Fantasy Football Daily - Josh Allen, Caleb Williams, Kenneth Walker | NFL Divisional Round Recap & Coaching News

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

FANTASY POINTS 2026 EARLY-BIRD SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE LIVE. GET OUR BEST RATE WE'LL OFFER THE ENTIRE SEASON, 20% OFF! NOW THROUGH SUPER BOWL SUNDAY: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com/plans#/⁠��� On this episode of Fantasy Football Daily, the Divisional Round is recapped with a tight, fantasy-focused breakdown of the biggest games and performances. The show covers the Los Angeles Rams' defense-led win, a standout playoff effort from Kyren Williams, and why the Chicago Bears remain well positioned for 2026 behind Caleb Williams. The discussion also touches on Buffalo’s playoff loss with Josh Allen, New England advancing behind Drake Maye, Kenneth Walker’s dominant showing in Seattle, and recent head coaching news around the league. Where to find us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://twitter.com/⁠⁠TheOGFantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the Discord here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com/media/discord#/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast Transcription Here: https://podsqueeze.com/embedded/transcript/6feqk8fgNWNbmEEfVxuWYe Fantasy Points Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ NEW! Data Suite - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://data.fantasypoints.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/FantasyPts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/FantasyPts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/FantasyPts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasypts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fantasy football top 10 takeaways from the NFL's divisional round of the playoffs. Right here on fantasy points. Let's get it. What's going on? I'm Theo Greminger. Reacting to all of the games that we saw this past weekend. And we're going to talk about a couple of the head coaching hires and their impact on fantasy football right here. Got to start off right at the top.

This was a great weekend. These games were tremendous. I mean, really entertaining games. Chicago, Ellis, LA. What a way to end it. Denver Buffalo, tremendous game. Just the absolute strength and power we saw from the Seattle Seahawks and then the New England Patriots getting that win over Houston. If you were a football fan, you really enjoyed this weekend, but there's a lot for us to unpack. First off, let's start right at the top. Let's talk about the L.A. Rams because this was a team that

throughout the regular season, an offensive juggernaut. But I think that's, this game against Chicago really puts on display the balance that this organization has been able to build. They won this game on the strength of their defense. This was the league's top offense in points per game and was held to only 17 points during regulation in a cold weather road game in like an electric environment in Chicago. They ended up winning the game, but it was not because of fireworks with the offense. This was a game where L.A. went into Chicago, got it done on the defensive side of the ball.

They win the game 20 to 17. Matthew Stafford, no touchdown passes after this historical run. He still has a chance this week against another top-notch defense in Seattle. But last week on my takeaway show, I talked about Matthew Stafford, potential for fireworks, potential for him to get into like the top five touchdown passes all time in a season, including the playoffs. This was a tough one, though. Absolutely a tough one.

L.A. gets it done, though. I mean, they picked off Caleb Williams three times. They win despite 56 receiving yards from Pukua, 24 from Devonte Adams, the thicker kicker. Mivas gets the game winner. They win their 14th game of the season. I mean, I think we need to,

every week we sort of talk about the L.A. Rams, just the power and the balance that they have. but this is a team that's winning in different ways. Now they go up against the Seattle Seahawks. This game is going to be an unbelievable one, but the Rams get it done on the road in Chicago, onto the NFC championship game. Tremendous job by Sean McVeigh this year.

And when we look at the L.A. Rams, big picture here, this is a team that is in the driver's seat to make the Super Bowl this year, essentially a below a field goal line against Seattle. Seattle's favorite of this one. slightly. And the Rams have two first-ground picks, a ton of cap space, so much talent on this defense, so much talent on the offense. This is a team that's sort of built to win. Obviously, Matthew Stafford's age is the only variable here, but it's hard to imagine him falling off

after this tremendous season. Today we've got to talk about Kyron Williams, though, because apparently I've been a Kyron Williams hater. I made a couple of takes that next year I think we're going to see a lot of increased production from Blake Corum. I brought up my concerns with Kyron Williams sustaining so much volume over the last three seasons. This could, and I dropped my, my 50 rankings, which you can get over at Fantasy Point. My top 50 early 2026 PPR rankings. And I didn't have Kyron Williams probably as highly as I should have. But Kyron Williams continues to get it done.

