Let’s put the finishing touches on Week 17 with a matchup straight out of the NFC as the Los Angeles Rams head across the country to take on the Atlanta Falcons! Season-long fantasy football championships will be finalized and decided this evening and we’ve got some money to make with another NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook.

With both the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers winning on Sunday, the Rams have no shot at winning the NFC West. But they are locked in as a Wild Card team in the playoffs. Is it likely they rest some players in this same? Maybe, but I would only expect that to happen late in the second half if the game is firmly in control. Next week is when they could rest some star players ahead of the playoffs.

For the home team, the Atlanta Falcons are on a bit of a hot streak with Kirk Cousins under center having won back-to-back games and now their active pass rush will have a tough test with Stafford and Co. coming to town. Let’s take a look at the matchups, lineup building strategies, and some prop bets as we go live with the final NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook for the last game of the 2025 calendar year!

 

 

 

NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook; Rams vs. Falcons Game Preview

It’ll be interesting to see how the Rams operate for this primetime matchup. They close out the regular season at home next week against the Arizona Cardinals in a meaningless game. It would make sense to limit or rest their starters for that game, and treat Week 18 as a “soft” Bye week ahead of the playoffs.

But you still have to be flexible in a matchup like this. This game is meaningless for the Rams aside from building Matthew Stafford’s MVP resume and maybe trying to hit some contract incentives for other players. The team is already missing Davante Adams so you obviously don’t want to risk losing the likes of Stafford, Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams, etc. If an injury occurs in a game like this, the fanbase begins screaming and demanding answers as to why the starters were even in the game. This is truly the kind of game the Rams just want to get in and get out. The result doesn’t impact their playoff outlook at all. However, in winning this game they actually help their first-round selection position for the upcoming NFL Draft. I’ll explain why shortly.

For the Atlanta Falcons, they’ve already been eliminated from playoff contention but they’re giving their fans some optimism heading into the offseason. This team has far too much offensive talent to be this bad and miss the playoffs. The quarterback experiment the last two seasons hasn’t worked out. In what is arguably the weakest division in the NFL, the Falcons never really feel like contenders.

Personnel changes will likely be made in the offseason. The futures of Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot should be called into question considering the Falcons haven’t made the playoffs since the 2017 season and they’re routinely going out there and winning about seven games each year. So it’s not like they’re putting themselves in position for the top overall draft pick. And to that point, they don’t even have a first-round draft selection this year. The Rams actually own the rights to Atlanta’s first-round draft pick in 2026. So if the Rams win this meaningless game, they’re still improving their draft pick’s value.

Rumors started swirling over the weekend that the Falcons could bring in Matt Ryan for a high-level front office position. While that would probably appease the fans, this organization has a lot of decisions to make in the offseason because the fanbase is growing tired of being an afterthought in a winnable division.

 

 

 

Rams vs. Falcons Notable Injuries & Inactives

We’re once again monitoring the injury status for Davante Adams. He is listed as doubtful after not practicing this week so it’s likely we should operate as if he’ll be out this week and next week in an attempt to get him ready for the playoffs. The Rams have also ruled out offensive lineman Kevin Dotson and defensive back Josh Wallace. Braden Fiske and Alaric Jackson are listed as questionable.

For Atlanta, Drake London is technically listed as questionable after being a limited participant this week. However, he carried the same designation last week and still played 70% of the team’s offensive snaps. On the defensive side, the Falcons have already ruled out Clark Phillips III, Mike Hughes, and Sam Roberts.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Showdown MVP/Captain for Monday Night Football, 12/29

Puka Nacua, WR, Los Angeles Rams – DraftKings: $12,200 | FanDuel: $13,200

As long as he is healthy and can stay on the field, Nacua is certainly making an argument to be the 1.01 in fantasy football next year, although the next player we’ll preview certainly can stake a strong claim for himself. Per Dataroma, Nacua’s efficiency metrics are off the charts as he averages 4.18 yards per route run and 0.192 first downs per route run. His red zone usage may be the only knock on his game but there’s no arguing that he commands heavy volume which is enough of a case for him to be an MVP/Captain recommendation for the NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook.

