After impressive offensive performances in Week 1, two of the best teams in the NFC will square off in our second of tonight’s Monday Night doubleheader. The Philadelphia Eagles have their sights set on taking home a division crown, while the Minnesota Vikings are certainly riding high after defeating their arch-rival eight days ago.
What more could you want? Let’s break it all down.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $400K Showdown Special [$100K to 1st] (MIN vs PHI)
SHOWDOWN STRATEGY
Captain’s Picks
Jalen Hurts ($17,400 CP) - We’ve covered this territory a thousand times, but when a QB fits the archetype that Hurts does, he becomes almost impossible to ignore in Showdown. I guess I should say archetypes, actually. While every single player that received a carry eventually found the end zone for the Eagles last weekend, it was Hurts who led the team in rushing attempts (17) and red zone rushing attempts (4) against Detroit, on his way to 90 yards and a score. He also had 32 passing attempts which translated into 243 yards through the air. Though I’ll admit much of that aerial production was the result of YAC opportunities — Hurts averaged a league-worst 4.1 intended air yards per throw — any regression to fear in that facet of Hurts’ game will likely be cancelled out by normalization in the passing touchdown department. That’s the great thing about a dual-threat quarterback, it all doesn’t have to working simultaneously for huge results.
Dalvin Cook ($16,500 CP) - Obviously all stats we have for this game come with the caveat of small sample size, but it was legitimately jarring how easily the Lions ran over the Eagles’ front seven in Week 1. Philadelphia surrendered 181 yards on the ground in their 38-35 victory, with Detroit’s average of 6.5 yards per attempt the third-best mark of any team through a single weekend of action. Enter Cook. It was a relatively unheralded showing in his team’s win over Green Bay, yet Cook finished that contest with a 77.4% snap share and 108 scrimmage yards on 23 touches. Volume is not going to be an issue. I don’t think ownership will be, either. Following a 42.4 DKFP outburst last Sunday, expect Justin Jefferson ($13,000) to be a favorite in the Captain’s slot. While he provides an incredible ceiling, I doubt Eagles D/ST ($3,400) will have as terrible a game plan to stop Jefferson as the Packers. Just ask Jaire Alexander.
FLEX Plays
DeVonta Smith ($5,200) - This isn’t your classic “squeaky wheel” wide receiver situation, but I think all the elements will add up to the same result. After not catching a single pass in Week 1 versus the Lions, the Eagles coaching staff was very clear that involving Smith in the offense is a priority moving forward. I mean, Wawa can only keep a man happy for so long, Smith needs some volume. To that point, I wouldn’t expect the disparity we saw between Smith and A.J. Brown ($10,400) to continue on Monday evening, if for no other reason than it’s impossible to maintain a 46% target share for the whole season. Oddly enough, it was Smith with the higher snap share against Detroit (96.1%), while the Alabama product also ran a route on a higher percentage of his snaps (98%) than his new teammate (96%). I’d even go so far as to wager we see multiple Smith targets on the Eagles’ opening drive of the game.
Johnny Mundt ($2,000) - This is a situation to monitor. Irv Smith Jr. ($4,400) was expected to be the Vikings No. 1 tight end this season, yet it was Mundt that saw 40 snaps in Week 1 compared to Smith’s 19. On first glance, this could be simply chalked up to easing Smith back into action, as the former second-round pick missed all of 2021 and also didn’t play a snap in preseason. However, when asked about that following the team’s victory over the Packers, Kevin O’Connell denied any sort of snap limit. Is it possible that O’Connell, who was the offensive coordinator for the Rams the past two years, just prefers the familiarity of Mundt? I don’t want to overreact to one game, but if there’s a chance I can get a team’s TE1 into my lineup for $2K, I’m going to take it.
Fades
Miles Sanders ($8,000) - Sanders is coming off a very nice game against the Lions, but we need to look past the 96 rushing yards and the 18.5 DKFP. There’s a case to be made that Sanders is part of the league’s biggest backfield by committee, with not only Kenneth Gainwell ($5,000) and Boston Scott ($2,800) garnering significant roles in Week 1, but as previously mentioned, the Eagles also have a pseudo RB under center. While Sanders finished with 15 touches last Sunday, there’s a chance that was solely the product of a very advantageous game script. It’s just difficult to consistently pencil in a workload that large with so many mouths to feed.
THE OUTCOME
This should be a fun one. We’ve got two star-studded depth charts going up against each other in a game that has more significance that most would’ve guessed two months ago. That being said, it was clearly the Vikings with the more impressive tape in Week 1. With some questions about the Eagles’ defense — specifically its ability to stop Dalvin Cook — I’ll happily take the points with the road team on Monday.
Final Score: Minnesota 30, Philadelphia 24
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $400K Showdown Special [$100K to 1st] (MIN vs PHI)
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