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Mike Fanelli gives his fantasy football bold predictions for Super Wild Card Weekend, giving fantasy players something to think about when setting their lineups.
Super Wild Card Weekend of the NFL playoffs is here, and I’m back with another edition of fantasy football bold predictions. This week’s list of bold predictions will include Joe Flacco, James Cook, A.J. Brown, Cooper Kupp, and Travis Kelce.
Every week, I will provide some fun and bold fantasy football predictions. While these bold predictions aren’t the most likely outcomes, they are things I believe could happen this week.
Let’s look at my five bold predictions for the first round of the NFL playoffs.
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Joe Flacco…
Has fewer than two passing touchdowns for the first time this season
The Cleveland Browns were one of two teams to have four different starting quarterbacks in 2023. While Deshaun Watson is the franchise quarterback, Flacco might have been the best for fantasy players. The veteran made his first start this year in Week 13, tossing two passing touchdowns. He played only five games during the regular season but had at least two passing touchdowns in every contest.
Flacco’s best game of the year came in Week 16 against the Houston Texans. He had 368 passing yards, three touchdowns, and 24.82 fantasy points, setting season-highs in passing scores and fantasy points. Amari Cooper had a career performance in that game, ripping the Houston secondary apart for 11 receptions, 265 receiving yards, two touchdowns, and 46 half-point PPR fantasy points. The star receiver set the franchise record for receiving yards in a game that week.
While the Browns face the Texans in the first game of the playoffs, don’t expect a similar result to what happened a few weeks ago. Houston gave up only 17 passing touchdowns to quarterbacks during the regular season, the second-fewest in the NFL. They held quarterbacks to zero passing scores in three of their final four contests. When Flacco and Cooper step on the field Saturday, they will have gone over two weeks since seeing live action.
James Cook…
Gets held to under 60 rushing yards
Fantasy football and player prop betting are almost one and the same. While fantasy football accounts for more than just the lone stat that a player prop bet does, you can use one to help you gauge the other. DraftKings has Cook’s rushing total set at over/under 65.5 yards. The former Georgia star had an impressive second NFL season, totaling 1,122 rushing yards, more than double his rookie year total.
The second-year running back started the season on fire but has cooled off lately. Cook has averaged 72.3 rushing yards per game over the past six weeks. Yet, he has had fewer than 60 in four of those contests. Outside of a 25-rushing attempt performance in Week 15, the young running back has averaged only 51 rushing yards per game since Thanksgiving.
More importantly, Cook’s first-round matchup won’t do him any favors. The Pittsburgh Steelers gave up the 10th-most rushing yards to running backs during the regular season, surrendering 96.4 per game. However, they’ve been much better lately. Over the past three weeks, Pittsburgh has held running backs to 60 rushing yards per game, giving up 66 or fewer in every contest.
A.J. Brown…
Has over 100 receiving yards for the first time since Week 13
The Philadelphia Eagles had Super Bowl expectations at the start of the year. However, they lost five of their final six games and fell from the No. 1 seed in the playoffs to the top Wild Card spot. Last week, the Eagles fell flat on their face against the New York Giants, getting blown out 27-10. Brown suffered a scary-looking knee injury in the game. Thankfully, the injury isn’t severe.
Philadelphia’s offense and superstar wide receiver have been in a funk lately. Brown had six consecutive games with at least 125 receiving yards earlier this season. However, he has had only one game with over 94 receiving yards since his hot streak. While the superstar has been on a cold streak, don’t be surprised if he has a massive performance on Monday night.
Brown has an outstanding first-round matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The NFC South division winners surrendered the fourth-most receiving yards to wide receivers during the regular season. Furthermore, they gave up the sixth-most receiving yards per game and the sixth-highest targets per route run rate to outside receivers (per Fantasy Points Data). Brown ran 78.7% of his routes on the outside this year and should rip apart the Tampa Bay secondary.
Cooper Kupp…
Has the most receiving yards on Wild Card Weekend
Unfortunately, Kupp didn’t have an all-star-level performance in 2023 because of injuries. Yet, the superstar wide receiver is still one of the best in the NFL. Puka Nacua is a star in the making and the future of the Los Angeles Rams passing attack. However, the veteran has more upside in the first round of the playoffs. Despite playing part of the year injured, Kupp averaged 73 receiving yards per game in the nine contests he played at least 70% of the snaps with Matthew Stafford.
While he had his lowest yards per game average since his rookie season, Kupp took advantage of appealing matchups. The wide receiver had over 110 receiving yards against the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders -- two of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. He also had 115 receiving yards against the Baltimore Ravens and their elite defense in Week 14. Thankfully, the superstar has an excellent matchup on Sunday night.
The Detroit Lions had one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL during the regular season, surrendering the third-most receiving yards per game to wide receivers (181.2). According to Fantasy Points Data, they severely struggled against slot receivers, giving up the fifth-most receiving yards per game to the slot (87). Kupp ran nearly 60% of his route from the slot this year. Expect him to have a vintage performance against his former quarterback.
Travis Kelce…
Has a classic performance against the Miami Dolphins
Many in the fantasy football community had high expectations for Kelce this season. The future Hall of Famer has been the top tight end in fantasy football over the past several years. Unfortunately, Father Time caught up with the superstar in 2023. While he was the TE1 on a points-per-game basis, averaging 11.5 half-point PPR fantasy points per game, Sam LaPorta had the same fantasy average as a rookie.
Furthermore, six tight ends finished within a 1.5 fantasy points per game average of Kelce this season, including players that were late-round draft picks like David Njoku and Sam LaPorta. The superstar tight end severely struggled after the bye week, averaging only 55.3 receiving yards and 8.7 fantasy points per game, scoring 6.9 or fewer in all three fantasy playoff contests. However, don’t bet against him rebounding now that the playoffs are underway.
Kelce has an excellent first-round matchup against the Dolphins. Miami surrendered the eight-most receptions (91) and targets (125) to tight ends during the regular season while giving up the 10th-most receiving yards (914) and the fourth-most touchdowns (seven). They allowed an NFL-high four receiving touchdowns to tight ends over the final two weeks of the year. The Dolphins defense is so banged up that Patrick Mahomes and Kelce should have their way with them Saturday night.
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