Fantasy Football 2022: Daily Fantasy Advice for Wild-Card Games

Season-long fantasy campaigns may be over, but daily fantasy competitions will be running through to the Super Bowl starting with the Wild Card Weekend.

The big competitions in the industry this week surround the Saturday and Sunday slates. Of note, DraftKings has a tournament running each day with $1 million to the winner, among other competitions. It'll be $200,000 to the winner of FanDuel's Saturday and Sunday Million tournaments this week.

With that in mind, here are some notes to consider if you're building fantasy lineups for the playoffs, with quick breakdowns of the two Saturday games and three Sunday matchups. The Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams will close out the postseason round Monday evening.

    

Saturday Slate

Las Vegas Raiders at Cincinnati Bengals

The Raiders are a tough team to gauge. They essentially have a five-and-a-half day week after playing an emotional Sunday Night Football game that went 70 minutes long. A letdown is a possibility here.

Now they have to travel to Cincinnati to face a Bengals team that had the benefit of resting starters last Sunday after clinching the AFC North title the week before.

From a fantasy perspective, though, Las Vegas might be a great team to pick from.

If you think the Raiders will play from behind, then wideout Hunter Renfrow and tight end Darren Waller could be good options as they rack up points with increased targets.

Waller returned last week after missing over a month due to injury. He had just two catches for 22 yards but saw nine targets. Expect his production to increase if he sees a similar target number Saturday.

Renfrow was quarterback Derek Carr's go-to target in Waller's absence. Over the last seven weeks, he's had 47 catches for 514 yards and five touchdowns.

In sum, a Carr-Renfrow-Waller stack with a Bengal runback (perhaps top two wideouts Ja'Marr Chase and/or Tee Higgins or running back Joe Mixon) is a very viable pick here.

On the flip side, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has thrown for 971 yards and eight touchdowns in his last two games, so if you want to match him up with Chase, Higgins or Tyler Boyd and run it back with Waller and/or Renfrow, it's certainly a viable play in cash games and tournaments.

The Bengals ought to be chalky in tournaments, though, so consider being different elsewhere if you have a Cincinnati core.

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New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills

It'll be football weather in Buffalo on Saturday night when the Bills host the New England Patriots. The latest forecast shows a low of four degrees, meaning we could see some physical, run-oriented football.

The Bills are also home favorites over the Patriots, meaning they could take to the ground more in the second half to grind down the clock.

If so, that should mean a lot of running back Devin Singletary, who has averaged 21.0 touches per game over the last four weeks, amassing 408 scrimmage yards and six touchdowns during that span.

The 24-year-old is, arguably, the safest running back bet on the Saturday slate, making him a staple in cash-game lineups.

This is a fairly obvious statement, but consider pairing Singletary with the Bills defense, which allowed the fewest points in football this year.

Rookie Patriots quarterback Mac Jones will be going into a tough road environment in his first-ever playoff game.

It might be a tough time for the 23-year-old in the unfriendly confines of Orchard Park, New York, perhaps leading to some big Bills turnovers and dominant defense.

In tandem with some tough Singletary running to kill the clock, the defense can crush the Pats here.

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Sunday Slate

Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Eagles may be heavy underdogs in their road matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but quarterback Jalen Hurts might be the best overall play on the slate thanks to his dual-threat ability.

The 23-year-old is the type of player who can have a bad real-life game but dominate enough in fantasy to be worth including in lineups.

For example, Hurts went 12-of-26 for 115 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 28-22 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year. But he added 44 rushing touchdowns and a pair of scores on the ground.

He's also the type of player you don't need to stack anyone with. If you want to pair him with someone, obviously No. 1 wideout Devonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert are the top choices, but the Oklahoma product can take care of business himself with his legs.

And if the Bucs get out to an early lead, then Hurts' name will be called often as he becomes tasked with bringing Philadelphia back into this game.

On the flip side, keep it simple: Bucs quarterback Tom Brady, running back Leonard Fournette, wideout Mike Evans and tight end Rob Gronkowski will be getting the vast majority of the offensive action.

You can use any of them in different combinations in cash games and tournaments and feel relatively confident beforehand.

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San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys

This game has the makings of a shootout, with both teams possessing superstar offensive talent.

If you're looking to make a monster stack this week in tournaments, this is the one to target.

Both teams have obvious plays (Deebo Samuel and George Kittle for the San Francisco 49ers, and Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb for the Dallas Cowboys), but the key here is to find other names who can light it up.

It's hard to ignore Cowboys wideout Cedrick Wilson's production, especially after he caught five passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns on six targets last week against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The 26-year-old may be Dallas' third wide receiver, but he's siphoning off opportunities from fellow wideouts Lamb and Cooper.

There's a clear rapport between Wilson and quarterback Dak Prescott, who found him for six catches, 35 yards and a touchdown in Week 17 versus the Arizona Cardinals.

The Boise State product is too risky in cash games, but he is a solid choice in tournaments.

Likewise, it's tempting to ride the lightning from last week and take 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings, who caught six passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams to vault San Francisco into the playoffs.

Samuel and Kittle are the clear top two options in this offense, but Jennings' clutch play on Sunday has to put him in consideration for more looks here. He has four touchdowns in his last seven games.

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Pittsburgh Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs

It's hard to make any case for the Pittsburgh Steelers to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, especially after KC trounced Pittsburgh 36-10 earlier this season.

Now the Steelers will head back to Kansas City, which will have the services of Travis Kelce this time after the All-Pro tight end missed the last Pittsburgh game due to COVID-19.

The Chiefs' No. 1 wideout, Tyreek Hill, notably had just two catches for 19 yards last time against Pittsburgh. In his place, No. 2 wideout Byron Pringle stepped up and caught six passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns.

All three pass-catchers should be involved, but the focus here is on running back Darrel Williams, who could end up being the highest-scoring Chief on the slate.

Chiefs running backs combined for 125 rushing yards, 95 receiving yards and one touchdown last time against the Steelers. 

The key here is to watch the injury report. Clyde Edwards-Helaire missed practice Thursday with a shoulder injury that has kept him out since the Pittsburgh contest, and Williams (toe) was limited.

If Williams and Gore make up the Chiefs' backfield, then Williams should get the bulk of the carries.

And if Pittsburgh struggles on offense again versus Kansas City, then Williams should find himself in position for a lot of success. The 26-year-old plus the Chiefs defense is a good pairing.