You look at just the pure touchdowns. scoring that he's had on this three-year run. Just unbelievable stuff. 13 touchdowns this season. Average 15 and a half points per game. Last year in 2024, 16 touchdowns. Average is 17. And of course, his magical 12-game, 2023 season, where he had 15 touchdowns and 12

games played. I mean, Kyron Williams has been terrific for the Rams these past three years. An unbelievable touchdown run. and he has his best game in the history of his career in the playoffs on Sunday. Kyron Williams was just terrific. He ends up with 25 touches. And again, in a very cold weather game, 25 touches, 117 total yards, and scores two touchdowns. And these were big-time touchdowns in a game where the margins were very, very tight.

Williams was the one that got him in the end zone, did it twice. these are the first two rushing scores of his postseason career. And this is the first time that we've seen a Rams back with a two touchdown playoff game since C.J. Anderson. So Kyron Williams is completely locked in. The Rams are completely locked in. And when we looked at Kyron Williams, like, I get it. I think Blake Kornham is one of the better handcuff backs in the NFL.

I think that there's a chance that if Kyron Williams were to sustain an injury or all the touch volume got to him, I think Blake Corum would be a player that could put up huge numbers. But that being said, Kyron Williams has been a continual Sean McVe favorite. They gave him the contract this past off season and he just had a two touchdown game

to put them in the NFC playoff, in the NFC championship game. So Kyron Williams is pretty locked in right now. Unbelievable three-year run. Can he put it together with a fourth strong season in L.A.? I guess I was a Kairn Williams hater. I'm going to have to move them up a little bit in my top 50 rankings.

I think that there's a lot of arguments to rostering Blake Corum when you look at the profile for Kairn Williams, sub 200 pound back, who's handled all of this volume over the last three seasons. Blake Korum has immense value as a contingent upside guy, but Kiron Williams, when he's healthy, this is a Sean McVeigh favorite. And Kairn Williams can catch the football too.

We see Kiron Williams just with a awesome, some game. If you're holding Cameron Williams and Dynasty, you love to see this kind of performance. Really, really strong effort from the Rams to get this one done. And we got to talk about the Chicago Bears because Chicago

is in great shape moving forward. I mean, this is a team that had an absolutely magical run to get here. You're talking about a team that had five wins in 2024 and then this year turns it around, makes the playoffs.

wins a playoff game, beats the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. Ben Johnson looking like the smartest man in the room, an unbelievable run for Ben Johnson from his time as offensive coordinator in Detroit to immediately having success as head coach in Chicago. You know, and this wasn't perfect, guys. This was one where there's a couple of passes and a couple of plays that the Bears would like to get back. This was not a Ben Johnson magic type game.

There's been some criticism of Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson's play calling in this one. Obviously, the turnovers did not help. Caleb Williams are the three picks. That was tough. But when you look at what this team has been able to build in the front office, leading up to getting Ben Johnson, leading up to what they were able to do this year in the draft,

take a step back and look at what they were able to accomplish. Caleb Williams is trending towards a player that fantasy managers should be getting very, very excited about in 2026. And I know that there's some people out there that have been critical of Caleb Williams. I'm going to be very bullish on him heading into next season. He's 24 years old. He became the first quarterback in franchise history to lead seven fourth quarter quarterbacks in a season. And he became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw three touchdowns in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter in a postseason. So like

Caleb Williams is doing unbelievable stuff. Fourth and four touchdown pass to Cole Comet. was absolutely magical. Just a remarkable play. And when you couple that with what he was able to do last week against Green Bay in that comeback mode, like Caleb Williams has a ton of juice. I think that there is still some mistakes being made, but we also have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

This was his first year with Ben Johnson. Things usually get better with Ben Johnson. And all you've got to do is go look at the numbers for Ben Johnson year one in Detroit and then compare them to year three in Detroit. Year two goes up, year three goes up. All of the production keeps getting better as this offense becomes better with Ben Johnson there.

