Semi-Final Preview: #4 Sacramento Wolf Pack at #1 Korriban Warriors

It’s interesting that the second week of playoffs includes another set of teams that faced off once before during the season and resulted in a blowout win with more than 50 points between the winner (Korriban Warriors) and the loser (Sacramento Wolfpack). The Korriban Warriors and the Sacramento Wolfpack are both chasing their first BFFL championship. They faced each other last year in the same round of playoffs with the Warriors winning by a 6 point margin. Will this year be the Sacramento Wolfpack’s turn to win over the Warriors or will the Korriban Warriors finally make it all the way?

Quarterbacks

Aaron Rodgers, who has been somewhat in the MVP talk, hasn’t been performing the way he needs to be to compete against Patrick Mahomes for his 3rd NFL MVP award. However, he has been performing just the way he needs to be to lead the Korriban Warriors to the #1 seed for BFFL playoffs. With a game against the #20 Carolina Panthers defense coming up, who has allowed ~230 yards passing in their last 3 games, Aaron Rodgers should be able to do what he does best and pass the ball to Davanate Adams which should allow the Korriban Warriors to double dip on those points. With the status of Matthew Stafford in doubt, Kirk Cousins seems to be the next person up on the Sacramento Wolfpack. Luckily, Kirk Cousins isn’t a slouch (unlike Cam Newton who puts up <100 yards passing too consistently for my taste). The #29 Chicago Bears defense has been allowing ~250 yards passing in their last 3 games, so Kirk Cousins should be able to sustain his production. While Kirk Cousins will get the work done, Aaron Rodgers just seems to be too powerful to stop. Even if Matthew Stafford is cleared to play, I would still give the edge to the Warriors.

Running Backs

With all the injury weeks that Chris Carson has had over the course of this season, the Wolfpack has been reaping the rewards of his return to playing time. However, the Seahawks are about to play the #6 Washington defense who just stopped the 49ers for a crippling 63 yards this past week. Carson should get more of the touches in the game, so let’s hope he can get a TD with one of those against this Washington defense. Wayne Gallman might not fair any better playing against the #18 ranked Browns defense. Good news for the Wolfpack though is that they allowed over 140 yards rushing the past 3 games and even though Gallman hasn’t reached the end zone in the last two games, he should be primed and ready to break the seal and find the end zone this week. With Daniel Jones’ status still up in the air, the Giants may need to rely more heavily on the run game to get this offense going, which bodes well for Gallman and the Wolfpack. While Austin Ekeler’s status for this week’s game is up in the air right now, he most likely will play and he’ll be playing against the #32 Raiders defense who give up almost 200 yards a game. Even though the Ravens are going to be playing against the #26 Jaguars defense, who knows who will actually get those yards. Gus Edwards is not the lead back in Baltimore, but has been getting some respectable numbers sharing with J.K. Dobbins. Unfortunately, just based on the matchups against defenses, this week seems to favor the Warriors. Edge to the Warriors.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

A.J. Brown has been pretty consistent over the past couple of weeks, if you don’t count the fumble in Week 13. He’ll be playing the #31 Lions defense who have almost allowed 300 yards a game over the last 3 weeks. With Matthew Stafford’s status unknown at this point and the depleted Lions defense, Brown may be in for a monster game which he’ll need to do to bring the Wolfpack to the next round. Diggs just came off a monster game against the #1 Steelers defense, so a stop at the #22 Broncos defense shouldn’t be a problem for him. The Broncos allowed ~200 yards the last 3 weeks, but it’s hard to stop Diggs and I don’t think this is the defense that’s going to be able to stop him or his rapport with Josh Allen. Marquise Brown has been pretty consistent lately, averaging about 10 points a game. He’s no one to really write home about, but that kind of consistency, against the #26 Jaguars defense, all points to a good number of yards for Brown. Let’s hope he doesn’t regress back to his <5 points a game self when the Wolfpack need the consistency the most. Davanate Adams is a beast. What else can I say about him? He’s great. I wish I had him on my team. He has a great rapport with Aaron Rodgers. He’s matchup proof. Did I mention that I wish I had him on my team? The Warriors love their QB/WR or QB/TE combos and this is one that delivers. Even though Mark Andrews was out for a couple weeks due to Covid, he’s come back and been a good outlet for Lamar Jackson when he’s needed it. The Jaguars, nicely put, is not very good, so Andrews will probably get some good looks when the Ravens march down the field. Chase Claypool has not had the best time the last 3 weeks. I’m not really sold too much on Chase Claypool. There’s too many weapons on the Steelers and Claypool’s targets seem to be one of the main effects of that. He may surprise against the #29 Bengals defense, but I wouldn’t count on it. I give the edge heavily to the Wolfpack.

Warriors over Wolfpack 91 to 89