Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck, USA Today Sports

WEEK 17 PREPARATION

Congratulations to those of you who dominated the playoffs up to this point, or squeaked through by the narrowest of margins. Several big names failed to come through for us in Week 16 including Rhamondre Stevenson, DeAndre Hopkins, Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, Mike Evans, Christian Kirk, Josh Jacobs, and that's just the short list. If you managed to navigate several roadblocks of poor play, congratulations, because it was a minefield. You looked at bad luck in the face and said, "Is that all you got?" There will be some teams in the title game who stumbled in. To use a hockey/soccer analogy, a goal is still a goal even if it slowly rolls past the goalie. It takes skill to advance this far, but there's also a great deal of luck involved. Congratulations if you made it this far. A lot of strong teams will be watching from home without a team competing in Week 17. I thought I summed up the fantasy playoffs with this tweet.

Winning a Championship in Fantasy Football🏆
▪️Get to the playoffs with a few strong players, consistent play, and good depth
▪️Take advantage of good matchups and fade tough ones
▪️Hope for good luck on your side and bad luck for your opponent
▪️Navigate the refs

-No problem

— Jeff Haseley (@JeffHaseley) December 27, 2022

For those of you who did make it...Week 17 is here. You survived. You're in the Finals. (Hopefully, the majority of you do not have a Week 18 Championship). Maybe you have a lot of money on the line? Or maybe just bragging rights among your family, friends or co-workers. Either way, the goal is in sight. Here are a few thoughts on how you can take down your opponent and lift the trophy.

HISTORICALLY, HOME RUNNING BACKS ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE

Unless there's an injury to a big-name player, go with those who got you here. Home running backs are the ticket, especially later in the year. Austin Ekeler, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, Rhamondre Stevenson, Joe Mixon, Miles Sanders, Aaron Jones/A.J. Dillon, Rachaad White, Ken Walker, Brian Robinson, D'Andre Swift/Jamaal Williams, Jerick McKinnon/Isiah Pacheco all have home games this week.

Let's not forget about matchups

Each of these teams allows at least 1 rushing touchdown per game to running backs this year. Houston, Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit, with an honorable mention for exploiting the Seattle ground game.

Opponents for each

• Houston - vs Jacksonville. This is why you kept or traded for Travis Etienne. Three straight games of 17+ touches, increasing with each game. We just need the touchdowns to follow.
• Chicago - at Detroit. You get the benefit of a home game, and the matchup is favorable. Swift and Williams have the ingredients to help get your trophy.
• Cleveland - at Washington. Boom! Washington is at home, and unfortunately, the uncertainty of Antonio Gibson opens the door for Brian Robinson. Robinson for the win? It's a good matchup and is worthy of starting Robinson in the big game.
• Detroit - vs Chicago. David Montgomery has 15 touches in each of the last five games scoring four times in that span. Look out for Khalil Herbert, though. He could be just enough of a fly in our ointment to make things less desirable for Montgomery's outlook.
• Seattle - vs New York Jets. Zonovan Knight is the closest thing the Jets have at the moment, and his poor showing last week won't give people much confidence if they advanced despite his shortcomings. Still, Knight has a good matchup and is a potential play this week as a flex option.

Houston, Seattle, Cleveland, and Chicago are also allowing over 100 yards rushing per game to running backs.