We’re coming off a very successful Thursday Night Football slate as one of our subscribers (PhilD) hit the optimal lineup in a $5 single-entry contest on DraftKings! Let’s keep that streak going to close out the weekend! Sunday Night Football delivers an interconference matchup as the Cincinnati Bengals visit the New York Giants. It’s a primetime special for New York this week as the Bengals visit the Giants on Sunday and then the following night, we get an AFC East matchup as the Buffalo Bills visit the New York Jets.

It’s hard to label this game as a must-win for both teams. However, if the Bengals win both teams will be sitting at 2-4 through six games and still facing an uphill battle. But the Giants are coming off a surprise upset win on the road last week in Seattle. What’s more impressive is they did it without two of their best offensive pieces. But they could be short-handed once again so we will be keeping an ear to the ground for Sunday night’s Bengals vs. Giants DFS picks.

 

 

 

Bengals vs. Giants DFS Picks & Preview: Sunday Night Football, 10/13

The Bengals have effectively become a fantasy football manager’s dream. They’re an offense with great weapons and yet have a terrible defense. So that means the offense is likely going to be in competitive games more often than not, and at worst, they’ll be throwing frequently to catch up. They’re sitting at 1-4 through five games and could really use a win to breathe some life into the season.

But the Bengals still have plenty of assets on offense at their skill positions. So we’ll have some spots to target for our Bengals vs. Giants DFS picks. As of Friday’s injury report for Cincinnati, they have just one player (Chase Brown) listed as a limited participant, but none were labeled as DNP’s so the Bengals are looking great heading into this game.

The Giants enter this matchup at 2-3 coming off a surprise victory against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5 without Malik Nabers and Devin Singletary. But the Giants are still beat up on both sides of the ball, which we’ll get to shortly. The G-Men have some winnable games coming up, but overall this still feels like one they cannot afford to lose.

Surprisingly, the sportsbooks are seeing this game as a potential spot for a lot of offense. Given the shortcomings defensively for both teams, I can see why. Even last week without Nabers and Singletary we saw the Giants offense put up nearly 30 points. And we know the Bengals have the weapons to drop plenty of points as well. Let’s start looking at how to approach our Sunday Night Football DFS contests on DraftKings and FanDuel.

 

 

 

Bengals vs. Giants SNF Odds at DraftKings & FanDuel

DraftKings Sportsbook

  • Spread: Bengals -3.5 (-112)
  • Money Line:
    • Bengals (-185)
    • Giants (+154)
  • Game Total: Over 47 (-110) / Under 47 (-110)

FanDuel Sportsbook

  • Spread: Bengals -3.5 (-118)
  • Money Line:
    • Bengals (-200)
    • Giants (+168)
  • Game Total: Over 47.5 (-105) / Under 47.5 (-115)
 

 

NFL Weather: Bengals vs. Giants SNF, October 13th

We might have some precipitation in the forecast. As of this writing (Friday evening), there is a 50% chance of rain in the forecast for Sunday night. Fortunately, there isn’t a heavy threat of wind and that’s a bigger concern typically. But temperatures will likely be in the mid-50’s for this game with mild overcast skies in the evening. We’ll monitor the weather throughout the day, but there’s no need to downgrade anyone just yet.

Bengals vs. Giants Injuries: Sunday Night Football Week 6

As mentioned earlier in the article, the Bengals didn’t list anyone as a non-participant in Friday’s injury report. Chase Brown, Zack Moss, and Mike Gesicki did appear as limited participants on Thursday but I’m operating as if they’ll all be active for this game.

The Giants are not as fortunate. For starters, Malik Nabers has already been ruled out as he hasn’t cleared concussion protocol. Devin Singletary was a limited participant on Wednesday and Thursday, which is a step in the right direction as he didn’t practice at all last week ahead of Week 5. However, groin injuries are easy to re-aggravate and they could err on the side of caution. On the defensive side the Giants also listed Kayvon Thibodeaux has been ruled out while Brian Burns was a limited participant on Friday.

Update: Devin Singletary has officially been ruled out.

