Friday Night DFS Single Game Breakdown: Vikings at Saints

Dec 24, 2020

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Just like with Thanksgiving, the NFL is doing us a favor by giving us a distraction from family during a holiday (at least the family you have been surrounded by since March). Much like a Jelly of the Month Club subscription, we are being gifted something useful—a football game on Christmas with playoff implications. The Minnesota Vikings travel to New Orleans to take on the battered Saints.

Both teams are coming off tough losses that had significant ties to their playoff futures. The Saints can play Scrooge to the Vikings’ diminishing postseason hopes with a win, while the Vikings will try to put the pressure on Drew ‘Tiny Tim of Rib Injuries’ Brees and suffocate a wilting offense.

Before we get to the hard-hitting analysis: Be well. Be safe. Enjoy the season.

It is vital to remember that single-game slates are not simply a “max salary, play as many big names as possible, and submit” format, especially in larger tournament fields. We need to identify players that can be pieces in their offense’s success, whether in the lead or trailing, as well as the players that could be focal points in a neutral game script. The ability to then take those players and identify which will succeed in the single-game format will put us in a better position to succeed as daily fantasy players.

Remember that the captain spot is different on DraftKings than on FanDuel. The captain spot on DraftKings delivers fantasy points and prices multiplied by 1.5. The MVP spot on FanDuel will score at the same rate but without the increased pricing for the player slot. All flex positions score normally.

Vegas Total and Spread

The Saints are 6.5-point home favorites in a game with a 50.5-point game total. New Orleans has a 28.5-point implied team total, while Minnesota has an implied team total of 22 points.