NFL Prime Time Games: Week 5 Sunday Night Football Seahawks vs. Vikings | DraftKings + FanDuel

Greetings, NFL DFS Gamers! Welcome to the Awesemo NFL DFS Single-Game Prime Time series for FanDuel and DraftKings Showdown slates. For each of the featured games, typically Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football slates, we will be providing a free analysis for the single-slate action on DraftKings and FanDuel. This will include team capsules as well as player rankings and comments for all of your daily fantasy needs. We have loads to get into on this Sunday Night Football slate between the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks, with thoughts on Russell Wilson, Dalvin Cook and more NFL DFS picks for your NFL DFS lineups.

Ben Rasa's Bet of the Day Awesemo's sports betting expert Ben Rasa pours over the day's betting lines and breaks down the best bet of the day for you to build your sports betting card around.

NFL DFS Picks: Sunday Night Football Showdown | Vikings at Seahawks -7.0 | O/U 56.5

Minnesota Vikings:  24.75

Quarterback

This is a cherry matchup for Kirk Cousins. Seattle is allowing 401.0 passing yards per game. They also have the most yards allowed per pass and the 29th passing DVOA per Football Outsiders. Because they put so many points on the board themselves, they are forcing their opponents to throw constantly. On average, quarterbacks are throwing 50.0 times per game against them. That is a key metric because Cousins has only averaged 25.0 pass attempts per game this season. Despite the low volume, he still has six touchdowns, but the six interceptions are not helping his cause.

Running Back

Dalvin Cook comes in as the third-best play for the entire week in full-PPR formats. In half-PPR he dips to ninth on the Awesemo Big Board. Seattle has actually been decent against the run with the sixth-best rushing DVOA. Do not let that dissuade you from rolling with Cook as he is active in the passing game as well. Alexander Mattison is seeing about 25% of the carries and 30% of the backfield targets when he is spelling Cook. This maths out as he is playing about 23-25% of the snaps each game. C.J. Ham has played on 48% and 42% of the snaps the last two weeks, but he is mainly a blocker seeing just two carries and three targets on the year.

Wide Receiver

It should not be a surprise that Adam Thielen is a top five option on DraftKings for the full slate, but it caught me off guard that he is coming in as No. 2 on the Awesemo Big Board. For the single-game contests he is a top-three play, and depending on your risk/reward tolerance there is an argument to make him our Captain/MVP for the bonus points. With Stefon Diggs out of the picture, Thielen is playing nearly 92% of the snaps, and he has a whopping 32.6% target share.

Rookie first-rounder Justin Jefferson has cemented himself as the number two option in the Vikings passing game. Over the last two games he has 14 targets which is only one less than Thielen. Keep in mind that while the Vikings are a run-first team, Seattle has already allowed 11 different receivers to post five catches and 65+ yards. Olabisi Johnson and Chad Beebe are not getting a lot of work, but they are in play for the single-game contests.

Tight End

If coach Mike Zimmer had his druthers, the Vikings would run 12-personnel nearly a third of the time. They may not have that luxury if Seattle can get a couple of quick scores on the board. Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith are both capable receivers, they just do not see any target volume in positive or neutral situations. For the single-game slate, it is worth considering the price discount of Smith over Rudolph since there are so many other options where we will need the extra salary cap.

Defense/Special Teams

Based on the volume of dropbacks, there is opportunity here for Minnesota. Keep in mind the most we can lose for points allowed is four fantasy points. Seattle should be good for three or four sacks and a turnover or two on Sunday night. The Vikings have three takeaways and only seven sacks so gamers looking at past history are going to shy away.

Seattle Seahawks: 31.75

Quarterback

Finally the Seahawks are letting Wilson loose, though a lot of this is coming on amazing efficiency. Through the first month of the season, Seattle is actually still just 24th with 34.25 pass attempts per game. They are first, however, with 9.4 yards per attempt and 16 touchdowns against just two interceptions. Wilson’s 303.0 passing yards per game is third behind only Dak Prescott and Josh Allen. The Vikings will be without linebackers Ben Gedeon, Cameron Smith and Troy Dye as well as defensive linemen Danielle Hunter and Michael Pierce.


