Daily Fantasy Preview: Patriots at Rams
Week 14 begins with a rematch of Super Bowl LIII when the New England Patriots Square off against the Los Angeles Rams. Los Angeles is coming off a big divisional win against Arizona, while New England just trounced Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0. These two teams are coming in on a roll but who wins this game and better question is how do they win the game?
Let’s break it down below.
How Do The New England Patriots Win The Game?
The Patriots will need to execute in their run game to pull the upset victory this week. The New England Patriots ranked 3rd in the NFL with 150 yards per game. This run attack will be anchored by Damien Harris and quarterback Cam Newton, who led the team with 641 yards and 435 yards respectively. Although the Rams rush defense is 3rd best in the league(93.1 ypg), Bill Belichick has shown this year that he will stick to his strength on offense and slowly run the clock and lean on his ground game and defense.
How Do The Los Angeles Ram Win The Game?
The Rams seem like a Super Bowl contender this year. On offense, they have weapons all over the field. On defense, they have one of the best units in the NFL this season. The Rams have held 12 opponents to 23 or less, which is right around the Patriots season average of 22.8 points per outing. The Rams will look to also pound the rock in this game and pepper targets to Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods. Jared Goff will try to build on his stellar performance last week where he threw for almost 80% completion rate and 351 yards, as long as they limit the turnovers the Rams should walk on victorious in Week 14.
With the game being broken down, we can now break down the best players to use in your DFS lineups. Let’s break it down below.
Cam Newton ($10,600)
Jared Goff ($11,000)
In two of the last three weeks, Jared Goff has had stellar performances in fantasy football. The issue with Jared Goff this week is how much time will he be on the field throwing the ball. his team relies on the run and the Patriots also like to move the ball on the ground. This will eat a lot of the game clock for both teams. The Patriots are one of the best teams against quarterbacks in fantasy (5th best) which has me pivoting away from Goff for a play in my lineup.
Damien Harris ($8,800)/ James White ($6,400)/ Sony Michel ($4,800)
The Patriots’ most successful running back is Damien Harris. He carried the ball 16 times for 80 yards against the Chargers. Harris averaged a healthy 5.0 yards per carry and also had his longest reception of the season last week. He also finished with his third-highest allotment of touches in a game this season but it could’ve easily been higher if it wasn’t for the vulture-like nature of Cam Newton and Sony Michel(they had 24 total carries). He seems to be entrenched as the early-down running back for the Patriots and has a decent floor for your lineup.
James White and Sony Michel are dart throws at best. In this scenario of backs, I would aim for James White. The Rams have had 90 targets to the running backs they are facing this year which logs as 7th highest in 2020.
Cam Akers ($8,000)/ Darrel Henderson ($7,400)/ Malcolm Brown($2,400)
The rams backfield is coming into this week with injuries to two of the three backs. Cam Akers has a shoulder injury and was a limited participant in practice Tuesday. Darrell Henderson Jr. returned to the game Sunday but he injured his knee in the battle against the Arizona Cardinals. In this backfield, Sean Mcvay likes to mix and match his running backs all season long, however, if he was to ride the hot hand the play would be Cam Akers this week as he had 21 attempts last game which led the backfield.
Jakobi Meyers ($6,800)
When it comes to the Patriots’ wide receivers, it seems the only safe name to mention is Jakobi Meyers. Meyers accounted for nearly a third of the team’s targets last week but gained positive yardage on only one play as the running game and defense took center stage during this blowout. He is Cam’s number one option in this offense, however, he should see the like of Jalen Ramsey across from him on the field. Temper your expectations but the volume of his targets will allow Meyers in the lineup you play for Thursday Night Football.
Cooper Kupp ($9,600)/ Robert Woods ($9,200)/ Josh Reynolds ($5,600)/ Van Jefferson ($2,600)
Jared Goff has two main weapons he uses in this offense, it’s Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp. Both players get a high target share for their team so either play can provide a nice floor for your lineup. However, one of these two players will have Stephen Gilmore on them throughout the game, which would be favored towards Woods as Kupp lines up in the slot. I would pay the extra money to move up and add Kupp into my lineup.
Josh Reynolds and Van Jefferson are both dart throws in this game. I would shoot for Van Jefferson as he caught four of his five targets last week. He also played 40 of 83 offensive snaps during the Sunday victory against Arizona.
Tyler Higbee ($5,000)/ Gerald Everett ($3,400)/ Ryan Izzo ($1,400)
We put all the tight ends together because all three options for each team are not safe plays this week. The reason you would throw one of these players in your lineup is to hope they fall in the endzone for a cheap price. I would pivot from this position for this game.
Nick Folk ($4,000)/ Matt Gay ($3,800)/ Rams D ($4,400)/Patriots D ($4,200)
This game could be a low-scoring affair so kickers could come into play for the Thursday Night Football game. My play from this bunch is the Rams defense. This unit is one of the best in the league right now and with Cam Newton being more of a running back than a quarterback they should keep the total score low for the game.
Prediction and DFS Free Cash Head To Head Lineup
The Los Angeles Rams win 24-17 over the New England Patriots
DFS Cash Head To Head Lineup
- Damien Harris ($13,200) *Captain*
- Rams D ($4,400)
- Van Jefferson Jr. ($2,600)
- Cooper Kupp ($9,600)
- Cam Newton ($10,600)
- Robert Woods ($9,200)
Popular Pages & Links
