Week 15 - Playoff MOTW!

What an interesting wild-card round. Paul's team didn't play bad but Cooper played the 3 receivers on Paul's team to a draw, Kittle had one of the best TE performance of the year, and Julio negated the decent showing by Paul's backfield. In the other matchup, Mike woke up to some terrible news. Reports on Baldwin looked very positive until the day of, but unfortunately for Mike, he was fast asleep in Korea. By the time he woke, Cho had rostered any receiver worth picking up (not that any pickup would have sufficed in that ugly Monday night game) and his playoff dreams were crushed.

Now, I don't like writing about my own team but I can't miss out on MOTWs now. So I'll try to be as unbiased in my analysis as we dive into the semi-final matchups. I liked last week's formula so let's keep it going this week:

MOTW 1
1. Bless'm vs. 5. Fournetflix 'n cHiLL
I'm still not sure if Biggie's name was written like that on purpose but I don't know what HLL is so I'll just assume he was doing it to be obnoxious. Simon won both regular season matchups but none of that matters in the playoffs.

Studs: Rivers vs. Fournette
Rivers struggled last week against a hapless Bengals defense. Although the KC defense can definitely ratchet up some pressure, their secondary isn't the toughest to throw on. Additionally, if Melvin Gordon remains out, Rivers will be leaned on heavily to keep up with the high-octane KC offense. He may throw a pick or fumble a ball, but the volume (expect >30 attempts) should make up for it. Fournette gets to face a reeling Redskins team that the Jaguars game plan will work perfectly against. Their run defense hasn't been great, giving up a huge game to Saquon last week, and their offense is being led by Matt Sanchez, meaning the Jaguars should be nursing a lead all game. After a poor showing last week, expect a huge bounce back this week.

Duds: Hill vs. Jones
Neither of these guys are benchable, for obvious reasons, but there are glaring issues for each player. Hill has a tough matchup against Hayward and even if he burns him, rookie sensation Derwin James should be waiting over the top to stop him. He's not 100%, dealing with wrist and heel injuries so expect the Chiefs to target Kelce and Conley more in this game. Jones faces a Chicago defense that just held Gurley to single digit fantasy points (5.8!). Now, we all know what Rodgers can do (see week 1) and that will certainly help open up some lanes for Jones but I just can't see him breaking 100 yards in this one.

X-Factors: Cook vs. Kittle
Both of these bay area TEs have been the top target in the pass game all season. While there's no question that Kittle is the more talented and better TE if all other factors are held equal, Cook gets a favorable matchup and could match Kittle's production for 1 week. If Cook can help neutralize Kittle, one of Biggie's top weapons, Simon's chances will vastly improve.

Winner: Simon
It's hard to pick against a team with 2 of the top 10 RBs and a great special teams matchup (especially if Foles plays). It will be closer than a 1 vs. 5 matchup should be, but I'm guessing Simon's team makes it through.

MOTW 2
2. Orange MFN Charizard vs. 3. Jacked Up!
Cho should feel lucky to even be here. His team performed terribly but he squeaked by thanks to a last second injury report and Melvin Gordon's slowly healing MCL. But it's not a fluke that he's in the smis. David will have his hands full keeping Cho at bay even though he crushed Cho by 30 in week 4.

Studs: Woods vs. Mahomes
Woods gets to face a defense that just gave up 200 yards and 3 TDs to Amari Cooper. While Cooks will probably be the main beneficiary, the Eagles secondary has been decimated, meaning all options are threats to score. The Rams will be looking for a statement win after being embarrassed by the Bears. Mahomes is almost always a stud, but in a divisonal game, at home, to clinch the division, against a middle of the pack defense that he torched for 4 TDs in his first game as a pro? Let's pencil in 30.

Duds: Both backfields
The backfield star power is blinding between these two teams. On one side you have Charizard and the White Wonder. On the other, you got Zeke and Lamar Miller... Okay, Lamar clearly isn't in the same league as the others but he's still have solid RB2 in a matchup where the game flow should favor him. However, I foresee tough days for everyone involved. For Kamara, Carolina has actually been pretty solid against running backs and he's struggled for consistency the last 3 weeks. While the road curse doesn't affect Brees as much in warm weather or divisional games, Brees's struggles could be passed on the Kamara. McCaffrey has been the linchpin of the Panthers offense, scoring exactly 22.1 points in each of the past 2 weeks. However, he faces one of the best run defenses in the league and I'd expect Cam to get more involved as the Panthers look to slow things down, keep the ball in the hands of their playmaker, and grind out a win as they try to get back into the playoff race. Zeke faces an underrated Indy defense and I actually see them struggling to win this game (upset alert!). Zeke won't get shut out completely but I would not be surprised if he's held under 15 points. And lastly, Lamar Miller had a poor showing last week and Blue could take more snaps than Cho would like. I don't think either backfield will bust completely but expect a lower score than they've been showing all season.

X-Factors: Tampa Bay
Winston and Evans play against a tough Baltimore defense in Maryland. Will Winston be able to succeed against that defense without his best WR? If he can, David kills 2 birds with one stone: playing a great QB while producing a dud on the other side. But if Winston's 3 TD game all goes to Evans, the advantage goes to Cho as he's able to negate a QB with a WR.

Winner: David
Cho's players have terrible matchups and I don't think Mahomes does enough to carry the entire team to week 16. The TE position is a matchup I see being very lopsided which should give the edge to David.

Good luck to all!

Simon Kim