This article is part of our DFS NFL series.
Week 17 starts off on Monkey Knife Fight with a Thursday Night Football matchup between the Cowboys and Titans. Three Game Types are offered, including "More Or Less," "Rapid Fire" and "Stat Shootout." For a full breakdown of the rules for each game, see the House Rules page. Let's dive into some of the contests within each Game Type, and highlight one option to consider.
More Or Less Contest
Starting things is a 2/2 goal for 3.5X the prize. We'll pick sides on Dak Prescott 239.5 passing yards and Malik Willis 130.5 passing yards. For Prescott, take the over. He threw for 347 yards in a shootout against the Eagles last week and he has at least 250 passing yards in seven of his last eight games. Also, the Titans have allowed the second-most passing yards per game in the league.
For Willis, I'm going with the under, despite the low total. He has started three games this season and did not post more than 99 passing yards in any of them. In two of those games, he attempted 16 or fewer passes. The Titans are lacking weapons at wide receiver and Willis still has a lot of developing to do as a passer, so another muted stat line could be forthcoming.
Rapid Fire Contest
For this contest, an interesting option is a 2/3 goal for 1.7X the prize. The battles are Prescott vs. Willis passing yards (with Willis receiving a +109.5 passing yards bonus), CeeDee Lamb vs. Dalton Schultz receiving yards (with Schultz receiving a +37.5 receiving yards bonus) and Tony Pollard vs. Ezekiel Elliott rushing yards (with Pollard receiving a +7.5 rushing yards bonus). For the quarterbacks, take Prescott, despite Willis getting the hefty bonus. As previously noted, Willis hasn't even reached 100 passing yards in any of his three starts.
For our second pick, let's go with Lamb over Schultz. Even with Prescott exploding for 347 yards last week, Schultz finished with a modest 43 receiving yards. That came on the heels of him recording fewer than 40 receiving yards in four of his previous five games. Meanwhile, Lamb has back-to-back games with at least 120 receiving yards and he has posted at least 100 receiving yards in four of his last seven games.
Stat Shootout Contest
With the Titan's offense a shambles, it's difficult to get excited about any of the offensive options for this contest. Instead, let's dig into the option in which three players need to combine for 2.5-plus sacks for 1.5X the prize. The Titans are missing key members of their offensive line, which makes Micah Parsons and Dorance Armstrong excellent choices. Parsons has 13 sacks this season, five of which have come in his last six games. The only concern with him is that he is listed as questionable with a hand injury. Armstrong has also been adept at getting to the quarterback, following up his five sacks last season with eight already this year.
On the Titans side, DeMarcus Walker is an appealing option. He had two sacks in Week 15 against the Jaguars and all of his 6.5 sacks this season have come over the last nine games. While he won't be getting much support with the Titans also sitting some of their key defenders, he is the best option among the players who are expected to take the field.
