Christian Yelich and Jace Peterson Try To Make History

Steven Cheah12/11/2022 6:20 PM

It's been a long regular season with tons of trades, a bunch of teams getting hot then fizzling out, and other teams rising from the ashes to contend today. Here's where we stand currently and here are the matchups which ironically do not conflict. And by that I mean, they are all independently important to the playoff standings, so there are two squads that are 'win and in', but if either stumble, there are three teams waiting on the doorstep to invade the playoffs.

Christian Yelich & Jace Peterson have the inside track to make the playoffs despite scoring the lowest amount of points this season. They're averaging just under 103 points per game in this PPR league but have gotten hot at the right time. Can they dethrone the top seed to earn their way in?

Myers saw three of his players go on Thursday Night football, including two of his most explosive ones in Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams, and all of them underperformed their projections. He'll need a big game from Patrick Mahomes, playing a tough Denver defense and Ja'Marr Chase going against another divisional rival to win here. And I like primetime Herbert and Dalvin Cook in what I think will be a shootout today. Also TJ Hockenson gets a revenge game and Jamaal Williams has 14 TDs this year. I think the Cinderella story moves into the postseason.

Commissioner Cheah's pick: Team Questionable

Mike Napoli has a simple scenario: win and get in. But easier said than done, especially going against Mike Trout who has been mathematically eliminated despite having a wagon of a team. Can Trout play spoiler?

Nap gets a very poorly timed bye week from Aaron Jones and he'll need HUGE games from fringe guys like Greg Dulcich and Corey Davis. Diontae Johnson has been very disappointing this year but maybe he can turn in a big game against an old foe. Meanwhile, Trout has Tua in a big time matchup vs. the Chargers on SNF. He's also got two of the top RBs in the league with Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb. If Hurts throws a TD to AJ Brown it'll offset, and having Stefon Diggs is a major advantage. I like Trout to win this going away.

Commissioner Cheah's pick: The Kid

The prime beneficiary of either a Yelich/Jace OR a Napoli loss, would be Dave Portnoy who would then get in with a win. But he's facing the red hot duo of Shane Bieber & Austin Hedges.

I am huge on the Vikings vs. Lions game so I love Kirk Cousins today. Cam Akers fared well enough, despite his big fumble on Thursday Night. Dave will need big games from Bam Knihgt, CeeDee Lamb, and Jaylen Waddle, but all have decent matchups. The duo fo Shane Bieber/Austin Hedges are starting a wild stack of Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins, AND Hollywood Brown which could work perfectly or blow up in their faces. I think the Patriots do Dave a favor and help him sneak into the playoffs.

Commissioner Cheah's pick: Dumb Jocs

If Dave falters, Hosmer is next in line. He prepped well by trading away Jonathan Taylor and Antonio Gibson for Rhamondre Stevenson who is at least playing this week. But he's still a heavy underdog to Manny Machado.

Tony Jones Jr. is an uninspiring start, but Manny's got some hitters with Joe Burrow, Austin Ekeler, Garrett Wilson, and Mark Andrews. Meanwhile, Hoz has got Mac Jones starting at QB1 which isn't very good. Najee Harris has a tough matchup vs. Baltimore but he'll need a massive game from Rhamondre Stevenson on MNF to have a shot. Adam Thielen is a sneaky scoring threat today in what should be a shootout vs. Detroit.

Commissioner Cheah's pick: Cono Squad

The longest of longshots is the trio of Joc Pederson, Alex Wood, & Austin Barnes. They will have to earn their way in vs. Jake Marisnick and get some help, but they are still alive!

And I actually like them to win today! Travis Homer is a great pickup and could have a decent game if he gets reps, but it'll be hard to say at 1pm before the afternoon slate. Tee Higgins has been red hot and Amon-Ra St. Brown has major potential today. On Marisnick's side, Saquon has a neck injury and will play and D'Andre Swift is wildly unpredictable with playing time. Travis Kelce also has a very tough matchup vs. Denver as does Travis Etienne Jr. against the Titans.

Commissioner Cheah's pick: Spoilers U

There may not be a worse way to start the week than your fantasy QB putting up 2.58 points on Thursday night football. Bregman has no shot here.