NFL

FanDuel Tournament Pivots for the Divisional Round

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Quarterback

Chalk

There is only one true chalk play this week. The man. The legend. The five-time Super Bowl winner and TB12 peddler. Yes, Tom Brady. He and the New England Patriots get a juicy home matchup against a Tennessee Titans defense that ranked 25th against the pass by our metrics and made Alex Smith look like, well, Brady in the first half of last week's wild card round before the loss of Travis Kelce (and a million other reasons) brought the Kansas City Chiefs back down to earth.

There is obviously blowout potential here. The Pats are currently favored by 13.5 points -- this could get ugly quickly, but should players really be worried about this? Nope. Brady has thrown for multiple touchdowns in seven of his last eight playoff games, and five in a row at home. It's conceivable that Dion Lewis and the run game control the game from start to finish, but I wouldn't bet on that. Brady will get his, and his ownership will deservedly be high.

Pivot

Case Keenum (vs. New Orleans Saints)

The Minnesota Vikings had their way with the New Orleans Saints in Week 1, but all Case Keenum could do was watch from the sidelines. Sam Bradford was (shockingly) healthy, torching #WhoDat for 346 yards and 3 touchdowns. Can Keenum come close to replicating those numbers?

People that only look at recent stats without context might think not. In his past three games, Keenum has averaged only 188 passing yards and 1.3 touchdowns. Why was his output so poor? The simple answer is because the passing game wasn't needed. Minnesota's defense was absolutely dominant, giving up a combined 17 points against the Bengals, Packers, and Bears. Fortunately for fantasy owners, Drew Brees and the Saints are a much stronger opponent, and if the Vikings want to win their first playoff game since Brett Favre donned purple, Keenum will have to take to the air more frequently.

The Saints have given up an average of 354 passing yards in their past two games, and Keenum should be chompin' at the bit to start slinging the ball. With an implied total of 25.75, the Vikings are expected to accrue the second-highest point total of the week. We have Keenum being a big part of that, projecting him for 17.6 FanDuel points, 2.32 points per $1,000 in salary.