 

 

 

NFL Sunday Night Football DFS Picks: MVP/Captain

Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals - DraftKings: $11,400 | FanDuel: $17,000

I’m not sure how much analysis is necessary. He was a consensus early round draft selection in best ball and season-long drafts. The upside is there and we’ve seen two spike weeks in his last three games.

Against the Baltimore Ravens last week, he caught 10-of-12 targets for 193 yards and a pair of touchdowns for 44.3 fantasy points on DraftKings. In Week 3 he only needed six catches on seven targets for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Overall, in his last three games he has five touchdowns.

There is a fair chance that Chase gets shadow coverage treatment from Deonte Banks. But the Giants allow the sixth-most fantasy points per game to perimeter receivers and per Mike Clay of ESPN, that’s where Chase lines up 65% of the time. We just saw CeeDee Lamb pop off for seven receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown against Banks while Amari Cooper collected seven receptions for 86 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It’s shaping up to be another potential smash spot for Chase in primetime.

Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals – DraftKings: $9,400 | FanDuel: $13,000

Higgins has only been back for three games, but in that span he already has 18 catches on 30 targets for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns. For what it’s worth, a lot of that production came last week against Baltimore where he scored both those touchdowns and caught nine passes on 14 targets.

In only three games, Higgins has already registered a 29.4% target per route run rate in the red zone. By comparison, Ja'Marr Chase’s rate is only 15.6%. So Higgins hasn’t really missed a beat and he’s getting the high value targets on offense.

With Chase drawing the shadow treatment of Deonte Banks, that does leave a slightly easier matchup for Higgins who could once again draw double-digit targets and he’ll likely see less attention at Captain than Chase.

Tyrone Tracy, RB, New York Giants – DraftKings: $7,400 | FanDuel: $9,500

We don’t have an official word yet on Devin Singletary. Just because I’m putting Tracy in here as a recommendation for Captain doesn’t mean that Singletary has been ruled out. We’re still waiting on official news and likely won’t get it until Sunday night. However, on Friday Brian Daboll basically said “We’ll see” in regard to Singletary’s status for this game. It’s not a glowing endorsement so I do believe this will be the Tyrone Tracy show once again.

Against Seattle, Tracy received 18 carries and popped off for 129 yards. I also find it interesting that the running backs for the Giants accounted for 22% of New York’s first-read targets last week, but that’s more of an argument for Eric Gray, who we’ll get to later on.

But Tracy gets a phenomenal matchup this week. The Bengals are allowing 151.4 rushing yards per game to opposing offenses and that’s third-most in the league. If Tracy gets similar volume to last week, he’s potentially due for another big game and hopefully this time he can find the end zone.

Update: It was announced Saturday afternoon that Devin Singletary will miss this game. However, the matchup for Tracy becomes a little more difficult as I initially overlooked the news that Sheldon Rankins and BJ Hall would return for this game. That does help the Bengals run defense. Tracy can still smash given the volume, but I am going to get less exposure at Captain that I was originally anticipating and will allocate some shares to Darius Slayton and Wan'Dale Robinson.

Darius Slayton, WR, New York Giants – DraftKings: $6,600| FanDuel: $8,500

With Malik Nabers ruled out, Darius Slayton is once again an outstanding play. He was a nice dart throw target last week when he went off for eight receptions (on 11 targets) for 122 yards and a touchdown.

What should really stand out to us is that he had a 37% first-read target share in that game so he definitely assumed the Nabers role and he rewarded us with some upside. That remains unchanged in this matchup.

According to Mike Clay of ESPN, the Bengals are allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to perimeter wide receivers over the last four weeks and that’s where Slayton lines up on 77% of his offensive snaps. We want upside at this position and Slayton is incredibly affordable and should be among the most popular Captain selections for this game.

 

 

 

NFL Sunday Night Football DFS Picks: Core Plays

Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals - DraftKings: $10,000 | FanDuel: $16,000

Simply put, Burrow correlates well with any Showdown lineup where you have Chase or Higgins at the top. In fact, you probably can play Burrow at Captain in some lineups, but either way he’s a core play because he’ll be in a majority of my lineups. The pricing is restrictive, but enough value is emerging on this slate where we can make it work.

