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DFS Divisional Round: Full Slate Matchups to Exploit

With some solid tournament choices on FanDuel’s Sat-Sun slate, it’s worth checking in on each of the four matchups to see if they offer any funnel opportunities to exploit. This will be the final edition of this piece for the 2018 fantasy football season, so best of luck and we hope to have you back in 2019. Now let’s dive into this weekend’s quartet of playoff tilts.

Indianapolis Colts at Kansas City Chiefs (-5.5, 56.5)
The most important thing about this matchup is the shootout potential it possesses. With the highest Vegas total on the board, there promises to be enough production for everyone to enjoy a piece of the pie. There are a number of attractive choices to consider, but Marlon Mack ($7,400) stands out as a premium option thanks to the Chiefs surrendering 32.58 percent of their slate-high 6,488 scrimmage yards on the ground. With Andrew Luck under center, it makes sense that the Colts prefer to rest their hopes on No. 12’s right shoulder, but with one of the game’s best offensive lines, look for the Colts to place an extra emphasis on the run. As long as they can remain within striking distance — as the spread suggests they’ll be able to do — Mack should remain involved in the action.

Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams (-7, 49.5)
Even as a touchdown underdog, we are not likely to see Ezekiel Elliott ($8,700) fall short of a full workload. The Cowboys may have the least prolific offense on the slate, but they collect 35.68 percent of their yardage via the run. Meanwhile, the Rams surrender the highest share of rushing yards, 34.11 percent, of the eight remaining playoff clubs. If the Cowboys are going to pull off the upset, it’s going to be on the back of their workhorse, but it’s also worth noting that when they do take to the air, the Rams have allowed an average of 82.7 yards to No. 1 wide receivers, making Amari Cooper ($6,800) — who owns a 32 percent share of the team’s air yards and 24 percent of the team’s targets — an intriguing option at receiver.

Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots (-4, 47.5)
From an offensive perspective, both the Chargers and Patriots run fairly balanced attacks, but the Patriots could find some success on the ground as they have all season. They’ve gained the second most rushing yardage (2,037) on the slate while the Chargers allowed 4.3 yards per carry on the season. That’s not the juiciest figure on the slate, but if the Pats — and specifically James White ($7,400) and Sony Michel ($6,000) — can get their offense rolling downhill, they could create some problems for the Bolts. As is typically the custom with Patriots running backs, picking the right runner in a given week can be trickier than gripping a greased pole.

Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints (-8, 51.5)
Nick Foles ($7,400) may be the most vanilla quarterback option in action this weekend, but not only is he going to save you salary, but he’s quarterbacking in a tailor-made funnel matchup. The Saints own the stingiest rush defense on the slate which has forced teams to attack them through the air all season. That plays right into the Eagles’ wheelhouse as their passing game has accounted for 73.14 percent of their total yardage, the largest share of this weekend’s eight participants. Sure, much of the credit goes to Carson Wentz for those numbers, but the Eagles are intimately familiar with the ceiling they have with Foles running the show and will have no choice but to rely on him to lead them to another postseason upset.

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