Welcome to the Championship edition of the weekly wide receiver/cornerback breakdown! We will review each of the outside matchups, as well as my five favorite matchups in the slot. Then, below the charts in this article, I break down my five absolute favorite matchups. This article is critical for daily players, as this will help you gain a competitive advantage when setting your lineups. We are now in the Divisional Round so the slates continue to get smaller the deeper we get into the playoffs! Follow me on Twitter (@fightingchance) as well!
| Left WR | Right CB | Analysis |
| Marquise Brown BAL | Tre'Davious White BUF | Ever since the calendar changed to December, Brown has been the receiver we were drafting back in August. He has six touchdowns in the last seven weeks, and three of those games he had 85 receiving yards or more. He didn't really face strong defenses down the stretch, but nonetheless he played well. This week will be a little tougher with Tre'Davious White who is certainly one of the best corners in football. He did give up a touchdown last week, but it was his first since Week 10 and he hadn't allowed over 30 yards in a month. I still feel like Brown will have a pretty solid game, as the Ravens have only one other reliable pass catcher and Mark Andrews can't catch everything. Look for Brown to finish with about five or six catches for 60-70 yards and if he can score he will give you a great return on his salary. |
| Stefon Diggs BUF | Marcus Peters BAL | He still is dealing with the slight oblique issue, but clearly it isn't something that is going to hamper him. Diggs had six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown against the Colts, and he continues to just destroy NFL defenses. The Ravens have a strong secondary, Peters is a top-50 corner, but I just don't think it matters. He only had four games all season long under 75 yards, and he and Josh Allen are just on another level right now. I respect the Baltimore secondary, but the Bills are going to throw even more now with Zack Moss out. Diggs should have another six to eight catches for 80 yards or more and a score. |
| Rashard Higgins CLE | Bashaud Breeland KC | The hot streak for Higgins continues to fade by the week, and he had just two catches for 28 yards against the Steelers in a game where the Browns scored nearly 50 points. He did have a healthy seven targets, but it also feels like his role is diminishing a little. He has just eight catches in the last three weeks combined, and hasn't scored since Week 14. Breeland has only allowed 10 of the last 20 targets against him to be caught, and I don't expect the Browns offense to have as much success as they did last week. Higgins isn't the worst dart throw on the board, but he is very far from a sure thing. |
| Davante Adams GB | Jalen Ramsey LAR | This is the matchup of the weekend. It is the best receiver in football against the best corner in football. I think this will be the deciding factor in who wins this game. I just can't bet against Adams. He scored in every game but three this season and one he left early with injury. He has had under 50 yards in two of the last three games, but he also hasn't had less than six catches in a game since Week 2 and he didn't play the full game. he isn't going to have a big ten catch game with over 100 yards and multiple touchdowns, but Adams should still have a minimum of 15 fantasy points with a chance for over 20. |
| Sammy Watkins KC | Denzel Ward CLE | He is coming off a calf injury, but he hasn't been a factor for most of the season. Watkins has just two catches in three of the last six weeks and he hasn't topped four catches since Week 3. He has two touchdowns in the ten games he has played this season, and Watkins is just rarely a factor in his games. With him likely not 100 percent still, it makes it even less of a chance that he is going to have a solid game. Ward is still also a solid corner and the Chiefs pass offense revolves around two guys. There is always that off game where Watkins goes off, but I think he will finish between 40 and 50 yards. |
| Robert Woods LAR | Jaire Alexander GB | He did score last week, but Woods has been a disappointment for the last month of the season. He has topped just 50 yards once in the last five weeks and has just two touchdowns over that span. He also will either have an injured starting quarterback or a backup quarterback under center, neither of which is a good thing. Throw in the fact that Jaire Alexander was ranked as the top cornerback in the league in 2020 by Pro Football Focus and it would be really tough to trust Woods in a DFS lineup in the Divisional Round, even in a shorter slate. |
