DFS Thursday Night Football: DraftKings Showdown for Week 14 (Fantasy Football)
Before we get into the specifics of this matchup and how to approach it for the DraftKings showdown slate, I want to point people back to a few pieces of evergreen content that I think are extremely valuable if you’re serious about winning showdown all season. I’d recommend reading/listening to this content before proceeding, especially if you’re new to showdown.
1. How to Win Showdown Contests: A detailed article looking at the data and strategy behind winning showdown lineups.
2. DFS Showdown Strategy Podcast: A thorough discussion on how to beat showdown, looking at the game theory and how to leverage the field.
DraftKings Sportsbook Lines
Spread: DET -3
Total: 54.5
Team Totals: Lions (28.8), Cowboys 25.8)
Game Outlook
Giddy up! Week 14 kicks off with an absolute banger on Thursday night between the Lions and the Cowboys in a game featuring a juicy 54.5 total; No other game on the entire Week 14 slate as a higher total than this potential shootout in the dome in Detroit. For fantasy and DFS, this one should obviously be a lot of fun, but for real life NFL purposes, this matchup is critical to each team’s chances of reaching the post-season. Entering this week’s slate per NextGenStats playoff prediction model, the Cowboys have a 20% to make the playoffs that can improve to 39% with a victory while their chances plummet to 9% with a loss. On the other side, Detroit enters this game with a 41% chance to make the post-season. That number improves to 55% with a win and drops to 19% with a loss. In what is essentially a must-win game for both sides…If you have Thursday night plans, cancel them.
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