It's time to wrap up Week 14 with a game that features major playoff implications in the NFC. Following a fairly wild Sunday (and Thursday) of action, the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks continue jockeying for playoff position when they square off on Monday Night Football. The winner of this game gets a huge boost when it comes to their playoff outlook, so there's a lot on the line.
Both teams would be in the postseason if it began today, as the Seahawks hold a 7-5 record, good for the No. 5 seed, with the Vikings at 6-5-1 just behind in the No. 6 spot. With that said, there are multiple six and even five-win teams who are waiting in the wings just behind both teams for a chance to grab a postseason spot.
As things currently stand, the Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins are 6-7 following the weekend. Along with that, the Green Bay Packers (5-7-1), Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants (both 5-8) are trying to hold onto any slim playoff hopes but would need help. Regardless, the winner of Monday's game will distance themselves from this pack and be positioned well to make the playoffs.
Like all primetime games, there are a variety of fantasy football options for this NFC matchup. The daily fantasy players should be in for an enjoyable Monday night slate due to the matchup, but also the single-game options offered across various sites. With season-long fantasy leagues winding down and playoffs currently underway, options covering a primetime matchup are a good way to stay in the game through the year.
I'm going to take a look specifically at the DraftKings showdown slate for this game, and offer a mixture of picks and optimal lineups along the way. I'll provide three lineups – an optimal (well-rounded, mid-level risk), 150-max (more risk, high upside) and single entry/cash lineup (safer, high-floor plays).
There's also the debate over the captain spot in showdown games, as you can really differentiate lineups by choosing the right player there. We'll detail the top captain options and also some insight behind how to best approach choosing captains and utilize additional info to make strong decisions there.
Before we get into that, along with the captain choices, here's a quick look at how showdown games work for those who haven't played. Fortunately, it's all pretty straightforward and easy to build lineups.
– 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
We'll kick things off by looking at the aforementioned captain for the Vikings vs. Seahawks Monday night. All captains come with a 1.5x price tag but you'll receive a bonus for whichever player you select in that spot.
Following the top captain choices, we'll then jump right into the optimal lineup from that point.
Favorite Captains for Vikings vs. Seahawks
We've had some interesting showdown slates over the past few primetime games, to put it gently. The Washington Redskins matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles led to another season-ending injury for a Redskins quarterback in Colt McCoy. In turn, both Alex Smith and McCoy were finished for the year after that one.
Then, the Week 14 action started off with Tennessee Titans rolling past the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-9. The win wasn't surprising, but the fact Derrick Henry, who hadn't topped 60 yards in any game this season, ripped off 238 yards and four touchdowns. It was certainly head-scratching, and Henry wasn't the most popular showdown target either.
And now, we're onto a game which should have a lot of interest on Monday night. As Odds Shark shows, the current projected total on this game is set at 46, which is a bit lower than I expected it to be. But with both teams in need of a win, we may see defenses step up early and create some problems. The Seahawks also sit as three-point favorites, which makes sense in this spot.
I do opt to use the projected total on a game as a way to construct lineups (when I agree with it), especially for showdown slates. This one is interesting, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it top the 46-point projected total. Both the Vikings and Seahawks have offensive weapons, and there are areas of the opposing defenses that can be attacked.
When it comes to the captain spot, I'll typically choose 4-6 options to keep in consideration, and I'm expecting to stay around that number on Monday night. Each player below from the DraftKings showdown listed in the group of favorites includes captain pricing of 1.5-times more than their regular cost, so let's start there.
– Russell Wilson ($16,800)
– Stefon Diggs ($16,200)
– Kirk Cousins ($15,300)
– Davin Cook ($13,200)
– Tyler Lockett ($12,300)
– Chris Carson ($11,400)
*If Doug Baldwin is ruled out, David Moore ($7,800) and Jaron Brown ($2,100) are in play, although they're iffy as captains.
Favorite expensive/mid-range captains: Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins
Top value-saving captains: Dalvin Cook (semi-expensive still), Tyler Lockett
There are very few "very inexpensive" captain options on this slate, and if you dive down much below Chris Carson, you're going into some risky territory. With that said, if Doug Baldwin does get ruled out, then you could at least make a case for David Moore and/or Jaron Brown.
The main issue is that Moore didn't receive a single target last game despite playing 28 snaps. On the flip side, Brown scored two touchdowns but did so on just 15 snaps, as Football Outsiders shows. Neither player is a safe option with Baldwin in the lineup, but Brown could make sense as a deep threat and option for 150-max games.
Paying up at captain here makes sense, and one name who I didn't mention is Adam Thielen. The talented Vikings receiver is always in play but comes with a $17,700 price tag as a captain. With opposing teams locking down on their efforts to keep him in check, it's led to a few mediocre showings. I'd prefer to use Thielen as a flex player in this game.
