With two games on Saturday, our breakdown of Sunday’s action is slightly shorter than it has been in the past. Thankfully, teams that are trying to position themselves for the playoffs will provide enough fantasy upside for us to target.
Sporfolio’s NFL Daily Fantasy Sports game-by-game analysis columns are driven by expected game flow. Based on a combination of our Week 15 NFL picks against the spread and our expectations for a given game, we project the actions necessary to make these picks come to fruition. We aim to pinpoint players integral to our predicted game flow for each game of the week.
Luke May is our resident NFL DFS expert, and Mario Mergola operates Sporfolio as our expert for NFL Picks Against the Spread.
Miami Dolphins at Minnesota Vikings
Luke’s DFS Take: The Dolphins pulled off one of the most incredible, and fortunate, victories I’ve ever seen, and despite an up-and-down season, they are right the hunt for the final playoff spot in the AFC. Given that the Vikings are fighting for their playoff lives as well, this game is one of the few featuring two team that have everything to play for. While the situation figures to bring out the best of both teams, it feels like a game that the Vikings will walk away from with a win. This is based off the fact that we just saw them at probably their lowest point last week which led to the firing of the offensive coordinator, and they simply have more talent on both sides of the ball. The Vikings’ defense has been playing well lately, and I expect them to be able to mostly control this Miami offense made up almost entirely of complimentary pieces. No matter which version of Kirk Cousins we see this week, the Vikings’ offense should be running through Dalvin Cook. Cook continues to play well and show flashes as both a runner and receiver. The Dolphins have struggled mightily all season at defending running backs, especially those who catch passes. Given the matchup and the recent play off the offense, it seems likely that the new offensive coordinator of the Vikings takes advantage in this situation and feeds Cook all game long.
Mario’s DFS Take: As I wrote in my picks article, the game between the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings is going to be decided by which version of each team is ‘real.’ That is, are the Vikings as bad as they looked in Week 14? And are the Dolphins going to build off the miracle that was their last victory? Either way, we can accept that Minnesota’s defense is as stout as it gets – fifth-fewest yards allowed. I am comfortable starting there as the defense in my lineup against a team that is generally capped in the high-20’s on offense – and, without any separation between fantasy options, I’d rather find offense elsewhere. For the Vikings, it’s maddening that Dalvin Cook has not been the steady presence that we would expect, but that might change if Minnesota can secure – and milk – a late lead. Otherwise, we can go back to wide receiver Adam Thielen, fresh off another comparatively mediocre game. He has now failed to reach 100 receiving yards in four-of-has-last-five games after doing so in eight consecutive contests to start the season.
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