X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Stats & Leaders
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
24x7 News and Alerts

Conference Championship Game Picks - NFL Playoff Predictions

Championship Sunday has arrived and boy did it take some dumb stupid coaching decisions to get here. I've been saying all year the Falcons inability to score in the red zone will cost them eventually. Last week I said, "if the Falcons don't begin scoring touchdowns [in the red zone], it will come back to haunt them." I even wrote about this issue in Week 9. They started off the game with settling for a field goal in the red zone and ended the game failing to score a touchdown. The play calling was absolutely horrific and as soon as Matt Ryan rolled out and cut off half the field, you knew it was over.

The Steelers should be ashamed of their play calling, to pitch the ball out wide on 4th-and-1 in the first quarter and then throw the ball on 4th-and-1 later in the game. But they should NOT fire Mike Tomlin. 

Last week I went 4-0 against the spread elevating my record to 5-3 this postseason.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2024:

 

PATRIOTS -7.5 vs. Jaguars

Sunday 3:05 on CBS

Whoa, money is coming in on the Jaguars. On Tuesday, the Pats were nine-point favorites and on Wednesday it was eight. This is going down because of Tom Brady's nonsense injury. The Patriots are being hush-hush as usual, but don't worry. He'll be fine and shred the Jaguars defense just like Big Ben did last week. I have said the Jaguars are one of the best defenses in football, but this is Tom Brady. And for all you rooting for the Jags, you shouldn't. I'm a Jets fan and want the Pats to make it to the Super Bowl. You must be screaming 'WHYYYY?' That's because the Pats have been in seven Super Bowls since 2001. And. Every. Singe. One has been better than the one before. In 2001, the Pats were 14-point underdogs to the Greatest Show on Turf and upset them. Two years later they defeated the Panthers on a last-second field goal. The one a year later against the Eagles was solid. But the two losses against the Giants, Seattle, and Atlanta one last year were among the greatest football games ever. If they get in the game will be an instant classic. They're not rolling over the Vikings defense in their home building or the Eagles defense. I'm a huge football fan and want the best product possible in the championship.

This will be an NFL record seventh consecutive AFC Championship for the Pats and 12th in Tom Brady's career. In those games, they are 7-4 straight up, and 5-6 against the spread. The point spread is the second-highest the Pats have been favorite by (the highest was in 2007, 14 over the Chargers. They did not cover).  The Jaguars were established in 1995 and made two AFC Championships, 1996 and 1999. They lost both.

The Jaguars had their best offensive day of the season last week matching their highest scoring output, 45 points. However, their defense gave up its second-most points this season, 42, and most pass yards to the Steelers, 462. The second most this season was 301, also to the Steelers, and third most to Seattle, 260. Tom Brady will slice them up down the middle. As Matthew Freedman of the Action Network notes, "While the Jags defense is strong outside the numbers thanks to Pro-Bowl cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye, they are more vulnerable in the middle of the field, ranking 11th, 15th, and 20th in pass DVOA against supplementary (slot) receivers, running backs, and tight ends." Hello, Danny Amendola, Dion Lewis, and Rob Gronkowski. I heard a wild stat the other day, and of course I can't remember where it was from, when Brady and Gronk take the field together, they win at an 80% clip. This may be the healthiest Gronk has been in a while.

I'm not going to look at any more stats because this is a common sense game. The Jaguars peaked last week. Remember, this is still Blake Bortles playing in Foxborough in the AFC Championship. This is a whole another animal than Pittsburgh. I understand the most hottest take this week on all sports talk is Tom Coughlin is the only one to have beaten the Patriots in the Super Bowl since 2001. Firstly, he's not the head coach, and secondly, he'd doesn't have Eli Manning to make the huge throw when must needed. This feels like a vintage Bortles game, and revert to his old name Blake "Pick-six Bortles." The Jags were a feel good story, but it has to come to an end.

