NFL DFS Picks: Wild Card Sunday Night Football DraftKings + FanDuel

Greetings, NFL DFS Gamers! Welcome to the Awesemo daily fantasy football Single-Game Prime Time series for FanDuel and DraftKings Showdown slates. Much like for the regular season “primetime” games, we will be providing free analysis for the single-slate nightcap playoff 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 of information and NFL DFS picks to get into for both DraftKings and FanDuel on this Wild Card Weekend Sunday Night Football game between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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NFL DFS Picks: Wild Card Sunday DraftKings + FanDuel

The Browns facilities were closed once again this week as the team is dealing with Covid-19. Head coach Kevin Stefanski, tight end coach Drew Petzing, secondary coach Jeff Howard, guard Joel Bitonio and wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge will not be with the team. On the defensive side both top cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Kevin Johnson will not be available as they are still on the Covid-19 reserve.

Cleveland Browns: 21.25

Quarterback

On a not-so-fun note, Baker Mayfield is projected only above Washington’s Taylor Heinicke on the full six-game slate this weekend. In last week’s matchup Cleveland hung on for the win in a game without Ben Roethlisberger. It was not quite as close as the 24-22 victory implied, as Pittsburgh scored the last two touchdowns, including one with less than 2 minutes to go.

Only six times this season has Mayfield topped 250 yards passing and he failed to crack 200 in either of his matchups against the Steelers. Some gamers will think he has rushing upside, but on the year he tallied just 165 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Pittsburgh has the best passing DVOA and the fifth-best rushing DVOA on the season. This year no opposing signal-caller had more than two touchdowns, and Alex Smith (296) was the only field general to surpass 280 yards.

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Running Back

Last weekend Nick Chubb became the first 100-yard rusher against the Steelers this season and only the fourth to top the century mark in the last 48 regular season games. It would seem we are looking once again at a 60/40 snap count split with Chubb and Kareem Hunt. While Andy Janovich will be on the field for around 10% of the plays, he has seven combined carries and targets on the year.

While Hunt is the passing-down back, it is not like Chubb is worthless in that aspect of the game. Similarly, Hunt is a perfectly capable rusher. As such, I have no issues playing both in the same lineup, other than the biggest knock is that they are going against an outstanding defense.

Wide Receiver

Rashard Higgins is going to make or break my lineups for every slate in which he is available. Yes, I would love to go with Jarvis Landry, but the discount is too good to pass over. Since the Week 9 bye after Odell Beckham went down, Higgins has 37 targets against the 53 of Landry. The price discount here is key, as is the potential of the defense being more worried about the former LSU standout as opposed to the one from Colorado State.

It sounds like Donovan Peoples-Jones will be active after suffering a brain bruise. The discount to Marvin Hall can allow for an upgrade at one or two other positions, so it is worth considering in the single-game format on DraftKings. Keep in mind that KhaDarel Hodge is out after testing positive for COVID-19 this week.

Tight End

Austin Hooper saw 15 targets in Week 16 when most of the Cleveland receivers were out per the COVID-19 protocol. Last week he saw five, and when healthy he is the clear top option over David Njoku. On FanDuel it is an easy decision to roll with Hooper. DraftKings makes things interesting, with Hooper nearly three times as spendy as Njoku.

Defense/Special Teams

Cleveland is languishing at the bottom of the leaderboard with 16 takeaways, which is the eighth fewest in the league. Pittsburgh allows just over one per game, so this seems like a fool’s errand. Looking at sacks, the Browns are in the middle of the pack with around 2.5 per tilt. Roethlisberger has been taken down only 14 times this season, which is the fewest in the league.

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Pittsburgh Steelers: 25.25

Quarterback

For perspective, Ben Roethlisberger is in the scrum just after Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson for the Wild Card Weekend fantasy quarterback options. The Browns have been in the bottom third of the league in most defensive metrics this season. Their advantage is controlling the time of possession and lucking into a 4-0 showing against the NFC East.

The 38-year-old quarterback is in his 17th season, and this will be his 11th outing in the playoffs. The best guess is that Cleveland will slow down the anemic Pittsburgh rushing effort, which will lead to more Roethlisberger passing opportunities. We should see no issues with the wind or precipitation, though the game-time temperature is going to be right at the freezing level.

