We've posted the full-blown Fantasy Index Weekly for this weekend's playoff games. The analysis is even more detailed than our usual weekly reports. You can see a sample by clicking "Read more" or just save the effort and purchase it at the Fantasy Index store. (Full-season subscribers will automatically receive this issue.)

The report below is taken from today's playoff edition of Fantasy Index Weekly. The newsletter includes our player rankings, camp reports, stat projections, and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.

Haven't ordered yet? BUY IT NOW! Already a subscriber? LOG IN!

NEW ORLEANS at SEATTLE

Overview:
The Seahawks beat New Orleans 34-7 when these teams played in the rain on Monday night in Week 13. That was a statement-type game, where Seattle looked very much like a Super Bowl contender. The last previous meeting was in a playoff game following the 2010 season. That was the controversial deal where Seattle got to host it despite going only 7-9 -- but Matt Hasselbeck had the hot hand, Marshawn Lynch busted loose for one of the greatest runs in league history, and the Seahawks eliminated the 11-5 Super Bowl champs 41-36. New Orleans won the only other two meetings in the Sean Payton Era -- 28-17 at Seattle in 2007, and 34-19 in the regular-season meeting in 2010. ... Weather could play a role. The forecast calls for a high of 48 degrees, with a 100 percent chance of rain and winds up to 24 mph. Those kind of conditions could make passing and kicking a lot more difficult. ... Seattle is an 8-point favorite in this game, with an over-under of 47 points. That suggests a score of something like 27-20.

