ESPN

Doesn't it follow, then, that you want players who share your passion for winning? No one wants a guy who isn't committed to the team on the team, and therein lies the problem in Week 17 -- there are guys out there who aren't committed to your cause.

Oh, I'm not about to accuse, say, T.J. Houshmandzadeh of not caring about winning, not playing with passion, not playing with intensity this week. For one thing, the guy is a free agent after the season, with a potentially big payday coming. But for a player without a playoff spot for which to aim or without a coach making roster and in-game decisions, is there not the threat of that player taking it at least a little easy in the regular-season finale?

As such, when I'm making my Week 17 roster decisions -- be it in a traditional fantasy football league or in this, the Gridiron Challenge -- the last thing I want on my team is a player with absolutely no motivation. Most especially, I don't want a player from a team that has already locked in its specific playoff seed.

So that means an across-the-board NO to:

Titans: AFC No. 1 seed.
Steelers: AFC No. 2 seed.
Colts: AFC No. 5 seed.
Giants: NFC No. 1 seed.
Cardinals: NFC No. 4 seed.

Conversely, the best choices are players with everything on the line. Teams fighting for playoff spots, especially those facing teams already decidedly in or out of the playoffs, should comprise most of your lineup. I give my OK to:

Bears: Win and get either a Vikings loss or Buccaneers and Cowboys losses and they're in.
Broncos: Win and they're the AFC's No. 4 seed; lose and they're out.
Buccaneers: Win and get a Cowboys loss and they're the NFC's No. 6 seed.
Chargers: Like the Broncos, win and they're the AFC's No. 4 seed; lose and they're out.
Cowboys: Win and they're in; lose and they're out.
Dolphins: Win and they're the AFC's No. 3 seed; lose and they're out.
Eagles: Win and get Buccaneers and Bears losses and they're in.
Falcons: Win and get a Panthers loss and they're the NFC's No. 2 seed.
Jets: Win and get a Patriots or Ravens loss and they're in.
Panthers: Win or get a Falcons loss and they're the NFC's No. 2 seed.
Patriots: Win and get a Dolphins or Ravens loss and they're in.
Ravens: Win and get a Patriots loss and they're the AFC's No. 6 seed.
Vikings: Win or get a Bears loss and they're the NFC's No. 3 seed.

Baltimore Ravens defense/special teams (JAC, 5.8 price tag): Motivation, motivation, motivation. I expect this defense to come out with intensity and ferocity, ready to tear apart a Jaguars team that has dropped five of its past six games, averaging 16.2 points on offense. Yes, there's the slim risk that Baltimore will already have clinched the AFC's No. 6 seed by the 4:15 p.m. ET kickoff time, but ask yourself this: Do you really think the Patriots are going to lose in Buffalo? If your answer is no, then you should be all over this top-shelf, almost-lock winner in Week 17.

Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Cardinals (SEA, 5.4): Coach Ken Whisenhunt claims he'll treat Week 17 like a playoff game, and I, for one, believe him. The last thing this team needs is to enter the playoffs on a three-game losing streak, especially having lost in Weeks 15 and 16 by a combined score of 82-21. Besides, if there's any position at which a playoff-bound team is less likely to rest regulars, it's at wide receiver, and Anquan Boldin is more likely than Fitzgerald to sit some series to rest his shoulder anyway. By the way, Fitzgerald managed a season-high 10 receptions for 151 yards in these teams' Week 11 meeting.

Ryan Grant, RB, Packers (DET, 4.9): Oh, there's motivation in this game; motivation of not going down as the only team to lose to a 1-15 squad, one of the worst in NFL history. Grant might have amassed 20 yards on 15 carries in Week 2 against Detroit, but he wasn't fully healthy or up to full speed after a preseason holdout. He has three 100-yard rushing efforts and four touchdowns in his past nine games, and he'll be facing a defense that has surrendered six 100-yard performances and 20 touchdowns on the ground the past eight weeks combined. Those are wretched numbers.

Vincent Jackson, WR, Chargers (DEN, 4.8): Chris Chambers torched the sorry Broncos defense for two touchdowns in Denver in Week 2, but he was Philip Rivers' main man back then, and today, that honor belongs to Jackson. As such, Jackson will be the Chargers' deep threat to beat up this porous pass defense, and be aware that a six-catch, 73-yard effort, as he had in that same Week 2 contest, is awfully good for a player who at the time was effectively the team's No. 3 target in the passing game.