Burrow is seemingly doing what we’ve seen him do the last few seasons. He’s never really had a conventional training camp until this year so the slow-ish starts aren’t anything new. But he’s having a great year and it culminated in a stellar game last week where he threw for 392 yards and five touchdowns against the Baltimore Ravens.

All 12 of his touchdown passes have come in his last four games and on the year he’s completing 72.3% of his pass attempts while averaging 34.6 attempts per game. That’s great volume. However, the opposing pass rush of the Giants is a challenge and he’ll have to get the ball out quickly. If he can, he has the playmakers at his disposal to find the end zone.

Daniel Jones, QB, New York Giants – DraftKings: $9,000 | FanDuel: $14,000

Joke about Daniel Jones all you want, but he really hasn’t been terrible his last four games and we’re looking at another game where he’ll be without Malik Nabers. Jones is adding some production with his legs, but not as much as he did two years ago. 

I’m mostly impressed by the fact he’s completed 70.4% of his pass attempts over his last three games. He’s not as likely to throw for 300 yards as Burrow is, but the matchup couldn’t be better for him.

The Bengals don’t pose a huge threat on defense. They’ve allowed 103 points in their last three games and 813 passing yards in that span as well. They don’t have a great pass rush either so despite the shortcoming of Jones’ own offensive line at times, he might have time to distribute the ball effectively Sunday night.

Wan’Dale Robinson, WR, New York Giants – DraftKings: $8,200 | FanDuel: $11,000

This is a play I feel better about at the flex, but I will have some shares of Robinson at Captain. Plain and simple, the volume is the reason why. Over his last three games he has 31 targets and he has 47 total on the year. Last week, without Malik Nabers on the field, Robinson had a 30% first-read target share.

The downside to Robinson is that a lot of his targets are in short yardage. His longest catch on the season is only 20 yards, so if the volume is there we are looking for him to do most of his damage after the catch and most defenders have pounced on him quickly.

Even with all the volume, he has just 230 receiving yards in five games and he’s averaging just 15.7 fantasy points per game in full PPR formats. Again, the floor is very good and you can play him at Captain in some builds because there’s always a chance he finds the end zone once or twice. But I do think there are players on this slate with a higher ceiling.

 

 

 

NFL Sunday Night Football DFS Picks: Mid-Tier Plays

Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals – DraftKings: $8,600 | FanDuel: $10,500

Zack Moss, RB, Cincinnati Bengals – DraftKings: $8,000 | FanDuel: $10,000

Chase Brown is going to carry an injury designation heading into this game. By all accounts, it seems like he’ll suit up and play though. I’m not worried about his status as of Saturday morning.

You’re kind of picking and choosing which one you think has the big game. Brown had a quiet start to the year but has shown in his last two games he has value. He’s scored three touchdowns and collected 32 total touches in that span.

Moss has lost some touches to Brown lately and it was likely due to the coaching staff wanting to try new schemes on offense because they got off to a bad start this year. However, Moss does have four games this year with at least four targets and he has three touchdowns as well. He hasn’t been nearly as efficient running the ball as Brown has. However, Moss still has 72.7% of the red zone snaps in this offense and 15 red zone carries compared to Brown’s five.

 

 

 

NFL Sunday Night Football DFS Picks: Value Plays

Erick All, TE, Cincinnati Bengals – DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $7,000

I’m taking some firm stands this week with my own value plays. By all means, get exposure to Andrei Iosivas and/or Mike Gesicki if you so choose. However, Erick All is passing the eyeball test for me. Iosivas and Gesicki have been relegated to three targets each in their last two games since Tee Higgins has re-emerged. All at least has 14 targets over his last four games.

Moreover, All does everything you want really well. He’s shown he’s a capable blocker and he’s caught all 14 of those targets we just mentioned. The yardage totals are low, but they’ll come in time. 

