Fanpicks.com NFL Playoff Saturday AFC Wildcard Fantasy Football Picks

The NFL playoffs begin with the AFC Wildcard on Saturday January 9th. Fanpicks.com is proud to unveil our RotoPicker tool which allows you to create winning line ups.  Play the best NFL daily fantasy football contests only at Fanpicks.com the premiere daily fantasy sport site

The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans meet at 4:35PM Eastern Time on ESPN TV. These two teams met way back in Week 1 with the Chiefs posting a 27-20 victory. The Chiefs had built a 27-9 lead through three quarters and took their foot off the gas. Alex Smith threw for 243 yards and had three touchdowns in the victory. Brian Hoyer had 236 yards passing with a touchdown and pick. KC enjoyed a +2 turnover margin in this game.

Kansas City has been the hot team as they have won ten straight games to make the playoffs. They only beat two winning teams during that streak with a ten point home win to Pittsburgh and a 16 point road victory at Denver. They have been carried by a defense that surrenders just under 18 points per game. Their numbers on offense has little to be desired as Alex Smith is a dink and dunk passer who has benefited by the resurgence of the Chiefs running game.

The Houston Texans was a team that struggled out of the gates but took control of the AFC South division by winning three straight and seven of their past nine games. This is another team that has been carried by a very good defense. Houston is third in total defense and third against the pass. The Las Vegas oddsmaker projects this to be a very low scoring game with an over under of 40 points.

The Texans defense has played very well down the stretch. They have allowed a total of 22 points over their past three games. Alex Smith struggled last week in their home win against the Raiders and could have issues with his confidence as he is a quarterback with very little success in the post season.

Play Houston Texan Defense

Game 2 of the NFL playoffs for Saturday goes off in primetime at 8:15PM Eastern Time on CBS as the Cincinnati Bengals will host the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers are a team many in the AFC conference did not want to see in the playoffs due to their explosive offense. They caught a break with the Jets losing in Week 17 to enter as the sixth seed. Pittsburgh traveled to Cincinnati on December 13th and came away with the 33-20 road victory. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 282 yards as he completed 30 of 39 passes. The Steelers picked off an A.J. McCarron pass for a touchdown and field goal kicker Chris Boswell had four field goals. The Steelers suffered a major injury as running back DeAngelo Williams has been listed as questionable in this game with an ankle injury. The Steelers run game could be hampered but quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn’t the type of quarterback the needs a running game. In fact his fantasy value soars when there is no one to hand the ball off to.

Cincinnati is a tough team to back in fantasy right now. They have a good defense but no way can their unit be considered against a very good Steelers offense. They have a backup in A.J. McCarron under center. The Bengals have a bad history in the playoffs. Cincinnati has a two running back system that takes value away from each one for fantasy draft GM’s.

Go with the proven money quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger has passed for over 300 yards in six of his past eight games. He has thrown for three touchdowns or greater in three of his past five games.

Play Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers QB

Big Ben’s top target is Antonio Brown. He has caught 136 passes for 1834 yards with ten touchdowns. Everyone knows he is the main man yet he still gets open and delivers for fantasy draft rosters. He had 13 receptions for 187 yards and a touchdown at Cleveland in Week 17.

Play Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers WR