It’s rare that the DFS community is this excited to look forward to a new slate. The NFL Sunday slate after Thanksgiving is always ugly because you have a dozen teams playing on a featured slate either on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, or in primetime. The Thanksgiving games were electric last week but the Sunday main slate was littered with ugly games that were tough to watch. But Week 14 delivers an 11-game main slate, and there are no more Bye weeks after this week. Let’s settle in and dominate the main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel with the NFL DFS Week 14 D/ST Coach!

NFL DFS Week 14 D/ST Coach for FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

While we do have an 11-game main slate, we do have to keep our options open and dominate the secondary slates. Even with 11 games at our disposal, eight are in the early window, and only three are in the afternoon slate. A three-game slate isn’t all that exciting. And for the D/ST position, there’s one clear and obvious option on that slate that is also our Play of the Week.

We also have a very interesting matchup in Northeast Ohio as the Tennessee Titans visit the Cleveland Browns. The game total is among the lowest we’ve seen all season at just 33.5 points. That game will draw plenty of attention with both D/ST’s because of the variance we’ve seen from Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward. But we’re going to get back on the winning track after some ugly football last Sunday. Let’s take a look at the NFL DFS Week 14 D/ST Coach!

 

 


 

NFL DFS D/ST Top Tier Picks for Week 14

Seattle Seahawks – DraftKings: $4,000 | FanDuel: $4,800

If you were able to fit the Seahawks D/ST last week, you were rewarded handsomely with their “break-the-slate” kind of score, where they absolutely throttled Max Brosmer and the Minnesota Vikings. The Seahawks don’t have as tempting a matchup this week, but they do have to go on the road all the way to Atlanta, and the Falcons have really had their struggles this year.

Kirk Cousins has been nothing but electric as Atlanta’s starting quarterback. He’s 27th among starting quarterbacks in EPA/Play (-0.09) and 24th in completion percentage over expected (-2.5%) according to Sam Hoppen. The Seahawks, despite the lengthy trip across the country, are seven-point favorites.

The skill position players could be tough to track. Bijan Robinson is a candidate for a big game almost every week, and Drake London could return for this game, although he’s yet to practice this week. Because of last week’s performance, I don’t want to “chase the points” with Seattle, so I’m not listing them as the Play of the Week for a second consecutive main slate. But I still like them enough to include them in the NFL DFS Week 14 D/ST Coach.

Cleveland Browns – DraftKings: $3,700 | FanDuel: $4,900

As we mentioned at the top of the article, both D/ST’s in this game should draw some ownership, and yes, that includes the Tennessee Titans. The game total is at 33.5 points as of Wednesday evening. That gives the Brownies an implied team total of 19 points, which is still low, but they are the favorites at home. The Titans have an implied total of 14.5 points.

We’ve given the Browns some flak all season long because they’re a better defense in real football than in fantasy football. But they have three spike weeks of 15+ fantasy points in their last six games, and when you have a player like Myles Garrett holding down the pass rush, you have a D/ST capable of racking up some sacks.

As I said, both D/ST’s are in play, and this game will be in the elements. It’ll be cold with some winds, and there’s a chance of snow in the morning that could linger until just before kickoff. With two rookie quarterbacks operating the offenses, this will be a trendy game for D/ST’s.

 

 

 

NFL DFS D/ST Mid-Tier Pick for Week 14

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – DraftKings: $3,600 | FanDuel: $4,600

The Bucs truly are more of a “pricy” mid-tier pick for the NFL DFS Week 14 D/ST Coach, but I already like two teams more expensive than them. However, they are one of the bigger favorites on the main slate for Week 14 at 8.5 points, and it’s a home matchup against the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints have an implied team total of 17 points. These two teams met six weeks ago, and the Bucs exploded for 26 fantasy points by allowing just a field goal to the New Orleans offense while collecting five sacks and four defensive takeaways.

The Bucs are great at generating turnovers in bunches, and Saints quarterback, Tyler Shough, has two interceptions and has lost two fumbles in two games since the team’s Bye week. He’s also taken nine sacks in that two-game sample size.

The Bucs have gone a bit cold coming out of their Bye week, but this division is still very winnable, and the schedule is pretty easy the rest of the season, and the turnaround starts this weekend against the Saints.
 

