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By Steven Van Tassell (@SteveVT33)
At this point of the season, any team can defeat their opponent. It’s true in the NFL. Just look at what happened last week when a Detroit Lions team with 11 losses on the season defeated a 10-win Arizona Cardinals team pretty handily. It wasn’t nearly as big of an upset, but on Sunday night, the New Orleans Saints team who were 6-7 and in need of victories to make a playoff run shut out the defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers are still three games ahead of the Saints in the NFC South and nearly a lock to win the division and make the playoffs, while the Saints are still not in the playoffs right now.
It’s a little different in Dynasty Owner as all of the teams playing each other this week have either won a playoff game, or were good enough to secure a first round bye. In theory, they should be closer in talent, and it won’t be surprising if a lower seed comes up and defeats one of the teams that had a bye in Week 15. There are plenty of Dynasty Owner leagues in which a #6 seed beat the #3 seed and advanced to play against the #1 seed this week. Remember, that the semi-finals are reseeded, so the lowest ranked team that won in the first round faces off against the #1 seed. It didn’t happen in one of our Match-ups of the Week in the first round as The Road Warriors defeated Ruff Ryders Inc. However, in League #34636 that featured our other Match-up of the Week between Goff Balls and Super Mario Bros., the #6 seed team (Taylor Park Boys) defeated the #3 seed (Laxbro) by almost 67.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points.
It also happened in two of my Dynasty Owner leagues, but not in the “Polian” League (League #76065) as Quaranteam didn’t get the job done against my Vantastics (sorry to rub it in Nick). I’m sure many of you are in a league that had a #6 seed upset a #3 seed and advance to the playoff semi-finals this week. While most of those wins can be classified as upsets, all of the teams remaining in the Dynasty Owner playoffs were at least in the top half of their league and playing a team that didn’t secure a first round bye.
In fact, both of the remaining undefeated teams in Dynasty Owner get to face off against a #6 seed in their league semi-finals with their undefeated season and chance to win the Chase for the Ring on the line.
| Team Name | League | Chase Position |
| DynastyTradeSchool (Mad Minshew) | 27458 | 3rd |
| Detroit’s Finest | 74733 | 11th |
DynastyTradeSchool (Mad Minshew) goes up against Deep Snap Gurus in League #27458, while Detroit’s Finest has a playoff semi-finals match-up against Ciricmc17 in League #74733. Deep Snap Guru sent Beer Bellies packing in the first round, while Ciricmc17 beat Thunderkatz.
For the Match-ups of the Week, we have a pair of games with Top 10 teams in the Chase for the Ring who are either facing a team who beat them in the regular season or one who is favored to beat them this week. Just like the title of the article says, “Anybody Can Win”. Neither one of the opponents is a #6 seed, but one could end up facing a #6 seed in their League Championship game in Week 17. Neither of these match-ups was suggested, but I’m still willing to take a suggestion for next week via Twitter (@SteveVT33).
All stats cited are based on the Standard Dynasty Owner scoring system as outlined in the updated Dynasty Owner Constitution. Standard Dynasty Owner scoring gives you .1 points for every yard rushing or receiving, .1 point for every 2 yards passing, 1 point per reception, 6 points for a rushing, receiving or passing touchdown and 2 points for a successful 2-point conversion (rushing, receiving, or passing). Interceptions or fumbles lost cost you 3 points, while a fumble that is recovered by the player’s team is a loss of only 1 point. Bonus points are available for 100-199 yards rushing (2 points), 200 yards rushing or receiving (6 points), 300-399 yards passing (1 point) and 400 yards passing (4 points). There is also a 3 point bonus for clutch scoring, which is a score that results in a lead change in the final two minutes of the 4th quarter or overtime. Kickoff and punt return touchdowns are worth 6 points for the player and kickoff and punt returns are worth 1 point for every 40 yards.
For the purposes of this article, ADP and Dynasty Owner rostered percentage statistics were current as of the morning of Christmas Eve (December 24th).
These Guys Should be Starters This Week
First, let’s look at how my Week 15 recommendations fared (Good, Bad or Just Ok). I predicted performances worthy of being in your Dynasty Owner Starting lineup for these four players for the first round of the playoffs and things didn’t go so well. Only one Just Ok recommendation and three Bad recommendations to start off the playoffs. It would have been a likely first round playoff loss with those results.
