🔒 The Playoff Matchups Are Set

Black Monday is here…

In today’s Fantasy Life Newsletter presented by BetMGM:

After Tua’s late interception against the Bills, the playoffs are finally set.

Below is a quick overview of the landscape, but first we need to hit on some overnight news:

• Arthur Smith is donezo. After another Falcons loss and a post-game temper tantrum (more on that from Kendall in her Overreaction Monday piece), Arthur Blank had finally seen enough. The Falcons immediately become the favorite for “Most Improved” in 2024 with a competent coach.

• The Panthers fired GM Scott Fitterer. They would have been better off finding a way to get rid of their owner, but a head was always going to roll after the Bryce Young vs. C.J. Stroud fumble.

• The Commanders fired Ron Rivera, who went 26-49-1 over his tenure with the Commanders. The organization is making all kinds of changes this morning.

🐶 (5) Browns at 🤠(4) Texans - Saturday @ 4:30pm ET

This game features a very tight spread—Browns -1.5—in one of the lower totals of Wildcard Weekend (43.5).

I get that the Browns have a good defense, and the Texans like to run the ball, but I bet we see both these teams open it up a bit with a trip to the Divisional Round on the line.

🐬 (6) Dolphins at 👑(3) Chiefs - Saturday @ 8:00pm ET

In the NFC we get the Goff revenge game and in the AFC we get Tyreek Hill’s first return to Kansas City.

Neither of these teams are in great form right now, but the betting markets have set Chiefs as 3-point favorites.

👷 (7) Steelers at 🐃 (2) Bills - Sunday @ 1:00pm ET

In what has to be the weirdest matchup of the weekend, the Steelers will travel to Buffalo as 7.5 point road underdogs.

Never underestimate this Bills team to give us what we least expect, though…

🧀 (7) Packers at ⭐️ (2) Cowboys - Sunday @ 4:30pm ET

The Cowboys open as heavy favorites (-7) vs. a red-hot Packers squad in a game that will take place on Sunday afternoon.

Like the Bucs, I think the Packers have the right ingredients for a potential upset:

🐏 (6) Rams at 🦁 (3) Lions - Sunday @ 8:00pm ET

The Lions will host the Rams as -3.5 point favorites in what will very likely be billed the Jared Goff Revenge Bowl.

This game opened with a juicy 51.5 point total and has the potential for all kinds of scoring if things break right.

🦅 (5) Eagles at (4) 🏴‍☠️ Buccaneers - Monday @ 8:00pm ET

The MNF hammer will feature the Eagles as 2.5 point road favorites vs. the Bucs.

Considering the Eagles have lost 5 of their last 6, including two brutal back-to-back losses to the Giants and Cardinals, an upset is firmly in play here.

💤 Byes: Ravens, 49ers

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Check out the Watercooler to see who the Fantasy Life team likes in tonight's game!

Peter is here to share his six big takeaways from Week 18. Take it away, Pete...

🥊 Justin Jefferson & ARSB trade blows

The Lions didn’t have anything to play for, but you’d never know it from how the game unfolded. Amon-Ra St. Brown went for 7-144-1 and Dan Campbell watched Sam Laporta (knee) and Kalif Raymond (also knee) get banged up in the process.

Their foot-on-the-gas mentality led to a fun back-and-forth, though, including Justin Jefferson returning fully to form with a dominant 12-192-1 performance.

🚀 CeeDee Lamb punctuates an incredible year

It’s only fitting that CeeDee Lamb ended his massive 2023 regular season with another gaudy fantasy stat line: 13-92-2.

He finished the season with a TD in nine consecutive games.

When you factor in overall numbers, consistency, and health, there hasn’t been a more valuable WR this year.

💪 James Conner finishes strong

It’s unfortunate that James Conner saved his best for the literal last game of the regular season (204 total yards and 1 TD), but I’m not sure there’s any player in the league who finished the year on a higher note:

In a league where older RBs can quickly fall off the age cliff, the 28-year-old is running with the burst and speed of rookies and sophomores.

It doesn’t sound like he plans on slowing down anytime soon, either.

✈️ Breece Hall makes a case for the 2024 1.01

We’ll never know what Breece Hall would have done with a fully healthy season alongside Aaron Rodgers, but Week 18 continued to prove that the ceiling is sky high.

