This article is part of our DFS NFL series.
We'll wrap up the wild-card round on Monkey Knife Fight with a matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 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 CeeDee Lamb 77.5 receiving yards and Leonard Fournette 38.5 rushing yards. For Lamb, I'm leaning toward the over. The Buccaneers did a good job of shutting him down in Week 1, limiting him to two receptions for 29 yards. However, it was encouraging that he was targeted 11 times. He finished the regular season with at least 100 yards in three of his last four games, and he was targeted at least 10 times in a game eight times this season, overall.
Take the over for Fournette, as well. He ran all over the Cowboys in Week 1, turning 21 carries into 127 yards. As it turned out, that would end up being his only game of the season with at least 100 rushing yards. The Cowboys allowed the 11th-most rushing yards per game in the league during the regular season, so even if Leonard continues to split carries with Rachaad White, he could hit the over on this modest total.
Rapid Fire Contest
Let's look at a 2/2 goal for 3X the prize. The battles are Tom Brady vs. Dak Prescott passing yards (with Prescott receiving a 21.5 passing yards bonus) and Tony Pollard vs. Ezekiel Elliott rushing yards (with Elliott receiving a 1.5 rushing yards bonus). For the quarterbacks, take Brady over Prescott. Prescott only had one game this season with at least 300 passing yards, compared to three games with fewer than 200 yards. Brady had five games with at least 300 passing yards, two of which came over their final four games. One of the keys to his hefty yardage total is that he attempted at least 40 passes in a game 13 times.
For the running backs, I'll take Elliott over Pollard. As explosive as Pollard can be, the Cowboys still don't want to put him in a leading tole. Over his final five games, he received 12 or fewer carries four times. Elliott had fewer than 12 carries in a game only two times all season, and he had at least 15 carries 12 times. Workload alone could carry him past Pollard's production.
Stat Shootout Contest
Finally is the option in which three players need to combine for 2.5-plus sacks for 1.5X the prize. For the Cowboys, let's roll with Micah Parsons and Dorance Armstrong. The Cowboys had the third-most sacks in the league during the regular season, with Parsons contributing 13.5 of them. He recorded two sacks against the Buccaneers in Week 1 and had six games in which he recorded two sacks. With opposing offensive lines having to devote so much attention to Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, Armstrong has been able to chip in 8.5 sacks of his own.
On the Buccaneers side, let's complete our trio with Anthony Nelson. He finished with a modest 5.5 sacks this season, but 2.5 of them came over the final four games. He also chipped in a sack when these teams met in Week 1.
