This article is part of our DFS NFL series.
Thursday Night Football brings an intriguing matchup this week. Fresh off of an impressive victory at home against the Bills, the Dolphins have a quick turnaround to face another tough AFC team in the Bengals. With this matchup comes another opportunity to win some cash on Monkey Knife Fight.
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 discuss how things might play out.
More Or Less Contest
For this contest, let's look at a 2/2 goal for 3.5X the prize. The two options are Joe Mixon 65.5 rushing yards and Chase Edmonds 35.5 rushing yards. Mixon is coming off of a quiet performance against the Jets in which he turned 12 carries into 24 yards. He hasn't been efficient this season, averaging 2.8 yards per carry. Still, after receiving at least 19 carries in two of the Bengals' first three games, his volume alone makes me lean toward taking the over.
Edmonds is known more for his pass-catching abilities than his rushing prowess. That's part of the reason why he's split carries with Raheem Mostert. Through three games, Mostert has 24 carries, compared to 23 for Edmonds. The result was Edmonds rushing for fewer than 34 yards in each game. Add in the Bengals allowing the eighth-fewest rushing yards per game in the league and I'll take the under on Edmonds' total.
Rapid Fire Contest
Let's dive into a 2/2 goal for 3X the prize. The battles are fantasy points between Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa (with Tagovailoa receiving a +3.5 fantasy points bonus) and fantasy points between Ja'Marr Chase and Mixon (with Chase receiving a +0.5 fantasy points bonus).
With regard to the quarterbacks, give me Burrow over Tagovailoa. While Tagovailoa's overall numbers look great, six of his eight touchdown passes came in Week 2. He produced 270 passing yards and one touchdown in Week 1, and 186 passing yards and one touchdown in Week 3. Burrow has just as dangerous of weapons on offense, and after throwing at least two touchdown passes in 11 of 17 games last season, he has thrown for at least two scores in two of three games this year.
Between Chase and Mixon, the option to go with is Chase. He showed his immense upside in Week 1, catching 10 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. He's received at least nine targets in all three games, and he has a total of eight red zone targets.
Stat Shootout Contest
There are some lofty total combinations for this contest, so let's turn our attention to a more manageable option for three players to combine for 2.5-plus total touchdowns for 2X the prize. First, let's go with Chase based on his activity inside the red zone. Second, let's go with Tyreek Hill, who is one of the most explosive receivers in football. He hasn't received a red zone target this season, but he still has two touchdowns. Basically, he's a threat to reach the end zone whenever the ball is in his hands.
Going with at least one running back is usually wise for the purposes of accumulating touchdowns because when a team gets in close, turning to their running back can be one of the safer options to score. Given his busy work load, the running back I'll roll with is Mixon. While he's still looking for his first touchdown of the season, Mixon has received nine red zone carries through three games, five of which came inside the five-yard line.
