The first week of fantasy playoffs are in the books and some leagues are moving onto championships while others are in the semi-final stage. Either way, let’s see some of the players that had the most chances to put up touchdowns this past week to see who may have those chances again next week in pivotal match-ups for both their respective teams and your fantasy team(s).

Red Zone Passing Attempts

Drew Lock , QB DEN – It’s only the second start for Lock this year but he’s already garnering attention with how well he’s played. This week, Lock led the NFL in Red Zone passing attempts with his 10 and it was the third time this year Denver cracked double-digits in a week. Along with the 10 attempts, he posted four touchdowns, with three of those coming inside the 20. For those questioning the selection of Lock by Denver back in April, he’s looked like a good pick right now, though in an incredibly short sample size.

Jimmy Garoppolo , QB SF – This shouldn’t be a shock to see Garoppolo in this section after that classic shootout in New Orleans on Sunday. Jimmy G had eight attempts inside the 20 and three of those resulted in touchdowns for the Niners. He was also proficient at spreading the ball around as three different receivers had at least two targets in the match-up and surprisingly, Emmanuel Sanders , the leading receiver (on yards) for the week in the NFL, didn’t have but one target that he didn’t catch. Garoppolo seems to be hitting his stride in this offense as he’s topped eight attempts twice in the last four weeks.

Kyler Murray , QB ARI – The rookie has been electric at times this year despite the losing streak they’ve been on for the last six weeks. This past week he posted eight Red Zone attempts and one of those went for one of his two touchdowns. He also carried it a couple of times. This amount of attempts is the most he’s had in a game since Week 2 and the third time this season he’s exceeded seven attempts. There may not be a ton around Murray, but once in a while right now he can shine inside the 20.

Deshaun Watson , QB HOU – Watson is a guy more familiar with this section of the Red Zone report than the ones around him this week. He had five passing attempts, the most he’s had since Week 8, and on top of that, he had two rushing touchdowns in this area. The two Red Zone touchdowns led the NFL regardless of position last week and it was actually the only touchdowns he accounted for as there were none through the air from Watson.

Red Zone Rushing Attempts

Joe Mixon , RB CIN – Well hello there Mr. Mixon. It’s been a long season in Cincinnati for everyone but especially those that had the misfortune of drafting Mixon back in August. Mixon had 22 Red Zone carries in the first 13 games of the season coming into Week 14’s match-up but then had a season-high of six carries and a catch with a touchdown on the ground. The return of Andy Dalton to the Bengals’ offense has been a boon for fantasy value from the wideouts and running backs. Mixon has a tougher match-up this week against New England but it was a nice flash for the Cincy back.

Ezekiel Elliott , RB DAL – Elliott has been powering the Cowboys offense for much of the season but this week stood out because of the volume of work he got. The five carries inside the 20 were the most he had since Week 7 and was one less than he had in the last three games combined. Two of those carries went for touchdowns as well. He’s clearly an elite option every week he’s on the field but the added amount of work near the endzone is definitely a bonus for the Cowboys and his fantasy owners.

Devonta Freeman , RB ATL – Freeman has been mostly a non-factor this year but in Week 14 he showed up, at least in the Red Zone. He toted it four times inside the 20 which is his highest total of the year and one more than he had dating back to Week 6 combined. In his absence though, Brian Hill and Qadree Ollison combined for three weeks of four or more carries in the Red Zone. This may be the start of a trend for Freeman as the fantasy playoffs wind down.

Todd Gurley , RB LAR – Gurley had the wheels taken off the last few weeks with 42 combined carries and back-to-back six carry games inside the 20. For those that waited for Gurley to show up this year, this is the time for that to happen, if you’ve made it this far into the playoffs. While the Rams offense has been down this year, he’s still been the top option in the backfield all year and that should continue the rest of the way at this point.

Red Zone Receiving Targets

Tyler Higbee , TE LAR – Higbee has been a stud the last few weeks, and this past week, he actually led all of the NFL in Red Zone targets with four balls coming his way. With Gerald Everett having been out the last few weeks, Higbee has stepped big time and now should be a big part of the Rams offense down the stretch.

Christian Kirk , WR ARI – Kirk has been a revelation this year and in the weeks he’s been on the field, he’s lad the Cardinals receivers in targets all but once. As for Red Zone targets, he has the same amount on the year as Larry Fitzgerald , but Kirk missed three games. This week he had three more targets inside the 20 and caught all three including one for a score. The second-year receiver has had a connection with Murray and is thriving in the heavy pass-attack of their new system and so it’s not a shock to see him doing well inside the 20 as well.

Mike Gesicki , TE MIA – Gesicki was a favorite late-round flier at the position heading into draft season but that just hasn’t wound up working out, at least inside the 20 this year. In Week 14 he had three targets, which is the most he’s had all season and equals his previous season-total coming into the game. As has been the case with the other positions, they’ve all taken a jump forward with Ryan Fitzpatrick at the helm and the same goes for Gesicki too, who’s seen at least one Red Zone target in three-straight games.

Red Zone Defense

Los Angeles Chargers – Did you know that the Chargers have allowed the third-fewest opponent trips to the Red Zone this year? They’ve allowed 31 trips in 13 games making them one of five teams to allow less than three trips per game to their opponents. They’ve also allowed the fourth-fewest touchdowns inside the 20 to their opponents as well. The Chargers don’t get a lot of attention on the national stage for a few different reasons, but with a defense like that, they may play spoiler for someone’s playoff hopes down the stretch.

Dallas Cowboys – A lot has gone wrong for the Cowboys this year, but their defense hasn’t been one of them to this point. They’re one of five teams to allow less than 50-percent of their opponent’s trips to the Red Zone to end in a touchdown. Now, they have allowed the ninth-most trips to the 20-yard line at 47, but 23 touchdowns allowed is right in the middle of the pack, hence the solid percentage mark. They have the ability to control their own destiny in the NFC East and that stingy defense is going to be a part of that.