Commish's Preview: Semi-Final Dan vs. Bill

Koolaid=American Hero! vs. Money in the Bank

Quarterbacks
Dan= Brett Favre (vs. Oakland, at St. Louis)
Bill= Drew Brees (vs. Chicago, vs. Arizona)

Better Player= Bill
Better Matchups=Dan
Unless Bill gets cute and starts Warner vs. New Orleans next week, these are your quarterbacks. Favre’s injury evens up this aspect of the matchup. I expect both quarterbacks to get 15-20 points each week.

Runningbacks
Dan= Adrian Peterson (vs. San Francisco, vs. Chicago), Earnest Graham. (vs. Houston, vs. Atlanta) or Laurence Maroney (vs. Pittsburgh, vs. New York Jets)
Bill= Clinton Portis (vs. Chicago, at New York Giants), Chester Taylor (vs. San Francisco, vs. Chicago) or Edgerrin James (vs. Seattle, at New Orleans) or Adrian Peterson (at Washington, at Minnesota), or Nobody (Three WRs)

Better Players= Dan
Better Matchups= Dan
Bill didn’t get here on RB play, that’s for sure. Dan’s Adrian Peterson needs to score 50 points in the two weeks combined for Dan to have a shot.

Wide Receivers
Dan= Hines Ward (at New England, vs. Jacksonville), Brandon Marshall (vs. Kansas City, at Houston)
Bill= Randy Moss (vs. Pittsburgh, vs. New York Jets), Terrell Owens (at Detroit, vs. Philadelphia), with Plaxico Burress (at Philadelphia, Washington) as a possible third WR

Better Players= Bill
Better Matchups= Bill
The disparity here is why Dan is such an underdog. Although defenses have been more effective against Moss, that still doesn’t keep him out of the endzone at least once.

Tight End
Dan= Vernon Davis (vs. Minnesota, vs. Cincinnati)
Bill= Jason Witten (at Detroit, vs. Philadelphia)

Better Players= Bill
Better Matchups= Bill
Dan’s the only playoff team without any TE production. He’ll need it to catch up on WR points.

Defense
Dan= Vikings (at San Francisco, vs. Chicago)
Bill= Packers (vs. Oakland, at St. Louis)

Better Players= Push
Better Matchups= Push
Both defenses can turn out strong performances both weeks.

Kicker
Dan= Jeff Reed (at New England, Jacksonville)
Bill= Nick Folk (at Detroit, Philadelphia)

Better Player= Bill
Better Matchups= Bill
Reed is kicking in cold New England then on crappy turf at home in Jacksonville, Folk plays for Dallas.

Prediction: Unless AP has a special two weeks, I see Bill dominating both weeks on his way to the championship. But as Bill can tell you, I’ve been wrong before.