Time to take a look at some Monday-Thursday short-slate DFS for Weeks 9 and 10.
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:
Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
Spread: Cowboys -6.5
O/U: 48
Defense Rankings:
Giants: Run D – 12th Pass D – 28th
Cowboys: Run D – 17th Pass D – 17th
Offensive Breakdown:
Passing:
Even if you're only a casual football fan, you know the Giants pass coverage is trash. They allow the fifth-most passing yardage per game (264.4), the eighth-most passing touchdowns (13) and opposing quarterbacks have posted a 104.4 passer rating against them this season. Roll all that up together with the eighth-most fantasy points per game allowed to quarterbacks and Dak Prescott can smoke it up and be the DFS quarterback of your dreams. He's posted higher than 21-fantasy points in all but one game this season and has topped 30 fantasy points sin three of seven. If the Giants are able to contain Ezekiel Elliott , he should be a solid play.
Getting behind Daniel Jones might be a different story. The Cowboys allow just 228 passing yards per game and have given up just six passing touchdowns on the season. Should the Giants ground game not be clicking and they fall behind, he'll take it to the air a little more often, but he's only thrown for 300-plus yards twice this season and Dallas has much better coverage than Detroit or Tampa Bay. Low ownership or not, the GPP upside you need to win a Showdown or two-game slate isn't really here.
Rushing:
This game features two of the best running backs in the game in Ezekiel Elliott and Saquon Barkley . The Cowboys allow just 96.9 rushing yards per game and have givin up seven rushing touchdowns while the Giants are giving up 122.4 and have coughed up 10 touchdowns on the ground, so there's a slight advantage tilting towards Zeke. The Giants also rank 27th against running back pass plays according to DVOA so maybe we even see a few extra passes go Zeke's way. The Cowboys, incidentally, rank 11th, but they are giving up just as much yardage as the Giants are which means it's about touchdowns against. We don't see many passes to Zeke down inside the 10-yard line. Either guy is perfectly acceptable, but if you want to split hairs as to which one to use, here you go.
Receiving:
The over/under of 48 is telling us this could turn into a bit of a shootout. From the Cowboys side, they're facing, as noted above, a terrible pass defense which means you can expect strong performances out of Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup . Both should eat if this becomes a battle through the air as the G-Men are allowing the fourth-most fantasy points per game to the WR position. Tight end Jason Witten is a notorious Giant-killer, so even though they rank sixth against the position, he could still be in-play, especially with the cost of the other tight ends on this slate.
We can actually start with the tight end here as that seems to be where the Cowboys are most vulnerable, especially with Leighton Vander Esch e out for the game. Dallas ranks 31st against the tight end position and are allowing an average of 70.3 receiving yards per game against them, so look for Evan Engram to get some serious work. The Cowboys do also have some shortcomings in their pass coverage, so keep your eyes on Golden Tate and Darius Slay ton.
Los Angeles Chargers at Oakland Raiders
Spread: Raiders -1
O/U: 47.5
Defense Ranking:
Raiders: Run D – 9th Pass – 29th
Chargers: Run D – 24th Pass D – 25th
Offensive Breakdown:
Passing:
After a five-game road trip that including a game in London, the Raiders returned home and took care of the Lions, both on the ground and through the air. Derek Carr threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Now he gets to take on the Chargers whose beleagured pass defense somewhow manaaged to shut down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Is that a sign of things to come or just a one-week wonder? Well, while the Chargers are only allowing an average of 208.7 passing yards per game, they've allowed 13 passing touchdowns and opposing quarterbacks have put up a 100.7 passer rating. Carr has been on quite the run since the bye week, averaging 289 passing yards over three games with a 7:1 TD:INT, so he makes for a nice option.
Tough to say he's a nicer option than Philip Rivers this week, though, as we saw how, in a losing effort, Matthew Stafford torched the Raiders for over 400 yards and three touchdowns. The secondary is trash. Hot, steamy trash. They allow the most passing yards per game (297.5), they've allowed 22 touchdowns through the air, they give up the second-most fantasy points per game to the quarterback position and opposing QBs are posting a 114.8 psser rating. Ideally, the Raiders jump out to an early lead and force the Chargers into catch-up mode just like what happened with the Lions. Then the points come rolling in.
Rushing:
Still not sure what the heck happened to Aaron Jones on Sunday, but we've been targeting the Chargers run defense with all the injuries they've had on their defensive line. I expect Josh Jacobs to continue his Rookie of the Year campaign and show us that it is still safe to run on the Chargers.
We witnessed the shift in touches Sunday and should expct to see Melvin Gordon continue to get the work. Unfortunately for him, the Raiders run defense has been super-tight this year, allowing just five touchdowns on the year and fewer than 93 rushing yards per game. However, cheer up, Austin Ekeler owners. The Raiders rank 25th against running back pass plays this season.
Receiving:
Two struggling secondaries and a high over/under should put everyone on your radar. Tyrell Williams in a revenge game? Darren Waller should line up in the slot enough to be treated like a wideout and Hunter Renfrow has caught a touchdown in two-straight games. For the Chargers, let's start talking about the highly-anticipated Keenan Allen breakout game. If he can't do it here, he's dead to me. Mike Williams should have a great night coming off his first 100-yard effort of the season and don't look now, but the raiders rank 29th in coverage against the tight end position. Hello, Hunter Henry .