Greg Jennings, WR, Packers (DET, 5.0): Again, the Packers are attempting to avoid embarrassment in this one, and an offense this potent shouldn't have much trouble doing so; if the Packers somehow lose, I have a hunch the blame will rest with their defense. Jennings victimized the Lions for six receptions and 167 yards in Week 2, and in four career games against them he has 333 yards and three touchdowns receiving.

Philip Rivers, QB, Chargers (DEN, 7.2): Not only is this an exceptional matchup, against a pass defense ranked 27th, Rivers has already shown he can tear apart the Broncos, with a 377-yard, three-touchdown passing performance in Week 2 that earned him 29 points in the GC. In these teams' past four meetings, in fact, he has averaged 278.8 passing yards with eight total touchdowns and one interception. It's a home game for the Chargers, too, and be aware that they're 19-4 at home since 2006.

Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers (DET, 6.9): If you go back and check his game logs, it was actually a Week 2 performance against these Lions that first put Rodgers on the fantasy map. He passed for 328 yards and three scores in that game, picking apart this pathetic pass defense and beginning a stretch in which he managed at least 200 yards and two scores in eight of 14 games. Detroit has been slaughtered for more than 300 yards in each of the past two weeks, and Rodgers should make it three in a row.

Tony Romo, QB, Cowboys (@PHI, 7.7): The one risk with this matchup is the prospect of costly turnovers, but since those don't count against you in the GC, there's a lot to like. Romo has averaged 20 GC points in his past five games, and you can be sure he understands the importance of this game; it's going to brand him as either a big-game quarterback or a bust when facing playoff pressure. Dallas isn't getting much out of its running backs right now, with Marion Barber's toe still an issue, so the team will almost assuredly lean on Romo to carry it into January.

Tony Scheffler, TE, Broncos (@SD, 3.7): He has exactly two receiving touchdowns on the season, and both of them came in Week 2 against -- you guessed it -- the Chargers. So when you look at his game logs and note that in every other game he has managed a single-digit point total, don't condemn Scheffler merely because he's a matchups play and nothing more. The bottom line is this is a favorable matchup, against a defense that has allowed more points to tight ends than anyone.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense/special teams (OAK, 5.0): The Raiders have to travel across the country for this one, and by this point we all know the miserable performance of West Coast teams playing in the Eastern time zone, right? Oakland has nothing to play for in this game, it left a lot on the field in Week 16 and the Buccaneers are the ones with all the motivation this Sunday. A win is a virtual guarantee for Tampa Bay, and JaMarcus Russell should be generous with the turnovers too.

Michael Turner, RB, Falcons (STL, 6.4): The Falcons surprisingly have a shot at the NFC's No. 2 seed, and in order to earn it, they'll need another huge day by Turner. He's a monster on turf, especially at home, where he has notched each of his five best point performances in the GC this season. For the year, he has averaged 117.7 rushing yards with 13 scores in seven home games. Meanwhile, St. Louis ranks 28th against the run, having allowed 23 rushing touchdowns, third-most in football.

Roddy White, WR, Falcons (STL, 4.9): Again, Atlanta can move up and earn a playoff bye, so there's definite motivation here, meaning their top-shelf players -- and rookie Matt Ryan, too -- warrant a look. White might be coming off back-to-back quiet efforts, but even with those he has seven 100-yard receiving performances and six touchdowns in his past 13 games, which isn't at all a bad output for a guy priced beneath 5.0.

DeAngelo Williams, RB, Panthers (@NO, 6.8): You can thank the Falcons for winning in Week 16, because that, coupled with Carolina's loss in the Sunday night game, means that the No. 2 seed in the NFC remains up for grabs. That keeps Williams in the lineup, because the last thing the Panthers want to have to do is play an extra playoff game if they can possibly help it. Williams is in the midst of a massive hot streak, with three 30-point-or-better games in his past four, and he'll be battling a banged-up Saints defense that was sliced up for 111 yards and a score by Kevin Smith in Week 16.

Joseph Addai, Marion Barber, Anquan Boldin, Carolina Panthers defense/special teams, Dallas Clark, Braylon Edwards, Lee Evans, Brandon Jacobs, Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Jamal Lewis, Marshawn Lynch, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Derrick Mason, Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward and Reggie Wayne.

Total points: 1,778.
Percentage: 95.7. Overall rank: 9,919th.
Ranking in Fantasy Editorial Group: 358th.

Tristan H. Cockcroft is a fantasy baseball, football and hockey analyst for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.