3rd and Masala: Week 1 Matchups!
I forgot to do this in the previous post. I guess this works out for the better because that post was getting too long anyway. This one will be simple because I’m going to try to get it out before the game tonight!
Last season I was able to keep this up until around week 9. School became a bit too much towards the end of the season unfortunately. At that point, I was 25–15 in my overall predictions. Not a bad percentage.
Let’s goo
Dheeraj v.s. Kenny
Two of my higher rated teams and I think both teams are going to outscore those projections. The biggest factor in this game will probably be Reed. If he’s his old self and can stay healthy this game, he will outscore Doyle by at least 10 points and give Dheeraj a huge advantage. All four WRs here are also in pretty solid matchups. TB, KC, and SF are some of the weakest defenses in the league. The Steelers aren’t bad necessarily but they are not very good against short routes in general so slot players and catching RBs usually eat them alive. I think Duke Johnson almost dropped 20 pts in PPR last year against them at the end of the season. Both Flexes are pretty questionable as they stand right now. I think Arob has the edge? I say that because I don’t trust the Browns and Gordon hasn’t played in two years. Both Kenny and Dheeraj have some potential replacements if they feel like they need to swap them out.
In the end, I think Kenny will win. Allen, Thielen, and DJ will each score over 20 points.
Winner: Kenny
Kumar v.s. Tynisa
Both QBs this game will go off. They are against some awful defenses but I think Rivers has a better chance to end up in a shoot out because that KC offense is scary. The WRs are probably a wash in this matchup. Larry has a tough team but he is usually fairly matchup proof. DT will be fine against the Seahawks as well. However, Adams and Cooper have miserable matchups. Bears and Rams both have insane front lines and Smith along with the Rams CBs will make it difficult to pass as well. Luckily for Adams, Rodgers is throwing to him so he should probably be ok. I have less faith in Carr and Cooper however. The RBs are going to probably favor Kumar. Gordon and Cook (provided he plays in full), have juicy matchups and will carry him hard compared to Kamara and Drake. Kamara will play well but the Titans actually have a solid defense and the Dolphins may struggle. TEs will probably also be even. The flex probably favors Tynisa. Hogan has the over White simply because he’s going to be a focal point in the passing game behind Gronk. White also has Burkhead there taking snaps and I think he will begin to be phased out as Sony Michel returns.
I think the edge in RBs and defense will help Kumar actually pull this one out. Matchups are important and Kumar’s got the advantage in almost all fronts. However, even though it will be a close matchup, I think Tynisa’s team has superior talent at skill positions and will be able to win.
Winner: Tynisa
Levin v.s. Abhishek
A week one rematch of last year’s finals may prove to be intense. Abhishek clearly has the edge in Wrs but Baldwin is hurt and against a scary Denver D. Newton will probably outplay Stafford this week simply because of his running capabilities. For Levin, Crabtree and Marvin Jones have ok matchups but their QBs may not let them shine too much. I think Lamar Miller and Chris Thompson will be good enough for Abhishek to keep his head above water. Even though we can see 90 points from Levin’s three backs, I think Freeman and Shady will struggle this week against Philly and Buffalo respectively. When his RBs aren’t hitting on all cylinders, I think Levin will find it difficult to get wins. While Abhishek is all in on WRs, his RBs are not as bad as Levin’s WRs. More importantly, Abhishek’s got the Gronk factor. I think he will be the tipping point and win Abhishek the week.
Winner: Abhishek
Manas v.s. Bikas
Starting at QBs, I think they will be pretty even.. at least a lot more than people think. Dalton has the Colts who have one of the worst defenses in the league. Brady has Houston and, while their secondary is pretty bad, their line and linebackers are really good with a healthy Watt and Clowney. It should even up the matchup a bit but Brady will still probably light them up. The WRs easily go to Manas’ side. Hopkins, Tate, and Green face some new culture of swiss cheese as their defenses. I expect at least 70 points from them combined. On the flip side, Bikas has the edge in RBs with Zeke and Howard. We are not sure how Zeke will look with his injured line but no doubt he will be really strong. I think Manas will have the edge on Bikas in TEs because Ertz faces a worse defense and is the one of the few targets on that team with Alshon out. I don’t think Watkins will do much but it could be a crapshoot. Hill creates so many mismatches that he actually could be good if put up against the 2nd or 3rd best CB on the team. There are honestly too many weapons on KC.
I think this is tight but Bikas’ WRs in Evans and Woods will most likely not perform well. Manas’ RBs will probably also let him down to even it out. In the end this matchup will most likely come down to Watkins booming or busting. I will bank on him busting and thus give Manas the win this week.
Winner: Manas
Anthony v.s. Avnish
The two most electric QBs will probably score similarly in week one. Watson faces the awful Patriots defense and Wilson faces an elite Denver D. I think this probably will even out but I’m going to give the edge to Watson. He’s got better weapons and will have an easier time with a softer defense. Hill and Robby Anderson will be really good this year but I think Hill may struggle this week against a very strong Chargers defense. Hayward is one of the best corners in the NFL and the Bosa Ingram pass rush will put a lot of pressure on Mahomes and may not give him enough time for the deep bombs they like. Diggs has a super easy matchup and will most likely feast. Overall I think that the WR matchup will most likely be a wash here. I favor Avnish for Rbs though. Kinda hilarious since he lost Bell but I think his RBs will still do better. Barkley is going to be great but he’s never faced anything like this Jags defense before. I think he will struggle but will be fine for the rest of the season. Murray should be solid but I think they won’t be able to outscore Mixon and Carson. Carson does have Denver which provides some hesitation but I don’t think that Murray will actually get as many touches as people think.
Anthony gets the edge at TE obviously. Rudolph could be better with Cousins but Kelce will be great with or without TDs this year. I actually think that the flex is a bit of a wash as well. I hate Fuller but that NE defense is so bad that I think Watson will take a few deep shots at him. Even if Fuller drops most of them, which he will, he just needs to catch one to have a good game. Corey Davis looked great at the end of last year but everything before that was not very good. It’s still up in the air to see where he lands in the WR spectrum.
I think the winner of this could be anyone but I think I will be learning towards Anthony here.
Winner: Anthony
Tejas v.s. Rachana
I think Rachana will easily have the edge at QB. Ben plays well against the Browns usually even though they have a good defense. I think Matt Ryan will be just ok because the Philly d-line is the best in the league. He will get sacked a few times tonight but will still be able to get Julio some solid yardage. Transitioning to that, I think my WR core with Julio and Hilton will do worse (barely) than OBJ and JuJu .It’s close mainly because Julio always shows up against the Falcons and the Bengals defense sucks. OBJ is great but going up against Ramsey and Boyue while your QB with an awful line gets blitzed by the best defense in the league will prove difficult for OBJ. JuJu will probably get a few deep passes but AB will still be the main attraction. I think JuJu will be solid but he can be a bit volatile. I have a heavy edge in RBs I think. Fournette and Collins both have ok to great matchups. CMC will get his but a lot of her performance relies on if Ajayi goes off. Rach also has the edge in TE by quite a large margin so it could prove as the turning point.
The big question mark is our flexes. I think Cooks will have himself a day against an awful Raiders defense. The Browns defense is really good up front against the run so Connor may struggle in his first NFL start. If she uses Henry, he will have a better time but he also has a lot of competition in Dion Lewis.
I think this is a close match and the difference will be made with Ryan, JuJu, Ajyai, Cooks, and the TEs.
I’ll give Rachana the advantage in this matchup to be honest. I think Ajayi will have a good opening day game and Juju can go off without Bell.
Winner: Rachana