Prediction: Patriots 31 - Jaguars 14

 

EAGLES +3 vs. Vikings

Sunday 6:40 p.m.on FOX

The battle of two tortured fanbases. Both teams have never won a Super Bowl, and are historic dating back pre-merger in 1970. The Vikings won the NFL championship in 1969, the Eagles three, 1948, 1949, and 1960. The last of which was against Vince Lombardi, "the only postseason loss on the great coach."

The Vikings are 0-4 in Super Bowls, their last appearance in 1976. The Vikings have had three chances since then, but lost in 1998 after Gary Anderson missed a kick to ice the game, shut out to the Giants as one-point favorites in the Meadowlands, and Brett Favre's heartbreaking interception in 2009. This is also the team that lost on a Roger Staubach Hail Mary in the 1975 Divisional Round.

The Eagles are 0-2 in Super Bowls, their last appearance in 2004. They did not make an NFC Championship game appearance from 1980 to 2001, under Andy Reid. Him and Donovan McNabb led them to five NFC Championship games, four of which were consecutive, the last of which in 2009.

This is the game I'm most excited for. This has all the makings of a vintage NFC Championship game from the 1980's. A cold weather, hard-hitting, defensive battle. I  don't think these quarterbacks will make many plays. Expect to see a lot of running and play-action.

These teams have very similar defensive numbers. The Vikings were first in points allowed, the Eagles fourth. Minnesota was 5th in takeaways, the Eagles, fourth. The Vikings had a significant better pass defense, second while the Eagles were 17th. Both rush defenses are the best two, the Eagles were first and Vikings second.

The Vikings and Eagles both are stacked with weapons from Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, Jerrick McKinnon, Latavius Murray, and Kyle Rudolph for Minnesota. Philly has Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agoholor, Zach Ertz, Jay Ajayi, LeGarrette Blount, and Corey Clement. The stat that will decide this game is the pass defense. The rush defenses won't budge, but the Vikings have the advantage at quarterback. I've been a fan of Nick Foles and have stood by him since he came in and he looked good last week. But this isn't the Falcons defense, the Vikings defense is loaded and mean. Case Keenum has looked great all year and will make several more clutch plays than Foles to lead them back to Minneapolis to host the Super Bowl.

Prediction: Vikings 20 - Eagles 16

 

This will not be my last football article of the year. The week leading up to the Super Bowl I will be posting a Super Bowl prop extravaganza article with my pick. Stay tuned for that.

Best of luck RotoBallers!

 




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Stats & Leaders
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Nikola Jokic4 hours ago