Hall toted the ball a hilarious 37 times and racked up 178 rushing yards and 1 TD in the process on Sunday vs. the Patriots.

I just took him at 1.06 in an early Fantasy Life 2024 mock draft that we’ll share soon (SPOILER!) and think I got an absolute steal.

❓ Carson Wentz did what??

There are always a lot of bizarre performances in Week 18 thanks to so many teams resting their starters, but I don’t think any made me do a double take as hard as Carson Wentz finishing as the QB2.

Not only did he throw for 163 yards and 2 TDs, but he also looked particularly spry on the ground:

Touché, Mr. Wentz.

✋ Evan Engram never lets an opportunity slip by

If the entire team is healthy, Evan Engram almost always disappoints.

But if there’s one key cog missing from the offense, no one is better at stepping up than Engram.

He did it again in Christian Kirk’s absence on Sunday, hauling in 10 receptions for 79 yards and 1 TD.

You honestly won’t believe how many passes he caught this year:

📊 Playoffs? Playoffs?? A comprehensive playoff breakdown that even Jim Mora would read.

😆 Jameis Winston is hilarious. Give this man a talk show.

✍️ Wild Card Weekend is set and the betting lines are moving. Make sure to jump on these early lines.

🐻 Montez Sweat makes history. Pretty incredible accomplishment.

🏆 Washington vs. Michigan for all the marbles. Best bets for tonight’s CFB National Championship game.

🕵️ The first three picks in the 2024 draft are set. Time for the games to begin.

💃 Can someone explain to me what happened here? It’s kinda beautiful.

🌊 Big year for the Lake Erie teams. Good job, lake heads.

📚️ Puka enters the history books. The fantasy story of the year.

🎉 Chris Jones gets his bonus. And everyone goes wild!

🤯 What an insane catch. Chris Olave is nuts.

We're humans who play fantasy football, so we are prone to overreact. Today, Kendall overreacts to some coaching performances…

🏆️ DeMeco Ryans Deserves Coach of the Year

Head coach DeMeco and the Houston Texans are playoff-bound for the first time since 2019. Quarterback C.J. Stroud helped lead the team to a victory over the Colts on Saturday, going 20-of-26 passing for 264 yards and two touchdowns. 

They punched their ticket to the playoffs in Week 18 without Tank Dell, Robert Woods and Noah Brown. Not only is this team going to the playoffs for the first time in five years, but they are doing so with a rookie quarterback and a first-year head coach leading the charge.

Ryans deserves Coach of the Year.

When we see new head coaches paired with rookie quarterbacks what do we usually expect? Rebuild mode. We give them a few seasons to create a new team culture, to make mistakes because surely there will be a lot of growing pains — but not for this Texans team. This doesn’t seem like a flash in the pan either. The coaching staff put together (especially Bobby Slowik), the 2023 draft and everything in between lead this team to the playoffs and Ryans should be awarded for the feat.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is also deserving, there is no doubt about that. He not only led Cleveland to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth, but he did so with five different starting quarterbacks AND without superstar running back Nick Chubb.

Ryans brought his team back to relevancy, and Stefanski continued winning despite decisions that led to their early season struggles. 

Both are deserving, but my vote goes to Ryans. Congratulations Texans fans, enjoy this one!

😡 Be so serious, Arthur Smith

I get it, finishing your final game of the season by getting blown out against the Saints by a score of 48-17 isn’t ideal. But then again also losing the opportunity to take home an NFC South title when you have players like Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts on your team also isn’t ideal.

Falcons head coach Arthur Smith exchanged some heated words with Saints head coach Dennis Allen after the game, telling the opposing head coach “That’s f*****g BS” after the Saints scored a touchdown (even though they were up 24) with one minute left. Sure, maybe it’s like baseball’s unwritten rules, but be so serious Arthur.

Allen came out after the game and apologized, saying that the team should have taken a knee but the players wanted to get running back Jamaal Williams his first touchdown of the season. Williams explained postgame that in the huddle the offensive linemen decided on getting him a touchdown.

Look, maybe Smith is upset about the wrong things here — maybe we should keep that same energy for going 7-10 for the third straight season? The fact is that Smith had a chance this season to really turn things around. The team had a 67% chance of making the playoffs in Week 14, according to The Athletic’s projections, and then lost four of the last five. 

It seems fitting that this will be our last memory with Arthur Smith as the HC of the Falcons.