| Michael Thomas NO | Carlton Davis TB | It was so great to see him back on the field with Alvin Kamara and Drew Brees as the Saints top three weapons have been banged up and on the sidelines for much of the year and not on the field all together. Thomas scored his first touchdown of the season in the Wild Card round with five catches for 73 yards against the Bears. He has another week to get healthier and will continue to be the top option in the pass game. Carlton Davis is a very strong corner, but hasn't played well down the stretch> He has allowed 55 yards or more against hiim in five of the last six games he has played. We might forget because of how rough his season has been, but Thomas is still one of the best receivers in football and should have another great game. |
| Mike Evans TB | Marshon Lattimore NO | While I thought his knee injury was a bigger issue, Evans continued to impress as he finished with six catches and 119 yards against a tough Washington secondary. We have said all season that it is tough to figure who is going to be great for Tampa Bay with so many weapons, but it has been Evans who has been the most consistent as the season entered December. He now has three 100-yard games in the last four. He has also been the biggest touchdown scorer all year long with 13 touchdowns in 16 games. Considering he will now have another week to rest that knee, there is little doubt that Evans will be ready to go again this week. Lattimore has been a great corner in his career, and has only allowed over 50 receiving yards once in the last five weeks. However, he finished as the 76th corner by Pro Football Focus and has given up 13.9 yards per catch this season. Evans is going to be the best choice among the Tampa Bay receivers for this game against the Saints. |
| Right WR | Left CB | Analysis |
| Miles Boykin BAL | Levi Wallace BUF | He continued to do what he always does, which is be a non-factor in fantasy football. Boykin failed to catch his only target against the lowly Texans secondary, and he will not even be worth a split second of consideration this week against the Bills. |
| John Brown BUF | Jimmy Smith BAL | While he has been a stong option most of the season when healthy, Brown failed to catch any of his four targets last week against the Colts. It was the third time in his nine games that he came up completely empty. The Bills pass game is running on all cylinders right now, but with the emergence of Gabriel Davis the targets now get spread around a decent amount. With Stefon Diggs being the unquestioned number one and Cole Beasley getting a lot of action out of the slot, it might be a little much to hope that Brown is going to get more than four or five targets and seems unlikely to have a major impact in a game against Jimmy Smith who is a top-15 cornerback according to Pro Football Focus. |
| Donovan Peoples-Jones CLE | Charvarius Ward KC | He had a couple of good games earlier in December, but DPJ has fallen off in the past couple weeks with back to back games against the Steelers with just one catch in each game. He has some great big play ability, but he is just not getting the usage that often results in strong fantasy games. Peoples-Jones has three targets or fewer in all but one game all season long, and while I had hopes for him earlier on, I am certainly off the bandwagon now. The Chiefs secondary has been beaten at times this season, but the Browns pass game is not strong enough for their third receiver to be fantasy relevant at all. |
| Marquez Valdes-Scantling GB | Darious Williams LAR | Good luck trying to figure this guy out! In the last six weeks, Valdes-Scantling has four games with no catches and two games with over 80 yards and a touchdown. Darious Williams is one of the best young corners in football and unless he happens to catch some unlikely deep pass, he isn't going to be fantasy worthy. I know Jalen Ramsey is going to blanket Davante Adams, but Williams is no joke in the secondary either. MVS has little chance to be successful in the Divisional Round. |
| Demarcus Robinson KC | Terrence Mitchell CLE | Outside of Week 17 when the Chiefs rested their big guns, Robinson hasn't had over 45 receiving yards since Week 8. He had just three touchdowns all season long, and had only seven catches in Weeks 13-16. The Chiefs spread the ball around fairly evenly after Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, and no other option on the team is really fantasy relevant. And with Sammy Watkins relatively healthy, that makes Robinson even more of a long shot. The Browns secondary is one of the worst left in the playoffs, but I still would have a very hard time trusting Robinson even as a dart throw. |