According to ESPN’s Mike Clay, Atlanta has allowed the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers over the last eight weeks while three receivers have cleared 24 fantasy points against this defense since Week 11.

Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons – DraftKings: $11,800 | FanDuel: $12,800

He may not have the touchdown equity of other pass-catching running backs, with just nine on the season, but at the same time he still touches the ball a ton including in the passing game. In each of the last two games he’s seen 11(!) targets which is outrageous for a running back and he’s provided at least seven receptions for 80+ yards in each game. On the year he’s accumulated six 100-yard bonuses on DraftKings.

The Falcons offense has found some juice lately and Bijan’s been a big reason as to why. But the Rams come into this game favored by a touchdown and that likely means the Falcons opt to throwing the ball more in an effort to keep pace and Kirk Cousins has discovered that tapping into his star running back in the passing game is helpful to putting up 25+ points in a game. The Rams have allowed the eighth-most receptions to opposing running backs so this seems like a good opportunity to take the over on his 4.5 receptions and you can possibly ladder that up to 7+ receptions based on his heavy target volume the last two weeks.

Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams – DraftKings: $10,800 | FanDuel: $12,400

I do want to tread carefully here. Truthfully, there are some skill position players on this slate with absurd ceilings and that may limit the likelihood of a quarterback as the optimal MVP/Captain in this game. However, even though the Rams have nothing to play for as they’re locked into the NFC playoff pictures as a Wild Card team, all they can really do is continue to pad Stafford’s numbers for his MVP case.

With two games remaining, Stafford is sitting on 4,179 passing yards and 40 total touchdowns with just five interceptions. In six of his last nine games, he’s thrown at least three touchdowns and he’s hit the 300-yard bonus on DraftKings in each of his last two games. But those games were a bit more competitive than what we may get Monday night.

It is rare that we get this kind of a floor/ceiling combination with a quarterback that has almost no rushing upside. But I do like the upside in this matchup for another elite performance from Stafford and Co.

Drake London, WR, Atlanta Falcons – DraftKings: $9,800 | FanDuel: $11,200

It may surprise some people that Kyle Pitts isn’t in this section, but Drake London is. And to that point, you just have to play who you like at the end of the day. But even though the production wasn’t great last week, London still played 70% of the offensive snaps in Week 16 and he ran 30 routes and he saw eight targets which comes out to a 26.7% target per route run rate.

London did miss a significant chunk of time due to injury (Weeks 8 and 12-15). But you have to go way back to Week 2 to find a game where he didn’t receive at least eight targets. He’s only played in 10 games this year, but he’s gone for 100+ yards in half of them.

The Rams secondary has been susceptible to bleeding production to wide receivers of late. Just in the last three weeks alone, the Rams have allowed four opposing receivers to pop for 23+ fantasy points so it’s a great opportunity for London to get back on track with another full week of healing and practice under his belt.

 

 

 

Mid-Tier & DFS Value Plays for Monday

Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams – DraftKings: $9,600 | FanDuel: $8,400

Pricing probably lends him to being a better play on FanDuel than DraftKings. However, he’s still a solid core play for our lineups due to the touchdown equity. Yes, he will split drives with Blake Corum, who we’ll get to below. But at the end of the day, he has eight touchdowns in as many games since the team’s Bye week and he’s rushed for 70+ yards in all but one of those games. You can probably play the over on his rushing line of 63.5 rushing yards and possibly ladder that up to 70 or 80 yards depending on how risk averse you are.

On the season, the Falcons are allowing the seventh-most rushing yards per game (128.2) and the eighth-most rushing yards per attempt (4.6) so when the ball is in Kyren’s hands you can feel pretty good about the productivity you’ll receive and if he finds the end zone once again then he’s probably optimal as a flex play.

