We close out Week 3 with a potential banger for the NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook. The Detroit Lions travel to Charm City to meet the Baltimore Ravens. Both teams sit at 1-1 but this is the game everyone had circled for Week 3 as it opened with one of the highest implied totals on the slate. It’s nothing short of star power as well and I’m sure plenty of season-long fantasy football matchups are dependent on this game. Let’s take a look at the matchups and top plays for the latest NFL DFS Showdown Playbook.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook; Lions vs. Ravens Game Preview

After dropping both their 2025 season openers, the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens managed to get to 1-1 after they each registered a divisional win in Week 2. There were some concerns with the Lions following Week 1 that the offense was severely missing Ben Johnson calling the shots, but we then realized the poor performance was a byproduct of just facing the Green Bay Packers defense.

The Baltimore Ravens could very well be sitting at 2-0 right now but they led by 15 points on two occasions in the second half against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 and managed to lose that game. Fortunately for the Ravens, their starting quarterback looks poised for another run at the NFL MVP Award and potentially a run to the Super Bowl. The Lions still have Super Bowl aspirations even after their prized offensive coordinator took the head coaching job with the Chicago Bears and their All-Pro center, Frank Ragnow, retired in the offseason.

As far as this game goes, Vegas is expecting offense in this matchup. As of Monday morning the over/under sits at 53.5 points and the Ravens are home favorites by about 4.5 points to give them a 29-point implied team total. Both defenses have had their struggles through two games while both teams rank outside the top 20 in pressure rate and pass rush win rate.

If both Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff are getting clean pockets for tonight’s game, then we’ll see plenty of scoring. As of Monday morning, according to Fantasy Points, the Detroit Lions rank first in the NFL at 2.77 rushing yards before contact while the Ravens rank fourth (2.38). So we’re potentially looking at effective passing and rushing attacks on both sides. These two teams both have the potential to meet again in February, but let’s close out Week 3 with some fireworks on Monday Night Football. Let’s dig into the Week 3 NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook!

 

 

 

Lions vs. Ravens Notable Injuries & Inactives

The Detroit Lions are a bit beat up on defense. They’ve already ruled out Marcus Davenport while Jack Campbell and D.J. Reed are questionable. But both those players did practice in full over the weekend so they have a shot at suiting up for this game. Safety Kerby Joseph was limited on Saturday so he’s more of a “true” questionable option for this game.

The Baltimore Ravens will have a couple healthy scratches when inactives come out 90 minutes before kickoff. But they’ve already ruled out Isaiah Likely, Patrick Ricard, Kyle Van Noy, and Nnamdi Madubuike for this game.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Showdown MVP/Captain for Monday Night Football, 9/22

Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens - DraftKings: $11,800 | FanDuel: $12,800

Through two games Lamar Jackson is making it known he’s coming for another NFL MVP award and he doesn’t want there to be any questions. He’s only attempted 48 passes while throwing six touchdowns (12.5% touchdown rate is due to regress), and he’s only thrown for 434 yards.  But he’s also found the end zone with his legs and rushed for 83 yards. But through two games he’s accounted for seven touchdowns.

Lamar currently ranks second at the quarterback position with an EPA/DB of 0.35 just behind Daniel Jones (0.36). It’s entirely reasonable that Lamar regains the lead this evening because Lamar could very well be Mr. Monday Night. In his career on Monday Night Football, he carries a 7-2 record with 25 total touchdowns and just two turnovers. He has a 124.3 passer rating while averaging +10.36 expected points added per game according to The 33rd Team.

Lamar’s rushing is what elevates him to this section but he’s going against a fairly weak Lions secondary. Since the start of the 2024 season, he leads the league with 32 touchdown passes of 10+ air yards. That’s 10 more than Joe Burrow, who is second according to NextGen stats. This is a great matchup for him to connect with Zay Flowers, DeAndre Hopkins, or Zay Flowers for a couple deep scores.

Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Detroit Lions – DraftKings: $10,600 | FanDuel: $11,800

 You have to really like Gibbs as a Captain candidate in this matchup. If this had the potential to be a blowout then that would help David Montgomery a bit more. The floor and ceiling are much higher than Montgomery, who profiles as an okay flex option in this game.