QB: Trevor Lawrence – 12.6 (Bad recommendation)
RB: Rhamondre Stevenson – 4.0 (Bad recommendation)
WR: A.J. Green – 10.4 (Just Ok recommendation)
TE: Ricky Seals-Jones – 6.9 (Bad recommendation)
The only Just Ok recommendation was A.J. Green at WR as he scored 10.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points to rank just outside of the Top 24 WRs for the week. A couple of additional points and it would have been Good. Rhamondre Stevenson never really got going against Indianapolis and his 4.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points made for a Bad recommendation. Both Trevor Lawrence and Ricky Seals-Jones were low-end Bench options, although Lawrence wasn’t far off from being in the middle. Since these were Starter recommendations, both of them were Bad. Just like anybody can win, anybody can turn in a weekly performance worthy of being in your Dynasty Owner Starting lineup. Here are four players who I think will do so in Week 16.
Russell Wilson (QB – SEA): As the third most expensive player in Dynasty Owner with a salary of $35 million per year, Russell Wilson should be a week in and week out Starter for his Dynasty Owners. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been one since returning from the injury to the middle finger on his throwing hand. It’s not that he’s been bad every game, it’s just that it’s been difficult to predict how well he’s going to perform on a given week. In six games since the Seahawks bye week and his return to the lineup, Wilson has three games with over 200 passing yards, 2 passing TDs and over 20.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (24.6 points on average). Those games came against teams in the bottom third in fantasy points allowed to QBs (Washington and San Francisco) plus Houston. The other three games against better defenses (Arizona, Green Bay and the Los Angeles Rams) are when he has struggled. In those three games, he is averaging only 6.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game with an average of less than 175 passing yards per game, zero TDs and five turnovers (3 INTs and 2 lost fumbles). Fortunately for his Dynasty Owners, Wilson gets to play Chicago this week and the Bears have allowed the fifth most fantasy points to QBs. If Wilson is your Dynasty Owner QB, hopefully you survived his 4.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy point effort last week in the first round of the playoffs. Don’t let that deter you at all from getting him into your Starting lineup this week.
Justin Jackson (RB – LAC): With Austin Ekeler on the COVID-19 reserve list and saying himself that it’s not looking good for Sunday’s game, the next man up for the Chargers is Justin Jackson. Jackson played very well last week against Kansas City with 13 carries for 86 yards plus one reception for 13 receiving yards (10.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points). He also gets to face the Houston Texans this week and the Texans are allowing 145.0 rushing yards per game. The last three lead RBs who have played Houston (James Robinson, Rashaad Penny and Jonathan Taylor) have averaged 127.3 rushing yards and almost 24.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game. While Robinson and Taylor are two of the best RBs in the NFL, Penny had a career game with 137 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs and 28.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. Dynasty Owners with Jackson on their roster should make sure that they get him in their Starting lineup.
Laquon Treadwell (WR – JAC): One thing that was likely lost about the Jets-Dolphins game with all of the talk about Duke Johnson was that the Jets gave up 16.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (4 receptions, 68 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD) to the top WR for the Dolphins, DeVante Parker. Believe it or not, but the top WR for the Jacksonville Jaguars right now is Laquon Treadwell. Marvin Jones, Laviska Shenault and Jamal Agnew have all scored more Dynasty Owner fantasy points than Treadwell, but in the past four games with Agnew out on Injured Reserve, the Jaguars’ leading receiver has been Treadwell. He has more Dynasty Owner fantasy points (42.0), receptions (18) and receiving yards (240) and is tied with Shenault for the most targets (28). None of them has a TD reception in that time as QB Trevor Lawrence has only thrown one (to WR Tavon Austin), but Lawrence is due to throw at least one against the Jets who have allowed 22 passing TDs on the season. Lawrence can’t play against the QB taken after him in the 2021 NFL draft (Zach Wilson) and not throw a TD pass, can he? It’s one of the only reasons to watch the Jaguars-Jets game, unless you have players in your Dynasty Owner Starting lineup playing. Treadwell should be one of those guys if you’re one of the Dynasty Owners in 39.05% of leagues who have him on your roster.
C.J. Uzomah (TE – CIN): Remember when he was a fantasy relevant TE? It was way back in Week 7 when he scored 24.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points against the Baltimore Ravens. The same Baltimore Ravens who are the Bengals’ opponent this week. He had two TDs that week. One was a 55-yard reception and the other one went for 32 yards. Those were his last two TDs of the season and since that game, he has averaged only 5.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game. That’s not exactly a vote of confidence for picking him to be in your Starting lineup. However, not only did Uzomah play well against the Ravens’ defense back in Week 7, but the Ravens have been extremely poor at stopping TEs for the past month. In the last four weeks, they have given up an average of 14.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points to the TEs on the opposing team. The Packers trio of Marcedes Lewis, Josiah Deguara and Tyler Davis had 7 receptions for 78 receiving yards (14.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points) against them and Austin Hooper had 5 receptions for 30 receiving yards and a TD (14.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points) the week before. I’m not saying Uzomah is going to have two more long TD catches, but I think he’ll do well enough to be worth having in your Dynasty Owner Starting lineup.
