The Sunday NFL playoff daily fantasy football slate features a player pool with four superstar QBs and a host of top-flight pass-catchers. Making the right picks in divisional round DFS tournaments won't be easy, but our FanDuel strategy centers around fading the favorites and going all-in on stud receivers.
We don't need Houston to win for this lineup to cash, but clearly with a four-player Texans stack, we're hoping for a lot of offense. That can come in the form of garbage-time points in the second half or an efficient four-quarter attack -- either way, we think Deshaun Watson and Co. are up to the task. We're mostly attacking the Texans-Chiefs game, which has a higher total and figures to see more points, but we're also grabbing a couple key contributors from the Seahawks-Packers matchup, including a potential contrarian play that could help differentiate our lineup.
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Sunday NFL Playoff FanDuel Picks: Divisional Round DFS tournament lineup
QB Deshaun Watson, Texans @ Chiefs ($8,200). Watson is $800 cheaper than Patrick Mahomes and within $100 of both Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, so ownership should be pretty well spread out between the four signal-callers. We'll take our chances with Houston's do-it-all QB, who posted 280 passing yards, 42 rushing yards, and three total TDs when these teams met back in Week 6. Kansas City boasts a solid pass defense, but so did Buffalo and Watson completed 80 percent of his passes and accounted for two touchdowns while adding 55 yards on the ground last week. We know he'll be fully unleashed as a runner, and that usually means big fantasy performances.
RB Damien Williams, Chiefs vs. Texans ($7,300). Make no mistake, Williams is Kansas City's lead back again. He showed this by totaling 35 carries, 246 total yards, and three TDs in Weeks 16 and 17. With Houston allowing the seventh-most fantasy points to RBs in the regular season, Williams is a no-brainer pick at this price.
RB Duke Johnson, Texans @ Chiefs ($5,700). Johnson should see around 10 touches, and against the Chiefs, who allowed the third-most receptions and most receiving yards to RBs during the regular season, he should be highly efficient. When these teams met back in Week 6, Johnson had seven touches for 54 yards and a TD, and he'll have even more upside if Houston is forced to play from behind this week.
SATURDAY DFS LINEUPS: DraftKings | FanDuel
WR Davante Adams, Packers vs. Seahawks ($8,500). Since the start of Week 9, Adams has seen 11.4 targets per game. He's going to get fed, and against Seattle's mediocre secondary (12th-most receptions allowed to WRs in the regular season), he'll produce. His price is high, but he's as close to a sure thing as you'll find on this slate.
WR DeAndre Hopkins, Texans @ Chiefs ($8,100). Kansas City was one of the top defenses against wide receivers during the regular season, allowing the fewest receptions to the position and second-fewest fantasy points overall. However, Hopkins just stared down an equally tough matchup against Tre'Davious White and the Bills and posted six catches for 90 yards. He can produce against anyone, and you know he'll be Watson's top target. Hopkins had nine catches for 55 yards against the Chiefs earlier this year, and you can bet if he has close to that many catches again, he'll produce more yards.
WR Tyreek Hill, Chiefs vs. Texans ($7,900). Hill hasn't had any monster yardage games since returning from his hamstring injury, but he still sees around seven targets per game and has more big-play upside than anyone left in the playoffs. The Texans saw that firsthand in Week 6 when Hill, in his first game back from his shoulder injury, caught five passes for 80 yards and two scores. He'll get the ball in a variety of ways, and chances are he'll break at least a couple big plays.
MORE SUNDAY DFS: DraftKings lineup
TE Jordan Akins, Texans @ Chiefs ($4,600). Because we're paying up so much at WR, we're forced to pay down at TE. When punting a position, you should either look for someone who will be considerably low owned or has high TD potential. Akins definitely fits the first criteria, as he missed last week's game because of a hamstring injury. He's practicing this week, though, and it's worth remembering that Akins saw seven targets in Week 17. If he's on the field, he'll get looks. The Chiefs were 11th in fantasy points allowed to TEs during the regular season -- which included the fifth-most yards to the position -- so Akins has more upside than you think.
FLEX Travis Homer, Seahawks @ Packers ($5,500). Seattle is saying it wants to use Marshawn Lynch more this week, so we're hoping DFS owners flock to him and leave Homer relatively low owned. The fact is Homer has led the team in carries the past two weeks (21 to 18), and even if Lynch overtakes him, it's not as if Homer is going to completely disappear from the game plan. More important, he's clearly the preferred RB in the passing game. Lynch is more likely to score, but if Seattle falls behind, Homer will rack up catches and cheap yards. There's a low floor here, but Homer is a decent value and contrarian play in a matchup against one of the league's worst run defenses.
D/ST Seattle Seahawks @ Packers ($4,100). We're basically punting the position here, and while we could go all the way down to Houston at $3,800, we think Seattle has a little more upside, which it showed in Weeks 10-15 when it had 16 takeaways and two D/ST touchdowns.
