Packers vs. Falcons: Top Fantasy Bets, Predictions for 2017 NFC Championship

Daily-fantasy websites are hosting contests this weekend for the NFL's conference championship round.

If you wish to partake in such events, read on to find out the best picks from the NFC tilt, which will take place Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET in Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

Quarterback

It's not a matter of whether or not Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers or Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan score a massive amount of fantasy points this week, as it's expected that this game will shoot out (the over-under right now is a massive 60 points, per OddsShark), but it is a matter of who will do better. Fantasy players aren't winning any DFS tournaments if they pick the lower-scoring quarterback between the two.

The edge here goes to Ryan for two reasons.

First, Ryan plays much better on the Georgia Dome turf, where he completed an eye-popping 72.4 percent of his passes and earned a 119.1 quarterback rating.

Second, Ryan's pass-catching corps is healthier. Although Julio Jones is dealing with a sprained toe and Taylor Gabriel is trying to shake off a foot injury, both practiced Friday, according to the team's injury report, and are expected to play on Sunday.

Green Bay, however, may have as many as three wide receivers missing. Per Tom Silverstein of the Wisconsin State Journal:

Nelson, Adams and Allison are Green Bay's No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 wide receivers this season, respectively. Missing all (or even two) of them would be a big issue, even for a superstar like Rodgers.

Ryan is hot right now, throwing 14 touchdowns and no interceptions in his last five games. In that quintet of contests, the Falcons have scored 42, 41, 33, 38 and 36 points. Atlanta is going to score, and it's just a matter of how. The bet is Ryan is heavily involved.

Prediction: Ryan throws for over 300 yards and four touchdowns; Rodgers chucks three.

Running Back

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As noted before, three Packers wide receivers could miss Sunday's game, but the Sports XChange (via UPI.com) noted that running back Ty Montgomery could see some time at wideout. That means Montgomery could be presented with a unique opportunity to be a running back-wide receiver hybrid of sorts Sunday.

Montgomery caught 10 passes in back-to-back games earlier this season, so he's shown his proficiency at being a consistent target for Rodgers.

If Montgomery is expected to see more time at wideout, then Christine Michael could be a viable option at running back. The Seattle Seahawks exile looked like he was shot out of a cannon against the New York Giants in the Wild Card Round two weeks ago (10 carries, 47 yards), but he didn't get a carry last week against Dallas.

Atlanta finished 29th against the run, according to Football Outsiders, so Michael could be the dark horse you need to finish high in big daily-fantasy tournaments.

Both Falcons running backs (Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman) are viable options for two reasons: They each have a nose for the end zone (including postseason, Freeman has 14 touchdowns, while Coleman scored 12), and they both can catch passes out of the backfield (combined, they have 92 catches and 985 receiving yards to their name), which means that they can each get you some points per reception in leagues that reward for that statistic.

The Packers finished eighth against the run in the regular season, but Khari Murphy of USA Today noted that the statistic was a red herring in a recent article. (Essentially, Green Bay feasts on bad run teams, which Atlanta is not, especially when both of its backs are healthy and playing.)

Prediction: Michael sees a lot of carries and scores a touchdown, Montgomery gobbles up a few passes and the Falcons running backs each score one touchdown.

Wide Receiver

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Assuming the three Packers wide receivers on the injury report are either (a) out or (b) significantly limited by their injuries, then fantasy players need to strongly consider the rest of the wideouts.

Randall Cobb, Jeff Janis and Trevor Davis are the three remaining receivers on Green Bay's roster. We all know what Cobb is capable of, as he's had big games in the past (including five catches, 116 yards and three touchdowns against the New York Giants earlier this postseason). Janis hasn't done much this year, but he did catch seven passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns in a divisional-round matchup against Arizona last year.

Both Cobb and Janis, for what it's worth, have been on the receiving end of Rodgers' Hail Mary passes in the postseason. They stand to see an increased number of targets.

The rookie Davis is a bit of a wild card, as he's only accumulated pass-catching statistics in one game. It just so happened to be against Atlanta, and he caught three passes for 24 yards and a touchdown.

For the Falcons, the three viable plays are Julio Jones (duh), Taylor Gabriel and Mohamed Sanu.

I shouldn't have to explain why a wide receiver who caught 12 passes for 300 yards and one touchdown in just one game this year is a great play, so let's move on to Gabriel and Sanu.

Gabriel, who somehow wasn't considered good enough to play on the Cleveland Browns this year (he was cut in early September), caught six touchdown passes during a seven-game stretch in the second half of the regular season. He's a big play waiting to happen because of his fantastic speed.

Sanu is a possession receiver who could rack up points if the Packers divert a lot of secondary attention to Jones. The former Cincinnati Bengal caught nine passes (on 10 targets) for 84 yards and the game-winning touchdown in a 33-32 victory over Green Bay earlier this year.

Prediction: Cobb has a big day in Nelson's absence (the guess here is that he can't go), and Jones, Sanu and Gabriel each get over 70 receiving yards.

Tight End

Mat Otero/Associated Press

Jared Cook suddenly looks like he might be the Packers' No. 2 pass-catcher on Sunday behind Cobb, provided the Packers' wideout trio on the injury report can't go.

Rodgers and Cook have developed a solid rapport in the past month, which was punctuated by Rodgers' pinpoint 36-yard sideline pass to his tight end to set up Mason Crosby's game-winning 51-yard field goal against Dallas.

Cook has 41 targets in his last five games, with a high of 11 last week against the Cowboys. He caught six passes for 103 yards and a touchdown last week, numbers he can certainly duplicate again Sunday against an Atlanta team that gave up 406 points in the regular season.

Otherwise, any tight end pick from this game is a crapshoot. Packers No. 2 tight end Richard Rodgers and Atlanta Falcons tight ends Austin Hooper and Levine Toilolo don't receive enough targets per week to get serious consideration (combined, they only had five last week). Essentially, they are touchdown-or-bust propositions.

Prediction: Cook continues his great postseason with another big game. One of the Falcons tight ends scores a touchdown.

Kicker

Matt Bryant and Mason Crosby are two of the best kickers in football. Bryant made 34 field goals in the regular season, including six from 50 or more yards. We all saw what Crosby is capable of during the Dallas game, as he hit field goals from 51 and 56 yards.

Prediction: Both are busy in a high-scoring game.

Defense

It's hard to consider either defense in a game with a 60 over-under. Your best bet is picking either the Pittsburgh Steelers or New England Patriots in the nightcap.

Prediction: The Falcons win 38-30, rendering both defenses useless for fantasy purposes.