Good afternoon, Family! Are you ready for some Sunday Night Football? What better way is there to end your week than a little NFL DFS Showdown on DraftKings and FanDuel? We have a good one tonight – it’s a rematch of Super Bowl LV as the Kansas City Chiefs hit the road to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game is also a potential Super Bowl LVII preview as the home team Bucs are a -1.5 favorite in a 46.5 current game total. Both teams are coming off tough losses last week and there is no doubt that Patrick Mahomes nor Tom Brady want to start mini losing streaks early in this NF season. So, something has to break between these two powerhouses and we will witness it all tonight on Sunday Night Football DFS Showdown! There is a full rundown of players and suggestions below and you can always take a look at our Weekly Match-Up Report and use NFL DFS Tools like our DFS Lineup Generator (a.k.a. the DFS lineup optimizer). We have everything you need to build a winning DFS lineup.

 

First of all, from the words of our fearless leader at Fantasy Alarm, Howard Bender:

Now before we begin, for those who are new to the process, 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, now let’s get to tonight’s action.
 

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS @ TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Spread: Bucs -1.5

O/U:

Open- 49.0

Live- 46.5

 

Weather:

Temp: 62 degrees

Humidity: 67%

Precipitation: 0%
 

Notable Injuries:

KANSAS CITY

Michael Danna, DE calf (OUT)

Harrison Butker, K left ankle (Out)

Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR abdomen (Questionable)

Joshua Kaindoh, DE illness (Questionable)
 

TAMPA BAY

Akiem Hicks, DE foot (Out)

Breshad Perriman, WR, knee/hamstring (Doubtful)

Russell Gage, WR hamstring (Questionable)

Chris Godwin, WR hamstring (Questionable)

Julio Jones, WR knee (Questionable)

DonoVan Smith, OT elbow (Questionable)
 

2022 DVOA Defensive Rankings:

Chiefs

Vs Pass: 14th

Vs Run: 6th

 

Bucs

Vs. Pass: 1st

Vs. Run: 10th
 

KEY STATS

Points Per Game

KC- 29.3

TB- 17.0
 

Points Against Per Game

KC- 21.7

TB- 9
 

Yards Per Game

KC- 374

TB- 297.3
 

Yards Against Per Game

KC- 313

TB- 289

 

**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

Patrick Mahomes (KC) Super Bowl 55 revenge game. Mahomes may not have Tyreek Hill to throw to anymore, but it sure hasn’t slowed him down one bit. Yes, the Bucs’ defense is no joke and one of the best, but it is pass funneling and a matchup-proof Mahomes can fill a stat sheet against anyone. The Chiefs run game has not been very good which will force the Chiefs to rely on the golden arm of Mahomes even more. Cash/GPP Capt.

Travis Kelce (KC) Kelce is the one player on the field tonight that is guaranteed to put up fantasy points. He is the alpha of the offense with 24 targets (17-230-2) and is the best tight end in football. If Mahomes is in your lineup, he needs to be handcuffed to Kelce- do not overthink this. Rock Kelce with confidence tonight. Cash/GPP Capt.

Leonard Fournette (TB) Fournette played on 91% of the offensive snaps last week and the fact he does not have to deal with a committee puts him in play as a possible Cash captain. He will see at the minimum 15 touches this week and gains a favorable matchup as the Chiefs allow the 8th most fantasy points to running backs on the season. Cash Capt.

Tom Brady (TB) Brady has struggled right along with the rest of his offense. He only has one TD pass in each game and has only gone over the 215 passing yard mark once. A plus is that he gets Mike Evans back tonight and possibly Godwin and Jones. All three would bump up his worth significantly since Brady is at his best when he has a group of receivers to look for in the open field. This should turn into a back-and-forth affair with Brady having to keep up with Mahomes through the air. Oh, and it’s prime time. Cash Capt.

Mike Evans (TB) Evans is back from his one-week suspension, and it was apparent that he was greatly missed last week as the Bucs could not get their offense going against the Packers. 

He is usually Brady’s main target and will likely see the most targets of any Bucs pass receiver, especially with the uncertain status surrounding Godwin and Jones. Evans is my favorite GPP leverage Captain tonight.
 

UTILITY 

Chris Godwin (TB) Godwin would be listed under Captain if he was healthy and we knew that he was 100%. Even if he plays he could end up a decoy and only a GPP play for me.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling (KC) MVS has the questionable tag but is expected to play tonight. He has at least four targets in each game this season and seven in each of the last two. This is a home run threat type receiver that is too cheap tonight.

JuJu Smith-Schuster (KC) JuJu has been a favorite of Mahomes over the first few games. He has caught 14 passes for 178 yards but is still looking for his first score. It could very well come tonight as he is coming off a nice 89-yard receiving game last week in the Chiefs loss to the Colts.  

Russell Gage (TB) Gage ended up as Brady’s go-to receiver last week and caught 12 balls for 87 yards and a score. If either Godwin or Jones is out, we could see another busy day for Gage and he would firmly be in play in all formats. If both play, he will be a dart GPP option at the most.

 

VALUE

Jerick McKinnon (TB) McKinnon appears to be the preferred passing back over Clyde Edwards-Helaire now and also comes in at a $3.2K discount on DK. He has played 52% of snaps and carried the ball the same number of times as CEH did last week (7). McKinnon could be a sneaky low-owned GPP piece to have in Mahome captain lineups.

Noah Gray (KC) Gray has seven targets and played on 47% of the snaps through three games and per ETR has used 2+ TE sets at the league's sixth highest rate (38.4%). We are playing for a TD here, but stranger things have happened in primetime games.

Ryan Succop (TB) Succop is automatic inside 50 and in play in cash games

Buccaneers D/ST is still solid and a $3.2K tag on DraftKings is very fair.

Rachaad White (TB) White has not played much at all and did not even touch the ball last week. He is though, an injury to Fournette away from major touches and playing time. GPP only but if you are mass-entering it may be worth a dart throw.