The traditional fantasy football season is long over, but that doesn’t mean that playoff fantasy football isn’t still going. Whether it is setting a DFS lineup or doing a one-off fantasy football matchup, there is still time to play fantasy football with the upcoming Super Bowl. As you look to set your DFS and fantasy football lineups, let’s take a look at how the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers ranked in regard to points allowed by position this season.
DFS
Kansas City
QB — 10th fewest
RB — 6th fewest
WR — 4th fewest
TE — 4th fewest
D/ST — 13th fewest
K — Fewest
Each of these defenses had a good year and has done a good of exemplifying the “defense wins championships” mantra. The San Francisco 49ers offense isn’t going to have great matchups in the Super Bowl so you will need to prioritize players that see a large workload. For example, running back Christian McCaffrey faces a top-six defense against running backs in DFS, but his usage in both the running and receiving games should still afford him some value.
San Francisco
QB — 5th fewest
RB — 9th fewest
WR — 14th most
TE — 13th most
D/ST — Fewest
K — 10th fewest
Kansas City is in a similar boat in that the Niner defense doesn’t have many advantageous matchups. That being said, the two to exploit are going to be wide receiver and tight end. Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice should be in for big days but don’t be surprised if another pass-catcher ends up with a productive game. Top candidates would be Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson or backup tight end Noah Gray.
Fantasy Football .5 PPR scoring
Kansas City
QB — 15.8 points per game, 5th fewest
RB — 17.2 ppg, 7th fewest
WR — 22.3 ppg, 3rd fewest
TE — 8.3 ppg, 8th fewest
D/ST — 6.1 ppg, 15th most
K — 5.5 ppg, 2nd fewest
The numbers change a little, but when it comes to half-PPR fantasy football scoring. In particular, the Kansas City offense doesn’t fare as well against defenses. San Francisco’s defense was what was supposedly its strong suit when earning the No. 1 seed, so if they can force a few turnovers and keep the scoring low, they could be worth rostering even if they were to lose. Other than that, the same thinking applies as it does in DFS, prioritize players with high snap counts or target shares.
San Francisco
QB — 16.7 points per game, 13th fewest
RB — 16 ppg, 4th fewest
WR — 27.3 ppg, 14th most
TE — 8.5 ppg, 11th fewest
D/ST — 4.5 ppg, 4th fewest
K — 6.5 ppg, 9th fewest
Keep in mind these points are spread out from all those that play the position. It doesn’t mean that each wide receiver can be expected to have 27.3 points each, but rather a combined 27.3 as a position group. Similar to DFS, this suggests an upside for guys like Rice, MVS and maybe even a returning Skyy Moore. Unlike DFS, tight ends have a tougher matchup, so you likely won’t want to go after Gray late and should just stick with Kelce as your KC tight end.
This article can also be found in our Ultimate Guide to Super Bowl 58, presented by Frank’s Red Hot.