These Guys Should Be on the Bench (or Practice Squad) This Week
Through the Dynasty Owner regular season, I had as many Good as Bad Bench recommendations. In the first round of the playoffs, this continued with two Good and two Bad recommendations. Let’s check out who I selected and how they did in Week 15.
QB: Dak Prescott – 13.7 (Good recommendation)
RB: Ezekiel Elliott – 16.2 (Bad recommendation)
WR: Michael Pittman – 1.7 (Good recommendation)
TE: Dallas Goedert – 20.5 (Bad recommendation)
Not surprisingly, the Good recommendations were at QB and WR, while the Bad ones were at RB and TE. That’s how it’s been for most of the season as I have had eight Good Bench QB and WR recommendations and only three Good RB and TE ones. Dak Prescott wasn’t very good with just 13.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. That made him the QB18 for the week and a Good recommendation. Michael Pittman was ejected from the Colts-Patriots game after scoring just 1.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points, so that was another Good Bench recommendation. Dallas Goedert was TE5 with 20.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points and Ezekiel Elliott was a top 12 RB so both of those recommendations were Bad. Here are four Bench recommendations for the Dynasty Owner playoff semi-finals (Week 16).
Kirk Cousins (QB – MIN): It used to be a fun thing to note how nobody had Kirk Cousins on their Dynasty Owner roster because of his $33 million contract and middle of the pack QB production. In 2019, he was QB15 and was on very few Dynasty Owners rosters. He improved to QB10 last season, but really started to gain a spot on more rosters this season as Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott and Deshaun Watson got higher paying contracts than his in the off-season. He’s up to a record high of being on nearly one-quarter of Dynasty Owner rosters (24.85%) and is QB7 this year. However, he still has his bad weeks with five games of fewer than 20.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points on the season, including the past two weeks. This week will make it three in a row as he has to face a Los Angeles Rams defense that hasn’t allowed a passing TD over the past three weeks and has given up only 14 all season. Only the Buffalo Bills have allowed fewer passing TDs with 11. It all adds up to a bad week for Cousins and a reminder to the Dynasty Owners with him on their roster why there isn’t that much competition for his services in our game. Hopefully you have another QB to put in your Starting lineup and leave Cousins on the Bench.
Joe Mixon (RB – CIN): While Mixon is the overall RB5 for the 2020 season and is averaging 17.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points and 78.1 rushing yards per game. However, over the past three games, he has only scored 24.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (8.1 points per game) and rushed for 170 yards (56.7 yards per game). In the Bengals’ first game of the season against the Ravens, Mixon only had 59 rushing yards, but scored a TD for 11.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. It was only the second time he has scored a TD in eight career games against the Ravens. Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow had a career high 416 passing yards in the first game against the Ravens this season, the Ravens’ secondary has three key players out with injuries and is the second worst in passing yards allowed per game (264.9 yards per game). The weather looks good for the game, so there’s no reason why the Bengals won’t air it out and limit Mixon’s rushing attempts. Mixon doesn’t do much in the passing game for the Bengals, averaging just over 2 receptions for 14.6 receiving yards per game. With the Bengals likely to pass a lot, leave Mixon on your Dynasty Owner Bench this week.
Hunter Renfrow (WR – LV): It says a lot about how Hunter Renfrow has played this season that we’re at the point where he can appear on this list and is in the conversation for Value Player of the Year. He started off the 2021 season pretty well with double-digit Dynasty Owner fantasy points in eight out of his first ten games. With all of the upheaval in Las Vegas, he and Derek Carr kept going every week and when Darren Waller went out with knee and back injuries, Renfrow became a target magnet for Carr’s passes. Renfrow had 33 targets in the last three weeks of the Dynasty Owner regular season and scored an average of 23.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game. However, that ended in the first round of the Dynasty Owner playoffs as the Browns’ defense held Renfrow in check with just 3 receptions for 32 receiving yards. He also had 31 punt return yards and two fumbles for a total of 5.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. This week, he faces a team that knows him well and has held him to under 10.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in four out of the five games that he has played against them in his career. Don’t worry about him getting a Blutarsky (0.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points). That’s highly unlikely to happen, but if history is any guide, he won’t have more than 7.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points since his average is 6.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points the past two years with a high of 6.7 points. Keep those points and Renfrow on your Dynasty Owner Bench this week.
