Week 16 was the beginning of the late-season playoff push in the NFL. Cleveland was eliminated from the playoffs with an ugly 17-10 loss to Taysom Hill (QB/TE – Saints) and the New Orleans Saints in frigid conditions, while Denver was blown out 51-14 at the hands of Baker Mayfield (QB – Rams), Tyler Higbee (TE – Rams), and Cam Akers (RB – Rams) during the Nickelodeon Slime game. Dallas forced four turnovers against Gardner Minshew (QB – Eagles) and wound up keeping Philadelphia from clinching the one seed in the NFC, while Aaron Rodgers (QB – Packers) and the Green Bay Packers preserved their playoff hopes with a third consecutive win on the road over a sputtering Miami Dolphins offense. Even the Houston Texans came out on top with a 19-14 win over Tennessee on the road.

Teams that are on the playoff bubble will undoubtedly try to get all of their players tagged as questionable on the injury report onto the field once Sunday rolls around. Las Vegas and New Orleans are the teams who still have a pulse but need a lot of things to break their way, while New England, the New York Jets, and Pittsburgh Steelers will challenge the Dolphins for the seventh and final seed in the AFC. In the NFC, numerous teams still possess a strong opportunity to sneak into the playoffs, including the Packers, Lions, Panthers, and Seahawks. Washington needs to beat the Browns, who have already been eliminated, but they are opting to return to Carson Wentz (QB – Commanders) under center, several weeks after their big free-agent prospect suffered a broken finger. Green Bay will need the Browns to win to keep its path onward toward a “win and in” scenario, but they’ll first need to beat the 12-3 Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field. Identifying these playoff scenarios is helpful when constructing lineups in DFS, as other teams in the driver’s seat may opt to sit key players or not play as hard due to minimal improvement in their playoff seeding.