NFL DFS Sunday Night Football: FanDuel Single Contest Preview

This week, Sunday Night Football presents the DFS/FanDuel community with arguably the best NFL game of the week! Let’s take a look at this NFC battle from a fantasy perspective!

Before I dive into my FanDuel player picks for Sunday night’s single game contest let’s take a look at the key DFS injuries for this football game, briefly review the rules for the FanDuel single game contest, and discuss my analysis of this NFC contest.

Key DFS Injuries

Green Bay Packers: OUT: Robert Tonyan, TE: QUESTIONABLE: Danny Vitale, FB

San Francisco 49ers: DOUBTFUL: Matt Breida, RB, Robbie Gould, K: QUESTIONABLE: George Kittle, TE: Deebo Samuel, WR: Emmanuel Sanders, WR

Now let’s briefly discuss the rules for the FanDuel single game contest. You have $60,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your MVP. The FanDuel MVP accumulates 1.5 times the standard FanDuel points value.

The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard FanDuel points. Having stated that, it is imperative that you identify the correct player for your MVP position if you hope to take down a FanDuel single game contest.

If you have any additional questions regarding the rules for the FanDuel single game contest, I recommend that you check out the FanDuel website for more details.

As I evaluated this football game, I recognized that from a betting perspective I don’t have a definitive grasp who will win this game. However, I do feel strongly how I see the game script playing out on Sunday Night.

Let me elaborate on my perception of the game script in this NFC battle and discuss some key team statistical points that I think are relevant.

First of all, if you look at the San Francisco 49ers defense on paper you would be highly impressed with what they have done defending the pass in 2019. San Francisco is currently number one in the league defending the pass. However, as I dug a little deeper I recognized that the 49ers opponents to this point in the season have been rather weak from an offensive perspective.

How weak have the 49ers opponents been on offense? Well, the 49ers have played the third easiest schedule with regard to the offenses they have played. Let me break it down in more detail. The NFL is a 32 team league. Through 10 games in the 2019 season, the collective average of the offenses San Francisco has faced is 30th from a statistical perspective.

So the question that immediately came to my mind was clear. If the 49ers have not faced an elite offense to this point, how will they do from a defensive perspective versus Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers who has had a week to prepare for this contest?

If you look at the Packers offense from an efficiency standpoint, they have done a nice job if you look at the season’s first 10 games cumulatively. How efficient? The Packers currently rank as the fifth most efficient offense in the NFL.

Having stated that, the Packers offense has had a few blips on the radar if you will. An example of that would be the Packers recent loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. In week nine, the L.A. Chargers did an outstanding job of stifling the Green Bay offense. The Packers only managed 11 points in week nine. Additionally, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers only threw for 161 yards on 35 passing attempts.

One thing that both the 49ers and Packers defenses have in common is an inability to stop the run. Over the 49ers last three football games, opposing running backs are averaging 5.6 yards a carry. Turning to the Packers defense, they are currently allowing the sixth most fantasy points to opposing running backs.

I think the head coaches of both of these football teams will recognize that the way to attack the opposing defense in this game will be primarily on the ground.

Now that I have broken down the game in detail, let’s shift our focus to my FanDuel player selections for Sunday night football!

MVP-Aaron Jones $14,500

Why am I going with Jones as my MVP? Well, I mentioned earlier in this article that I believe both of these teams will be running the ball early and often on Sunday night. Having stated that, of all of the running backs in this game, I think that Aaron Jones has the highest ceiling from a fantasy perspective.

Let me explain in more detail why I think Jones should be the MVP in FanDuel lineups. Jones has clearly illustrated on a rather consistent basis that he is one of the main focuses of the Packers offensive scheme. Let’s just look at the statistics. Over the Packers last five games, Jones has rushed the ball 57 times, accumulated 337 rushing yards and added three rushing touchdowns. Additionally, in that same five game span, Jones has 16 receptions, 204 receiving yards and added three receiving touchdowns. Enough said!

Flex Plays

Tevin Coleman $10,500

Sticking with my belief that the running back position will be utilized in a big way Sunday night, my next flex play selection is 49ers running back Tevin Coleman. Earlier in this article I noted that 49ers running back Matt Breida is doubtful for this game. Breida’s injury designation clearly indicates that he is unlikely to play Sunday. His absence will clearly open the door for Coleman to produce a high number of FanDuel points in this game..

Earlier this season Coleman showed that he can handle carrying the load through an entire game. In week eight’s game versus the Carolina Panthers, Coleman accumulated 105 rushing yards on 11 carries. He added three rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown in the win over Carolina. His final FanDuel total for week eight was 36.8 points.

Rasheem Mostert $6,500

Next up is San Francisco running back Rasheem Mostert. It has to be said that I love Mostert’s low FanDuel price point of only $6,500. I think he has a very real potential to exceed fantasy expectations this week. It was reported earlier this week that due to Breida’s absence that Rasheem would see additional offensive touches. I can assure you that the 49ers will not leave Coleman on the field for every offensive snap.

Devante Adams $14,000

Adams is a fantasy monster that I cannot fade in this game. Yes, I know that the 49ers have demonstrated all year that they can defend the pass well. However, I also know that they have not faced a wide receiver and quarterback tandem near the talent level of Adams and Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Fade him at your own risk.

Deebo Samuel $11,000

Although Samuel has an injury designation of questionable, recent reports indicate that Deebo is on track to play Sunday. If he is active, he will be in my FanDuel lineup.

If you need data to support why Samuel will be in my FanDuel lineup, I can certainly provide it. Over San Francisco’s last three games, Deebo has been targeted by 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garappolo 28 times! Furthermore, he caught 20 of the 28 balls thrown his way in that three game span.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me on Twitter at @geeversgolf.

Good luck!