Daily Fantasy Sports: A Breakdown Of The NFL PlayoffsThe Regular Season Is Over, But Big Score Possibilities Remain |
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The playoffs are upon us in the NFL. But that doesn’t mean that NFL Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) is done for the year. All of the major sites are running really awesome playoff contests that span the weekend of games. FanDuel has a $1.75 million guarantee and DraftKings has a $1 million guarantee. Newcomer FantasyDraft also has a number of contests headlined by a $25 buy-in $25k guaranteed Playoff Challenge. Each game this weekend has a DFS angle to be explored, so let’s get to it.
Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
This one opens with an over/under of 46.5 and the Steelers favored by 3 points. Le’Veon Bell, the Steelers do-it-all stud at running back, appears likely to miss this game. Normally, this would create a really good situation for the backup Steelers running back. However, the Ravens are an elite run defense and the Steelers don’t have an entrenched backup behind Bell at the moment. The most likely outcome would appear to be that the Steelers really air it out in this one. Look at Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant as big beneficiaries to the Bell injury.
On the Baltimore side we have an offense that sputtered down the stretch. They failed to reach 30 points even one time in their last four games. Also, the Steelers have held each of their last four opponents to 21 or fewer points. On it’s face; this appears to be a tough spot for all of Baltimore’s offensive skill players. I’ll likely be avoiding Baltimore’s offense in DFS this weekend.
Arizona Cardinals @ Carolina Panthers
The total in this one comes in at a paltry 38 points. Carolina is coming off a division-clinching win on Sunday that still left them with a losing record and is favored by 5.5 points. There is no way I’ll be using players from Arizona in this one. Carolina does have a few players that set up real nicely here. Arizona, while not giving up tons of points recently, has been surrendering quite a few quality performances to offensive skill players.
In their last three games facing ‘rushing’ quarterbacks in Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson, Arizona has allowed them to run for 73, 88 and 63 yards. Wilson also ran a touchdown in during the Seahawks week 16 thrashing of the Cardinals. The Cardinals play a lot of man-to-man defense, which oftentimes leaves the quarterback unmarked. So if the pass rush doesn’t get home, Cam Newton could have a chance for a big game on the ground. Running backs have also been doing well against Arizona recently and Jonathan Stewart has been playing great down the stretch. If DeAngelo Williams sits out again, Stewart is a fine option. The other two players I’d consider in DFS from the Panthers are tight end Greg Olsen and the Panthers defense. All signs point to the Panthers defense being the top defensive play for the weekend.
Detroit Lions @ Dallas Cowboys
The sportsbooks have opened this one up with Dallas as a 7-point favorite and it has an over/under of 48.5. Sunday shapes up as a day that could see some offensive fireworks, as both games feature offenses that are capable of putting big points on the board and will be played indoors. For this Detroit and Dallas game, you have a bevy of options to consider on either side of the ball.
For Dallas, Tony Romo, Demarco Murray and Dez Bryant have all been playing lights out football for the entire season. Those three are the staples in this offense and all make for reasonable plays here even though Detroit sports a strong defense. This could come back to bite me, but I would suggest avoiding Terrance Williams even though he’s coming off a strong end to the season. He simply isn’t a large part of the offense and always runs the risk of seeing only two or three targets sent his way.
On the Detroit side, you have a number of options at your disposal. It’s a little disconcerting that the Lions are 7-point underdogs here, but Joique Bell, Reggie Bush, Golden Tate and Matthew Stafford are all capable of putting up big numbers if things go their way. Of course, the real prize for Detroit is Calvin Johnson. He’s going to come at a steep price and Antonio Brown is probably slightly better at the price point, but Calvin always has a chance to have a game that can win you a tournament.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Indianapolis Colts
Projecting as the highest scoring game of the weekend, this one comes with a total of 49.5 and sees the Colts as 3.5-point favorites. Seeing as it’s being played indoors, has the highest total and is projected as a close game, this will be a good game to target for DFS.
For Indianapolis, Andrew Luck was the most consistent stud quarterback of the season and can almost always be relied on. The Colts receiving corps experienced some health concerns down the stretch, but T.Y. Hilton, Reggie Wayne and the rest seem to be good to go for this one. At running back, it’s very difficult to feel confident in either Trent Richardson or Dan Herron, but to me Herron is clearly the one to choose if you decide on a Colts running back. Tight ends Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen are both solid bets to score and could pay off nicely.
Cincinnati’s offense has been keyed by rookie running back Jeremy Hill down the stretch. He’s been performing at an elite level yet still hasn’t seen his price creep to unaffordable levels. Giovani Bernard has taken somewhat of a backseat. At receiver, A.J. Green suffered a concussion on Sunday night against Pittsburgh and it is unclear whether he will play or not this weekend. If he does, he is always a strong fantasy option. If he doesn’t, Mohamed Sanu filled in admirably earlier this season when Green was hurt and could do the same here.
Normal fantasy leagues are done for the year, but the action hasn’t stopped. This weekend and next will be the last two really fun weeks of fantasy football for the season, so don’t miss out on the action!
Find me on Twitter @IanJ300 with any questions.
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