Fantasy football advice, Week 17: Strategizing for playoff teams resting players

For many, your season-long leagues have concluded, and your year of resenting the idiotic trade or draft pick that inevitably submarined your otherwise idyllic season awaits you. We turn, as always, to the escape and draw of FanDuel, where we can recoup our league dues with our usual attempts to maximize matchups and minimize risk. Last week, this space advocated Lamar Miller as the best cheap RB play of the week; it also expected Andrew Luck to show up at the game. In the interest of holiday forgiveness, we'll call that even.

This week, we face not only the usual uncertainty of fantasy prognostications; we have to now account for useless games, a new batch of eliminated teams, and an unsure grasp on depth charts for the league. Could Tom Brady start, play the entire game, and end his regular season with a surge? Surely. He could also play the first half, go up three scores on the Bills, and then sit the second half. We can't predict the resting patterns of NFL coaches, but we can try and minimize our reliance on players in that situation.

Eli hasn't matched that level of elite consistency, but he has provided fantastic production over the last two weeks. Fresh off a 27.34 point performance against the then-surging Rams, Eli faces an Eagles team just eliminated from playoff contention - I eagerly await the corrections from each and every Jets beat writer that proclaimed Mark Sanchez as reborn and ready to win a Super Bowl.

In the last three weeks, the Eagles have surrendered completely on both sides of the ball. The stagnant at best Washington offense found 27 points last week, with their WR1 DeSean Jackson going for four catches and 126 yards. Tony Romo posted 20.5 points in his convincing Week 15 win over the Eagles, with Dez Bryant exploding for 32.4 points. Even the stunted Seattle passing attack found success against the Eagles, with Russell Wilson scoring two touchdowns and running for a third - his nominal WR1, Doug Baldwin, had five catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles have offered little resistance in December, and we'll look to capitalize on their demoralization by firing up Beckham and Eli.

QB- Cam Newton, $8300 and WR Kelvin Benjamin, $7400 @ ATL

I can't wait for the NFC South champion to knock off the Cardinals and give the Seahawks a decent game in the divisional round while the 10-6 Baltimore Ravens sit at home, unsure why the strategy of "try to draw pass interference on every down" didn't win them another Super Bowl. The Falcons/Panthers tilt is tantalizing for fantasy players - they'll go all out, without a doubt, and each defense offers little resistance.

I prefer the Carolina side of the game when considering the Falcons defense. Cam Newton, still enjoying his invincibility, followed up a 35.34 point performance before his accident with 23.34 points last week. He faces a Falcons defense that allows the most passing yards per game and the most rushing touchdowns this season, a formula that seems ideal for dual-threat Cam.

QB- Teddy Bridgewater $7500 and WR Charles Johnson $6100 vs CHI

Teddy Bridgewater has averaged 18.77 points over his last three games, two of which went against elite defenses. He seems to have a ceiling of 20 points, but consistency and 15+ points at $7500 is a nice recipe for a cheap quarterback play. I like it even more when considering the matchup, as the Bears have struggled to contain any quarterback as the season ends. While Matthew Stafford struggled against them last week, Tony Romo scored 20 in a romp while Drew Brees put up 27.2.

Stacking Teddy with one of his wide receivers is a bit tricky. Usage-wise, Charles Johnson seems like the play. He averaged seven targets over the last three weeks, but only one of those weeks resulted in double-digit production. Greg Jennings has scored in three of his last four games, but he's averaged four catches and failed to break 56 yards receiving. With both iffy options, I'd lean toward the cheaper Johnson and hope that his usage rate results in increased scoring.

QB - Jay Cutler $7500 and Marquess Wilson $5800 @MIN

Here is my eyes-closed dart throw of the week. The narrative works nicely; Jay Cutler gets one chance at vindication. Marc Trestman could possibly be coaching his final game. Xavier Rhodes gets to close out his underappreciated season by shutting down Alshon Jeffrey. When you have a chance at owning some part of the game that launched a thousand "Maybe Jay needed this earlier" columns, you jump at the chance.

Cutler sees a nice reduction in price due to the benching last week; the $7500 tier is usually reserved for rookie QBs, Geno and Alex Smith, and other low-end QB2s. While the Vikings do offer a stout passing defense, they have been burned in the past. Ryan Tannehill just posted 30.34 points against them, and even Geno Smith broke the 15-point plateau during their Week 14 matchup. I like pairing Cutler with Wilson to both mitigate cost and avoid the Xavier Rhodes matchup. This duo is the cheapest of the four stacks, but easily the most problematic. It is the type of high-risk, high-reward lineup that inevitably wins the $600K tournament and causes you to rage.