So the Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams connection, I think is going to be much better in 2026. And when you look at the skill position talent that the bears have been able to accumulate, the offensive environment for Caleb Williams is tremendous. Colston Loveland is 21 years old. Luther Burden will, be heading into year two next year. Roma Dunzei will be heading into year three. Kyle

Manungi, they got a ton out of this year as a rookie. DeAndre Swift is one we're going to keep an eye on where DeAndre Swift is a potential cut candidate. But if they do move off of DeAndre Swift, which I don't think is a given at all, DeAndre Swift was very effective in this offense. But if they do move off of DeAndre Swift, I think it means that they have a plan at running back. There is a massive free agent running back group that they could dip into. the Bears a pick towards the tail end of the first round now. They're the 25th overall pick, I believe,

after this past loss. So they're not going to be in the Jeremiah Love sweepstakes, but Chicago will have an opportunity to either retain DeAndre Swift or bring in sort of one of their choices at running back. And I think this is going to be an appealing offense for free agents to join because you'd be joining a Ben Johnson offense.

So if the market boxes somebody out and somebody doesn't like what they have on their plate in front of them contract-wise, you could see somebody taking a Giovante Williams to Dallas-type deal to get access to this really fantasy-friendly, NFL-friendly role in this Ben Johnson offense. So running back won't be a problem. Ben Johnson is a running-back whisperer every year he's producing fantasy points. Whoever their running back is, if they move off a Swift,

that's a guy you want on your fantasy team. But there's so much there. They've also built stability on the offensive line. The defense forced a ton of turnovers this year. This is a franchise heading in the right direction. Chicago with Caleb Williams is going to have a chance to be very, very good next year and very, very good for many seasons to come. This is a really well-built organization now with a head coach who wins games and scores a lot of points.

So very bullish on the Chicago Bears moving forward. A ton more to talk about. Let's take a quick break. We come back to the rest of these playoff games and players who stand to benefit from new head coaching hires right after this. All right, welcome back. Fantasy Football Daily, Theo Greminger, over at Fantasy Points. Make sure you're checking out Fantasy Football Daily on the podcast feed as well, dropping some additional shows that don't always make it over here to YouTube.

We got you covered all offseason long and throughout the rest of the NFL playoffs. Talked about the Bears, talked about the Rams. Let's talk about something a little bit. depressing. Absolutely the wild emotions of the Denver Broncos Buffalo game. Bo Nix is now done for the season. Leads Denver to their best win in a decade. 33 to 30 over the Buffalo Bills. Just an unbelievable game. Just a just a tremendous, tremendous NFL football game. Broncos score 17 points in the second quarter. There was so many positives here. when it came to Bo Nix.

I mean, Bo Nix has three touchdown passes. He also has 12 carries. And he ties Russell Wilson's record with 24 wins in his first two seasons as a pro. And then you find out an hour after the game that his season is over with an ankle injury. I mean, absolute devastation for Bo Nix, absolute devastation for the Denver Broncos,

a fan base. Denver is now a third. four and a half point underdog next week against New England. The story becomes Jared Stidham. Jared Stidham, there's a lot of positivity going on right now with the Denver Broncos beat reporters, a ton of positive coach speak when it comes to Sean McVeigh, the way that they're addressing this situation, the way they're talking about Jared Stidham. But, I mean, absolute devastation. It's just a tremendous, tremendously emotional sport. And for you to lose. your starting quarterback heading into this massive AFC title game.

A chance for Sean Payton to do something historical that no coach has ever done in NFL history. No coach has ever won a Super Bowl for two franchises. Sean Payton is two wins away from doing that and to lose his starting quarterback. So right now Denver is going to be a four and a half point underdog. I imagine that line might come in. Just my gut feel is four and a half seems a little bit big. probably ends up like a three and a half, four point dog at home against the New England Patriots. And it's just pure devastation for a franchise that earned the number one overall seed in the AFC.