Kirk Cousins, QB, Atlanta Falcons - DraftKings: $9,000 | FanDuel: $10,200

In the right matchup, Cousins can be great. This may be the right kind of game script/environment for him and we’ve already alluded to how weak the Rams have been against opposing receivers, and that obviously can correlate well to quarterbacks. The Rams have given up 89 total points and 277.7 passing yards per game over the last three weeks.

Cousins does obviously carry some risk as he does have four turnovers in his last three games and has virtually no rushing upside even if he did find the end zone on the ground a week ago. But he does have six total touchdowns in his last two games and the Falcons are on a small winning streak after another disappointing season. He correlates very well as a flex play with Bijan, London, or even Kyle Pitts at MVP/Captain.

Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons – DraftKings: $8,800 | FanDuel: $8,000

You can certainly play Pitts at MVP/Captain if you so choose. There are so many routes you can go for the NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook that it does make lineup building kind of fun. Pitts has been great down the stretch and while he did have the big game in Week 15, that’s the only time he’s cleared 20+ fantasy points this season.

But even with London back last week, he still found the end zone and caught seven-of-nine targets for 57 yards. He touted a 25.7% target share and a 29.2% first-read target share. And keep in mind, Pitts is an unrestricted free agent this coming offseason and he’s doing a lot in the closing weeks to increase his stock. The Falcons consolidate their passing volume to mostly Bijian, London, and Pitts so despite London’s presence we can still feel pretty good about playing Pitts.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Dart Throw Bargains

Blake Corum, RB, Los Angeles Rams – DraftKings: $4,600 | FanDuel: $7,200

Corum will be popular as a value play and I don’t know why DraftKings and FanDuel didn’t try to make things a little difficult and price him up more. He has five touchdowns in his last four games and he has double-digit carries in three straight matchups. He’s a solid bet to score a touchdown and you can likely find plus-money on those odds as he’s averaging 2.2 red zone touches per game and he’s performed as the RB8 over the last four weeks.

He is the 1B to Kyren’s 1A, but we’ve already touched on Atlanta’s struggles trying to defend the run. I’d be perfectly fine rostering both Los Angeles running backs together, but I likely wouldn’t roster either at MVP/Captain.

Colby Parkinson, TE, Los Angeles Rams – DraftKings: $4,400 | FanDuel: $5,000

Parkinson definitely left a bad taste in the mouths of fantasy football managers last week. After performing as a top five tight end from Weeks 10-15, he only caught two passes for 21 yards in Week 16. If you avoided the dud in your fantasy football semifinal matchups, then more power to you.

I don’t want to be too soured based on one bad game. The timing of it was unfortunate, but this is an offense that still will not have Davante Adams and they utilize 13-personnel at a high rate. For that reason we also will have Terrance Ferguson and Davis Allen in the player pool below because they all offer some cheap touchdown equity while the latter two offer more salary relief.

Darnell Mooney, WR, Atlanta Falcons – DraftKings: $4,000 | FanDuel: $6,200

I won’t spend too much time on Mooney because I can’t make too much of a case for him just based on what he’s done of late. Even when London missed time, the team just leaned more on the running game and Kyle Pitts rather than featuring Mooney.

But we can at least acknowledge that this is a game where Atlanta could likely be trailing and that requires an “all hands on deck” approach. Mooney does have the potential for big catches but has just one touchdown on the year. But he’s still cheap and you only need him to break off for one big play and take it to the house.

Konata Mumpfield, WR, Los Angeles Rams – DraftKings: $2,200 | FanDuel: $4,600

Mumpfield saw an expanded role in the offense last week with Davante Adams sidelined. He saw eight targets and certainly ran plenty of routes, but the production resulted in just three catches for 40 yards. We can keep an open mind with a lot of the value pass catchers for Los Angeles. That also includes Xavier Smith and Jordan Whittington as well, but we also need to be mindful that the cheap tight ends might provide a better floor. But either way, the Rams have an implied team total of 28 points which should make us feel better about paying down for some of their cheap pass catchers.

 

 

 

Rams vs. Falcons DFS Player Pool, 12/29

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