Playoffs?!?!?

Playoffs? Yes, it’s that time of year again. Those of us in leagues with fantasy playoffs need to prepare for the second season. That’s the focus of today’s article. We will be using the Razzball tools to evaluate the playoff schedules for QBs, RBs and WRs. Hopefully this will help you make any last minute adjustments to your schedule so you can be better prepared for what’s to come.

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Let’s start our playoff preview with the QBs. I analyze the coverage matchups between QB and DEF. In English, this means I look at each team’s defensive coverage data and apply it to the QB matchups for the fantasy playoff weeks. Here are the composite QB rankings over the three weeks (weeks 15-17):

If your starting QB is Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes or Dak Prescott, don’t worry. This doesn’t mean your playoffs will be a complete failure, it just means that their overall matchup is among the toughest for QBs through all three weeks.

Let’s go through the three weeks and take a closer look at the matchups that stand out to me:

Week 15 QB Matchups

As of today, some of the top QB matchups for Week 15 are expected to be:

• Matthew Stafford (vs. Detroit) – Another story of a “revenge game” as Stafford and the Rams attempt to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Detroit may also be fighting for their playoff life here.
• Sam Darnold (vs Indianapolis) – Starting Darnold with your playoffs on the line will be a tough decision regardless of the matchup. If it makes you feel any better, the Colts CBs are among the most generous in the league.
• Drake Maye (vs Buffalo) – The AFC’s class will still have to prove themselves worthy when they host the Bills this week. Maye has failed to throw a TD pass in just one game this season (14.9 fantasy points). You guessed it, week 5 in Buffalo. Since then, he has had just one game with fewer than 21 fantasy points. He’s a safe start for your playoff game here.

Week 16 QB Matchups

• Brock Purdy (vs Indianapolis) – Here’s that “Indy” matchup again. Purdy looked a little rusty in his return, but I suspect he’ll be firing on all cylinders by the time the 49ers travel inland for this MNF game. San Francisco is still in the playoff hunt, so this will be a big one. His weapons are finally healthy too!
• Jordan Love (vs Chicago) – The Packers meet the Bears here for the second time in three games, including back-to-back road games (in Denver for Week 15). Keep an eye on the weather and results from week 14 as you decide to start Love in your semi-final.
• Jacoby Brissett (vs. Atlanta) – The Cardinals are only playing for pride in Week 16, but so are the Falcons. If you own Brissett and don’t have a better option, proceed with him with confidence since he probably got you to this point anyway. I mean, all he’s done since Week 6 is averaged 315 passing yards per game with an 11:3 TD:INT ratio.

Week 17 QB Matchups

Congratulations on creating your fantasy league championship game. It was worth coming here, now finish the job.

• Brock Purdy (vs Chicago) – If Purdy got you here, stay with him in this tilt at home against the Bears.
• Bo Nix (vs. Kansas City) – We just saw what Dak did to the Chiefs secondary. This should be a blueprint for every other team on their schedule. Bo could be in a position here to strengthen the Broncos playoff seed and put a stake in the KC dynasty.
• Jayden Daniels (vs. Dallas) – I haven’t talked about Jayden Daniels yet, but there’s a good chance he’ll be back under center in the coming weeks. These end-of-season DAL-WAS games are always full of drama. How fitting would it be to see Daniels’ magic again and cripple the Cowboys’ playoff comeback?

Now it’s time to switch to RBs. As for this group, just like I have been doing all season, I’ll give you both the Zone and Gap rush matchups to focus on during the fantasy playoffs.

Week 15 RB Matchups

Zone Matches

• San Francisco (vs. Tennessee) is already a lock for owners Christian McCaffrey. Knowing that CMC is behind Zone Blocking 65% of the time should make you feel even more comfortable.
• Derrick Henry (64% Zone) and Keaton Mitchell (49% Zone) just registered rushing TDs against the Bengals.
• Kenneth Walker III (57% Zone) and Zach Charbonnet (66% Zone) should find space to run against Indy’s bottom third Zone Defense.

Gap matchups

• Jonathan Taylor (57% Gap) and the Colts are currently recording the most Gap yards per game (60 ypg), but will face a top 10 Gap Defense in Seattle. Something will give here. We’re all going to start with Taylor anyway, so I’ll lean his way.
• Kyren Williams (55% Gap) and the Rams aren’t too shabby in Gap rushing either (50 ypg). Like Seattle, Detroit also ranks in the top 10 in Gap Defense.
• We haven’t really seen an “unleashed” RJ Harvey (56% Gap) yet, but against a bottom-third Gap Defense in Green Bay, the time could be right.

I’ll be sure to delve deeper into these RB matchups in the coming weeks, so for now here are the tables of the best Zone and Gap rush matchups for the other two playoff weeks:

Week 16 RB Matchups

Week 17 RB Matchups

To wrap up our fantasy playoff coverage (for now), let’s take a look at the WR Slot v Wide matchups. Here are the three-week Playoff WR (Slot and Wide) rankings for each team:

WR slot matchups

So, which WRs benefit the most (and least) from these rankings? You can search the full list yourself via our WR Fantasy Points Scored Slot vs. Wide tool. Here’s an excerpt:

Favors:

• PHI: DeVonta Smith (46% slot)
• NYG: Wan’Dale Robinson (65% slot)
• IND: Josh Downs (76% closing)
• JAX: Jacoby Meyers (53% close)
• MIN: Jalen Nailor (71% slot)

Disadvantages:

• DEN: Troy Franklin (41% close)
• BLT: Zay Flowers (43% close)
• BUF: Khalil Shakir (53% close)
• LAC: Ladd McConkey (58% lock)
• WAS: Deebo Samuel (54% slot)

WR wide matchups

Same exercise for Wideouts:

Favors:

• WAS: Terry McLaurin (96% wide) – if he returns
• ATL: Darnell Mooney (76% wide)
• MIA: Jaylen Waddle (87% wide)
• MIN: Justin Jefferson (76% wide) and Jordan Addison (73% wide)
• SF: Kendrick Bourne (74% wide) and Jauan Jennings (68% wide)

Disadvantages:

• PIT: DK Metcalf (88% wide)
• BLT: Rashod Batemen (90% wide)
• ARZ: Marvin Harrison Jr. (84% wide)
• TB: Emeka Egbuka (78% wide)
• CIN: Tee Higgins (93% wide)

That’s all folks

We covered a lot here today and the RazzballNFL guys and I will be dissecting this even more in the coming weeks. For today, I wanted to give you an overview of the upcoming fantasy playoffs, based on projections from some of our FREE tools.

I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU to dive into the data yourself so you can better understand the trends your players are performing. This will help you immensely in your preparation for the fantasy playoffs.

Remember, our #1 priority is the CHAMPIONSHIP! Nothing else matters.

As always, the show will air LIVE on the Razzball YouTube channel this Sunday from 11:00 AM EDT (8:00 AM PDT) until showtime. Sky – @SkyGuasco, Matt – @Stiles08, Dave – @Crewser128, Jeff – @Jefferson__21 and I will be there to answer all your fantasy football questions. Don’t miss it.

As always, check out my articles here each week and follow me on Twitter/X @Derek_Favret. I’m also on BlueSky (@dfavret.bsky.social).

Until next time, my friends.