NFL – Week 14 Showdown (Thursday) – NE v LAR

NFL DFS Showdown – Week 14 (Thursday) – NE vs LAR

We actually have a Thursday night football game this week! It could be an interesting one for DFS Showdown with a variety of strong Captain options and a few potential value options. Also, both team’s backfields have a plethora of options that are hard to figure out which ones will “pop.” Read on to see which RB I’m taking my shot on…

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Note: DVOA referenced in this article stands for Defense-adjusted Value Over Average which is a metric from FootballOutsiders.com.

New England Patriots @ Los Angeles Rams

Captain

• Cam Akers – Using Akers in the Captain spot is a risky proposition, but Akers has 21 carries last week compared to just a total of six for the other backs. He’ll face a Patriots run defense that ranks 27th DVOA and the Rams have been the 6th most run-heavy team in the red zone this season. If you aren’t comfortable with the risk of Akers in the Captain spot then I’d pivot to Cooper Kupp.

Cash Core

• Cooper Kupp / Robert Woods – Instead of rostering Jared Goff, I prefer to absorb a majority of the Rams passing game production by using both Kupp and Woods who have over 50% of Goff’s targets over the last three weeks. I’m banking on limited production from the Rams TEs as the Patriots have only allowed one TD pass to a TE this season. I believe using both Kupp and Woods gives a higher floor than using Goff plus one of the WRs if you guess which one incorrectly.
• Cam Newton – Newton is the Patriots offense, so he is a must in your Cash game lineup. His rushing yards and TD potential give him a solid floor and he has some upside if the Patriots fall behind as Vegas suggests they might.

GPP

You could, and I will, be using my Cash lineup in some single-entry GPPs given that I think using Akers as the Captain carries some risk, will be lower owned than at least a few other players, and leaves some salary on the table. That said, I will also run a single-entry lineup that goes cheap at Captain with Damiere Byrd. Byrd has the 2nd most snaps at WR over the last behind only Jakobi Meyers, and Bryd should see less coverage from Jalen Ramsey than fellow outside wideout N’Keal Harry does. Using Bryd in the Captain opens up plenty of salary to jam in the high-priced Rams of your liking along with Newton.

Best Bet

Over 44

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