Fantasy Football Playoff Weeks Rushing Matchups

By NFL Fantasy Analyst Russ Bliss

Now that we've gotten thru 9 weeks of the 2010 NFL season, there is enough hard data for us to analyze the matchups for the upcoming fantasy football playoff weeks. Knowing which teams (and therefore which players) have the best and worst matchups is the next step in securing a fantasy football championship. The fantasy cheat sheets below are for each team's rushing matchups and was created by taking the rankings of each opponent's defense against the run in weeks 14, 15, and 16 (as these are the standard weeks for most leagues fantasy playoffs) and adding the rankings of the opponents together. Just like our passing & receiving NFL predictions, the rankings for each defense reflect the generic "Fantasy Points per Game" formula I've described many times in my blog. I have also included (since not every league runs their playoffs weeks 14-16) the matchups for weeks 13 and 17, but they were not used in for the rankings seen below.

 

To put it in practical use, you'll quickly see that the Oakland Raiders have the most favorable schedule against the run during weeks 14-16. The Raiders 3 opponents (Jacksonville, Denver, and Indianapolis) currently rank in the bottom 4 defenses in rushing fantasy points allowed. If you have Darren McFadden, all you need to do is hope he stays healthy and you should enjoy a bounty of fantasy points these 3 weeks. It also would be a good idea to have Michael Bush on your roster as well in case the injury prone McFadden breaks down between now and then.

 

If you don't have McFadden, you should try trading for him now before everyone knows his fantasy playoff schedule is this good. Maybe you have Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson (both of whom have very poor matchups during these weeks). Offer them up to get McFadden in a trade. Or try to work a trade in any way that makes sense for your team. And use common sense when thinking about trades. I certainly wouldn't trade Adrian Peterson for Darren McFadden straight up despite the disparity in matchups during these weeks. But I might consider trading Peterson and a backup QB or WR for McFadden and a top flight QB or WR who represent upgrades to my team and have favorable matchups themselves against weak pass defenses during the playoff weeks.

 

 

Rank	Team	14	15	16			13	17
1	Oakland Raiders	@JAC	DEN	IND			@SD	@KC
		29	32	30	91		11	10
2	Washington Redskins	TB	@DAL	@JAC			@NYG	NYG
		28	23	29	80		3	3
3	Arizona Cardinals	DEN	@CAR	DAL			St.L	@SF
		32	20	23	75		4	7
4	Cleveland Browns	@BUF	@CIN	BAL			@MIA	PIT
		31	25	15	71		12	1
5	Denver Broncos	@AZ	@OAK	HOU			@KC	SD
		26	21	16	63		10	11
6	New England Patriots	@CHI	GB	@BUF			NYJ	MIA
		19	13	31	63		2	12
7	Atlanta Falcons	@CAR	@SEA	NO			@TB	CAR
		20	22	18	60		28	20
8	Miami Dolphins	@NYJ	BUF	DET			CLE	@NE
		2	31	27	60		5	24
9	Indianapolis Colts	@TEN	JAC	@OAK			DAL	TEN
		9	29	21	59		23	9
10	Jacksonville Jaguars	OAK	@IND	WAS			@TEN	@HOU
		21	30	8	59		9	16
11	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	@WAS	DET	SEA			ATL	@NO
		8	27	22	57		6	18
12	Houston Texans	BAL	@TEN	@DEN			@PHI	JAC
		15	9	32	56		17	29
13	Tennessee Titans	IND	HOU	@KC			JAC	@IND
		30	16	10	56		29	30
14	Green Bay Packers	@DET	@NE	NYG			SF	CHI
		27	24	3	54		7	19
15	Detroit Lions	GB	@TB	@MIA			CHI	MIN
		13	28	12	53		19	14
16	Dallas Cowboys	PHI	WAS	@AZ			@IND	@PHI
		17	8	26	51		30	17
17	Pittsburgh Steelers	CIN	NYJ	CAR			@BAL	@CLE
		25	2	20	47		15	5
18	New York Giants	@MIN	PHI	@GB			WAS	@WAS
		14	17	13	44		8	8
19	San Diego Chargers	KC	SF	@CIN			OAK	@DEN
		10	7	25	42		21	32
20	Seattle Seahawks	@SF	ATL	@TB			CAR	STL
		7	6	28	41		20	4
21	Buffalo Bills	CLE	@MIA	NE			@MIN	@NYJ
		5	12	24	41		14	2
22	Chicago Bears	NE	@MIN	NYJ			@DET	@GB
		24	14	2	40		27	13
23	Philadelphia Eagles	@DAL	@NYG	MIN			HOU	DAL
		23	3	14	40		16	23
24	Minnesota Vikings	NYG	CHI	@PHI			BUF	@DET
		3	19	17	39		31	27
25	Baltimore Ravens	@HOU	NO	@CLE			PIT	CIN
		16	18	5	39		1	25
26	San Francisco 49ers	SEA	@SD	@STL			@GB	AZ
		22	11	4	37		13	26
27	St. Louis Rams	@NO	KC	SF			@AZ	@SEA
		18	10	7	35		26	22
28	Carolina Panthers	ATL	AZ	@PIT			@SEA	@ATL
		6	26	1	33		22	6
29	New York Jets	MIA	@PIT	@CHI			@NE	BUF
		12	1	19	32		24	31
30	New Orleans Saints	STL	@BAL	@ATL			@CIN	TB
		4	15	6	25		25	28
31	Kansas City Chiefs	@SD	@STL	TEN			DEN	OAK
		11	4	9	24		32	21
32	Cincinnati Bengals	@PIT	CLE	SD			NO	@BAL
		1	5	11	17		18	15