Questionable Versus Brooklyn
Framber Valdez5 hours ago

Astros Avoid Arbitration
Santi Aldama5 hours ago

Will Return On Thursday Night
Jaren Jackson Jr.5 hours ago

Will Suit Up Versus Houston
Desmond Bane5 hours ago

Active Against Rockets
Randy Arozarena6 hours ago

Mariners Avoid Arbitration
Ja Morant6 hours ago

Back On Thursday Night
Robert Williams III6 hours ago

Resting On Thursday
Daniel Gafford6 hours ago

Ready To Return On Thursday
Tim Hardaway Jr.6 hours ago

Will Not Play Against The Warriors
Bruce Brown6 hours ago

Out On Thursday
Davion Mitchell6 hours ago

Available Thursday
Moses Moody6 hours ago

Will Not Play On Thursday
Dennis Schröder6 hours ago

Dennis Schroder Available Versus Pistons
Draymond Green6 hours ago

Good To Go Thursday
Stephen Curry6 hours ago

Upgraded To Available Thursday
Giannis Antetokounmpo6 hours ago

Probable Against Orlando On Friday
Mason Marchment7 hours ago

Recovering From Surgery
Jalen Hurts7 hours ago

Practices In Full, On Pace To Play On Sunday
Samuel Ersson7 hours ago

Returns To Action Against Stars
Sean Monahan7 hours ago

Placed On Injured Reserve
Khris Middleton7 hours ago

Probable For Friday
Evgeni Malkin7 hours ago

A Game-Time Call Thursday
Filip Chytil7 hours ago

Will Not Play Thursday
Robert Williams III7 hours ago

Questionable On Thursday
Igor Shesterkin7 hours ago

Returns To Rangers Crease Thursday
Brock Faber7 hours ago

Out On Thursday
Jerami Grant7 hours ago

Ruled Out On Thursday
Damian Lillard8 hours ago

Likely Available For Friday
John Metchie III8 hours ago

Listed As Questionable For Wild-Card Weekend
Cade Otton8 hours ago

Upgrades To Full Participation On Thursday
Quentin Johnston8 hours ago

Questionable For Wild-Card Weekend
J.K. Dobbins9 hours ago

Questionable For Wild-Card Weekend
Jake Knapp9 hours ago

Withdraws From Sony Open
Joshua Palmer9 hours ago

Ruled Out For Wild-Card Weekend
Michael Thorbjornsen9 hours ago

Withdraws From Sony Open
Davion Mitchell9 hours ago

Probable Against Cleveland
Ochai Agbaji10 hours ago

Ruled Out Thursday Against Cleveland
Luis Arraez10 hours ago

Padres Settle On $14 Million Deal
A.J. Brown10 hours ago

Being Rested On Thursday
Tarik Skubal10 hours ago

Tigers Avoid Arbitration
Dylan Cease10 hours ago

And Padres Avoid Arbitration
Logan Gilbert10 hours ago

Mariners Avoid Arbitration
Tyreek Hill11 hours ago

"Committed" To Dolphins
Las Vegas Raiders11 hours ago

Raiders Fire General Manager Tom Telesco After One Season
Zay Flowers11 hours ago

Officially Out For Wild-Card Game
Zay Flowers13 hours ago

Not Practicing Friday, Highly Unlikely To Play Saturday
Garrett Crochet16 hours ago

