Welcome to the NFL Week 14 Monday Night Football Showdown Slate!

This is going to be one heck of a battle tonight as the Los Angeles Rams look to gain some ground on the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West division. Both quarterbacks are anxious to dominate, both teams are armed with an array of weapons and if this game resembles their Week 4 meeting where the Cardinals bested the Rams 37-20, we should be in for an exciting game. Both teams have also added new weapons since the last time they played as the Cardinals brought in Zach Ertz to give Kyler Murray another play-making pass-catcher while the Rams added Odell Beckham to the mix to make up for the loss of Robert Woods. With the potential for a lot of scoring, it is going to be vital to your DFS success to work your way through the information and assess the potential game flow. There are plenty of options available. You just need to find the right combination.

Now before we begin, please take a moment to understand what exactly you are getting yourself into by playing single-game Showdown Slates. We love to have some skin in the game, for sure, but these slates are, for all intents and purposes, a lottery ticket. Sure, there are times when the chalk hits and everyone shares in the prizes, but, more often than not, you need to hit on that random dart-throw that differentiates your lineup from that of the herd in order to claim the top prize. As a result, we encourage you to play responsibly and not over-invest. Stick to the GPP contests (single-entry preferred), don’t blow your whole bankroll, and understand that, unless you are a max-entry player, you should prioritize having fun.

OK. Lecture over. Let’s get to tonight’s action.

Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals

Spread: Cardinals -2

O/U: 51

Weather: cloudy with temperatures in the mid-60s; winds NNE 2 mph

Notable Injuries:

Los Angeles Rams

Darrell Henderson, RB – COVID

Tyler Higbee, TE – COVID

Brian Allen, C – knee (doubtful)

Rob Havenstein, RT – COVID

Terrell Lewis, LB – back (questionable)

Donte Deayon, DB -- COVID

Jalen Ramsey, DB – COVID

Arizona Cardinals

Chase Edmonds, RB – ankle (activated from IR but a game-time decision)

Justin Pugh, LG – calf (questionable)

Zach Kerr, NT – ribs (out)

DVOA Defensive Rankings

Rams

vs Pass: 11th 

vs Run: 2nd 

Cardinals

vs Pass: 3rd 

vs Run: 15th 

**Please note that players not listed below are not necessarily a complete fade and any player listed can certainly be used as the MVP/Captain. These are merely suggestions for players to use when setting Showdown lineups.

MVP/Captain

Kyler Murray, QB ARI – While the Rams have done well against opposing quarterbacks this season, Murray is obviously not your average guy. He showed last week that he was healthy again, rushing for 59 yards and two touchdowns, and he’ll be looking to improve on his numbers from back in Week 4 when he threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another 39 yards against these Rams.

Cooper Kupp, WR LAR – Kupp was held in check for the most part the last time these teams squared off, catching just five of his 13 targets for 64 yards with no touchdowns. He and CB Byron Murphy Jr. will dance again tonight as Kupp seeks his eighth 100-yard effort and 12th touchdown of the season.

A.J. Green, WR ARI – A bit of a contrarian play, but one that makes a lot of sense here. With Rams CB Jalen Ramsey working primarily out of the slot with the occasional move to the outside to cover DeAndre Hopkins, Darious Williams handling the bulk of the work against Hopkins and Donte Deayon out with COVID, the Cardinals will leave third-year back-up CB David Long on the right side to cover Green. When these teams faced each other in Week 4, the same coverage scheme was in place and Green posted five catches for 67 yards and a touchdown against Deayon. Long is just not as good.  

Mid-Tier

Matthew Stafford, QB LAR – The implied total of 51, obviously indicates a high-scoring game with shootout potential. Stafford chucked the ball 41 times during the Week 4 loss to Arizona and should probably follow suit here in their second meeting. He’s got Sony Michel lending support out of the backfield, but the expectation is that Stafford looks to take this game over.

Sony Michel, RB LAR – He rumbled his way to 124 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries last week, but that was against the Jaguars. He’ll lead the charge again this week btu the Rams are allowing the seventh-fewest rushing yards per game. On the bright side, they’ve coughed up 13 rushing touchdowns this season which is eighth-most in the league.

James Conner, RB ARI – He’s been an absolute beast all year and had a pair of scores against the Rams back in Week 4. However, that was when he was more of just their short-yardage back and with the possible return of Chase Edmonds tonight, his workload may be altered. If Edmonds has a role, Conner should still be a nice contrarian play.

DeAndre Hopkins, WR ARI – In Week 4, he spent most of his time being covered by Darious Williams with an occasional match-up against Jalen Ramsey. He still managed to wrangle in four of his seven targets for 67 yards, though he didn’t get into the end zone. He’s, obviously, still crazy talented and can still explode at any point, so while he may not be No. 1 on my list, another 60-odd yards will be fine so long as he does some end zone-dancing. UPDATE: Things actually don't really change here with Ramsey hitting the reserve/COVID list today. He was never shadowing Hopkins anyway. If anything, maybe this give Rondale Moore some attention now. He might be able to be used as more than just a dart throw now.

Van Jefferson, WR LAR – He’s really starting to blossom outside the shadow of Robert Woods and has touchdowns in each of his last two games. He also made six grabs for 90 yards and a touchdown back in Week 4, so look for Stafford to find Jefferson all over the field. His ability to line up both in the slot and on the outside has boosted his targets share significantly this season.

Odell Beckham, WR LAR – We’re all pretty familiar with who Beckham is as a receiver and the deep threat he poses each and every play. With touchdowns in each of his last two games, it’s obvious that Stafford seeks him out regularly. Look for the Rams to try and get him opposite Marco Wilson as much as possible.

Christian Kirk, WR ARI – He’s the contrarian play to using A.J. Green in the captain’s seat as Kirk’s workload has greatly diminished in the wake of Green’s resurgent season. If you don’t believe in Green and opt to leave him out of your lineup, Kirk could be an interesting option, especially with his ability to go deep.

Zach Ertz, TE ARI – The Rams may rank eighth in DVOA against the tight end, but they’re also allowing the 11th-most fantasy points per game to the position. He was averaging between five and six targets per game before he stepped out of last week’s game with an injury. He has since healed and carries no injury designation into tonight’s game. 

Dart Throws

Rondale Moore, WR ARI – With news that Chase Edmonds was not activated from IR, we'll pivot to a new dart-throw and with the added news that Jalen Ramsey is on the reserve/COVID list, we'll use Moore who gets sub-par coverage against him while coming out of the slot. Look for Arizona to use its speed against the Rams tonight who are seemingly dropping like flies. Moore could end up with strong yards after the catch and possibly even get into the end zone.

-------------------------------------------------

Are you done swimming with the sharks on Draft Kings and FanDuel? There is plenty of money to be won playing DFS over on Yahoo and we’ve got some bonus cash for you over there. Just go to fantasyalarm.com/yahoo and use the promo code ALARM for an immediate $25 bonus of contest credits on your first deposit.