Mike Gesicki (TE – MIA): In contrast to Hunter Renfrow, Mike Gesicki is no stranger to this spot as he has appeared here twice before. Once it was a Good recommendation as he had a Blutarsky (0.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in Week 1 versus New England. The second time was Bad as he had 21.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in Week 7 against Atlanta. This week, Gesicki and the Dolphins face off against the New Orleans Saints. The Saints defense does a good job against opposing TEs and has only allowed them to score three TDs this season. Last week, the G.O.A.T. targeted Rob Gronkowski a game high 11 times with Chris Godwin and Mike Evans leaving with injuries. Despite all of the targets, Gronkowski only had 4.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (2 receptions for 29 receiving yards). While Gesicki is the TE7 on the season and has been pretty steady with 10.0 more Dynasty Owner fantasy points on six occasions, this week won’t be one of them. Keep Gesicki on your Dynasty Owner Bench for Monday Night Football.
Dynasty Owner Playoff Semi-Final Match-up of the Week #1 – Havana Club 79 vs. Inter Miami CF
In the first Playoff Semi-Final Match-up of the Week, we have the #4 team in the Chase for the Ring standings facing off against one of only two teams to defeat them in the regular season. It’s Havana Club 79 vs. Inter Miami CF in a League #31820 semi-final that strikes me as having a South Florida connection. Havana Club 79 is looking to avenge a Week 7 game loss by a score of 185.0 to 156.15 to Inter Miami CF. However, a lot has changed since then for both teams and one major change was a trade between the two teams that occurred a few weeks after that match-up.
In the trade that occurred before the start of Week 11, Inter Miami CF traded Jonathan Taylor and K.J. Osborn to Havana Club 79 for a quartet of players (Deebo Samuel, Cam Akers, Travis Etienne and Elijah Mitchell). Both teams were 8-2 at the time and likely to make the playoffs, but Havana Club 79 was in fifth place in the Chase for the Ring and clearly looking to move up. I haven’t spoken to either team about their motivation for the trade, but I can only guess that Inter Miami CF was looking more towards the future by getting both Akers and Etienne who are out for the rest of the 2021 season, while not completely mortgaging the present by acquiring Samuel and Mitchell. Both 49ers were having good seasons, but Samuel hadn’t blossomed into the weapon he’s been in the running game at that time and Mitchell was back from his first injury of the season.
Now, in the playoff semi-finals, the trade partners meet again. Havana Club 79 has clearly been bolstered by the acquisition of Taylor and has Ring aspirations with this team. On the other hand, Inter Miami CF has a weakened backfield now that Mitchell has been out for the past three weeks, but they managed to win a close game in the first round of the playoffs by a score of 133.19 to 126.4 over How I Metcalf your mother.
With Deebo Samuel having played on Thursday night, Inter Miami CF has already banked 26.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points, but are an underdog by 11.42 points according to the projections. They are missing a backup QB as Taysom Hill is out for the Saints’ game on Monday night and already got a Blutarsky (0.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points) from Bench RB Jordan Wilkins.
If Dynasty Owner was a traditional fantasy football league with no Bench scoring, then Inter Miami CF would be in better position as Havana Club 79 only has a 0.33 point advantage from the Starting lineups. However, Havana Club 79 has a full Bench, bolstered by the presence of RBs Najee Harris and Alexander Mattison. Right now, Havana Club 79 has Tyreek Hill on their Practice Squad, but would likely call him up if he is activated off the COVID-19 reserve list by Sunday. Inter Miami CF may have D’Andre Swift back for this week and could use him as a boost to their Starting lineup.
Right now, both teams have no players in their Starting lineup playing on Monday, so this match-up will be largely determined by Sunday night. A potential match-up in the finals looms against the #1 seed in the League (FC Pinar DR) if they can get past juan blanco (who has a team in another league ranked #5 in the Chase for the Ring). FC Pinar DR swept the regular season with two victories over Havana Club 79 and one over Inter Miami CF.
Dynasty Owner Playoff Semi-Final Match-up of the Week #2 – SKOL Vikings vs. DC Dawgs
Our second Playoff Match-up of the Week is from League #31831 and has the Chase for the Ring contender as the underdog in the match-up. That’s right! SKOL Vikings are an underdog by 6.79 Dynasty Owner fantasy points to DC Dawgs. This isn’t the #1 SKOL Vikings team, instead it’s the team that was in 6th place after the first round of the playoffs. It’s kind of like the Jan Brady to the Marcia Brady that is the League #31927 SKOL Vikings team. I’m sure that Jeff, the owner of SKOL Vikings, loves both of these teams and all of his other Dynasty Owner teams equally, but only one can be Marcia.