| Josh Reynolds LAR | Kevin King GB | He wasn't even targeted last week against the Seahawks, and that gives you a strong look at Reynolds' status in the pass game. However, it gets a little more complicated this week with Cooper Kupp banged up and potentially out for this game. Reynolds had seven games this season with six or more targets, so he has been a bigger part of the offense at times. For me, unless Kupp misses the game you can't trust Reynolds. Even if Kupp does miss, it still doesn't make him a sure thing as the Rams pass game has really struggled in the last month. However, with Jaire Alexander likely shutting Robert Woods down for much of the game it could make Reynolds a cheap dart throw with the chance of 12-14 fantasy points against the Packers if Kupp is out of the lineup. |
| Emmanuel Sanders NO | Jamel Dean TB | After having 13 targets in the season finale against the Panthers, Sanders was just a ghost in the night with two catches for three yards on three targets in the Wild Card game against the Bears. It comes into question how much left Sanders has in the tank when he was targeted the same number of times as Adam Trautman. After Michael Thomas it is anyone's guess who might be another fantasy relevant option for the Saints considering that this should be a high scoring game, but I don't see it being Sanders. |
| Antonio Brown TB | Janoris Jenkins NO | He has scored in four straight weeks, but outside of his touchdown against the Football team Brown had only one other catch. However, the Bucs offense is playing at a high level right now, and I can't see that changing this week in a dome, in the playoffs with Tom Brady at quarterback. Jenkins has allowed over 50 receiving yards against him in four straight weeks, has allowed two touchdowns in the last month, and has given up nearly 14 yards a catch all season. Brown is the receiver on the Bucs with the biggest chance of having a bust game, but with a total over 50 this game should have plenty of passing and scoring and I think he can still be a solid option for DFS lineups as a lower salaried guy. |
Now, here are my five favorite matchups in the slot for the Divisional Round.
| Slot WR | Slot CB | Analysis |
| Tyreek Hill KC | M.J. Stewart CLE | With the matchup that Davante Adams has, I think Hill is the best play on the slate. With the Chiefs having everything wrapped up early and having a bye, Hill has had a nice three weeks to rest up for this one. The Browns allowed 31 pass touchdowns during the regular season and four more last week against the Steelers. He scored 15 times in 15 games this season and scored in every game but four. Stewart gave up THREE of the touchdowns last week and a fourth in Week 17. Hill should absolutely brutalize him and Hill could see some of Denzel Ward but we could be looking at a big one on Divisional weekend. |
| Chris Godwin TB | Chauncey Gardner-Johnson NO | He did have some drops last week, but Godwin has scored in four straight weeks and Tampa Bay is hot at the right time. Godwin has been targeted 28 times in the last three weeks and is a very reliable guy from week to week right now. He has three straight weeks with five catches and has topped 75 receiving yards in all three. Gardner-Johnson has been playing better in the last month, but he is going to struggle with Godwin. He had nine catches for 120 yards in the two games combined against the Saints this season, but I expect him to have a minimum of five catches and 80 yards in this one with a real strong chance at a touchdown. |
| Jarvis Landry CLE | L'Jarius Sneed KC | He continued his great play since the week after Thanksgiving as Landry has been crushing it lately. He had five catches for 92 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers and that was the fourth time in six weeks that he found the end zone. He now has five or more catches in six straight weeks and hasn't had under 50 receiving yards since Week 11. The Browns are likely going to be behind in this one and should have to throw a lot in the second half. Landry is still the lead receiver on the team and should be the most targeted guy. Sneed is a strong slot corner and was ranked 17th among all corners by Pro Football Focus, but by volume alone Landry is a very solid option especially at his salary level. |
| Cole Beasley BUF | Marlon Humphrey BAL | He is not even close to 100 percent, but Beasley is gutting it out and even was successful last week. He caught all seven of his targets for 57 yards although he was clearly not healthy. Beasley has already missed practice this week, but he will be out there on the weekend. He hasn't scored in four straight weeks, but he has had five or more catches in four of the last five weeks and six of the last seven weeks. Humphrey has allowed 50 or more yards in three of the last four weeks and I see Beasley being the second most targeted receiver on the team after Stefon Diggs. he might not rack up a ton of yards, but I still see five catches being his floor and Beasley should be able to give you 14-16 fantasy points against Baltimore. |
