Fantasy Football Playoffs Semifinals Start 'Em & Sit 'Em: Bucky Irving a must start, plus sleepers

Fantasy Football can be cruel sometimes. It’s a weird feeling that a game where we can’t control what happens can offer some incredible highs and some gut-wrenching lows.

I experienced the latter in Week 15 against my colleague Heath Cummings. I was facing Heath in the first round of the playoffs in one of our dynasty leagues, and it was a back-and-forth matchup going into the Monday night doubleheader between Chicago at Minnesota and Atlanta at Las Vegas.

It’s an IDP league, and Heath had Drake London, Jordan Addison and Jessie Bates III, while I had Justin Jefferson and Jakobi Meyers. I won’t go into all the details of what happened with every player — Jefferson dropped an easy touchdown for example — but a variety of plays could have swayed the outcome in either direction. And the last play of the night decided our fate.

I had pulled ahead of Heath by percentage points on a Meyers’ 22-yard reception with 26 seconds left in the game. The Raiders, trailing 15-9, needed a touchdown to win, and they had time for two Hail Mary throws at the end of regulation from the 35-yard line.

The first one from Desmond Ridder fell incomplete with 2 seconds left. The second one fell into the arms of Bates for an interception, and Heath ended up with the win.

I had no reaction watching it from my living room. What could I do? I set my best lineup, my players did the best they could and the Fantasy gods ripped away my victory and handed it to Heath.

I’m lucky that I play in a lot of Fantasy leagues, so I’m still setting 11 lineups in Week 16. And, hopefully, all of them advance to the championship round in Week 17. But that’s not realistic.

I hope none of you experience a tough loss in your semifinal this weekend, but any loss at this point in the season will be difficult, whether it’s by one point or 20. You hate to get eliminated right before the Fantasy championship.

So let’s think positive. Let’s hope for good fortune and that your players come through in a big way. And let’s hope that the ball bounces your way like it did for Heath if the game is close — and you win.

It was great to see Bucky Irving back in action in Week 15 at the Chargers after he left the Week 14 game against Las Vegas with a back injury. When healthy, Irving has been a star, and hopefully he’s close to 100 percent in Week 16 at Dallas.

Irving didn’t have his best game against the Chargers, but he turned 15 carries into 117 yards, which included a 54-yard run, and he added two catches for minus-4 yards on two targets. He scored 13.3 PPR points, and he’s reached at least that total in four healthy games in a row. He’s also scored at least 15.4 PPR points in six of his past eight full games.

This week, Irving is taking on a Dallas team that is No. 8 in most Fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs. Three running backs in the past five games have scored at least 14.5 PPR points against the Cowboys, and Irving has top-15 upside in this matchup.

Now, he’ll continue to share touches with Rachaad White, who is worth starting as a low-end No. 2 running back or flex in Week 16. White has scored at least 11.7 PPR points in seven of his past eight games and worked well in tandem with Irving.

But Irving is my favorite Tampa Bay running back in Week 16. And he’s one of my favorite running backs overall this week. I’m excited to see what he can do on Sunday night at Dallas, and it’s great that he’s healthy in the Fantasy semifinals.

Falcons (vs. NYG)

Atlanta’s defense was great in Week 15 at Las Vegas, and the Falcons should be able to contain the Giants again in Week 16. Atlanta has at least four sacks in three games in a row, and the Falcons held the Raiders to nine points last week with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. The Giants have allowed 11 sacks in their past three games and have three interceptions and a fumble over that span. The Giants have also scored 20 points or less in five games in a row. This should be a good week for the Falcons DST against the Giants.

• Bengals (vs. CLE)
• Cardinals (at CAR)
• Texans (at KC)

Commanders (vs. PHI)

I loved the Commanders DST in Week 15 with the matchup at New Orleans, and it paid off. Washington had three sacks, one interception and allowed just 19 points. But you can’t trust the Commanders DST in Week 16 against Philadelphia. The Eagles lost two fumbles in Week 15 against Pittsburgh, but that was the first turnovers for Philadelphia since Week 10. The Eagles scored 26 points against the Commanders in Week 11 and allowed just two sacks, and Philadelphia’s offense should have similar success in Week 16.