Wins a huge game against Josh Allen, massive, massive win. And now has to go with their backup quarterback. So much pressure on the line. Drake May, New England Patriots coming into Denver next week, Jared Stidham against the New England Patriots. just wild stuff. Bo Nix, I got to say, like, there was a mixed bag, but Bo Nix really, I think, a lot more positives and negatives. Bo Nix gets Denver to the AFC championship game, but he won't be able to quarterback it. And this quarterback class, I talked about Caleb Williams, talking about Bo NICs, Drake May. Then you add in Jaden Daniels, who took Washington to the NFC conference

conference title game last year before losing in Philadelphia. Four members of the 2024 rookie class, all leading their teams on deep playoff runs, just tremendous stuff there with what we've seen from that class collectively. And I think all of those now to be third year quarterbacks have a chance next season. Also Michael Pennix. Michael Pennix in Atlanta, we're going to talk a little bit later. He has a new head coach. That Atlanta Falcons team has a chance to win.

their division as well. That NFC South up for grabs every year seemingly. Atlanta has a chance to do it. There's a lot of talent there. If Stifancy, you can get them there. So we might be talking about a Michael Pennick's year three potential breakout. We'll talk about that towards the end of the show. Let's keep this going.

Talking about Buffalo. I mean, listen, it's crazy what happened with the Buffalo Bills. Everything about this game was a little wild. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills turned the ball over. five times. And including the Jaquan McMillan pick on that bang, bang play with Brandon Cooks, I've had a bunch of people in my DMs on this one. Was it a pick? Was it a catch? I mean, probably was a catch. But when I saw it in real time, I thought it was a pick. So like, again, it was controversial. This sort of play will live in infamy forever. It's going to be one of these

plays where people go back and keep watching it over and over on the years. Certainly Buffalo Bill's fans are steaming mad about it. And Josh Allen's turnovers really were shocking. He hadn't turned the ball over in his previous six playoff appearances. And for him to throw all these picks, lose fumbles, I mean, this is a shocking game for Josh Allen. And it felt last week when Buffalo got that win over Jacksonville, it felt a little bit like this was the year that Josh Allen was going to put the team on his back.

he finally had a clear runway where there was no Lamar Jackson, no Patrick Mahomes, no Joe Burrow, none of like the big name AFC quarterbacks left in front of him. And then he loses this one on the road in Denver. A lot of soul searching for the Buffalo Bills this past off season. I mean, this upcoming off season, Josh Allen, one of the better quarterbacks we've seen really ever. I mean, for fantasy football, he's on the Mount Rushmore for fantasy football quarterbacks, but zero Super Bowl appearances for Josh Allen. A lot of soul searching in Buffalo this coming off season,

a lot of disappointment with Buffalo Bills fans, and a lot of anger, in my opinion, should be put on Brandon Bean, who continues to survive as the general manager in Buffalo. Let's do a little bit of housekeeping here. How do you end up with a wide receiver group in the playoffs? that is, you know, key moments going to guys like Brandon Cooks, Keon Coleman, me Cole Hardman, Curtis Samuel, Shavers last week. I mean, there's so many names here in Buffalo.

And when you see the amount of disconnect between the wide receivers that Buffalo has been able to accumulate and the talent at the quarterback position, it's sort of mind-blowing, especially considering that Josh Allen took his meteoric leap going from his rookie season to year two to year three when he started to become the Josh Allen that we know today. He did that with Stefan Diggs, where Buffalo made the aggressive move to trade for Stefan Diggs from Minnesota. They go and get Josh Allen, a wide receiver won, and he took off. Now they go from that to this collection of wide receivers. And, you know, Dalton Kincaid did play well. So they used that first round pick on Dalton

Kincaid back in 2023. So again, that one looking like when King, when Kincaid had the game that he just had yesterday, it's sort of like he gets a little bit of a pass. But if you start looking at that draft collectively, a few picks before Dalton Kincaid were Jackson Smith and Jigba, Jordan Addison, Zayflowers.

Buffalo could have proactively traded up and put themselves in a position to draft one of those three guys, so I think would have helped them tremendously today. Certainly, JSN at a superstar, Zayflower's tremendous talent. Jordan Addison got in trouble off the field recently, so a bunch of people probably won't like that comment. But Jordan Addison, an absolute baller at times during his NFL career, a guy who finds the end zone continually.