| Cooper Kupp LAR | Chandon Sullivan GB | He certainly is a question mark for this week after being unable to finish the Wild Card game, but I would be surprised if Kupp was unable to go this week. He likely won't need any practice time as he is a veteran, so you will have to just monitor how much he is able to get on the field during the week. If you are going to beat the Packers it could be out of the slot where Sullivan allows a 65 percent catch rate and just under 12 yards a catch which is very high for a slot receiver. He has allowed 11 of the last 14 targets against him to be caught, and Kupp is great after the catch. He has been the most consistent receiver for the Rams, and while he isn't a totally safe play he is someone that you can work into some of your lineups. |
Elite
As I said earlier this looks like the easiest call of the weekend. Hill is coming off a great break, the Browns secondary isn’t very good, and Hill has been one of the more consistent receivers in the NFL all season long. He has had a few monster games that would break a short slate if he happened to have one this weekend. Hill hasn’t had under 50 receiving yards since Week 6, and we know he can take any catch the distance. He does have two games of under five catches in the last three weeks, but this is the playoffs now and Hill is going to be a major factor along with Travis Kelce . Kansas City is nearly a lock to put up 30+ points in this game and Hill will be a big part of that offensive attack.
Stefon Diggs vs. Marcus Peters
The best receiver in the league not named Davante Adams in 2020 is always a great option. The Bills run game took a hit with Zack Moss going down, and that should lead to even more pass attempts by Josh Allen . This quarterback and receiver couldn’t be more locked in together right now and they have been on an incredible roll lately. Good defenses, bad defenses, it hasn’t mattered this year for Diggs. He only had one game all season with fewer than six catches and he is nearly a lock for 100 yards and a score.
Affordable
Michael Thomas vs. Carlton Davis
I would think that much of the injury concern for Thomas coming into the playoffs was answered last week with his 73 yards and a touchdown against the Bears. Vegas has this game at a total of over 50 points and we know that the storyline here is the two ancient quarterbacks, so we know there is going to be a great deal of passing. Thomas is the only reliable, consistent option that the Saints have at wide receiver, and I don’t see any reason to think that Drew Brees isn’t going to pepper him with a ton of targets. Carlton Davis is a strong corner, but I see Thomas having a really solid impact on this game.
Mike Evans vs. Marshon Lattimore
He certainly answered the questions about his knee injury with an emphatic effort last week with 119 yards on six catches. Fantasy football is often based around who gets the touchdowns, and Evans had 13 of the 40 scores that Tom Brady threw in 2020. Again, Lattimore is a strong corner, but the Buccaneers just had their way with a tough Washington defense, so I see very little chance of a repeat of the 38-3 whipping the Saints laid on them in Week 9. Evans and the Buccaneers pass game are on a hot streak and are you ready to bet against Tom Brady in the playoffs? It wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if Evans had another 100-yard game and/or had a score.
Bargain Bin
Jarvis Landry vs. L’Jarius Sneed
I went back and forth between Landry and Marquise Brown . And while I think Brown has the bigger chance of having a huge game, I think Landry has the better chance not giving you a dud. He has been a very consistent performer over the last month and a half. Outside of touchdown scoring, we also love volume when it comes to fantasy football and Landry has had eight or more targets in five of the last six games and hasn’t had under six targets since Week 11. The Chiefs and Sneed are a solid pass defense, but they did allow 29 pass touchdowns this season and the Browns are going to have to throw a lot in this game. They will throw to the tight end and some to the running backs, but we should see Landry get a great deal of attention and finish with a great fantasy game especially considering his salary.
*Information gathered from research done at Pro Football Focus.