was on to something. I don’t think a lot of the pieces for the Buccaneer’s offense will be useful for the rest of the fantasy football playoffs so that is disappointing. You can’t use Jameis Winston against the Ravens and Cowboys and feel comfortable about it.
- If you survived Jameis Winston’s start and advanced to the next round or had a bye week, you might want to look into Josh Allen. Josh Allen rushed for over 100 yards on Sunday and he actually has at least 90 rushing yards in 3 straight games.
- Nothing about the Jet’s running game is enticing. Last week, Crowell looked like he was on to something and all of a sudden this week he had two carries for 5 yards.
- Aaron Rodgers threw for under 200 yards against the Falcons. The Falcons are very bad on defense. I get it, the Packers had a size-able lead pretty early in the game, but wow. You have to be double thinking starting Rodgers at this point.
- Christian McCaffery had over 100 all purpose yards and two touchdowns and that was on a slow day. He was a holding penalty away from having 3 rushing touchdowns.
- Nick Chubb had a pretty slow first half but was able to salvage a touchdown in the second half. He is somebody who you should be confident in getting RB1 numbers from on a regular basis. The Browns face the Broncos next week and the Broncos gave up over 90 yards on the ground to Jeffrey Wilson II.
- DJ Moore continues to be a pretty solid PPR play but it always seems like this offense is built to get inside of the 5 yard line and punch it in with McCaffery. Or maybe that’s just how it ends up happening by chance.
- DeShaun Watson looked good once again making something out of nothing on a regular basis. He makes great throws and can rack up yards on the ground. This offensive line is horrible and seems to cap his potential. Match ups against the Jets and Eagles over the next two weeks are beneficial for those who need to start Watson over the next two weeks.
- James White had a pretty quiet afternoon but Rob Gronkowski didn’t. You got all that you could ask for as a Gronk owner. He had a great game and he came out of it healthy by all indications.
- James Develin robbing Sony Michel’s touchdowns is only funny to me because I’m out of it in all of the leagues that I was a Sony Michel owner.
- Tevin Coleman is toast. He had his best game since he scored a late touchdown in a comfortable Saints win on Thanksgiving. You can’t start this guy because he is splitting carries with Ito Smith and he’s just not catching balls out of the backfield.
- Two guys that you don’t need to ask me about starting are T.Y. Hilton and Amari Cooper. I think that you should be starting them because they’re running on all cylinders and they have as high of upside as any receivers in the league.
- You do have to ask me about Marlon Mack week to week. He’s been very touchdown dependent over the past month and it really depends who you have on your roster. The Colts finish with the Cowboys and the Giants as far as the fantasy football season goes. You have to have a better option for next week.
- You’re going to have to keep an eye on Tyreek Hill’s injury status on a short week. The Chiefs are playing on a short week in week 15 and Hill looks like he has a banged up heel. It’s good news that he was able to finish the game and was productive. The bad news is that he had a noticeable limp throughout the second half. This could be a big blow to the Chiefs offense as a whole if he misses any time. I suspect that he will do everything that he can to be on the field on Thursday night because the Chiefs are playing to keep control of the AFC West.
- Gus Edwards just isn’t able to find the end zone over the last three weeks and he doesn’t catch passes out of the backfield. It might be a good idea to look elsewhere over the next two weeks.
- If Joe Flacco is active next week, I don’t want anything to do with starting Lamar Jackson. That situation will become too wishy-washy for me.
- Don’t ask me how Antonio Brown only gets 35 yards against the Raiders. Apparently Gruden actually had a game plan. JuJu should be drafted before Brown next season, but I’m sure that you knew that.
- Austin Ekeler had the bigger game for the Chargers. None of this matters next week. It sounds like Melvin Gordon will probably be back.
- Keenan Allen is quietly putting together a very good second half of the season. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on quite a few fantasy championship rosters.
