DFS Thursday Night Football: DraftKings Showdown for Week 5 (Fantasy Football)

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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 are serious about winning showdown all season. I would recommend reading/listening to this content before proceeding, especially if you are 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: DAL -8.5
Total: 47.5
Team Totals: Cowboys (28.0), Bucs (19.5)

Game Outlook

Week 5 in the NFL kicks off on Thursday night with the reeling 0-4 Bucs heading to Jerry’s World to take on the Cowboys with the total sitting at a solid 47.5. To no one’s surprise, the Cowboys are heavy favorites here with oddsmakers pricing Dallas as 8.5-point favorites as of this writing. Worth noting, this line was 10.5 on Sunday evening/Monday morning, so there has been some market movement in favor of Tampa. I’ll discuss how that could impact our DFS decisions more in the ‘Game Theory Ideas’ section below, but from a top down perspective, we should have some confidence in the market expectation for the home team. In Week 5, only the Lions, Rams have a higher implied team total than the Cowboys.

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