 

 

NFL Week 14 DFS D/ST Value Picks

Jacksonville Jaguars – DraftKings: $2,700 | FanDuel: $4,000

A lot of casual NFL DFS players might be scared off by this recommendation because of the dreaded red “1” next to their name on DraftKings, which indicates a bad matchup. That may have been true earlier in the year, but as we’ve seen the last two weeks, the Colts are beatable.

Indianapolis has scored a total of 36 points in their back-to-back losses, and they’re averaging just 25 minutes and 15 seconds in time of possession. Daniel Jones is playing through a fracture in his leg, but he’s struggling with lateral movements. He’s only taken one sack in that span, but he’s also averaging about 190 passing yards per game as well.

The Jags' defense has been trending up lately. In their last three games, they’ve allowed a total of 27 points to the likes of the Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, and Los Angeles Chargers while holding all three teams to under 70 rushing yards and collecting a dozen sacks in this sample size. The Jaguars are slight underdogs in this matchup, and Vegas is expecting some offense, so this recommendation is better suited for GPPs, while the Washington Commanders may provide a safer floor for cash games based on the quarterback play we’ve seen from the Minnesota Vikings.

Las Vegas Raiders – DraftKings: $2,000 | FanDuel: $3,100

The Raiders made the article last week, but we collectively acknowledged a couple of cheap D/ST’s for last week’s slate as well. The Raiders’ opponent, the Denver Broncos, are my D/ST Play of the Week as you’ll find out shortly.

So why would I go back to the Raiders after they returned four points last week? Well, they are $500 cheaper on DraftKings than they were a week ago. This is the bare minimum price and they’re the ultimate salary saver if you need it, especially on the short three-game afternoon slate.

We can’t expect Vegas to explode in this spot, but six or seven points will be serviceable. A couple of weeks ago, these two teams met on Thursday Night Football, and the Raiders limited Denver to just 10 points with two interceptions and a pair of sacks. And strangely enough, Denver has been great in run blocking all season, but it looked a bit off Sunday night against the Washington Commanders.

So even if you plug the Raiders in because they’re the only D/ST you can squeeze into your lineup, then I’m all for it. This is the last piece of the puzzle for our NFL DFS lineups, so if a $2,000 defense allows you to pay for upside elsewhere, then I support that decision.

 

 


 

NFL DFS D/ST Fade for Week 14

Miami Dolphins – DraftKings: $3,300 | FanDuel: $3,800

The Miami Dolphins D/ST has been playing incredibly well lately, and I have struggled at times to pinpoint what has changed. But let’s also keep in mind, since Week 9, they’ve had three home games, their Bye week, and a game in a controlled environment against the Washington Commanders in Madrid, Spain. This will be their first game having to really play outside in colder elements.

They have held four of their last five opponents to under 18 points. However, the Jets' offense has actually looked somewhat competent since they switched to Tyrod Taylor as the team’s starting quarterback. Last week, they put up 27 points on the Atlanta Falcons and their impressive pass rush.

The Dolphins have been a nice story with four wins in their last five games. And those wins did see great defensive efforts. But this feels like a spot where the train comes to a screeching halt as the Jets continue to assess their young weapons on offense.

 

 


 

NFL DFS Week 14 D/ST Play of the Week

Denver Broncos – DraftKings: $3,900 | FanDuel: $5,000

The Denver Broncos enter the NFL DFS Week 14 main slate as my early Play of the Week as of Wednesday evening. The Broncos do have to go on the road to play the Las Vegas Raiders. However, the Raiders aren’t much of a threat by any means on offense.

It’s hard enough to run on the Broncos as they rank 5th in rush success rate (37.5%), 7th in stuffed run rate (20.4%), and 4th in yards before contact per attempt (0.88). And you can also bake in the pass rush stats, where they rank 7th in both blitz rate (30.6%) and pressure rate (34.1%), and they’re 2nd in sack rate (10.3%), which explains why they lead all 32 NFL teams with 51 sacks.

The matchup against the Raiders is obviously tempting. Vegas enters this AFC West matchup with an implied team total of 16.5 points, and their offensive line ranks 27th in pressure rate allowed (34.4%). Geno Smith also ranks 29th among qualified quarterbacks in EPA/Play (-0.15), and he’s 25th in turnover-worthy play rate (3.8%).

It’s a matchup ripe for the picking, and with a win, Denver would leapfrog the New England Patriots for the top seed in the AFC playoff picture. I’m expecting a dominant performance from Denver’s defense in Week 14.