Time to take a look at some Monday-Thursday short-slate DFS.

As always, I encourage you to check out Ryan Hallam’s Weekly Previews to get a deeper look into tonight’s action. In the meantime, here’s a snapshot of each game. Take a read and go build some lineups – remember, I only play GPP tournaments for short slates – then come back and compare to the ones I am leaving here as examples. As always, these are meant to serve as a comparison tool for your own lineups. These aren’t to be taken and submitted into contests as your own.

Here's a breakdown of the two games involved:

Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers

Spread: Packers -3.5

O/U: 45.5

Defense Rankings:

Packers: Run D – 28th Pass D – 5th

Lions: Run D – 14th Pass D – 12th  

Offensive Breakdown:

Passing:

If you’re playing the showdown slate, the quarterback position seems like it could be a bit of a coin-flip tonight. Both the Packers and the Lions have adopted a more run-heavy scheme under the guidance of their respective coaches, Matt LaFleur and Matt Patricia, and both quarterbacks have seemingly bought in to the program. For Aaron Rodgers , it makes it easier to accept when your No. 1 receiving target is injured and you don’t have the same connection with the other guys. For Matthew Stafford , it helps alleviate the pressure you’ve had on you for the last several years as past coaches and coordinators refuse to develop a decent running back.

If we have to choose one over the other, I’m going to lean towards Rodgers in the softer match-up. Detroit’s secondary is good but not great and if the Lions run-heavy scheme does the damage it should against a soft Packers front-seven, Rodgers may have to start taking it to the air. It won’t be a huge difference, but enough in the Showdown slate and maybe even just enough as an alternative play to a chalky Patrick Mahomes in the Mon-Thurs. slate.

Rushing:

You have to love both Aaron Jones and Kerryon Johnson in this match-up. Jones has been playing like a beast, but against this soft & squishy Green Bay front-seven, Johnson should be a major factor. The Lions have given him 20-plus carries in each of the last two games and, in return, he’s provided 161 rushing yards and one touchdown, mostly coming against the Chiefs in Week 4. Expect the Lions to lean on him throughout the game.

As for Jones, again, expect him to get a strong number of touches, but the Lions run defense has been solid and they haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher this season. LaFleur will try to pound the rock early and often, but expect him to lighten it up and let Rodgers do his thing.

Receiving:

Everyone is going to be all over Marvin Jones tonight because cherry-pickers continue to cite his 205-yard game against Green Bay in 2016 and his 107-yard game in 2017. He also had two touchdowns in each one of those games. But why aren’t they telling you about his one-catch, eight-yard game against them last October? The Packers have made strong changes to their secondary and Jones is going to be shadowed by Jaire Alexander . That will tilt me more towards Kenny Golladay who matches up rather favorably against Kevin King .

The Packers receivers all have some tough match-ups themselves, with Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Jake Kumerow have the easier match-ups on the outside. Geronimo Allison vs Justin Coleman in the slot is not a match-up I want to touch. The lean is towards MVS with Kumerow as a contrarian dart-throw.

The guy you should pay attention to this week is Jimmy Graham . Believe it or not, he has the softest match-up than anyone as the Lions rank 28th in coverage against the TE according to DVOA numbers. They’re also giving up 52.3 yards per game to the position. Graham may not hit with killer yardage, but he’s got a real strong chance of getting into the end zone.

Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos

Spread: Chiefs -3.5

O/U: 50

Defense Ranking:

Broncos: Run D – 19th Pass – 16th  

Chiefs: Run D – 30th Pass D – 8th

Offensive Breakdown:

Passing:

It’s Showtime in prime-time, baby! Eww. I want to vomit after just typing that. You know how I feel about recycled nicknames. Nevertheless, it’s Patrick Mahomes on Thursday night and with the return of Tyreek Hill , you know he will be the chalk for the Mon-Thurs. slate. Vic Fangio is doing good things for this defense, but the pass-rush suffers without Bradley Chubb and the last thing you want to do is give Mahomes extra time. The Chiefs need a major comeback after losing to the Texans, so expect Mahomes to take over this game.

Joe Flacco ? Another ewww! The Chiefs secondary is not the Achilles heel of this defense and both Bashaud Breeland and Kendall Fuller can hang with Courtland Sutton and Emmanuel Sanders . However, if the Broncos attack on the ground which IS the Achilles heel of the Chiefs defense, then things could actually open up more for him. Flacco isn’t a strong option, but he probably won’t kill you and allow you to get pricier support at other positions.

Rushing:

Trying to decipher who will see the bulk of the touches in the Kansas City backfield is going to be tough. LeSean McCoy should continue to dominate the carries while Damien Williams should handle more of the pass-catching work. Denver is allowing almost 112 rushing yards per game and have allowed five rushing touchdowns on the year, while they rank 16th against running back pass plays. Consider this an even split unless you see a bigger hole to exploit.

We’ve got a split backfield in Denver as well, but after watching Carlos Hyde carve up the Chiefs defensive line and Duke Johnson breaking the goal line plane on a catch and run, I think both Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay can eat. I will favor Lindsay because he seems to have Fangio’s eye more and the PPR format on DK also makes him tasty.

Receiving:

For the Chiefs, it’s all about Tyreek Hill . He’s back, he caught two touchdowns and he and Mahomes will pick it back up week after week. The Broncos may try to put Chris Harris on him as a shadow, but Hill’s speed should shine through. That will obviously draw coverage away from the other wideouts, but it’s going to be a roll of the dice to figure out who besides Travis Kelce , will have a decent night. Mecole Hardman could be the guy working out of the slot.

We touched on this a little bit above, so I’ll go to the DVOA coverage numbers and point out that the Chiefs seem to struggle against the second and third-receiver options. Now some consider Sutton to be the WR1 and some say it’s Sanders. Considering how much Sanders also lines up in the slot, I’m going to tilt towards him with DaeSean Hamilton as a potential dart throw. It’s tough to love, but in a game expecting 50 points or more, all three are going to be worth a shot.