Running Back

If you believe in the Pittsburgh rushing game, then just how many Yuenglings deep are you? In their last 10 games, the Steelers have a running back who has topped 50 yards rushing only three times. Look elsewhere on the single-game slate. With regards to the incredibly top-heavy single-slate contest, throw a few darts towards the Steelers rushing game — though this is ill-advised on all fronts.

In his last six games, James Conner has posted double-digit fantasy points only twice. It would seem that the Steelers are content to share the rushing responsibilities while focusing on the passing game. Wild as it may seem, any other running back option is likely to disappoint. Benny Snell could always sneak into the end zone, but we know the Steelers are just as likely to pass when in the red zone.

Wide Receiver

Now is the time we can take some chances. Diontae Johnson has had some mercurial swings with regards to his responsibility this season, though as some FSWA winners say, he is an alpha option, and who am I to disagree? Once we move beyond Johnson, we are looking to JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee), who has at least seven targets in eight of his last 10 games. Johnson has had seven targets in eight of nine, and we know that Chase Claypool can score from anywhere on the field.

With Roethlisberger averaging just over 40 pass attempts per game, we can have confidence that a couple of his receivers should be in line for solid fantasy performances. Smith-Schuster is dealing with a knee issue but is expected to play. In the event he is out, the target pool becomes even more concentrated among the active options. Despite a slow start to the season, Smith-Schuster is tied with Claypool for the team lead with nine touchdowns receiving.

Tight End

Eric Ebron missed last week while in the COVID-19 protocol. In his first season with Pittsburgh, he has dominated the tight end targets. We know that Roethlisberger is keen to utilize the short passing game, and Cleveland is shaky at best when it comes to impeding the fantasy production from this position, allowing the fourth-most fantasy points. Vance McDonald has just 14 targets this season in games with Ebron active.

Defense/Special Teams

Pittsburgh led the league in sacks, interceptions and was second in total takeaways. Though they rely on the running game, Mayfield is still averaging nearly an interception per start for his career. This is a reasonable spot to consider going above the field when we remember that head coach and play caller Kevin Stefanski will not be with the team per COVID-19 guidelines.

Wild Card Weekend Sunday Night DraftKings Showdown + FanDuel Single Game NFL DFS 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 Wild Card Weekend Sunday Night Football DraftKings + FanDuel NFL DFS Rankings

Wild Card Weekend Sunday Night Football Top 10 NFL DFS Picks

Ben Roethlisberger: While we will not be getting any yards rushing, he could approach 50 pass attempts.
Diontae Johnson: Easy call on DraftKings and FanDuel when we consider the lack of viable running backs.
Baker Mayfield: The swerve play is putting him in the FanDuel MVP slot and eschewing Roethlisberger.
Rashard Higgins: The price is right, and gamers do not seem to be enthralled with him even on the short slates.
Jarvis Landry: His popularity in tournaments is going to be high. This can be a leverage spot for those playing 20-plus lineups.
Chase Claypool: The electric rookie is always a breakaway threat.
Nick Chubb: He is priced like he is a bell cow option.
JuJu Smith-Schuster: Hopefully he doesn’t aggravate his knee injury while filming his latest TikTok.
Chris Boswell/Cody Parkey: Take your pick.
Pittsburgh D/ST: It will be interesting to see where their popularity lands.

Wild Card Weekend Sunday Night Football Secondary NFL DFS Picks

Eric Ebron: Solid pivot away from any of the Pittsburgh wide receivers.
Austin Hooper: He has been quite for most of the season, but he is still the top Cleveland tight end.
Kareem Hunt: In tournaments he is the direct leverage away from Chubb.
James Conner: 16-plus fantasy points just twice in his last 10 games.
Donovan Peoples-Jones: Should be cleared from the concussion protocol.

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Benny Snell Jr: Touchdown-hunting time.
James Washington: We have seen him with long touchdowns in primetime games twice already. Expecting more than 2-3 targets is difficult.
Cleveland D/ST: Looking for a pick-six or scoop-and-score.
David Njoku: Well down the pecking order, but still a viable red zone play.
Marvin Hall: Purely a punt play on DraftKings with a chance at one or two targets.
Vance McDonald: Would need an in-game injury to Ebron to have value.
Jaylen Samuels: Does just enough to warrant his own line.

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Author

Eric MacPherson

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].