Scott Spratt of FTN Fantasy shared this tweet earlier this week that shows All leads all tight ends in open separation rate through five games. But it’s worth adding some context that it’s only for tight ends who have run at least 12 routes. Currently, All is starting to play more snaps than Gesicki but the latter is still running more routes. But All is doing everything the Bengals are asking of him so I’ll take some chances here.

Eric Gray, RB, New York Giants – DraftKings: $3,000 | FanDuel: $7,500

I’m not entirely sure why Tracy didn’t see more work in the passing game last week as he’s quite literally a wide receiver that transitioned to running back. But Gray does have more experience as a pass catcher at the NFL level. To add to that point, he did catch three-of-four targets last week against Seattle for 50 yards and remember, the running backs accounted for 22% of Daniel Jones’ first-read targets in Week 5.

He also added four carries, but he did lose a fumble which is his second in his last three games. He’s mostly a guy we look to for value if Devin Singletary is ruled out. If Singletary is active, we downgrade him a bit and upgrade the next player.

Theo Johnson, TE, New York Giants – DraftKings: $2,800 | FanDuel: $7,000

Johnson had the best game of his young career last week against the Seattle Seahawks. He caught all five of his targets for 48 yards. That production may not sound like much, but it’s a good start for a young tight end with upside.

With Nabers out again, it’s not entirely out of the question that Johnson gets more work. He had an 11% first-read target share which pales in comparison to Slayton, Robinson, and the running backs from a week ago. But at the same time, he’s a cheap play that was getting first-read looks all the same.

We can probably expect the Giants to be throwing the ball plenty and Johnson had a 72% route participation rate a week ago. The Bengals are allowing roughly 49 receiving yards per game to the tight end position so you can even take the over on his receiving prop if it’s still around 26.5 yards like it was on Underdog Friday night.

 

 

 

SNF DFS Picks: Kickers & D/ST

I really don’t love either defense in this matchup. It’s ugly. I imagine the implied total is bet up by the time we get to kickoff. Both defenses are terrible, and the Giants are beat up on the defensive side of the ball as well. I might take a firm stand and fade the D/ST’s and just hope for an absolute shootout. But here is why I’m concerned…

We’ll start with the visiting team. Through five games the Bengals only have six sacks and five forced turnovers. Their best performance on DraftKings so far has been nine points. The other four games have seen them return two or fewer fantasy points. They’ve surrendered 151.4 rushing yards per game and 27.8 points per game. Even against the New York Giants, I just have little interest playing this D/ST especially at $4,800 on DraftKings.

For the Giants, we’d obviously feel better if we knew how the injury report shook out ahead of this game. But we’ll monitor inactives leading up to this game. The Giants defense isn’t actually all that bad. They’ve had some nice spike weeks in two of their last three games as they returned 18 fantasy points against Seattle and 13 against Cleveland. They’ve only allowed 18.4 points per game, but the Bengals have scored 103 points on offense in their last three games. If I had to choose between these two, I would rather play the Giants because they at least have 21 sacks in their last four games and they’re reasonably priced at $3,600.

The kickers are very much in play as we’ve seen volume flock to both sides. Greg Joseph has returned 30 fantasy points in his last two games as he’s kicked eight field goals with a pair of extra points. The thing with the Giants is that they can move the ball well at times, but they fold like a cheap suit in the red zone. The Giants do get into the red zone 3.2 times per game, but they’re averaging about 18 points per game, so they aren’t converting those opportunities with touchdowns. Joseph, while pricy, likely goes under-owned with another path to double-digit fantasy points.

Evan McPherson is $5,200 on DraftKings and is a bit more inconsistent with the opportunities than Joseph. The Bengals offense has been hitting its stride of late. McPherson is averaging just two field goals per game over his last three contests. And in that span, he’s kicked 11 extra points so the team is putting up touchdowns. But the defense is so bad they’re sitting at 1-4 despite offensive traction. But McPherson has also kicked a 50+ yard field goal in three-of-five games this year. So we’re definitely higher on the kickers compared to the D/ST’s for our SNF DFS picks.

 

 

 

Bengals vs. Giants DFS Player Pool: SNF, 10/13

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