Week 13 rolls on and at the time we kick things off Sunday afternoon, we’ll have already devoured four NFL games and a healthy slate of college football rivalry games since Thursday. Hopefully you can muster the courage of watching even more football on Sunday because the weather is getting much colder and we have a 10-game slate with some elements starting to come into play. Let’s dive into the latest NFL DFS Week 13 D/ST Coach to find the high upside plays on DraftKings and FanDuel!

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 13 D/ST Coach for FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

This slate could be one of the ugliest NFL DFS main slates in recent memory. The highest implied game total on the slate is just 45.5 points and that’s the afternoon game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers. Half the games on this 10-game main slate have implied totals of 41.5 points or less as of Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, this might just consolidate ownership to specific game environments and the chalky plays/stacks are going to be even more popular. The lineup trains are going to be ugly in Week 13.

Only two games on this main slate will be in controlled environments and we have an abundance of injuries we’re monitoring ahead of these matchups. Definitely dissect and pick apart all the NFL DFS content for the Week 13 main slate to build your player pool. While chalk will be heavy there are still spots across the board we can find some leverage.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Top Tier Pick for Week 13

Los Angeles Chargers – DraftKings: $4,000 | FanDuel: $4,500

The Chargers are coming off their Bye week and they have the Las Vegas Raiders coming to town. The Raiders recently fired offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly. And I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But recent reports emerged about how he managed to screw up the play calling on more than one occasion. So despite the shortcomings of Geno Smith, perhaps he’s not entirely to blame.

But the Raiders really operate and run the offense through Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers. But even those young superstars are capable of some dud performances. This Chargers defense did allow 35 points in Week 11 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. So they really needed the Bye week as they allowed 192 rushing yards in that game.

But they have fresh legs and they are at home in what is believed to be one of the easiest matchups on the slate. The Chargers blitz at a bottom three rate but have the 6th best sack rate (7.7%) and that bodes well against the Raiders offensive line that ranks 26th in pressure rate allowed (34.3%). The Chargers have a good floor, but we should to be mindful that the ceiling could be limited.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Mid-Tier Pick for Week 13

Atlanta Falcons – DraftKings: $3,500 | FanDuel: $4,000

This feels like it could be a trap as the Atlanta Falcons will go on the road and play in the Meadowlands in late November. From Weeks 8-11, the Falcons defense allowed 24+ points to four straight opponents. But last week they shut down the New Orleans Saints offense.

In four straight games the Falcons have recorded at least five sacks and in three of those games they’ve notched at least two takeaways. The Jets offensive line ranks 30th in pressure rate allowed (36.6%) and 27th in pass block win rate (57%). That works well for the Falcons who rank 2nd in blitz rate (37.8%) and 3rd in sack rate (9.9%).

This game has a very low game total at 39.5 points, but it’s mixed into a pool of games on this slate with low totals, but the Falcons are favored by roughly a field goal for this game. Given the quarterback situation with the Jets, the Birds offer a nice floor for the NFL DFS Week 13 D/ST Coach.

Houston Texans – DraftKings: $2,900 | FanDuel: $4,300

The Texans made their mark in Week 12 on Thursday Night Football as arguably the best defense in the league. In primetime against the Buffalo Bills, they gave up just 19 points and recorded EIGHT sacks on Josh Allen. Over their last six games since the team’s Bye week, they have 21 total sacks and 13 takeaways. So even against the best offenses in the league they’re still shutting them down.

I’m not hesitant to take the discount on the Texans even if the matchup may not be great on paper. Daniel Jones of the Indianapolis Colts is playing through a slight fracture in his fibula. It’s a tough ask to contain Jonathan Taylor but a great defense can prevail against a good offense.

The Texans pass rush is so good that they only blitz at a 26.0% rate but have the 4th best sack rate at 8.2% and if the big task is containing Taylor, then at least this defense still ranks 6th in EPA/Rush (-0.12) and 2nd in yards before contact per attempt (0.73). We don’t want to play this D/ST in cash games, but they work well in tournaments as a bit of a contrarian option.

 

 

 

NFL Week 13 DFS D/ST Value Pick

Las Vegas Raiders – DraftKings: $2,500 | FanDuel: $3,200

I don’t mind paying down to the Raiders, but the value options aren’t great this week and that’s understandable. It’s a short slate and while there are low totals on the board, the favorites in those games are priced up. I’m going with the Raiders because they’re easy to get to on both DraftKings and FanDuel. But I also don’t mind the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets on DraftKings. But those two teams are harder to get to on FanDuel. The Steelers, specifically, are an interesting option because the Bills will be without both their starting offensive tackles and we just saw Josh Allen get sacked eight times in Week 12.

The Raiders will be facing the Chargers who are coming off their Bye week and they’ll be getting Omarion Hampton back. But this offensive line is still very beat up and Justin Herbert has been sacked 35 times in 11 games while facing 173 pressures on the season. This Raiders defense isn’t great, but they still have Maxx Crosby who can certainly generate pressure and he’s going to have to if we want this NFL DFS D/ST value pick to pay off.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Fade for Week 13

San Francisco 49ers – DraftKings: $3,600 | FanDuel: $4,700

I went back and forth on the 49ers D/ST this week. I’m totally fine playing them in season-long fantasy football. And if they were $500-$700 cheaper for DFS, then I’d be on board. But I have some concerns with this matchup and in my early DFS builds for the main slate, I haven’t found myself trying to get to this spot.

We’ll start with the obvious. The 49ers just played on Monday night so this is a short week. Not to mention, they have to go on the road to Cleveland for this matchup and this game is in the early window, which the 49ers aren’t typically used to. This defense has also already lost Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and Mykel Williams among others. And when you just look at how weird the Week 13 schedule is with Thanksgiving and the travel/scheduling adjustments, it’s a lot for teams to deal with that have to go on the road.

Are there pro’s to playing the 49ers in Week 13’s main slate? Yes. They get a great matchup against a rookie quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, and this game has the lowest implied total on the board at 35.5 and the 49ers are 4.5-point favorites which gives Cleveland an implied team total of 15.5 points. But looking at the teams priced around them, there are options I feel better about so I’m happy to avoid the 49ers in the elements of Northeast Ohio.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 13 D/ST Play of the Week

Seattle Seahawks – DraftKings: $3,900 | FanDuel: $5,000

The Seattle Seahawks are about to have a home game against the Minnesota Vikings. Obviously we would love it if J.J. McCarthy could suit up for this game. The presence of “9” typically means fantasy greatness for the opposing D/ST in fantasy football. From Weeks 9-12, McCarthy threw seven interceptions and had two fumbles, but both were recovered by the offense. He’s obviously had his struggles but he self-reported some concussion symptoms after last week’s game.

If McCarthy doesn’t start, then Max Brosmer will get the start for the Minnesota Vikings. It really doesn’t matter who starts for the Vikings because this is a tough matchup and a brutal environment to play in for a young quarterback. The Seahawks can give up points but they’ve only allowed one of their last six opponents to register 300+ yards of offense.

This game has a very low game total according to the sportsbooks (41.5 points) and the Seahawks are 11.5-point favorites at home which gives Minnesota an implied team total of 15 points which could be a rather generous projection when this game is over.

Update: It was announced Friday afternoon that McCarthy was officially ruled OUT and Brosmer would get the start.