The NFL has given us Patrick Mahomes against Tom Brady in a primetime matchup on Sunday Night Football in Week 6. With two potential Super Bowl contenders squaring off in the game, it's not surprising that fantasy football players will have plenty of action here. DraftKings is offering multiple great options on their showdown slate and I'll be breaking down the games, picks and top targets.
For those who haven't played a showdown game, there's a lot to consider when building lineups, but it's an exciting way to watch primetime games. The price tags on players for showdown slates are far different than normal games, and you'll also select a captain who costs 1.5-times the salary but also earns 1.5x the points.
For the Sunday night matchup between the Chiefs and Patriots, the daily fantasy site has offered a few big games with a variety of buy-ins and formats. The $10 game is always popular, and this week it features $888,000 guaranteed and $200,000 to first.
Along with the huge headliner game, there's a $33 option which features $50,000 guaranteed and $10,000 to the eventual winner. The $12 single entry ($30,000 guaranteed) is always popular and for players looking for lower buy-in options, a $3 game with 20-max entries and $125,000 guaranteed is a great option.
Before we dive into the action for the Week 6 primetime showdown game, here's a quick breakdown of how the games work.
– Six total players (one captain, five flex players)
– Captain selection costs 1.5 times standard salary but scores 1.5 times the standard points
– Can choose from any position (QB, RB, WR, TE, K, DST)
– $50,000 salary cap
– You can use more than one quarterback
I'll go through and first offer up my favorite choices at captain and then a few different types of lineups. There will be one optimal lineup, a lineup for 150-max games (more risk), and one for single entries/cash games (higher-floor players).
To start, though, let's evaluate the captain position and some of the top plays there.
Chiefs vs. Patriots Showdown: Captain Choices & Strategy
We're looking at a game that could have a massive number of points, and in turn, finding value to get in top plays is key. Players like Mahomes, Brady, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce aren't cheap to fit into lines. Fortunately, there are a few names which jump out as salary-saving plays.
The captain spot is going to be especially big on this slate, and there are a few players I think could be underrated options or even low-owned plays who get overlooked. While often times using a less-expensive player seems appealing so you can potentially fit in two or three stars, choosing whether or not to do that depends on the specific game.
I'll break down the spots a bit more as we move forward with the lineups, and detail my thought process on each captain I use. The captain breakdown is the place to start, though, and while I'm going to list out my favorite options on the slate, this doesn't mean I won't stray from these names.
The potential captain players are names I think are in the best spots, either based on matchup or salary. In turn, there are many times they don't work in the top spot of my optimal, 150-max or single entry line.
When I begin building lineups, I'll select 4-5 players to consider for the captain spot, mixing up expensive and cheaper options. From there, you can spread those players across multiple lineups and mix in the other top plays with them.
Here's a look at the options I'll be targeting for the captain spot in Week 6 (with captain pricing of 1.5x more):
– Patrick Mahomes ($17,100)
– Tom Brady ($16,800)
– James White ($13,800)
– Travis Kelce ($12,900)
– Rob Gronkowski ($11,400)
– Sammy Watkins ($9,300)
*Note: I'll be using both kickers and at least a little of Josh Gordon in the captain spot.
Favorite expensive captains: James White, Travis Kelce
Top value-saving captain: Sammy Watkins
I'll break down the optimal lines for 150-max formats and single-entry contests, as well as one optimal lineup which I'm comfortable using in any spot.
*Note: If any players currently listed as questionable are ruled out, but are in lineups, I will update this BEFORE lock.
Optimal Lineup No. 1
– CAPTAIN: Sammy Watkins ($9,300)
– Tom Brady ($11,200)
– James White ($9,200)
– Travis Kelce ($8,600)
– Rob Gronkowski ($7,600)
– Stephen Gostkowski ($3,400)
Listen, I get the fact that no one really loves using kickers, but there are two key things that point me to either Stephen Gostkowski or Harrison Butker (your choice). The first is that I'm focusing on a game script which features a ton of points, which will mean multiple opportunities for both kickers. And while many push to focus on getting huge names in, using either team's kicker allows us to get five other high-upside players in.
Plus, kickers usually have fairly low ownership, and that's appealing on showdown slates. If Gostkowski finishes with 12-14 points, it's easily more than you'd expect from a player around that same price.
As for the Patriots triple-stack, it's going to be one of the most popular. Rob Gronkowski priced at $7,600 is eye-opening, but it's largely due to his injuries. With that said, he caught six passes for 75 yards last week and is in an elite spot against a Chiefs team who's allowed 33 catches for 453 yards (most in the NFL) this season.
