The 2016 NFL postseason begins with eight teams over the course of two days for the first time in a two-week span. The matchups have been set, players rested, and schedule shuffled accordingly.
Despite this weekend featuring our smallest slate of games, this season, the set of teams that have survived 16 battles, to date, often have enough talent to fill a fantasy football roster. Thankfully, we even have matchups that present relatively straightforward game flow projections.
Sporfolio’s NFL Daily Fantasy Sports game-by-game analysis columns are driven by expected game flow. Based on a combination of our Wild Card Round NFL picks against the spread and our expectations for a given game, we project the actions necessary to make these picks come to fruition. We aim to pinpoint players integral to our predicted game flow for each game of the week.
Luke May is our resident NFL DFS expert, and Mario Mergola operates Sporfolio as our expert for NFL Picks Against the Spread.
Oakland Raiders at Houston Texans
Luke’s DFS Take: It is now difficult to get excited about the Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans. The once-inspiring and exciting offense of Oakland will be turning to Connor Cook for his first career start in what is hardly a good matchup. Houston’s defense has been strong, of late, and has been the main reason the team held onto its division title. While Cook does have weapons in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree, it will be difficult to trust the new trio. The best option from Oakland is probably Latavius Murray, as he should see an increase in touches to take the ball out of the hands of Cook. The fear with Murray is that both DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard will steal touches regularly, making Murray a hit-or-miss play. Of the teams playing on Saturday, the Texans’ offense has arguably the best matchup. The only question to ask is, “Will Brock Osweiler be able to take advantage?” Osweiler has potential to be a good, sneaky play in a slate that will probably see high ownership percentages for Russell Wilson but, like Murray, there is high risk with the potential reward. I do like DeAndre Hopkins; he has played well, of late, and will likely be targeted heavily by Osweiler as the quarterback will lean on his best weapon. Lamar Miller is also in a decent position to succeed as he is fresh off two weeks rest – due to injury – should get plenty of carries against this bad Raiders’ defense, and is making his playoff debut.
Mario’s DFS Take: I am as shocked as anyone else to admit it, but I want to own Brock Osweiler on Saturday afternoon. What’s even more surprising is that, on a slate that includes the likes of Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers, I might want to own Osweiler above anyone else. This desire stems from both the statistics and storyline, as Oakland has allowed the most net-yards-per-pass-attempt and many have debated if Osweiler was signed to his insane contract specifically for this exact moment. After the Texans were blasted at home in their 2015 playoff loss – 30-0 in which Houston turned the ball over five times – the organization went looking for stability at the quarterback position. The Texans arguably made one of the biggest mistakes in recent history when giving Osweiler a massive contract, but forgiveness may begin with a stellar performance on Saturday. The matchup makes it a possibility. By extension, DeAndre Hopkins is back atop my list of wide receivers to target, as his talent level is outstanding, and it would be difficult for Osweiler to perform without contributions from Hopkins. Houston’s defense – best in the league in yards allowed – is a great option against Oakland’s Connor Cook, making his first career start. In the playoffs. On the road.