Saints:
The upside of getting slapped around 34-7, like the Saints did a month ago, is that now they know where the bar is set -- they know what it takes. They took Seattle’s best punch; everything went right for the Seahawks in that game. So now the Saints know the kind of energy and determination that will be needed to possibly spring an upset. We’re not saying it’s likely, but it’s possible. Since the NFL went to the eight-division format, nine times teams have had a rematch in the playoffs after one of them won the initial meeting by 20-plus points. Only one of those nine previous losers won (Giants in overtime against Packers in the 2007 NFC Championship) but half of the other games were within a touchdown. And nobody lost by 20 points again. Of the 16 teams that lost by 10-19 points in the regular season, a majority of those losing teams (9 of 16) came back to win the playoff rematch, and five of those did it on the road. Those teams were 5-6 in road game rematches. So combining the two groups, when a team is on the road after losing a regular-season game by 10-plus points, those teams have gone 6-11 in the rematch game -- winning slightly over a third of the time. Again, not saying New Orleans is likely to win this one, but you get a bounce here or there, and it’s possible. ... The Saints probably will go out of character in this game. For most of the year, they’ve been relying heavily on the pass -- the ground game has been just an afterthought. Other than one game where they pummeled a really bad Dallas defense, they averaged only 82 rushing yards, with just 7 TDs in 15 games. But with Pierre Thomas inactive with a rib injury, they stumbled onto a more effective, run-oriented approach last week. Philadelphia allowed only 105 rushing yards per game in the regular season, but the Saints pounded them for 185 yards on 36 carries -- really, their best running game of the year. Thomas led all running backs with 77 catches in the regular season, and they’ve also got Darren Sproles, who caught 71, but at Philadelphia they went mostly with Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson -- two guys who aren’t good receivers but bring more pop as runners. Ingram has been a disappointment for most of his first three years in the pros. Chris Ivory outplayed him in 2011-12. But Ingram has quietly come on in the last month. Four games in a row, he’s averaged over 5 yards per carry. Most impressively, he carried 13 times for 83 yards at Carolina (which ranked 2nd in run defense in the regular season). Seattle, meanwhile, has been a little susceptible to the run at times this year. Both St. Louis and Tampa Bay ran for 200-plus yards against this defense, with a pair of guys who weren’t even starters at the beginning of the year (Zac Stacy, Mike James). The Seahawks should have lost both of those games. And the run defense broke down again in late-season losses to San Francisco (163 yards) and Arizona (139). So the expectation here is that the Saints will come out running the ball. Ingram will get 12-18 carries, and Robinson will get about half as many. The Saints were working in Robinson (a 220-pound banger) even before Thomas got hurt. He carried 6 for 18 at Carolina, 12 for 50 against Tampa Bay, and 8 for 45 last week. Sproles should be more of a third-down back. He’s a much better pass catcher than Ingram or Robinson. But the Seahawks were all over him in the earlier game (Sproles caught 7 passes, but for just 32 yards). Seattle ranked 7th in run defense in the regular season, allowing 101 yards -- better than Philadelphia, but not quite as stout as defenses like Arizona, Carolina and San Francisco. With the Saints taking on this new personality, we’re putting them down for 120 rushing yards. The Seahawks allowed only 4 rushing touchdowns in the regular season, which tied Carolina for fewest in the league. The grades of all of these backs, of course, depends on the availability of Thomas. He didn’t practice on Wednesday, so we’re guessing he won’t play. But there’s no Friday supplement to this product, so we’ll go ahead and list all of these backs three different ways. The “current” number shows how they rank right now. The “if Thomas out” numbers show how they’ll project if Thomas is ruled out. And the “if Thomas active” numbers indicate how we think a four-back rotation would play out. We don’t normally do triple listings, but there are only eight teams playing, and we’re not following this scouting report with the usual Friday update. ... Strange to say, but this is a game where Drew Brees probably won’t throw for 300 yards. If the Saints try to run the ball, that will mean he won’t be throwing it. He passed for only 250 last week in Philadelphia (against the defense that allowed the 4th-most passing yards ever in a season). The Seahawks, on the other hand, have a remarkably good pass defense. They allowed a league-low 191 passing yards per game in the regular season, including holding Brees to a season-low 147 yards a month ago (only one other defense held him under 280). The Seahawks have a strong pass rush and good corner guys, and that’s enhanced by playing in front of one of the league’s loudest crowds. Those physical, aggressive defensive backs might also be helped along by postseason officiating. The tendency in playoff games is to allow a lot more contact (in playoff games over the last three years, calls have been down by over 30 percent). Brees is a stat machine; he averaged 310 passing yards in the regular season, and he was over 350 yards in all three of his road playoff games prior to last week. But he’s not as effective on the road. He’s thrown only 13 TDs in nine games outside the Superdome this year -- hasn’t reached 3 TDs in any of those games. We’re putting him down for 270 yards and 1-2 TDs. And please note that the Saints used Brees on multiple quarterback sneaks last week; he’s scored 3 of their 11 rushing touchdowns this year. ... It’s a lesser situation for the passing game, so we’re putting the pass catchers lower than usual. Jimmy Graham had his 2nd-worst game of the season in the earlier meeting; they threw him the ball 9 times, and only 3 of those were completed (42 yards, 1 TD). Nevertheless, it’s probably best to just put Graham at the top of the heap among tight ends anyway. He’s the league’s best player at that position, and he’s been statistically better on the road. More notably, the key guy who did such a nice job against Graham in the earlier meeting -- K.J. Wright -- isn’t going to play. Malcolm Smith isn’t as good, and he’s 4 inches shorter. Graham averages 74 yards per game this year, and he’s caught 40 percent of their touchdown passes (16 of 40). Marques Colston averaged 63 yards per game in the regular season; he’s caught only 5 TDs (about 1 out of every 8 when he’s been playing). With this being a below-average situation for the passing game, we’re thinking maybe 50 yards. Colston caught 4 passes for 27 yards in the earlier meeting, and he caught only 2 passes for 16 yards at Philadelphia. The other wide receivers, they’re just guys -- Lance Moore, Kenny Stills and Robert Meachem have caught only 2 TDs outside the Superdome all year. They chipped in a few plays, at least, last week. Stills caught 3 passes for 35 yards; Moore caught 2 for 31, including a touchdown; and Meachem caught a 40-yard ball. ... Shayne Graham comes off a game with four field goals, but he looks like a lesser kicking option. Seattle’s defense has been really tough -- especially up at CenturyLink Field. In their eight home games this year, the Seahawks have allowed only 38 kicking points. That includes New Orleans getting just one extra point in the earlier meeting. The Saints scored 120 kicking points in the regular season, next-to-last among the eight teams still playing. ... The Saints Defense doesn’t look like anything special. It’s on the road, and the injuries are starting to pile up -- especially in the secondary. Russell Wilson threw only 9 interceptions in the regular season, while the Saints picked off only 12 passes. Combined that’s 21 interceptions in 32 games, which ties for last of the eight matchups this weekend. New Orleans grades out better in sacks. Rob Ryan will use some blitzes, and the Seahawks have had problems in pass protection. The Saints had 49 sacks in the regular season, 2nd-most among the teams that are still alive, while the Seahawks allowed 44 sacks (the most of the remaining teams). Combined, that’s close to 3 sacks per game. But the pass rush is outweighed by the negatives. The Saints don’t have a dangerous kick returner. They forced only 15 fumbles in the regular season, tying for last among remaining teams, and recovered only 7 of those. They were the only team in the NFL this year that didn’t score a touchdown on a defensive or special teams play, while the Seahawks allowed only 2 of those.

