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Matthew Stafford start 'em, sit 'em fantasy football lineup picks for Wild Card Weekend. Should you start or sit Matthew Stafford in playoffs fantasy football lineups (2023)?
BALLER MOVE: Start in all leagues
POSITIONAL VALUE: QB1
ANALYSIS: The most prolific quarterback in Lions' franchise history returns to the homeland.
If you went off the grid this week, Matthew Stafford is returning to Detroit to face his former team in a playoff game. The first-overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft leads the franchise in every major passing category. It'll be emotional, but he doesn't have any expectations. As he said, "I'm the bad guy coming to town."
The bad guy is bringing one of the hottest teams in the NFL to the Motor City. The Rams are 7-1 over their last eight games, only losing the AFC's top seed, the Baltimore Ravens. Stafford now has a trio of receiving weapons racking up numbers week after week. Cooper Kupp is a former All-Pro and Super Bowl MVP. Puka Nacua broke the rookie records for receptions and yards in his debut season. From Weeks 13 through 17, Demarcus Robinson scored or tallied 90 yards in every game. That's helped Stafford top 300 yards or score twice in every game since Week 12.
Stafford's old team allowed the sixth-most passing yards per game during the regular season. In Weeks 16 and 18, Nick Mullens threw for 411 and 396 yards. In the middle of the Mullens sandwich was 345 yards from Dak Prescott.
Not only is Detroit susceptible to the passing game, but they consistently stop running backs. The Lions surrender just a hair over 60 yards per game to the backfield. The passing game will be needed to pull off the upset. There's a potential shootout at play, with the highest over/under line of the weekend (51.5).
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