James White should absolutely tear apart the Chiefs defense as well. Kansas City has some issues on that side of the ball, and they've allowed 39 catches for 454 yards and three touchdowns to opposing running backs. There may be no player with a safer floor in this game than White, who's topped 14 DraftKings points in every game and has 18 receptions over the past two games.
I love the idea of pairing two of the top matchups on the board with their quarterback in Tom Brady. Tom Terrific had his best game of the season in Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts, completing 77.2 percent of his passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns while adding on a rushing score.
Travis Kelce has been about as elite as they come over the past few weeks, absolutely wrecking opponents and topping 100 yards in three of four games. It's obvious he's one of Patrick Mahomes' favorite targets and he's proven incredibly reliable as well. Kelce has a high ceiling and safe floor, making for the perfect play on this showdown slate, although he'll almost certainly have heavy ownership.
And finally, there's Sammy Watkins. He's placed far too low and has played at least 81 percent of the offensive snaps with 86 percent in Week 5, per Football Outsiders. Watkins also has23 receptions in the last three games he's been healthy for, and the Patriots defense against opposing wideouts isn't overly impressive.
150-Max Entry Lineup
– CAPTAIN: Chris Hogan ($6,300)
– Patrick Mahomes ($11,400)
– Tom Brady ($11,200)
– Travis Kelce ($8,600)
– Sammy Watkins ($6,200)
– Josh Gordon ($6,000)
Chris Hogan's price is ridiculous. I know he's been mediocre at best this season, but we're looking at a game which has an over/under set at nearly 60 points. Hogan should get targets as he still plays a massive amount of snaps, and logged 91 percent last week against the Colts, per Football Outsiders.
And for what it's worth, Hogan did catch 3-of-4 targets last week for 34 yards, so it's not as though Brady just forgot he exists. He's unlikely to see 10 targets, but if he manages to find the end zone it'll jump you above virtually every other lineup as he should have low ownership. Most importantly, using Hogan allows us to get in some huge names with him.
For the 150-max game, I'm going to truly go for it. Pairing Tom Brady with Hogan and then Josh Gordon is something I expect very few people to do or even consider. But Gordon's upside is as high as anyone's on this slate if his percentage of snaps continue to increase. Tom Brady's 34-yard touchdown to Gordon last week showed some faith in the receiver, who also received four targets in the game.
The thought of pairing Patrick Mahomes with Travis Kelce is something I plan on doing quite a bit in my lineups. The Patriots have allowed 23 receptions for 268 yards and four touchdowns this season to opposing tight ends. Pair that with Kelce's 40 targets over the last four games and the fact that he's hit 100 or more yards in three of those games, and this is a smash spot.
Single Entry/Cash Lineup
– CAPTAIN: Stephen Gostkowski ($5,100)
– Patrick Mahomes ($11,400)
– James White ($9,200)
– Travis Kelce ($8,600)
– Julian Edelman ($7,800)
– Rob Gronkowski ($7,600)
Yes, Stephen Gostkowski (or Harrison Butker) in the captain spot. It's safe, straightforward and each player should have a fairly safe floor in this game. But beyond that, this allows us to load up the rest of the lineup.
Single entries are just so much different than 150-max games and although I didn't get both quarterbacks in (I wanted to) this lineup worked out well. The most "risky" player is Rob Gronkowski, who has a solid floor and I wouldn't be surprised to see him find the end zone. Each of these positional players should have no problem hitting 15-plus DraftKings points, which sets us up nicely.
From there, since we have the safety aspect covered, all we need is for Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce to link up for a touchdown or two. I spoke previously about the Patriots' struggles against tight ends, but they've also allowed 1,314 yards and 11 touchdowns to opposing quarterbacks, so Mahomes should be able to have his way here.
James White, as mentioned, is a key for me. He's going to see consistent workload and targets no matter what, and the Chiefs have shown nothing to worry me about their potential to slow him down. White finishing this game with 8-10 targets and topping 80-100 combined rushing and receiving yards should be easy.
Last but not least is a player I've yet to mention in Julian Edelman. Since I didn't get Brady in this lineup, I wanted a few of his top weapons. We have his reliable option in Edelman now, as well as the highly-targeted White and potential red zone weapon (hopefully) in Gronkowski. It seems like a well-rounded group that has us covered on all things Brady.
And in case you aren't sold on Edelman for whatever reason, his matchup is also appealing, considering the Chiefs have given up 826 yards and six touchdowns to wideouts. Could we get a sneaky Edelman touchdown? It's possible.
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