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Game day update: The Browns enter game day with no positive COVID-19 tests amid their recent outbreak at the facility. Kevin Stefanski will be a mere spectator for this outing though, as he deals with a positive test. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will call the plays for the Browns first playoff game since 2002.
Baker Mayfield will tangle with a familiar foe when he leads the Cleveland Browns into their first playoff game since the 2002 season on Sunday night. Here is how to view Mayfield against the Steelers from a fantasy perspective.
Fantasy Football analysis: Browns QB Baker Mayfield, $5,400
Mayfield helped the Browns end their postseason drought with a victory over the Steelers last week, but he didn’t do a whole lot of the heavy lifting in that triumph. He completed 17 of 27 passes for just 196 yards and one touchdown. And that came against a severely short-handed Steelers defense. Yes, Pittsburgh has a number of impactful defenders sidelined by injury, but Mayfield won’t have the luxury of going through this next game without the likes of T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward breathing down his shoulder pads. Those two were healthy scratches in Week 17; they’ll be full-go on Sunday night. The Steelers have allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to QBs this season and while that group is a little more exploitable now because of their recent maladies, it’s still a very difficult opponent with one of the league’s best pass rushes. If the Browns have it their way, they will try their damnedest to put this game on the shoulders of RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt as much as possible, leaving Mayfield to pick and choose his spots to make big plays. Mayfield tallied just 7.3 DraftKings points when these teams met in Pittsburgh back in October.
Fantasy Start/Sit Recommendation
The matchup and Mayfield’s low ceiling in this relatively run-centric offense make Baker a player to fade this weekend, even at his fairly cheap price.