Let's start things off with the optimal lineup and I'll break down the specific plays along the way.
Optimal Lineup
– CAPTAIN: Chris Carson ($11,400)
– Russell Wilson ($11,200)
– Kirk Cousins ($10,200)
– Dalvin Cook ($8,800)
– Kyle Rudolph ($4,800)
– Sebastian Janikowski ($3,400)
The two-quarterback lineup with Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins in DraftKings showdowns tonight has a lot of appeal for me, but it is a bit tough to make due to some question marks about inexpensive players. One thing I will say is that if Doug Baldwin gets ruled out, you could get creative with David Moore ($5,200) and Jaron Brown ($1,400).
Most players are going to jump to Brown due to his price tag and his performance last week. But what's interesting about Moore is the fact that he's emerged as the team's third wideout without much question. His snaps have been trending down dating back to the middle of the season due to the emergence of other players (per Football Outsiders), but there's one big positive.
Moore hasn't had the chance to hold down the fort for an entire game with Baldwin sidelined. We could see that happen here, and it'd make for a potentially big spot for the Seahawks wideout against a banged-up Vikings secondary.
Alright, enough about non-optimal lineup players, but that's something to keep in mind. Keeping with the Seahawks trend, Chris Carson is an interesting spot. His matchup is less than ideal, as the Vikings have allowed just 947 rushing yards and five touchdowns to the position this year. However, it's worth noting that they've also given up 66 receptions for 665 yards and three additional scores to opposing running backs.
I'm high on Carson for a few reasons outside of the matchup, and it's largely due to his own production and usage. While the Seahawks did a fun experiment of riding the hot hand, it seems they quickly found out Carson is always the hot hand. Even in the 43-16 Week 13 blowout against the San Francisco 49ers, Carson received 13 carries and four targets (three receptions).
Rashaad Penny looked good on his seven carries, actually out-producing Carson, but four of them came with the team holding a 20-3 lead after halftime. The starting running back job is locked up for the Seahawks and his workload appears to be safe.
I'm going to break down the bulk of these names as we roll on, but Kyle Rudolph is a player to mention. Just to be brutally honest, I'm not a huge fan of Rudolph and would be fine if you chose to tweak things a little (possibly with other players I'll cover) and upgrade to David Moore.
With all that said, the Seahawks are going to do their all to shut down Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs here. Targets are going to get funneled other directions, and we've seen Rudolph receive 15 over the past three games. Although Cousins doesn't seem to go his way a ton, the two have built a rapport, considering Rudolph has caught all 10 of the targets he saw the last two weeks.
Based on the fact that I think the Vikings may play from behind a bit late in the game, I think he provides somewhat of a safe floor and also has touchdown upside. There's some risk and the matchup isn't great, but I don't hate Rudolph on this slate at his price.
The 150-max lineup is next up and features a focus on upside with a bit more calculated risk involved.
150-Max Entry Lineup
– CAPTAIN: Stefon Diggs ($16,200)
– Russell Wilson ($11,200)
– Kirk Cousins ($10,200)
– Tyler Lockett ($8,200)
– Aldrick Robinson ($2,200)
– Jaron Brown ($1,400)
The lineup above is based largely around the health of Seahawks wideout Doug Baldwin. I'm still personally fine taking the risk of Jaron Brown with Baldwin playing, as the top wideout missed the whole week due to a hamstring injury. I've provided one additional lineup which goes up to David Moore with a few changes.
If you want to pivot off the top lineup, going down to Tyler Lockett ($12,300) at the captain spot with Russell Wilson, Stefon Diggs, Chris Carson, David Moore, and Aldrick Robinson has some appeal. Moore is less risky than Brown, as he's seen more snaps consistently. Along with that, the second-year wideout received 23 targets in the four games prior to last week when he was blanked across the board.
I also believe that Moore will be lower-owned if Baldwin plays, but I can't envision the team's No. 1 wideout doing a ton with a hamstring injury. In turn, playing Moore as a low-owned option in that spot makes a lot of sense. If you're risky enough to go to Brown, that's an even more interesting spot but does come with obvious concerns.
Baldwin's status is worth monitoring, and if he's out, the ownership of both players (specifically Moore) should increase drastically. I'd still be fine using either wide receiver in place of Baldwin, though, and pairing them up with Tyler Lockett and Russell Wilson makes sense.
I'm a big fan of the spot for both Wilson and Lockett, and even though the Vikings boast solid numbers against opposing quarterbacks and wide receivers, it doesn't tell the whole story. Injuries are going to take center stage for Minnesota in this game, and even their top cornerback has dealt with some issues in recent weeks.