Editors Note:

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Running Back

Chris Carson is managing a knee injury, and Carlos Hyde missed last week and remains questionable with a shoulder injury. If Hyde is out, second year man Travis Homer will see around a third of the snaps. He is a capable receiver and rusher but has just 44 carries and 21 targets over his 22 games, including being pressed into postseason duty last year. Carson does not get a lot of volume, but he does have five touchdowns, which include three receiving scores in his last two games.

Wide Receiver

Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf are essentially splitting the workload and both have been incredibly efficient. Lockett is cheaper on DraftKings, while Metcalf gets the discount on FanDuel. We are going to want to have both in our lineups. David Moore is the third man, and while he has just 11 targets this year, he has two touchdowns, and we know that Wilson is content to take what the defense gives him. Freddie Swain is on the field almost as much as Moore. However, he has just five targets on the season.

Tight End

Over the last four seasons nearly 30% of Seattle’s touchdowns have gone to the tight end position. That works out to 0.61 per game. This year, while they only have two, that should course correct. Greg Olsen was brought in this offseason to shore up the position, but Will Dissly is capable and will be on the field nearly as often, plus this is his third season playing with Wilson.

Defense/Special Teams

Despite just 25.0 pass attempts per game, Minnesota has allowed 2.5 sacks and 1.5 turnovers on average. Seattle is usually good for a couple sacks per game, but they are going to need a splash play to be a difference maker in tournaments.

Sunday Night Football Showdown + Single Game Strategy

The rankings below are best utilized for building out single-entry and three-max lineups and also for head-to-head and three-man formats. They provide a nice barometer for player value, but for those of you who are taking the MME approach, remember that correlation with your lineups is key. This means matching a receiver or two if you have a quarterback in the Captain/MVP slot. This also works conversely with pairing a Captain/MVP pass catcher with their signal-caller.

EMac’s Sunday Night Football NFL DFS Rankings

Sunday Night Football Top 10

  1. Russell Wilson: Do not even think twice about this.
  2. Dalvin Cook: My preference for his ability to contribute in all facets of the game.
  3. Adam Thielen: He does make a strong case as the second-best option.
  4. Justin Jefferson: Lack of name recognition for the rookie moves him up this list along with salary savings.
  5. Kirk Cousins: Just eight 300-yard games in his 35 as the Vikings signal-caller. Multiple scores in 20, however.
  6. Tyler Lockett/D.K. Metcalf: The former on DraftKings and the latter on FanDuel based on pricing. Play both if possible.
  7. Chris Carson: Clearly he gets the high-leverage plays. The three receiving touchdowns in his last two games are very nice.
  8. Jason Myers/Dan Bailey: Salary savers, and we know these two teams should be in field goal range all night.
  9. Greg Olsen: Preferred on FanDuel for the discount. We are touchdown hunting here. I would go with a TE2 on DraftKings.
  10. Will Dissly/Irv Smith Jr: DraftKings only unless you are building 20-plus lineups on FanDuel. Their salaries make everything else work.

Sunday Night Football Secondary NFL DFS Plays

  1. Alexander Mattison: He is capable in the rushing and passing game. Really needs a fortuitous touchdown to pay off. Of course, an in-game injury to Cook would get him there as well.
  2. David Moore: 97 career targets for 53/919/9 with 17.3 yard per catch. He just needs the opportunities.
  3. Kyle Rudolph: Not overly exciting, but the Vikings are all but assured of approaching 40 pass attempts.
  4. Travis Homer: If Hyde sits, move him to the top of this section.
  5. D/STs: While I prefer Seattle, no fans in attendance and the discount for Minnesota really has them as a push.

Sunday Night Football Lottery Tickets

  1. Olabisi Johnson/Chad Beebe: Coin flip. Both are better options on DraftKings where the savings is more extreme.
  2. C.J. Ham: He should at least be on the field and could do something with a desperation outlet pass.
  3. Freddie Swain: Seattle likes their rookie sixth-rounder. He is just well down the pecking order.
  4. Jacob Hollister: Would need a red zone look.

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Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].

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