So that draft with Kincaid, they were sort of chasing the Travis Kelsey archetype, Kansas City had beaten them a number of times, whatever. They at least invested in a skill position player in that first round. But then you look at the draft the following year, where they take Keon Coleman at the beginning of the second round, one pick ahead of Ladd-McConkie. And of course, Ladd-McConkie regressed this year, but you're talking about Ladd-McConkie,

your average 15 points per game as a rookie would have fit in extremely well. And I know there's some people saying, like, you know, Theo Ladd and Khalil Shakir might have superfluous skill sets and would have maybe boxed out his slot usage. I don't think NFL teams think like that continually. I think it's accumulation of talent, and Ladd certainly would have been a better pick than Keon Coleman. Bill's fans unanimously would agree on that one.

So, 2023, it's sort of a do-over. Would you rather have a trade-up to get one of those wide receivers than 2024 of certainly Ladd-McConkie, Keon-Colman decision looks terrible. And then this year, Buffalo drafts, Malik Hairsten at the end of the first round, who's going to be a fine player, filled a need for them, but could have drafted Luther Burden,

who went like nine picks later. So there's been opportunities to add wide receivers through the draft, and I know some people hate that sort of revisionist history, but it's got to be said on a day like today. Then you look at what he chose to do at the trade deadline this year. The Miami Dolphins would have traded Jalen Waddle to the Buffalo Bills for a first round pick. Buffalo offered a second.

they didn't make that deal. Rashid Shaheed was moved at the deadline. Rashid Shaheed certainly would have looked good yesterday in Buffalo, looked good for Seattle. They didn't make a move for Shaheed. Jacoby Myers was moved to Jacksonville. Jacoby Myers would have helped Buffalo as well. They didn't make those moves.

So it's been continual like mess-ups at the wide receiver position. They've got to address that this offseason. End of my rant. Let's talk about the New England Patriots, though. It's not all about the teams that lost. It's about the teams that won. New England's now in the driver's seat in the AFC. New England survived the league's top defense in Houston.

Ugly game. Eight combined turnovers in this one. This was the most in a playoff game since 2015. So there was a lot of turnovers in this one. But Drake May did get it done as a passer. Three touchdown passes. One to DeMario Douglas, one to Stefan Diggs, one to Kishon Booty. And Mike Frable returns in New England.

and now has the New England Patriots one game away from the Super Bowl, just a tremendous storyline, the amount of turnaround that New England was able to accomplish. It's a turnaround sport. This should give you, like, optimism and confidence if you're a New York Giants fan, if you're an Atlanta Falcons fan, if you're one of these teams that you say, my team has talent, why can't we turn it around? Mike Frable's showing you that when a franchise makes a correct head coaching hire and then they make correct decisions on player personnel,

they can turn things around quickly, and Vrable did it. So again, this game wasn't perfect for New England, but that's not always how things go in the NFL playoffs. Sometimes you have to win a game like this. The weather was awful. Drake May kept fumbling. Four fumbles.

This was a X factor that Denver can look to exploit next week. And again, the Houston Texans defense, though, was one of the more important. impressive defensive units that we've seen in recent memory. And New England overcomes that one. The Patriots are now four and a half point road favorites in Denver. Drake May is now winning games, putting up numbers, near MVP performance. Matthew Stafford, Drake May, sort of the two MVP candidates right now.

Both are in the conference championship games. Drake May doing this in year two. Just tremendous stuff. We recall what New England turned down. to hold on to Drake May. The New York Giants offered the New England Patriots, their first round pick that turned into Malik Neighbors and their pick the following season,

New England stood pat and didn't take that deal. And they wanted Drake May and now look, they're one game away from the Super Bowl with a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl in Mike Vrabble's first season as head coach and in Drake May's second year as a starting quarterback. Unbelievable stuff. And for New England to go from Tom Braeval,

to Drake May. I mean, this franchise is just blessed at the quarterback position. I mean, nothing else really needs to be said. Drake May three touchdown passes, New England moves on. On the opposite end, we got to start having a lot of question marks about C.J. Stroud. And I know that there's going to be a lot of C.J. Stroud discourse on pretty much every NFL podcast, every fantasy football podcast this week.

