Kansas City Chiefs - Fantasy News

Who to Start: Marcus Mariota or Alex Smith?

by Mike Rose

1/3/18

NFL

Kansas City Chiefs

Alex Smith

The 2017 NFL regular season has come to an end. Many teams that qualified for the playoffs haven’t done so in quite some time, and that starts with the Tennessee Titans, who enter the extended schedule for the first time in nine years. The Kansas City Chiefs will welcome them into Arrowhead on Saturday afternoon.

Tennessee will be putting its faith in quarterback Marcus Mariota as it has all year after he led the team to a postseason-clinching win over Jacksonville in Week 17, while the Chiefs will look to veteran quarterback Alex Smith, who has led KC to back-to-back division titles and a win over the Denver Broncos in Week 17.

Fantasy Matchup: Marcus Mariota (14.0 PFP) vs. Alex Smith (18.0 PFP)

Mariota has averaged 14.17 Dober Fantasy Points per game, a figure roughly six points less than Smith to date, so he enters this matchup as a four-point underdog. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise considering that this is going to be Mariota’s first taste of playoff action, and it comes on the road in front of what will be a very hostile crowd inside of Arrowhead.

The Oregon product has thrown for 3,232 yards with an awful 13-to-15 touchdown-to-interception ratio this season. He recorded a 79.3 passer rating while playing to a 100-plus mark on three occasions. He’ll lead the No. 23 passing offense (199.4 yards per game) of Tennessee against the No. 29 passing defense of Kansas City, which has allowed 247.0 yards per contest through the air. KC has also given up 17.8 fantasy points per game to opposing passers.

Mariota finished the regular season as the No. 18 fantasy quarterback and will look to carry the Titans to a rare playoff victory this weekend. The Kansas City defense only accumulated 31 sacks as a unit, tying it with Oakland at No. 24 in the league. Justin Houston led the team with 9.5 of those sacks, so the Titans offensive line will need to prevent him from getting to Super Mario.

Meanwhile, it’s been a tale of ups and downs for Smith this season. After winning his first five games, the Chiefs went on a tailspin, losing six of their next seven. However, since that bad losing skid, he’s rekindled his magic and the team won the final four games of the year. So Kansas City is certainly streaking into the postseason.

Smith’s numbers as the No. 8 fantasy quarterback were outstanding. He threw for 4,042 yards with a very good 26-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He was also one of only six quarterbacks to finish with a passer rating over 100 as he ended the regular season at 104.7.

The Utah product is on a hot streak and will be leading the No. 7 passing attack of the Chiefs against the No. 25 passing defense of the Titans, who have allowed nearly 240.0 yards per game through the air. KC also ranks No. 5 in total offense at 375.4 yards per contest.

Mariota has no playoff experience, and I have a feeling that will be his and the rest of the young Titans downfall. Go with Smith in this first playoff battle of the weekend on your Dober Play Cards.

Wild Card Playoff Fantasy Projection: Alex Smith (-4.0) vs. Marcus Mariota