This SKOL Vikings team, like the League #31927 squad, has Dalvin Cook on their roster, but Cook is out for Week 16 and possibly the Week 17 playoff finals as he tested positive for COVID-19. Cook is unvaccinated, so he has to miss at least 10 days. He may return one day prior to the Vikings’ Week 17 game against the Carolina Panthers, but it’s not guaranteed right now. This could be a problem against the DC Dawgs who are currently in 516th place in the Chase for the Ring.
Back in Week 10 with a healthy Cook in their lineup, SKOL Vikings lost to DC Dawgs 138.0 to 130.1. DC Dawgs have been active on the Free Agent Auction in anticipation of this match-up. They dropped two injured RBs (Tarik Cohen and Carlos Hyde) plus a backup who recently returned from injury (Damien Williams) and replaced them with Rex Burkhead and Brandon Bolden. Both Burkhead and Bolden are on the Bench for DC Dawgs, but their presence is likely to generate additional points that DC Dawgs might need to win.
Just like Inter Miami CF in our first match-up, DC Dawgs have already gotten 26.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points from Deebo Samuel on Thursday night. Bench RB D’Onta Foreman only had 7.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points which accounts for the 1.93 points for SKOL Vikings. While it says that SKOL Vikings has 13 players left to play, they have Tyler Lockett in their Starting lineup, but he is still listed as Out despite being removed from the COVID-19 reserve list.
We won’t have to wait until Monday night to find out who is victorious as neither team has anyone in their Starting lineup or on their Bench from the Saints or Dolphins. By the end of the Packers-Browns game on Saturday, we may have a better sense of which team will win as DC Dawgs has a QB-RB-WR stack from the Packers of Aaron Rodgers, A.J. Dillon and Davante Adams, plus Mason Crosby as their Bench kicker (and Austin Hooper from the Browns as their Bench TE). A big game from those players on Saturday afternoon could mean good things for the DC Dawgs. We can’t call it an upset since DC Dawgs are favored, despite the huge gap in Chase for the Ring position.
Conclusion
This week could see any of the four teams remaining in the playoffs in each Dynasty Owner league win and advance to the League Championship game. There will be upsets, some Top 25 Chase for the Ring teams will lose and drop off the Championship Contenders leaderboard and maybe even one of our two remaining undefeated teams will get beat by a #6 seed. Anybody can win in the NFL, just ask the Arizona Cardinals that question, and any of the lower seeded teams remaining in the Dynasty Owner playoffs could pull off an upset victory too.
For everyone who wins and advances in the playoffs (and Loser’s bracket tournament), it’s on to Week 17 and the final week of the Dynasty Owner season. There’s a third place game as well, but nobody wants to be there, so we don’t mention it.
Please read my weekly preview article each and every week. With numerous players out due to COVID, it might help you set your Dynasty Owner Starting lineup or decide who should be on your Bench. While some Dynasty Owners may heed my advice, others might disagree, or not have a better option for their Starting lineup and choose to ignore a Bench recommendation. Other Dynasty Owners may not need Starting lineup help as they have a stud player at a position who isn’t moving to the Bench unless he’s out. Hopefully, your choices for your Starting lineup and Bench are the best ones you can make, and your team wins this week to move on to the Championship game.
In addition to this weekly preview article, Dynasty Owner has plenty of other great content coming up next week. On Monday, Jay Pounds will preview the Monday Night Football game from the Dynasty Owner perspective. Tuesday has a double shot of Dynasty Owner content with my Week 16 recap article and Jay’s final Free Agent Auction targets article and video of the season. On Wednesday, Matt Morrison – The Jerk announces the winners of the Value Player of the Year at each position and overall Value Player of the Year. There are no more Thursday Night Football games, so no Thursday Night Football preview from Matt until the 2022 season.
Don’t forget about the weekly Dynasty Owner livestream on Wednesday at 4 PM (Eastern) with myself and Tim Peffer. Set the timer on YouTube so you don’t miss it live, or make sure to watch it afterwards. Either way, don’t forget to smash the Like button.
Please read all of our articles, watch our videos on YouTube or listen to them wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget follow all three of the Dynasty Owner team of writers plus Dynasty Owner on Twitter as well. Thanks, and have a great day!
Steven Van Tassell is the Head of Content for Dynasty Owner
Follow us on Twitter: @SteveVT33 and @Dynasty_Owner