Gibbs has been on the field for 51 passing down snaps compared to 20 for Montgomery and Baltimore has given up production to pass catching running backs. In their Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills, James Cook caught all five of his targets for 58 yards. Last week in a blowout win, the Ravens still allowed the Cleveland Browns running backs to total 11 receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown.

Between the 10-12 carries he’ll see and the near 20% target share in this offense, he’s a solid option to produce this evening especially if the Lions find themselves trailing at any point.

Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions – DraftKings: $10,400 | FanDuel: $11,400

This slate is LOADED with good options at Captain so it’s hard to pick just four, but after the week and ceiling we saw from ARSB in Week 2, I’d be an idiot not to put him in this section. The slot receiver has also fared pretty well against the Ravens who are giving up significant production through the air to various positions.

In Week 1, Kahlil Shakir caught six passes for 64 yards and then in Week 2, Jerry Jeudy caught four passes for 51 yards. ARSB has a much higher floor than the likes of Shakir and Jeudy while also possessing a higher ceiling as we saw last week.

Marlon Humphrey has been dealing with a groin injury and he hasn’t looked particularly good through two games as he’s allowed a 139.1 passer rating. Two years ago when these two teams met, ARSB caught 13-of-19 targets for 102 yards so it’s no surprise he makes the Captain section.

Derrick Henry, RB, Baltimore Ravens – DraftKings: $10,800 | FanDuel: $13,200

Henry feels like a better play on DraftKings over FanDuel just based on pricing. He’s the most expensive player on FD while he’s the fourth-most expensive option on DK. It’s also incredibly hard to see him having two bad games in a row. In Week 1 he ran for 169 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Then last week he rushed 11 times for 23 yards. He can’t possibly have a bad game in consecutive weeks, right?

Now it could simply be that the Browns run defense is exceptional as the Fantasy Alarm X Account pointed out on Sunday. But there’s volume here and Henry rarely comes off the field. The Lions aren’t anything special at defending the run. They rank 15th against the run and Henry averages nearly a fantasy point per touch in half PPR formats.

He’s had some issues with ball security as he’s fumbled in each of the first two games this season. But alas, he’s not the kind of player whose job is in jeopardy because he gets a case of the fumbles. This is a great bounce back spot for one of the NFL’s greatest running backs ever.

 

 

 

Mid-Tier & DFS Value Plays for Monday

Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions – DraftKings: $9,400 | FanDuel: $11,000

Goff profiles as a great flex option because he correlates incredibly well if you go with any of his pass catchers at Captain. That includes the two options listed above in addition to Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, and dare I even say Isaac Teslaa?

Goff isn’t flashy and he doesn’t have the rushing upside that Lamar Jackson clearly has. But he has a great offensive line in front of him and he’s completing 80.6% of his pass attempts this season and he just threw for five touchdowns last week. He can certainly chuck the ball for the 300-yard bonus on DraftKings in this matchup while accumulating three passing touchdowns as well.

Heading into this matchup the Ravens rank outside the top 20 in pressure rate (27.8%), sack rate (2.9%), pressure-to-sack-rate (10.3%), blitz rate (19.0%), and pass rush win rate (32%). I’m expecting him to have plenty of time and clean pockets to get the ball to his pass catchers.

Zay Flowers, WR, Baltimore Ravens – DraftKings: $8,400 | FanDuel: $9,800

Zay Flowers absolutely qualifies as a Captain candidate. This is one of the few games this season where you can make a case for several players on this slate and I feel bad for not putting him up there. Per Fantasy Points Data, Flowers has a 39.6% target share through two games, which ranked second in the NFL just behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba entering Week 2.

Now I do want to add the caveat that Lamar hasn’t thrown a ton through two weeks, so the target share is due to regress as the passing volume increases but he’s still a great play that probably sees a 25-30% target share on a weekly basis.

According to Dataroma, the Lions surrendered the most production to slot receivers in 2024 at 100.6 yards per game and a total of 139 receptions on the year to slot receivers, which is where Flowers has run nearly half his routes this season. This is a great volume play as he’s caught seven receptions in each of the first two games this season.