And for good reason. C.J. Stroud was awful. I mean, just awful in this one. 20 for 47 as a passer. He had four interceptions. And honestly, like if you watch the game, it felt like there could have been seven or eight interceptions in this one.

Like Stroud was all over the place. He had a passer rating of 28. This was the worst passer rating in 10 years. You would have had a higher passer rating by throwing the ball out of bounds, like than this performance. This was just horrible. And when it comes to CJ Stroud,

it's just amazing to see where we've gone, where C.J. Stroud, and I'll admit this one, anyone who watched my work when I was at Player Profiler, like I was all over C.J. Stroud after his rookie season, I'll take the L right there. I moved him up in our dynasty rankings over there. I'm sure everybody did at some point. I remember going on podcast where people were talking about dynasty startup values

after C.J. Stroud's rookie season and sort of weighing C.J. Stroud versus like the big dogs, weighing C.J. Stroud versus guys like Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, really kind of poor, small sample size, pushing the narrative and really a lesson for all of us. Because C.J. Stroud now coming off of this loss, there's going to be a lot of push for Houston to bring in a little bit of competition. And Davis Mills, when he started this year, did a pretty good job with this offense. I'm not saying Davis Mills is the answer. I get it. C.J. Stroud's a better player than Davis Mills. That's not a take I'm looking to have. But I think after a loss like this,

when you look at what Houston's been able to put together on the defensive side of the ball, when you look at a team that's been able to win a playoff game for three straight years, can they take the next step with C.J. Stroud? Now, D'Amico Ryans came out right after the game and was adamant. C.J. Stroud is our guy. But I think it's more of a, D'Amico Ryans is doing the right thing. Like, he's standing by his quarterback. he's not going to throw anybody under the bus. It's not the time to do it. D'Amico Rines also was a player,

understands these sort of narratives when a coach says anything to give media just a little bit of something. But I think organizationally, does Houston bring in an interesting backup quarterback where if things start to go south, could they consider change?

I don't think so. I think they're kind of boxed out. I think they're a little bit stuck with C.J. Stroud. But I do think that there's a chance, that they do something this offseason. Never say never. You could sort of make some comparisons here. Is there a chance that Houston does something like L.A. did a few years ago

where they push the chips in, try to acquire maybe a veteran quarterback like we saw when L.A. went and got Matthew Stafford. Not sure. I don't know what way Houston goes, but I do know that this was a very, very bad performance for C.J. Stroud and a really, really disappointing one for a team that had the defense to win a Super Bowl, but offensively couldn't get it done.

I also think you're going to see an upgrade at the running back position. I know Woody Marks had a very strong game last week, but I think that there's going to be added competition for Woody Marks. Remember, they got Woody Marks on day three. I think that they're going to attack this free agent running back class coming up and add in another back to sort of compliment Marks or to be the lead dog with Marks working in. That's just my gut feel.

So I think this offense next year in Houston is going to look a little, different. Obviously, they miss Nico Collins this game. He'll be back next year. But Houston has a ton of talent on the roster, but they can't seem to get past this game for now three straight seasons. Talking about the Seattle game, I mean, unbelievable, an absolute blowout against a divisional rival, a conference rival in the San Francisco 49ers, 41 to 6. And this game was over before it started. Rashid Shaheed returned the game's opening kickoff, explosive 95-yard return. The defense for Seattle,

I mean, we talk about fantasy football on this show all the time, and I rarely talk about the defensive side of the ball, but there's so much talent on this Seattle defense. They are just loaded on the defensive side of the ball. So many guys making plays, such a well-balanced team. You look at like Leonard Williams,

Lawrence, Weatherspoon, Ernest Jones, all these guys making all these plays, a absolutely loaded, loaded, loaded defense. Seattle is another, like, example to you for optimism and the turnaround sport. Mike McDonald's an absolute real one. Tremendous coach. Has Seattle now in the NFC championship game? Fantasy-wise, the big takeaway. Kenneth Walker.

