There are only two games on Sunday\u2019s main slate with an over\/under higher than 45 points, because the NFL usually does a pretty good job of scheduling.<\/p>\n
The teams that are more likely to drive TV ratings \u2014 i.e. the best teams with the best players \u2014 have already played this week or will play in primetime on Sunday and Monday night. There are only five teams predicted to score 25 or more points.<\/p>\n
Notwithstanding the Christmas Day snooze fest, this means our player pool is significantly diminished.<\/p>\n
There are only nine games, but it feels even smaller than that. There are a lot of teams who just don\u2019t deserve our consideration this week.<\/p>\n
This is why I\u2019m focusing the bulk of my attention on the one game to rule them all: the Bengals vs. Cardinals.<\/p>\n
An over\/under of 53\u00bd seems low.\u00a0 Game stacks from this game could be impossible to beat if it plays to its upside.<\/p>\n
Arizona has allowed at least 40 points in four of its last seven games, and never fewer than 20 during that stretch.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati has scored at least 32 points in three of the four games since Joe Burrow returned from his foot injury.<\/p>\n
On a slate this small, with even less certainty than usual, this matchup stands out in a major way.<\/p>\n
The Preamble<\/p>\n
Devising the perfect Daily Fantasy Sports strategy for the NFL can be a challenge, which is why I\u2019m here weekly to assist.<\/p>\n
On DraftKings, it\u2019s important to remember you\u2019re playing full-point PPR with bonuses if a player surpasses 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards or 100 receiving yards.<\/p>\n
Here is my optimal lineup for today\u2019s NFL $2.25 million Fantasy Football Millionaire contest, but it can be utilized as a foundation in other games and platforms.<\/p>\n
All prices listed are courtesy of DraftKings with a $50,000 budget.<\/p>\n
The optimal lineup has netted $120 this season, so I\u2019m in the red $185 with an average score of 132.68 points through 16 weeks.<\/p>\n
Year-To-Date Results<\/p>\n
Week 1: 95.52<\/p>\n
Week 2: 124.90<\/p>\n
Week 3: 181.44<\/p>\n
Week 4: 142.88<\/p>\n
Week 5: 162.24<\/p>\n
Week 6: 117.24<\/p>\n
Week 7: 116.46<\/p>\n
Week 8: 158.26<\/p>\n
Week 9: 146.94<\/p>\n
Week 10: 114.44<\/p>\n
Week 11: 118.68<\/p>\n
Week 12: 147.58<\/p>\n
Week 13: 119.72<\/p>\n
Week 14: 137.12<\/p>\n
Week 15: 124.50<\/p>\n
Week 16: 114.90<\/p>\n
Week 17 lineup<\/p>\n
QB: Joe Burrow, Bengals ($6,500)<\/p>\n
A bad finish to the season could cost Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor his job, which means Taylor likely leans on Burrow for proof of concept this partnership should continue. The Cardinals only have 26 sacks this season, third-fewest in the NFL, and are 29th in pressure rate. Burrow\u2019s capable of eviscerating any defense from a clean pocket.<\/p>\n
RB: Saquon Barkley, Eagles ($7,600)<\/p>\n
Barkley has at least 20 touches in five of the last seven games, and he\u2019s scored in the last three. He needs 155 total yards to earn a $250,000 bonus.\u00a0The Bills have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to running backs this season, including the second-most touchdowns. It behooves Philadelphia to help Barkley cross that threshold so he can rest in Week 18 before the playoffs, like he did last year.<\/p>\n
RB: Tyrone Tracy Jr., Giants ($5,400)<\/p>\n
Ashton Jeanty is projecting to be mega-chalk this week, so I\u2019m utilizing a skinny game-stack featuring the opposing running back and a Raiders\u2019 receiver as leverage. Tracy has at least 18 touches in four of his last five games. It\u2019s clear Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka has been charged with protecting franchise QB Jaxson Dart from himself by taking the ball out of his hands. According to Fantasy Pros, the Raiders have allowed the 10th-most rushing yards per game, the seventh-highest missed tackle rate, and the second-most yards after contact per attempt to running backs since Week 12.<\/p>\n
WR: Ja\u2019Marr Chase, Bengals ($8,300)<\/p>\n
Chase stacks perfectly with Burrow, has the highest floor on the slate, and it\u2019s been two months since he\u2019s had a ceiling game. Tick, tick, tick \u2026<\/p>\n
WR: Jakobi Meyers, Jaguars ($5,300)<\/p>\n
Since being traded to Jacksonville, Meyers has at least six targets in six straight games. The red-hot Jaguars are playing indoors against the spiraling Colts in the game with the second-highest total (48\u00bd) on the slate.<\/p>\n
WR: Tre Tucker, Raiders ($3,800)<\/p>\n
Tucker has over 25% of the team\u2019s targets with Brock Bowers off the field since Meyers was traded. The Giants have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season, including the sixth-most PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers since Week 12.<\/p>\n
TE: Mike Gesicki, Bengals ($3,500)<\/p>\n
Gesicki allows me to differentiate my lineup from those in the field who will gravitate towards pairing Chase, Tee Higgins or Chase Brown with Burrow in a Bengals triple-stack. According to Fantasy Pros, Arizona has allowed the fifth-most yards per target and the eighth-most fantasy points per game to tight ends since Week 10.<\/p>\n
FLEX: Trey McBride, Cardinals ($7,500)<\/p>\n
McBride completes my primary game stack. He needs eight receptions to surpass Zach Ertz\u2019s single-season record (116) for tight ends. McBride fell five short of tying Ertz last season. He also has an outside shot at breaking Travis Kelce\u2019s single-season record for yards (1,416). McBride needs 319 in the final two games of the season. The Bengals are historically bad against tight ends, allowing an average of seven receptions, 91 yards and TD per game to the position.<\/p>\n
DST: Carolina Panthers ($2,100)<\/p>\n
An underrated Panthers defense is cheaper than it should be at home against a team traveling cross-country quarterbacked by Sam Darnold, who has been known to lay an egg or two. A win clinches Carolina the NFC South title if the Buccaneers lose at Miami.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are only two games on Sunday\u2019s main slate with an over\/under higher than 45 points, because the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[59529,11177,11178,59522,11174,59523,24517,6425,59524,6131,59527,11175,59521,752,59520,74,76,75,11182,59526,59528,59525,59519],"class_list":["post-111044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-carolina-panthers-defense","tag-dfs","tag-dfs-lineup","tag-dfs-week-17","tag-draftkings","tag-draftkings-week-17","tag-jamarr-chase","tag-jakobi-meyers","tag-joe-burrow","tag-lineup","tag-mike-gesicki","tag-milly-maker","tag-milly-maker-week-17","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-week-17","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-saquon-barkley","tag-tre-tucker","tag-trey-mcbride","tag-tyrone-tracy-jr","tag-week-17"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}