Boston Discussing Long-Term Deal
Matthew Tkachuk17 hours ago

Tallies Two Helpers In Victory
Petr Mrazek17 hours ago

Stands Tall Against Colorado
Connor Bedard17 hours ago

Tallies Goal, Assist On Wednesday
Logan Thompson17 hours ago

Leads The Way In Overtime Victory
Pierre-Luc Dubois17 hours ago

Scores Twice On Wednesday
Jeff Petry17 hours ago

Placed On Injured Reserve
Trent Miner1 day ago

Set For First Career Start On Wednesday
Beck Malenstyn1 day ago

To Remain Out On Thursday
Jiri Kulich1 day ago

Out Week-To-Week
Thatcher Demko1 day ago

Unavailable Wednesday
Elias Pettersson1 day ago

A Game-Time Call Against Capitals
Jonathan Drouin1 day ago

Out Wednesday
Aaron Ekblad1 day ago

A Game-Time Decision Wednesday
Davis Thompson1 day ago

Starts 2025 Season Well
PGA1 day ago

J.T. Poston Disappoints At The Sentry
Chris Kirk1 day ago

Sputters At The Sentry
Billy Horschel1 day ago

Looks Forward To Sony Open
Brian Harman1 day ago

Gets 2025 Started With A Rough Start
PGA1 day ago

Cameron Davis Finishes Strong At The Sentry
Keegan Bradley1 day ago

Starts 2025 Season Well
NFL1 day ago

Bill Belichick Has No Plans To Return To The NFL
Deebo Samuel Sr.1 day ago

49ers Plan To Bring Deebo Samuel Sr. Back Next Year
Zay Flowers1 day ago

Absent From Wednesday's Practice
Braxton Garrett1 day ago

To Miss 2025 Season Following Elbow Surgery
Taylor Pendrith2 days ago

Is A Dark-Horse Pick For Sony Open
Jalen Hurts2 days ago

Expected To Practice On Wednesday
Eric Cole2 days ago

Looking For Bounce-Back Performance At Sony Open
Zay Flowers2 days ago

A Long Shot To Play On Wild-Card Weekend
Sahith Theegala2 days ago

A Big Name To Stay Away From At Sony Open
Nick Dunlap2 days ago

Looks To Bounce Back At Sony Open
Tom Kim2 days ago

Making Season Debut At Sony Open
Hideki Matsuyama2 days ago

Looks To Make History At Waialae
Sean Monahan2 days ago

Exits Tuesday's Game Early
Tanner Scott2 days ago

Mets Meet With Tanner Scott
Justin Verlander2 days ago

Signs One-Year Contract With San Francisco
NFL2 days ago

Ashton Jeanty Declares For 2025 NFL Draft
Tua Tagovailoa2 days ago

Dolphins Have "No Concern At All" About Tua Tagovailoa's Long-Term Health
Las Vegas Raiders2 days ago

Raiders Fire Head Coach Antonio Pierce
David Montgomery2 days ago

Expected To Return For Divisional Round
Tyreek Hill2 days ago

Dolphins Say Tyreek Hill Did Not Request A Trade
Brandon Woodruff2 days ago

Hopes To Be Ready By Opening Day
Luke Clanton2 days ago

A Player To Watch At Sony Open
Thomas Detry2 days ago

In Solid Form Ahead Of Sony Open
Russell Henley2 days ago

A Course Horse At Sony Open
Stephan Jaeger2 days ago

A Risky Option At Sony Open
Kurt Kitayama2 days ago

Makes 2025 Debut At Sony Open
Maverick McNealy2 days ago

Looks To Stay Hot In Hawaii
Brent Rooker3 days ago

Signs Five-Year Extension
Nolan Arenado3 days ago

Red Sox Emerge As Strong Candidate To Land Nolan Arenado
Michael Lorenzen3 days ago

Signs One-Year Deal With Kansas City
Gavin Lux3 days ago

Traded To Cincinnati
Luis Arraez3 days ago

Yankees Talking With Padres About Luis Arraez
Clayton Kershaw5 days ago

Intends To Pitch In 2025, Expected To Return To Los Angeles

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
James Cook - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Football Projections: Running Backs (Half-PPR) - Brian Robinson, Aaron Jones, Kyren Williams, Bucky Irving, J.K. Dobbins

Welcome RotoBallers to our initial Wild Card Weekend fantasy football running back projections for the 2024 NFL season. Use these projections to set winning lineups and get an idea of how our rankings are set and determined. Ahead of the start of postseason action, check below for the expected output for key ball carriers such […]


Justin Jefferson - Fantasy Football Rankings, DFS Lineup Picks, NFL Injury News

Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Football Projections: Wide Receivers (Half-PPR) - Justin Jefferson, Puka Nacua, Mike Evans, Nico Collins, Ladd McConkey, more

NFL playoff fantasy football leagues and tournaments are set to begin, so it's time to dive into our Wild Card Weekend fantasy football wide receiver projections for the 2024 NFL season. Use these Wild Card projections to set winning lineups and visualize how our rankings are determined. When you dive into the projections below, you'll […]


Mark Andrews - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Football Projections: Tight Ends (Half-PPR) - Mark Andrews, T.J. Hockenson, Zach Ertz, Tucker Kraft, Will Dissly, Dallas Goedert

The fantasy football regular season has come to an end, but it's time to get primed for NFL playoff fantasy leagues and DFS lineups with our Wild Card Weekend fantasy football tight end projections. Use these Wild Card projections to set winning lineups and visualize how rankings are determined. Let's dive into the projections below […]


Baker Mayfield - Fantasy Football Rankings, Waiver Wire Pickups, Draft Sleepers

Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Football Projections: Quarterbacks - Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Justin Herbert

