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Last season, all four road teams won in wild-card weekend for the first time in NFL history. This season, the home teams struck back, winning all four games in rather unexciting fashion -- every game was decided by at least 13 points. Expect a much more exciting and competitive, not to mention star-studded, divisional round.
The goal of this NFL Divisional Round column is to help find the most profitable DFS lineup stacks for daily fantasy football, while avoiding the duds. Stacking, or pairing multiple players from the same NFL team, is an ideal way to maximize your point production, which is crucial in larger GPP (guaranteed prize pool) tournaments. With only four games to choose from, pricing becomes less of a concern. You'll want to find a low-owned gem or two, especially for tournaments, but it'll still be important to hit a high-scoring stack to build the foundation of your lineup. With that mind, instead of ranking the stacks from most expensive to least expensive as in previous weeks, we've ranked them in order of appeal.
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Divisional Round - Strong DFS Stacks
Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers and WR Davante Adams at Dallas
Let's be real -- could it have been anyone else in this No. 1 spot? Rodgers has been other-worldly dominant of late, passing for at least 300 yards and four touchdowns in each of his last three games, including Sunday's Wild Card rout of the New York Giants.
Rodgers' top target, wide receiver Jordy Nelson, exited the game with a rib injury that sounds likely to keep him out in the divisional round against Dallas. That makes Adams and the resurgent Randall Cobb both strong stack pairings, with tight end Jared Cook also in the mix. Rodgers won't come cheap, but he's almost impossible to ignore.
Seattle QB Russell Wilson and WR Doug Baldwin at Atlanta
Running back Thomas Rawls stole the show in Seattle's wild-card win against Detroit, but Wilson quietly put together a decent fantasy performance, finishing with 224 yards and two touchdowns. He also ditched the knee brace he had been wearing most of the season, but his running ability wasn't needed against the Lions.
Expect Wilson to run a bit more against Atlanta's subpar defense, and expect him to keep peppering Baldwin with targets. Baldwin turned his 12 targets Saturday into 11 receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown. In what could be a high-scoring game against the Falcons, Baldwin will play a starring role.
Atlanta QB Matt Ryan and WR Julio Jones vs. Seattle
We said this game could be high scoring, right? Ryan has put together a brilliant, MVP-caliber season, and he had success against the Seahawks back in Week 6 when he finished with 335 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. A similar fantasy performance could be in store in the divisional round rematch.
Jones finished with seven receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown in the first meeting between these teams, and he's the obvious stack pairing with Ryan. Taylor Gabriel and Mohamed Sanu are contrarian plays, but neither boasts the upside of Jones.
Divisional Round - Riskier DFS Stacks
Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger and WR Antonio Brown at Kansas City
Given how these two gouged Miami's defense in a lopsided wild-card win, there's a fair argument to be made they should be ranked higher. There's no denying Brown is a week-in, week-out stud. Deploy him in lineups with full confidence.
Roethlisberger finished with 197 yards, two touchdowns (both to Brown) and two interceptions against Miami. More importantly, he only attempted 18 passes. If Pittsburgh continues to go run-heavy with Le'Veon Bell (31 total touches), that could limit Big Ben's upside. Roethlisberger also hurt his ankle late against Miami, and though he's expected to be fine against Kansas City, it's still something to monitor.
New England QB Tom Brady and WR Julian Edelman vs. Houston
Let's make this completely clear -- Brady is a great fantasy play this week. But remember, this is a column on DFS stacks, and the truth is that the Patriots are incredibly frustrating to predict.
New England opened as 16-point favorites against Houston, which is one of the biggest spreads in NFL playoff history. Brady should be good for at least two touchdowns, but you always have to be wary of LeGarrette Blount taking over. Brady and Edelman is the safest stack, but with Dion Lewis, James White, Malcolm Mitchell, Martellus Bennett, Chris Hogan and now Michael Floyd all vying for targets, there's too many variables at play.
Dallas QB Dak Prescott and WR Dez Bryant vs. Green Bay
Oh, boy. How thrilled is the NFL this matchup came to fruition? Two marquee franchises in a rematch of the 2014 divisional round game that ended with Bryant's controversial non-catch. At least it was ruled a non-catch. I wonder if the Cowboys will be motivated this time around?
Bryant had an up-and-down, injury-plagued season, but expect him to be heavily targeted by Prescott when the Cowboys aren't feeding Ezekiel Elliott carries. Green Bay's banged-up secondary was bailed out by a handful of drops by Giants receivers in the wild-card round. This is a matchup Dallas can exploit.
Divisional Round - DFS Stacks to Avoid
Kansas City QB Alex Smith and TE Travis Kelce vs. Pittsburgh
Smith has shown in the past he can lead his team to victory with his arm, but even with Kelce and dynamic rookie wide receiver Tyreek Hill, that's not the optimal approach for Kansas City.
Kelce finished the regular season on a tear, topping 100 yards in five of his final seven games. Expect him to be heavily involved against a Steelers defense that, despite a solid showing against Miami, can be beaten. Kelce is probably a better play on his own, but a Smith-Kelce stack would certainly be contrarian.
Houston QB Brock Osweiler and WR DeAndre Hopkins at New England
Like we mentioned before, the Patriots opened as whopping 16-point favorites in this matchup. No one is giving the Texans much of a chance against the perennial favorites in the AFC, but if there's a silver lining here it's that the game flow should benefit the Texans.
They're expected to be trailing -- and throwing -- for most of the game. Theoretically, that gives Osweiler added upside. In reality, there's not much to like about the Texans in this matchup. Hopkins is a fine play on his own, but steer clear for stacking purposes.