Seahawks:
The Seahawks should win this game, but they won’t necessarily put up big numbers. They have some offensive limitations. They don’t have playmakers outside, and they’ve had some issues with pass protection. This offense scored fewer than 3 TDs in each of its last four games. And New Orleans quietly has assembled a pretty rugged defense; only three teams (the other three NFC teams still alive) allowed fewer points in the regular season. Working in Seattle’s favor are injuries, especially in the secondary. The Saints have lost cornerback Jabari Greer and safety Kenny Vaccaro along the way, while cornerback Keenan Lewis says he’ll play but is a question mark after getting knocked out of the Eagles game -- DeSean Jackson started catching passes right after that injury. New Orleans also just put Parys Haralson on injured reserve. We’re expecting Seattle will score in the mid-to-high 20s. ... New Orleans is statistically a lot weaker against the run; it allowed 4.6 yards per carry in the regular season, which is in the bottom half-dozen in the league. But it seems like they can turn it up when they want to. They did a very nice job against LeSean McCoy last week. They allowed only 81 yards in Week 16 at Carolina. And they were outstanding against Marshawn Lynch in the earlier game, holding him to 45 yards (and under 3 yards per carry). It seemed as if they came onto the field having just watched the highlights of him running for 131 yards in the playoff win three years ago, with the legendary 67-yard Beastquake touchdown. They weren’t going to let him beat them, it seemed. So what do we make of that? Well, every game is different. A month has passed, and now the Saints have new injuries to deal with in their secondary. They may decide that the Stop Lynch game plan didn’t work in the initial meeting. We’re calling it an average-type matchup for the Seattle tailback. Lynch averaged 98 yards in the regular season (79 run, 20 rec), with 14 TDs. Robert Turbin will get a few change-of-pace carries; he averaged 20 yards in the regular season (16 run, 4 rec), with no touchdowns. ... We like Russell Wilson just fine in this game. The Saints are a lot better against the pass (3rd) than the run (19th), but that could be changing. Half of the team’s starting secondary is gone now, and Keenan Lewis (their best corner) is a question mark. Wilson killed them in the earlier game, completing 22 of 30 for 310 yards, with 3 TDs and no interceptions. That works out to a passer rating of 139.6. Ran for 47 yards on 8 carries as well. The Saints went in with the idea they would stop Marshawn Lynch, and that simply didn’t work. Some sort of adjustments are likely coming; the Saints should go with a more balanced defensive approach (taking fewer chances in coverage). On the plus side, Wilson will have Percy Harvin to work with, and he gives the Saints another big-play weapon to worry about. For the year, Wilson averaged 210 passing yards, with 27 TDs. He ended the year in kind of a slump -- only one TD in each of his last four games. We’re thinking something along the lines of 230-240 yards here and 1-2 TDs. The Saints have allowed 22 TDs in 17 games. With it being a postseason game, Wilson also probably will be more aggressive as a runner. We saw this last week with Kaepernick, Luck and Alex Smith. Wilson ran for 67 and 60 yards in his two playoff games last year, with 1 TD. As a regular-season starter, he averages 32 rushing yards, with 5 TDs in 32 games. ... With the wide receivers, it looks like a matchup kind of deal. They’ve got Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin, and now they’re mixing in Percy Harvin. Harvin’s the most explosive, but Tate and Baldwin have been working with Wilson all year. There’s no true “go-to” guy. Tate, Baldwin and Zach Miller all caught 5 TDs in the regular season. Tate averaged 56 yards per game (7 more than Baldwin), but Baldwin finished with more yards in nine games. Miller averaged 31 yards in his last 10. In the earlier game, Miller led the team with 5 catches for 86 yards and a touchdown (his best game of the season). Tate and Baldwin each caught 4 balls. They’ll probably also throw Jermaine Kearse a couple of deep balls down the sideline. It’s a committee-type receiving corps. ... Backup tight end Luke Willson has some big-play ability, and he’ll probably see a throw or two. He suffered an ankle injury late in the season, but he’s back practicing. ... It looks like an average-type matchup for Steven Hauschka. He’s a good kicker. He’s accurate, and he gets plenty of scoring opportunities -- he scored 143 points in the regular season, 4th-best among the eight kickers still playing. Hauschka scored 10 points in the earlier win against the Saints, on 2 field goals and 4 extra points. That game was played in less-than-ideal weather. New Orleans allowed 104 points to kickers in the regular season, but it’s allowed 63 in its last seven on the road -- that’s a healthy 9 per game. ... The matchup isn’t great for the Seahawks Defense, but Drew Brees is being harried into a few more mistakes nowadays than he was in the past. He was sacked 37 times in the regular season. He was sacked more than 20 times in only three of his other seven seasons with the Saints -- and never more than 26. Brees threw only 12 interceptions in the regular season, but the Eagles got a pair off him last week (plus 2 sacks). Seattle has some ballhawking talent; it intercepted 28 passes in the regular season -- 8 more than any other remaining team. It also tied for first with 26 forced fumbles (11 recovered). In the earlier meeting, Seattle finished with only 1 sack (no interceptions), but it was able to force Brees into a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. And Seattle might have the best kick return potential this weekend; Golden Tate came close to returning punts for touchdowns multiple times in the regular season, and Percy Harvin probably will handle kickoffs -- he went 58 yards with the only kickoff he returned in the regular season.