It’s crazy to think that the NFL season is winding down and here we are just 3 weeks away from crowning a fantasy football champion for the 22/23 season. This was a year unlike any other as we had two 8 win teams miss out on the playoffs and we had teams 1-10 all finish within 2 games of each other and we didn’t have anyone clinch a spot in the playoffs until after the final week of the season. Not to mention the drama of two Monday night games playing simultaneously and having major playoff implications! What a week and what a great regular season. Now we move on to some would call the “real” season. Every yard, every catch, every “almost” or “that was my guy” that just missed that easy TD matters. The playoffs kick off Thursday with 4 teams battling to get to the Final Four.
(3) Rapids Plungers vs (6) Starrfavrerodg
Another year and another playoff run which is actually the best way I can explain things for both of these two teams. Rapids Plungers has been doing it for a very long time as they have made playoffs in now 11 of their 16 seasons. Starrfavrerodg has a long ways to go to get to that level but in their 4 short years they are starting really strong having made the playoffs in 3 of those 4 years. These two teams have made it look easy.. well I guess Starrfavrerodg didn’t make it look too easy this year as they had to rely on a last minute TD to get in but they are here nonetheless and they are now both just 3 wins away from a title.
For all of the success Rapids Plungers has had outside of one season when they won the championship they have really struggled in the playoffs. Of their 10 playoff appearances 7 of those times they have lost their first round game. So a team that makes the playoffs 66% of the time also loses 70% of the time in the first round. That doesn’t make sense but it is the facts and Rapids Plungers will be looking to lower those percentages a bit this week. For Starrfavrerodg it is very similar as they are 0-2 in their first round games. This sets the stage as we have two really good regular season teams but not so good post season teams. One of them will get the win this week and move on to the final four. Who will it be? Will Tony Devivo and Rapids Plungers move on (and yes every time I say that now I can’t help but see a now famous Tommy DeVito in my head – maybe a second life for Tony?) or will Brad Eby and Starrfavrerodg finally get a win and advance in the playoffs for the first time?
These two teams met in Week 3 this week with Rapids Plungers winning 118.96 to 59.44.
Prediction
Like usual for the playoff predictions I spend a little more time going position by position. So let’s get started with the QB position. We have J. Fields (Rapids Plungers) vs J. Browning (Starrfavrerodg). Fields has a tough matchup this week against a tough CLE D. Browning (assuming he is the QB) has been solid but is still a rookie in his third start and if they did decide to go to Howell it wouldn’t surprise me but either way Fields is too dynamic to not give the edge to Rapids Plungers at QB. The fact he is playing Cleveland however does lower the gap.
The WR spot is interesting as they have the 49ers 1a and 1b receivers in D. Samuel (Rapids Plungers) and B. Aiyuk (Starrfavrerodg). Deebo has been incredible the last two weeks averaging 32 ppg while Aiyuk has been solid. There tends to be Aiyuk weeks and Deebo weeks. I think this is a Aiyuk week. I also really like D. Smith for Starrfavrerodg this week. As good as Deebo has been for Rapids Plungers, Diggs has been slightly the opposite as he has only scored in double figures once in the past 4 weeks. They go up against a tough Dallas D this week but it seems like Diggs is due. I told you about the 4 WR’s I like and I could see very similar production from all of them so this may come down to McLaurin vs Z. Jones and if that is the case I kind of like McLaurin. You have the squeaky wheel narrative that he was complaining about his 3 target and 0 catch day the last time out. They have had a bye week to figure out a way to get him the ball. I think he has a strong week in a potential shootout with the Rams. I am going to give Starrfavrerodg the slight edge at WR.
The RB position is simple at least in terms of determining who has the edge because if you have CMC and another starting RB you have the edge. He is just that good! The bigger question is how big is the gap and well I think that answer to that is that it is quite large this week as of course CMC is the top back but with Bijan up against the panthers he feels like a top 5 back as well. Starrfavrerodg does have Kamara in a nice spot against the Giants but Mostert is in a tough one against the Jets and therefore the edge here is in favor of Rapids Plungers. This feels to me like the make or break position. If this one stays close or Starrfavrerodg wins this position that could go a long ways towards them winning the game.
The TE position is always such a volatile position. If you don’t have one of the top 5 you usually are just playing matchups and you are hoping that he gives you more then 3 points on a given week. I Likely had his best game of the season for Rapids Plungers last week scoring 15 points. D. Schulz has actually been solid when healthy and he is practicing today (Wednesday) so that is a good sign for is availability. If he goes but he doesn’t have Stroud throwing the ball to him that also could hurt his production. I do like Schulz though and if he is healthy I would give the edge to Starrfavrerodg at the TE position.
The flex spot currently has two guys that are questionable in M. Brown and A. Jones. Clearly, if A. Jones could go that would be a major boost for Starrfavrerodg and as of this writing it does appear that he will be out there on Sunday. Combo that with the fact that it seems less likely that M. Brown goes I am going to give the edge to Starrfavrerodg at the flex position.