This is like the Kenneth Walker gets to. bag game. What a time for Kenneth Walker to go out and put up a performance like this. Kenneth Walker is heading to NFL free agency. Has a chance now to get a massive, massive contract. In front of a national audience, Seattle completely demolishes the 49ers and Walker led the way. 144 total yards and three touchdown scores. Kenneth Walker joined Sean Alexander as the only Seattle player with three rushing touchdowns in a playoff game in franchise history. It's incredible stuff. Seattle is just so well balanced.

And it's not just Kenneth Walker in this one. Like, we got to talk about Shaheed. Let's go back to Rashid Shaheed. Seattle made the aggressive move to trade for Shaheed to reunite him with Clint Kubiak, his former offensive coordinator in New Orleans. The organization was head over heels about getting Rashid Shaheed. and you see it in this game. Again, 95-yard kickoff return touchdown.

He also had a 30-yard rush. He finishes with 153 all-purpose yards. And he also forced a pass interference downfield that led to the Jackson Smith-in-Jigba touchdown grab. Rashid Shaheed is going to have a long line of suitors when he enters free agency. I think Seattle's going to do everything they can to bring him back.

Just an explosive player. I'm very interested in Shaheed if he ends up somewhere else with an opportunity for a higher target chair. I think that there was a underappreciation for him when he was a New Orleans saint

and I think there will be a correction on that heading in next season. Even Cooper Cup in this one who's been sort of a forgotten man had five catches for 60 yards. Seattle is well-rounded. Seattle has a chance to go to the Super Bowl. They are home favorites next week

against the L.A. Rams. That game is going to be absolutely sensational. and then let's quickly round up a couple of these head coaching hires. We have a little bit of clarity here. New York Giants, John Harbaugh, this one is super, super exciting. And when you look at John Harbaugh becoming the head coach of the Giants, basically he chose this job. There was going to be a lot of interest in Harbaugh from multiple teams.

Certainly, certainly the open AFC North jobs would have considered him Miami Dolphins all but wanted him as the head coach. A lot of connections there to Harbaugh. Harbaugh was one of the reasons that they moved off of Mike McDaniel apparently. And Harbaugh chooses the New York Giants. It shows the appeal to this job. You have a top five pick in the NFL draft, always nice for a new head coach to get his essential pick of the guy he wants. Now, maybe New York goes with an offensive lineman, maybe they go with a wide receiver. Maybe they add another defensive player.

And I think Harbaugh is going to have a big say in the way that they're picking based on his experience as a head coach and him taking this job. They also have some upper level elite talents on the roster, including Malik Neighbors, who's going to start next year on the pup. Obviously, he's the one for fantasy football. But also, Cam Scadaboo was really the most effective rookie running back in terms of fantasy points per game this past season. We'll get him back. He's already jogging. Tyrone Tracy behind him has been effective giving New York a change of pace back or a back to mix in depending on how they run this offense.

Andrew Thomas on the offensive line. And then a defense with a ton of talent, obviously Burns, Lawrence, Carter up front. They can get to the quarterback, which has been sort of an M.O. for John Harbaugh when he has good teams. The thing that should get everyone really excited, though, is Jackson Dart. And I think this was a Jackson Dart higher more so than any. I think Harbaugh sees Jackson Dart as a player he can win big with, and this influenced the decision.

You look at the open jobs and the quarterback attached to them. This is how you have an immediate turnaround. Ben Johnson takes Chicago with Caleb Williams. Mike Vrable takes New England with Drake May. John Harbaugh takes New York with Jackson Dart. Got a lot of talent. There's some holes that they're going to need to fix, but there's a lot of young talent on New York and now a coach who has had a ton of experience, a ton of success at the NFL level.

Really a time for John Harbor to make a change in Baltimore. The change needed to have been made. I know there was a lot of disgruntled Ravens fans out there. I'm friends with some of them who wanted a coaching change. But I think for Giants fans, you should be very, very excited about this one. You should also be super excited about the potential of Todd Monkin being the offensive coordinator for this job. if that one goes down, we saw what Munkin was able to accomplish in Baltimore in a short period of time,

especially his first two years there. Munkin with Jackson DART, I think that's super, super exciting, especially with his mobility, his ability to accumulate rushing yards, his ability to find the end zone on rushing touchdowns. Plus, he, of course, get back Cam Scadaboo, Malik Neighbors, Theo Johnson came on this year. Wondell Robinson, an impending free agent, that's one that I don't know, if the Giants will be able to afford. But I think that there's a lot of talent there, a chance to turn it around.

