Sunday Night DFS Single Game Breakdown: Patriots at Seahawks

Sep 18, 2020

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Sunday night’s Patriots-Seahawks matchup features two quarterbacks coming off dominant Week 1 performances in a game that has all the makings of a barn burner if Seattle’s run-loving coaches continue their new strategy of maximizing touchdowns.

New England’s muddled backfield offers this matchup the kind of uncertainty we like to see in single-game contest tournaments. Within the uncertainty lies opportunity.

Below is a breakdown of single-game DFS contests on FanDuel and DraftKings for the Week 1 Thursday Night Football matchup. Constructing single-game lineups requires some imagination, especially for large-field tournament purposes.

We want to create a lineup that reflects a certain kind of game script, choosing players who would thrive—or at least have the chance to thrive—if their teams got out to a lead or were left chasing points in the second half. There’s also the neutral script that doesn't tend to inflate opportunity for any one player or team. Understanding the likelihood of each scenario and piecing together a roster that would score a bunch of points in such a scenario is key to success in these single-game contests.

Remember: For the captain spot on DraftKings, the price (and fantasy points awarded) are multiplied by 1.5. On FanDuel, the prices are the same throughout, but the MVP slot receives 1.5 times the fantasy point value of the other roster spots.

Vegas Spread And Total

This Sunday night game doesn’t feature a particularly healthy over-under; at 45, it has Week 2’s ninth-highest total. The home team Seahawks sport an implied total of 24.5, and the Patriots have an implied total of 20.5 points. Only eight teams have a lower implied total than New England this week.