Week 4 NFL DFS Monday Night Showdown Preview: Patriots at Chiefs

The season continues with the first of two Monday night showdowns, and we’ve got the breakdown to help you win big in the last two Week 4 NFL DFS contests!

Introduction to Single-Game Showdowns

DraftKings calls them “Showdowns,” and FanDuel doesn’t really have a name for them other than “Single-Game Contests,” but whatever we call them they require an understanding of game narratives and game theory – which means we need to target low-ownership players that will give us the best opportunities within the narratives and game outcomes we’re expecting.

My picks will focus almost exclusively on finding GPP-winning combinations that have a chance at taking down the contests you’re entering, be they single-entry or MME. While we can’t cover all the possible combos or provide full lineups for you to deploy, the goal here is to give you the tools to win and highlight some names that will help make for profitable results.

If I enter five lineups in a large-field GPP, at least three of those lineups will focus on the most likely game outcome (based on Vegas odds, props and totals), with one or two contrarian builds. As we know, late-breaking news can have a significant effect on full slates, and that’s just amplified with single-game contests. If you have any questions leading up to lock, please consult our NFL DFS experts in Discord.

Let’s get to the game!

Week 4 NFL DFS MVP candidates (1.5x points)

Some notes on the differences between MVP on FanDuel and DraftKings: The 1.5x point boost on FD comes with no salary penalty, while and DK also bumps the salary to 1.5x – a crucial factor in deciding who we can and cannot afford on both sites. We can use this to our advantage on FD by occasionally targeting non-QBs to establish more variance and more unique lineups, and on DK it allows us to build more hearty overall stacks when we punt the MVP position with a cheap but high-upside player.

Chalk: Patrick Mahomes (DK $18,900, FD $17,000)

Pivot: Clyde Edwards-Helaire (DK $14,100, FD $13,000)

Contrarian #1: Tyreek Hill (DK $16,500, FD $13,500)

Contrarian #2: Rex Burkhead (DK $10,500, FD $10,500)

Pricing is much softer this week and given the depressed pricing on the Patriots RBs and secondary receiving options (after Julian Edelman), it’s much easier to field a showdown lineup with Patrick Mahomes as captain.

I’m still very much interested in using RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and using him up top frees up even more salary to stack up Mahomes and TE Travis Kelce, or even WR Tyreek Hill.

The key to smashing this showdown will be which two Patriots offensive players you select, and there’s a few combos I have interest in. But we also need to get shares of Mecole Hardman and DeMarcus Robinson, who are both very affordable.

I also have plenty of interest in the Chiefs DST in this matchup, if for any other reason than this will not be your typical Bill Belichick-coached Patriots team, and the tight travel schedule and limited preparation could lead to more mistakes than we’ve become accustomed to. With Cam Newton (COVID-19) unavailable for Monday’s game, Brian Hoyer is the starting QB. And while his price is affordable, I don’t have a ton of interest in using him against the formidable Chiefs unit.

Both James White (who is playing but missed the last two weeks) and Julian Edelman (questionable, knee) are question marks, so the two best Patriots offensive players to target might be Rex Burkhead and N’Keal Harry. If Edelman is healthy, he’s probably worth using, and White (the definition of a boom-or-bust DFS play tonight) is a complete wild card with Sony Michel already ruled out and the Pats needing live bodies for their backfield.

Utility options (and some DOs and DON’Ts)

Remember to build your team based on a narrative that makes sense, and utilize the WinDaily fantasy toolbox for cheatsheets and projections that can help you tremendously with lineup building.

DO: Build a trio (or quartet) of offensive weapons for a team that makes sense together

DON’T: Use Patriots-heavy stacks over the Chiefs tonight. I just don’t see it working out given the events of the past few days.

DO: Use the projected team totals to shade one way or the other with your selections.

DON’T: Build a showdown lineup without at least three Chiefs players – it’s not the time to get cute.

Now that we’ve established some narratives and MVP candidates, the best way to round out this piece is with a list of my favorite options in descending order, based on overall value (a combo of salary and projected points):

1. Patrick Mahomes
2. Clyde Edwards-Helaire
3. Tyreek Hill
4. Travis Kelce
5. Rex Burkhead
6. Chiefs DST
7. Brian Hoyer
8. Julian Edelman (questionable)
9. James White
10. Harrison Butker
11. N’Keal Harry
12. Mecole Hardman
13. Damiere Byrd
14. Sammy Watkins
15.  DeMarcus Robinson
16.  Darrel Williams
17.  Ryan Izzo
18.  Nick Folk