Jameson Williams, WR, Detroit Lions – DraftKings: $8,000 | FanDuel: $8,400

Most weeks I feel like Jamo profiles better for Showdown slates as a Captain suggestion or you just don’t play him at all. For this matchup, you can definitely play him at Captain but I like the flex appeal as well too. He’s a variance play and has just nine targets through two games. But if the Lions find themselves in a trailing game script, that benefits his upside and the Ravens have struggled to defend the aerial attacks.

Through two games the Ravens have utilized man coverage with Cover 1 on 34% of their defensive snaps, which is about fifth-most in the NFL. They do mix in some zone concepts as well, but specifically when they go for man coverage that can help Williams because the Ravens may not have a defensive back that can keep up with him.

Last week Williams had two catches for 108 yards and a touchdown which is probably the most Jameson Williams stat line ever. But he can separate against this coverage and he gets targeted deep. I’d love to see just a few more targets go his way so definitely get some exposure to the upside here.

Sam LaPorta, TE, Detroit Lions – DraftKings: $5,400 | FanDuel: $6,800

LaPorta may offer a slightly better floor than Williams while Jamo is more of a home run play. LaPorta has seen more targets so far this year and is at least off to a slightly better start in 2025 than 2024.

Really it’s the price tag that’s most appealing with LaPorta because we know he has upside as we saw in his rookie season. But the Lions have an abundance of weapons at their disposal so he’s coming in at a bit of a discount again, but the scheme has favored opposing tight ends so far.

That heavy Cover 1 scheme we just mentioned in Jamo’s section has yielded production to tight ends through two games. In Week 1, the Buffalo Bills tight ends combined for six receptions on as many targets for 68 yards and a touchdown. Last week the Cleveland Browns tight ends caught 9-of-10 targets for 88 yards. The issue with LaPorta, as is the case with most tight ends, is that this position is touchdown dependent. But the price is incredibly friendly for our NFL DFS Showdown lineups.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Dart Throw Bargains

Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens – DraftKings: $4,000 | FanDuel: $5,000

The Baltimore Ravens through two games, have not attempted many passes. And when they have, nearly half of them have gone to Zay Flowers. Bateman has at least seen four targets in each of the first two games. DeAndre Hopkins may come in with more ownership because he’s found the end zone each of the last two weeks. Mark Andrews is priced above Bateman and has just two receptions through two games. So those two will make the player pool but I prefer Bateman.

Bateman played on Monday Night Football twice last year and scored in both games. For this game, Vegas is projecting plenty of offense and the Ravens have an implied team total of 29 points. Remember up in the Lamar Jackson section that he’s leading the league since 2024 in touchdowns of 10+ air yards so this is a solid spot for Bateman to break through for his first big game of the year.

Justice Hill, RB, Baltimore Ravens – DraftKings: $2,800 | FanDuel: $3,400

Hill is kind of expensive even if he makes the value section. The touchdown upside is very questionable, and he mostly would benefit from this game being a blowout. And this is a value play that may only get a few touches, but he had three receptions last week. But again, that was a blowout win against the Cleveland Browns.

In Week 1, in a more competitive game, he did see two targets, but the overall fantasy production was bad since he had -14 rushing yards. But he’s a cheap pass catching running back that could possibly see a few targets. We do need him to bring them all in and be productive after the catch. But if you’re paying up at other options on this slate then consider the next value option for more salary relief.

Isaac Teslaa, WR, Detroit Lions – DraftKings: $1,200 | FanDuel: $3,000

If you want exposure to Teslaa, then it’s probably better if you look at his player props because even for DFS, he’s still risky. He might be the fifth pass catching option on this offense and he’s lacking a significant snap share. His receiving line is currently set at 15.5 yards according to DraftKings Sportsbook while his receptions prop is set at 1.5 so those might be better to consider.

Last week, Dan Campbell did acknowledge that they want to get Teslaa more opportunities. Teslaa’s first two catches in the NFL have been insane one-handed highlight reel grabs. It’s hard to imagine how they draw up more opportunities for him as they probably only come on three-receiver sets. But at the end of the day, he’s incredibly cheap and can pay off this price tag with one or two ridiculous one-handed catches.

 

 

 

Lions vs. Ravens DFS Player Pool, 9/22

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