When breaking down Vikings' secondary, they'll be without cornerback Trae Waynes (concussion) and while Xavier Rhodes is playing, he's been battling a hamstring injury. I wouldn't go out of my way to attack Rhodes, but Lockett plays out of the slot quite a bit when Baldwin isn't playing, so this bodes well for him.
Even more important than that when looking at Lockett is the fact that he's been consistent and good over the past four games. Even in the blowout against the 49ers in which he saw just two targets, he still turned one of them into a 52-yard touchdown. Lockett has nine touchdowns in 12 games and I wouldn't be surprised if he adds another one on Monday.
An often overlooked aspect of daily fantasy football is quarterbacks who can run. It helps provide a safe flor, and while Wilson's seven attempts in the past two games went for just 18 yards, he has 45 attempts for 245 yards on the season. Now, he'll draw a Vikings defense who's allowed three rushing touchdowns to quarterbacks, which isn't a mind-blowing number, but was enough to get my attention.
Pair that up with the injury woes on the defensive side of the ball for Minnesota, and I'm a big fan of Willson.
Finally, I do think Vikings wideout Aldrick Robinson deserves consideration in 150-max games. He's not going to see the nine targets he did last game, but he and Cousins have a strong rapport. What's interesting here is that the popular belief is that Robinson saw an increase in snaps last week due to Diggs' injury (although he played), but that wasn't entirely the case. Diggs played 77 percent of the snaps while Robinson played 70 percent (per Football Outsiders).
Robinson not only has big-play potential but has had success in the red zone when his number has been called, catching four touchdowns this season. If he's going to flirt with 60-70 percent of the offensive snaps again, he's a great play at $2,200.
The single entry/cash lineup is more balanced, but there are one or two players worth taking a chance on to differentiate your lineups, and we'll cover that now.
Single Entry/Cash Lineup
– CAPTAIN: Dalvin Cook ($13,200)
– Adam Thielen ($11,800)
– Russell Wilson ($11,200)*
– Chris Carson ($7,600)
– Sebastian Janikowski ($3,400)
– Aldrick Robinson ($2,200)
The single-entry lineup is one I also like for cash games, for a few different reasons. Obviously, there are a few things that stand out, but the first is what I'll note above when it comes to Russell Wilson. While I love the spot of Wilson this week, I went back-and-forth on using him or Kirk Cousins.
If you do opt to go down to Cousins ($1,000 less) and feel more comfortable upgrading from Aldrick Robinson, that's understandable. Although I view Robinson as some level of a risk, the reasoning behind him receiving a nod here is that the snaps and workload are increasing. At just $2,200, it's going to require very little for him to hit value as well.
Both players should provide a safe floor, but personally, I'm a fan of Wilson's ceiling here. The fact that Stefon Diggs seems to be healthy and good to go against a Seahawks secondary that struggles on the outside will only help Cousins' outlook. Tack on that Adam Thielen is so reliable and has a strong upside of his own, and it's a good spot for both quarterbacks.
Speaking of Thielen, I may not have used him to this point, and that's largely due to his high price tag and the fact that he hasn't been quite as dominant as early in the year. It's not a knock on him, as the Vikings wideout has one of the more impressive abilities across the league and his targets are back up after two "down" weeks (seven in each). Over the past three games, he's seen 31 passes come his way, hauling in 20 of them.
Thielen is essentially the definition of a "safe" play, as his two worst games this season resulted in 12.7 and 13.8 DraftKings points. Aside from those two, he's totaled 26.8 or more on eight different occasions.
Dalvin Cook is a name I plan to have quite a bit of exposure to in all formats. While the Vikings don't seem to have interest in going wild running the ball, this is a good spot across the board for their young back. On the season, Seattle has allowed 1,047 rushing yards on 224 carries for eight touchdowns to the position. Even bigger than that, is the fact they've given up 77 receptions for 747 receiving yards, and four additional scores to opposing running backs.
Cook has received either nine or 10 carries in each of the past four games but topped 14.9 DraftKings points in three of them. Specifically last game, he got heavily involved as a pass-catcher, receiving 10 targets and hauling in eight passes. While it went for an ugly 22 yards, the receptions are easy points, especially in a plus-matchup like this.
Finally, I'll mention the Sebastian Janikowski play, as I think the Seahawks find themselves down in Minnesota's end early and often in this game. In somewhat of a strange stat, the Vikings have allowed the second-most field goal attempts on the season. I wouldn't put a wild amount of stock into that, but based on how I believe the game flow goes, Janikowski is a strong play.
Along with that, the Seahawks kicker still boasts a huge leg and has scored 30 fantasy points in the last three games. He makes a lot of sense as a safe play and a high floor play who'll open up the rest of your lineup.
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