One of the more anticipated Sunday Night games of the season pitting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the New England Patriots should be fun to watch, whatever side you’re on. The “prodigal son returns/revenge” rants are fun to discuss, but there’s a Showdown contest to be won; here are some plays that could help you in that endeavor.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.12M Return of the GOAT Millionaire [$1M to 1st + ToC Entry] (TB vs NE)
SHOWDOWN STRATEGY
Captain’s Picks
Tom Brady ($19,200) - Brady’s finished inside the top 3 in two of the three weeks this season with an unbelievable touchdown rate. The Buccaneers have an implied team total of 28 points, which is the fourth most this week. Brady should be a consideration in all formats, even if he’s going to be the chalk. The Bucs don’t run in the red zone very often, and their pass defense is giving up an average of 338.3 passing yards per game, so the game script should be on Brady’s side more times than not.
Mac Jones ($14,100 CP) - Rostering the guy who’s supposed to make everyone in New England forget who’s coming to town may be a fool’s errand, but hear me out. The implied game total sits at 49 as of press time, which is the sixth-highest this week. Sure, the Patriots looked lost against the New Orleans Saints, and Jones threw three INTs to one TD across 51 attempts. While the Patriots don’t want Jones to be passing it that much, they may have no choice. The Buccaneers run defense ranks fourth in yards/gm (67.3) and 31st in pass defense, giving up 10.1 yards per catch. The Bucs have played much better offenses than what they’ll see in Foxboro, but Jones and the Pats have an implied team total of 20.5, and I don’t see the majority of those points coming from their run game or D/ST. Jones has thrown for over 270 yards and a TD twice this season.
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FLEX Plays
Jakobi Meyers ($8,400) - The Tampa Bay secondary has given up an average of close to 340 passing yards per game to opposing offenses. The loss of James White should immediately help the New England tight ends in terms of targets, but Meyers has been the only pass-catcher to get consistent looks so far this season. Meyers ranks 13th in targets (29) thus far and averages 12.2 DKFP per game, but he hasn’t found the end zone yet. Good thing the Buccaneers have given up a league-high nine touchdowns to opposing pass offenses.
Fades
Damien Harris ($7,400) - Negative game scripts will not be kind to Harris this season, and the Patriots should be playing from behind for the majority of this game. Harris went for 14 yards on six carries last week and -3 receiving yards. James White’s injury should give players like J.J. Taylor ($1,200) and Rhamondre Stevenson ($800) more work, leaving Harris with a bulk of the early-down work against this stout run defense.
THE OUTCOME
In arguably the most-anticipated Week 4 matchup in recent history, the Buccaneers and Brady should win this game fairly easily. If there’s a unit that’s got the drop on Brady, it’s the Patriots’ coaching staff. Still, trying to disrupt Brady is different than actually doing it. It may start off being close, but Brady will have his redemption when the clock strikes all zeroes, even if he says he isn’t looking for one (we know he is).
Final Score: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34, New England Patriots 20
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.12M Return of the GOAT Millionaire [$1M to 1st + ToC Entry] (TB vs NE)
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
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