Joey’s Monday Night Football Showdown Throwdown Den@Oak
Hello DFS grinders and welcome back to another addition of my Monday Night Football Showdown Throwdown article. After last night’s thriller we’ve got 2 teams that are out of the playoffs only playing for pride at this point. I’m getting this out earlier then usual so make sure to check back in if there is injury news.
Vegas Insight: 42.5 Game total with the Broncos favored by 3 points
Weather: First half has a high chance of rain and 20 mph winds. Second half rain should slow down but winds should still be there.
Studs/MVP Candidates
Tonight I’m not even sure you need to play QBs. Lindsay and Cook are my top plays by a mile and I’ve got to decide between who I like more.
Phillip Lindsay: He is the top overall play on the board and should just be in every lineup you have. The weather looks bad, so I don’t see Denver forcing the ball a ton in the air so they will be relying on their ground game to get this win. Lindsay as been a diamond in the rough for this team he’s trying to break all the undrafted rookie running back records. HE’s averaging yards per carry which is second in the league right behind Aaron Jones who is done for the year who has 5.5. He is coiming off 2 rough showing but should see a nice bounce back game here with game script on his side.
Jared Cook: Denver has given up some ceiling games to great TEs this season. Kittle went for over 200 yards in the first half, Kelce went for 7/78/1. They are currently the 6th worst team in defending TEs allowing an average of 67 yards per game.
On DK I haven’t felt the need to force QBs but on FD where they give you plenty of salary and MVP/CPT doesn’t adjust the salary you can easily fit a QB without sacrificing much. I’m leaning Carr over Keenum because touchdowns for the Raiders will mostly be going through Carr and you will be hoping for everything to go through Lindsay if you have him at MVP.
Middle Tier
DaeSean Hamilton: Since Sanders has gone down with a season ending injury Hamilton has really stepped into his roll nicely. Last game he played 72 out of 73 snaps and he should have the best matchup if he WRs tonight. The Raiders have actually been pretty good on the outside.
Jalen Richard: I love play Richard on DK showdowns the Raiders low just dumping the ball off to him when they are down trying to get back into the game. The strategy isn’t good for real life wins but gives Richard a great fantasy floor in full ppr formats. I expect negative game script for the Raiders tonight. So it should lead to plenty of opptunities for Richard to get 5 yard dump offs that add up to a great floor. He hasn’t been able to find the endzone yet this season and if he’s lucky enough to break one loose you are in great shape.
Kickers/Defenses
Going both kickers tonight is definitely a strategy. Both teams might have trouble scoring the ballctonight leading to mostly field goals if they are able to get in range instead of all punts. If you only go one kicker I would play McManus. The Broncos should have an easily time moving the ball against the Raiders leading to more scoring opportunities. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Broncos ended up with 4-5 field goals tonight. The only issue with playing the kickers is the weather will not be in their favor. I haven’t found the need to play them unless Lacosse is out.
Broncos defense is the better play here over the Raiders but both are in play for what should be a low scoring game. The Broncos are pretty expensive at 5.2k but if you are looking for guaranteed points these guys should have at least a 5-6 point floor with a double digit ceiling especially if they can run one back. The pass rushing duo of Miller and Chubb have been amazing this year accounting for 26.5 sacks which is second to their AFC West Rivals Ford and Jones.
Cheap Tier
Matt Lacosse: This could be a TE hammer game just like how last night I suggested the RB hammer. Both these teams are bottom 5 defending the TE and both these teams have had success throwing to TEs. He was targeted 6 times last game and if the Broncos are struggling to pass the ball they will start running plays down the middle of the field where Tahir Whitehead has allowed a team worse: 576 yards 407 YAC 7 touchdowns and a 149 passer rating this season.
Monkey Knife Fight Picks
Over/Under 20x: Carr Under, Keenum Over, Hamilton Over, Lindsay Over, Cook Over. This is a 20x dart throw I don’t like this one as much as the other 20x one in the past.
Over/Under 2.36x: Carr Under, Keenum Over
