We’ve got the Commanders vs. the Eagles and the Bills vs. the Chiefs. Two of these teams will be wallowing in grief while munching on Bon Bons in their briefs. The other two will be like a Tums commercial with no more anxiety and stomach relief. All four teams are beasts, so which defenses can be turnover thiefs and which teams have the best priests to pray for and find those magical clovers with four leafs?
DraftKings Sportsbook has PHI -5.5 over WAS at home with the total at 47.5. KC is -1.5 over BUF at home with the total at 47.5.
DISCLAIMER: This piece was written on Monday, so it won’t factor in injuries or lineup changes that occur closer to Sunday.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $3M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].
Quarterback
Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles ($7,000) – It’s crazy to say this, but Daniels may have the highest floor/ceiling combo on the slate. He’s put up at least 22 FPTS in two playoff games. Outside of a meaningless Week 18 that he exited early, Daniels had a five-week stretch to close out the season with at least 23 FPTS in all with three over 30 FPTS.
Earlier in the season, he was banged up and wasn’t rushing as much, but he’s obviously healthy and slicing and dicing up defenses. He’s been fantastic against the blitz and he rushed 16 and 13 times over the last two games.
Daniels faced this Philly team back in Week 11 and finished with only 14.44 FPTS. He went 22-of-32 for 191 yards, a touchdown and an interception while rushing seven times for 18 yards. That was during the time when Daniels was banged up. He returned in Week 16 and put up 36.42 FPTS, going 24-of-39 for 258 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing nine times for 81 yards.
Adjustments will be made by Philly, but I feel confident that Daniels won’t be fazed by anything and will be able to adjust to any adjustments.
Other Options – Josh Allen ($7,500)
Running Back
Stud
Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Commanders ($8,600) – Show me the Quon?! Barkley has been the best running back in the league this season, both in real life and for fantasy. He’s put up over 30 FPTS seven times with two over 40! And that’s with only catching 39 passes. So far, Saquon is at 2,329 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns with 309 receiving yards and another two touchdowns.
In Week 16 against the Commanders, Saquon rushed 29 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns. In the Week 11 matchup, he carried 26 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
Other Options – James Cook ($6,900)
Value
Austin Ekeler, Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles ($5,300) – Brian Robinson Jr. leads the backfield with 53% of the snaps, but Ekeler was at 60%, 47% and 37% last week. Robinson led the way with four red zone looks but Ekeler received two himself last week. Ekeler had four targets, the only running back to garner one. Philadelphia boasts one of the best run defense units in the league – 5th in EPA per carry and the nine rushing touchdowns are second-fewest.
Ekeler did not play in the Week 16 matchup, but in the Week 11 game against the Eagles, he caught eight of nine targets for 89 yards.
Other Options – Kareem Hunt ($5,400), Ty Johnson ($4,400)
Wide Receiver
Stud
Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles ($6,700) – McLaurin has scored a touchdown in seven of his last eight games played, with two of those multi-score ones. He is the boo of Daniels, having garnered double-digit targets in two of the last three contests.
In Week 16 against the Eagles, McLaurin caught five of six targets for 60 yards and a touchdown. In Week 11, he caught one of two targets for 10 yards. But Daniels wasn’t right during that span, so not sure how much weight we can put into that one.
Other Options – AJ Brown ($6,800)
Value
Dyami Brown, Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles ($4,400) – Brown is a solid 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, runs the 40 in 4.5 seconds and was a third-round pick in the 2021 draft. Over his last six games, Brown has received at least four targets in all. In the last two playoff games, Brown garnered five and eight targets, converting those into 98 and 89 yards with a touchdown. That translated to 15.8 and 19.9 FPTS.
Other Options – Khalil Shakir ($5,700), Xavier Worthy ($5,500), Olamide Zaccheaus ($3,900), Keon Coleman ($3,700), Curtis Samuel ($3,500), Jamison Crowder ($3,100)
Tight End
Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills ($6,000) – Kelce was frustrating for fantasy owners during the regular season because he was playing possum for much of it. He did have some good stretches with big games, but he mostly was resting up for the playoffs. Last week, he tore off his possum costume and hauled in seven of eight targets for 117 yards and a touchdown. He is the number one receiver for Patrick Mahomes and he’s going to get fed.
Other Options – Dallas Goedert ($4,500), Zach Ertz ($4,300), Dalton Kincaid ($3,600), Dawson Knox ($2,600)
Defense/Special Teams
Commanders D/ST at Philadelphia Eagles ($2,700) – This unit is the cheapest. In addition, Jalen Hurts got banged up last week and there’s a chance that he could be more of a sitting duck this week if the Commanders offense forces the Eagles to tilt more toward the air.
