Philadelphia Eagle: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers Are Equals

Getty Sunday Night Football in Week 12 pits two NFC North teams who badly need a win with the home stretch of the year now underway. The Green Bay Packers (4-5-1) are on the road against the Minnesota Vikings (5-4-1) with both looking up at the 8-3 Chicago Bears currently. The Packers are 0-5 on the road this year, and in order for them to make the postseason, that'll need to change quickly. With what should be an interesting game with plenty of storylines, it also creates a solid fantasy football slate as well. DraftKings will offer a wide range of showdown games for this matchup and there are some good games to cap off the night and a full day of NFL action Sunday. For those who haven't played a showdown game, they're quite a bit different than most daily fantasy games, as you'll select six players instead of a whole lineup. Of those six players, they can come from any position and you can even use two quarterbacks, two kickers, two defenses or whatever mixture you feel confident in. I'll break down the DraftKings offerings for the showdown between the Packers and Vikings, and in the process will build three unique lineups. Throughout the process of building, I'll break down the slate, my top options and the thought process behind the construction of each lineup. Of the three different lineups I'll build, they'll be best suited for different types of games. There will be an optimal lineup which can work in a variety of spots, a 150-max option (high ceiling, more risk) and a single-entry/cash lineup (high floor, less risk). The optimal features my favorite plays and a bit of risk, but also one or two potentially lower-owned players, while the 150-max has the high-upside options. When creating lineups for Showdown games there is a lot to be considered, and one key area is the captain spot. You'll choose one captain for every lineup and that player costs 1.5-times more than normal but will receive 1.5x the points as well. Before breaking down the specific lineups, I'll evaluate my favorite captain options more in-depth. As we get into it, here's a look at the rules of showdown games and idea behind 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 Unlike a full slate with a bigger lineup, when picking only six players, a big key can be finding ways to differentiate your lineups. I'll offer some thoughts and insight on a variety of ways to do that, some of which will include your captain choice. Let's start off with captains and evaluate the top plays who you should spend up for in the bonus spot for the Packers vs. Vikings matchup Sunday.