Monday Night DFS Single Game Breakdown: Chargers at Saints

Oct 12, 2020

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Monday night's game pits a fresh, up-and-coming superstar quarterback against one of the dustiest signal-callers in recent memory. Justin Herbert wasn't even born until Drew Brees' eighth year in the NFL. Don't check my math on that.

Let's get into how to piece together winning single-game lineups.

Below is a breakdown of single-game DFS contests on FanDuel and DraftKings for the Week 5 Monday 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

The over/under in this game has—quite curiously—come down from 52 to 50 over the past few days. The home-team Saints, seven poin favorites, have an implied total of 28.5 points, and the Chargers have a 21.5-point implied total. The over/under drop came before the Saints delcared Michael Thomas out after the receiver attacked a teammate in practice.