Digging into fantasy football rankings remains a staple of preparation even for NFL Playoff fantasy leagues, but our Wild Card Weekend fantasy football quarterback projections for the 2024 NFL season demonstrate how the rankings are determined. Use these Wild Card projections to build your DFS lineups or NFL playoff fantasy football teams. In the projections […]


Ladd McConkey - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

NFL Wild Card Weekend Predictions: Picks and Analysis for Every Game

The NFL regular season is in the books and postseason dreams start this weekend for 14 teams. With the top seeds in each conference earning a bye for the opening round, we have six matchups to analyze for Wild Card Weekend of the NFL Playoffs. Though this weekend always appears to contain mostly inevitable outcomes, […]


Video: Wild Card Weekend Must-Start Running Backs - Fantasy Football Playoff Leagues, DFS, Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Analysis

The 2024 NFL regular season is in the books, but that doesn't mean the fantasy fun has to stop! Here at RotoBaller, we've got you covered for fantasy football playoff leagues and NFL DFS starts and sits for Wild Card Weekend! RotoBaller's Matt Donnelly discusses his top "Must Start" running backs that will have a […]


JK Dobbins - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round (Thursday Updates): J.K. Dobbins, Zay Flowers, Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Mike Evans, Bucky Irving, Jordan Love, Jalen McMillan, Amari Cooper, Cade Otton, more

The 2024 regular season in the National Football League has drawn to a close, but one thing that hasn't and will never end is the perpetual carousel of player injuries. Although 18 teams are no longer playing football this year, the 14 that haven't been eliminated still have plenty of ailing members. Only 12 of […]


Jared Goff - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL DFS Picks

NFL Playoffs Power Rankings for Fantasy Football - FFPC Playoff Challenge Draft Picks By Team

When building your fantasy football playoff rosters, the first steps are to forecast how the conference brackets will shake out and how many games each team can potentially play. Those exercises are vital in the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC) Playoff Challenge, where you can only roster one player from each NFL team. My NFL […]


Saquon Barkley - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Football Projections: (Half-PPR) - Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Puka Nacua, Justin Jefferson, Bucky Irving

If you're set to participate in an NFL playoff fantasy football league or are grinding postseason DFS lineups, use our Wild Card Weekend fantasy football projections to assist your efforts and see how key players are expected to perform. The fantasy football regular season is over, but there are still contests to win! Ahead of Round […]


Deion Sanders - NCAAF Head Coach Colorado Buffaloes CFB

Top Eight Candidates To Be The Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach in 2025

The Las Vegas Raiders fired head coach Antonio Pierce on Tuesday after a disappointing 4-13 season. Pierce was the head coach for just one season after taking over as the interim coach in 2023 after Josh McDaniels was let go.  General manager Tom Telesco, who was hired just this season, was retained and will help […]


Mike Evans - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

NFL Playoff League Rankings for Fantasy Football: Saquon Barkley, Jahmyr Gibbs, Mike Evans, Kyren Williams, Joe Mixon, Puka Nacua, Terry McLaurin

While the traditional fantasy football season is over, the start of the NFL playoffs brings various types of fantasy football contests geared toward the playoffs. Fantasy football is not over yet, so let's get to the action! Below are our 2025 fantasy football playoff league rankings to help you make the best decisions for your playoff […]


Travis Kelce - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Time To Hang It Up: Five NFL Tight Ends (TEs) That Should Retire After The Season

The tight end position typically has players that can play later into their careers than other positions. You don't usually see many running backs, wide receivers, or defensive and offensive linemen over 31 years old have much success or even play at all in the NFL. There are some outliers, of course. But even for […]


Patrick Mahomes - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Best Potential Matchups For Super Bowl LIX

The NFL playoffs have arrived, which means we're just a month away from Super Bowl LIX, which will be played at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. There are 14 teams that could play in the Super Bowl, with 49 potential combinations of teams that could play in the Super Bowl. While every potential matchup […]