And then Kevin Stefansky to Atlanta. Now, Stefansky, again, a lot of people like them. Some people don't. But I'll tell you one thing this makes me think. Makes me think that they're going to franchise tag Kyle Pitts or they're going to sign them. The tight end position has printed in Kevin Stavansky offenses.

Now, Cleveland didn't have a wide receiver like Drake London. Drake London is awesome. I don't think Drake London's scoring is going to fall off when it comes from the 16 points per game he's had the last two years. That's not a, this is not the take. Bejohn Robinson is absolute killer. I have him at the 101 in my top 50 rankings. Again, you can get access to those right over at fantasy points. Just go to fantasy points, type in my last name, Greminger, my articles will pop up, or you can probably find it on the front page. Bejohn Robinson is my 101.

And I've said, I think he's going to have a thousand, thousand season next year. Thousand plus rushing yards, thousand plus receiving yards, become the fourth player in NFL history to do so. But the story for me with this hire is Kyle Pitts. You look at the success for tight ends every year under Kevin Stefansky. This year, Harold Fanon Jr., leads Cleveland in everything as a 21-year-old rookie.

2024, 24, David and Joku. 2023, David and Joku. Those two guys, they're scoring numbers, the team utilizing the tight end position, the use of 12 personnel, there's so much to like about this hire if you're believing in Kyle Pitts, and it makes me think that Atlanta is going to get it together,

bring back Kyle Pitts. Kyle Pitts, again, a very intriguing free agent, but I think this is a bring back Kyle Pitts hire. I don't think that's why they hired him. They're not hiring him because they want to bring back Kyle Pitts, but I think this is a coaching hire that's going to influence that decision more so than others. Pitts was really good this year.

Pitts is still young, and I think Pitts has a chance. chance to have another really strong year next year with Stefansky. Now let's keep an eye on David Injoku. He's going to be a free agent as well. Atlanta sort of could use another big time skill position player.

Injoku obviously regressed this year, but is Injoku a player that they could bring in, run a lot of 12. I think an offense with Drake London, maybe Darnell Mooney as the wide receiver too, Bejohn Robinson at running back in two tight end sets with Kyle Pitts and David Injoku. that would be a difficult one for them to defend.

Obviously, quarterback over in Atlanta, Kirk Cousin still on the roster, Michael Pennix, end of the year injured. There's quarterbacks there. Atlanta has a lot of talent on the roster in a division that they can win. Stefanski, an interesting one. So this year, we have the two coaches

that are favored in the NFC in the AFC title game. Mike McDonald, in year two in Seattle. Mike Vrable in year one in New England. They're both favored. in this one. This is a turnaround sport. If you are a fan of the New York Giants, you're a fan of the Atlanta Falcons, absolutely you should be optimistic. If you make smart hires and you make smart personnel decisions, look at what Seattle did in the draft, look what they did with trades,

free agents, look what New England did in the draft. Look what they did with free agents and trades. If you make smart decisions, you make smart hires, you can turn things around in this sport. This is a turnaround sport. Ben Johnson's Chicago. It could be you, New York Giants fans. in. We got you covered all throughout the NFL playoffs. Make sure that you are also subscribing to the 2026 NFL draft podcast. Brett Whitefield and I breaking it down every single week. This week we have Thor Nystrom of Fantasy Life joining us. We are going to break down the top fantasy players to watch in the Senior Bowl. Dynasty Life, make sure you subscribe to that one as well. Heath Cummings of CBS joins me this week. Fantasy Football Daily.

I'm also going to be joined by Derek Brown, D. Bro of Fantasy Pros this week. School of Scott, Scott Barrett and I every single week. We're everywhere here at Fantasy Points. We're going to help you crush the rest of the NFL playoffs. We're going to help you crush this off season.