I am not going to get into the K/DEF/D positions although we all know they can make or brake a week. I will take that into consideration however in who I pick. So who wins?
This is a tough one and I expect a really good game. I also expect, like most games involving Starrfavrerodg this season it is going to not be decided until Monday Night Football and D. Smith. I just don’t trust Rapids Plungers in the playoffs as of yet and I like the way Starrfavrerodg is playing. I am going with the upset pick here and I like Starrfavrerodg to move on and face Bossman!
(4) DaUnderdog vs (5) BIGBOY!
DaUnderdog is back in the playoffs again after missing last season. The last time they made the playoffs it was two seasons ago which is when they won their first ever championship. In that season they met BIGBOY! in the final four and were able to beat them to get to the Super Bowl. BIGBOY! also missed the playoffs last season so now these two teams meet again two years later in the playoffs in a slightly different spot but at the end of the day for the chance to advance and get to the next round. DaUnderdog started this season out at 2-3 but since their week 5 loss they have gone 7-2 to put themselves in a great spot to chase their 2nd championship. BIGBOY! has struggled a bit since their back to back championships in 2017 & 2018. This team has had some struggles this year in scoring points but now you can throw that all out the window as they are in the playoffs. Records don’t matter, what you scored during the regular season doesn’t matter and now it is about winning 3 games for this BIGBOY! squad. They have proved better then most that they can find ways to win and we will find out soon how far that will take them.
Prediction
Starting with the QB position and this one won’t take long. D. Prescott has been on fire as of late for DaUnderdog and really if there is one player who has singlehandedly changed their season it has been him. Prescott had his first 20 point game in Week 6 and since then he has two weeks of just 16 points but all others have been 27 or more. That coincides with DaUnderdog’s 7-2 record starting in week 7. On the other side, BIGBOY! is streaming QB’s for the playoffs and really has been ever since they lost K. Cousins. This week it looks like R. Wilson gets the nod in a win or go home game. I don’t mind Wilson here but Prescott and DaUnderdog have the edge at QB.
Looking at the WR position and this is BIGBOY!’s bread and butter. If they are going to make a run in these playoffs they are going to have to have these three guys live up to their expectation specifically Waddle and Kupp. Kupp showed some signs last week and I love the matchup against WSH. I also really like D. London however I wonder if this Atlanta runs the ball 40 times in this one? DaUnderdog got some good production from Thielen early on but he has since dropped significantly. Godwin has been not very good according to his standards as he has only scored in double figures two times all season! Doubs is a bit of a wild card that could be in for a better game with all of the Packers injuries to the WR position. This one is actually fairly easy as I like BIGBOY! and his trio of WR’s over DaUnderdog. This could potentially be the make or break position for this matchup. If DaUnderdog can keep this one close it could go a long way towards them winning. The edge here however goes to BIGBOY!
The RB position is not much of a strength for either team. Going into the year however DaUnderdog expected it to be a real solid position for them when they took Mixon and Stevenson in rounds 2 and 3 of the draft. While neither have been terrible they haven’t lived up to the 2nd and 3rd round draft slots. In fact, with Stevenson unlikely to play again this week it helps DaUnderdog as they know E. Elliott will get all of the touches. BIGBOY! has got to be happy with the recent play and usage of the young rookie J. Gibbs as of late. He looks awesome with the ball in his hands and finally the Detroit coaching staff seems to be utilizing him a bit more. He has the kind of upside that can singlehandedly win you games. K. Walker is finally starting to get healthy but will be up against a tough philly run D this week. This one is close but Mixon has been playing better and with Zeke now the main bell cow in NE I like DaUnderdog to win the RB position this week.
The TE position is normally ugly but this one is not. Two of the best TE’s in the game go head to head here as we have Kittle vs Kelce. Kittle has had a solid year and kind of what you expect at this point from Kittle. He always gets his 5 to 7 targets a game and you just hope that he gets a TD or some YAC yards. Kelce has had a down year by his standards but still is the #1 overall TE in fantasy. His usage continues to be elite and I expect him to have a nice game here. I like Kelce and DaUnderdog with the edge at TE.
The flex spot has a up and comer in R. Rice for BIGBOY! against what feels like an old timer in C. Samuel (I have no idea how old he actually is). Rice is coming on strong at just the right time for BIGBOY! and I like him again this week. Samuel has proven that he can be a real weapon and seems to have some chemistry with Howell so I expect a solid game from him in a game I think could shootout. I do like Rice more and I am going to give the edge to BIGBOY! here.
The K/DEF/D positions will be taken into consideration with my pick but I am not going to evaluate it. Alright the moment you have all been waiting for. Who wins!?
I expect another close one here that feels like it could also come down to Monday night. I expect that BIGBOY! will be close enough that K Walker on Monday night could bring home the win however I don’t think he does it. I like DaUnderdog to win 115 to 107.
That’s it! Good luck to all four teams this week!