Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks: Buccaneers vs. Cowboys 12/22/24

This Sunday night, the NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a matchup featuring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys game let’s review the rules for the Draftkings single game showdown contest.

Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules

You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.

The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.

If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.

*I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.

Here are my Draftkings picks for this week’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys matchup.

Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks

Captain-Baker Mayfield, Quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers $9,600

Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield has undeniably been the driving force behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers success on the offensive side of the football this season. Having stated that, how has Mayfield performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Baker Mayfield’s game statistics from the 2024 season to answer that question.

In the 14 games that quarterback Baker Mayfield has played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2024 NFL regular season, Baker Mayfield has tallied a rather impressive 3,614 passing yards, 32 passing touchdowns, 229 rushing yards, and three rushing touchdowns.

Baker Mayfield certainly stands out from a general matchup standpoint. The reason? The Dallas Cowboys have struggled to contain opposing quarterbacks this season. To elaborate, after 14 games played in the 2024 NFL regular season, the Dallas Cowboys rank an abysmal 29th in total DraftKings points allowed per game (19.8) to the quarterback position. Let us not forget that the NFL has 32 teams in the entire league. Clearly, being ranked 29th in any defensive category in the NFL is not good.

As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings NFL showdown lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DFS contest. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups for this Sunday night’s NFL regular season game.

In my view, Baker Mayfield is the most likely candidate to score the highest DraftKings points in this NFL regular season game. Consequently, I am rolling with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield at the captain for this one game Draftkings NFL Showdown slate.

Flex Plays

Rico Dowdle, Running Back, Dallas Cowboys $9,400

Dallas Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle has been an integral component of the team’s offensive success this season. Assessing his impact from a statistical standpoint requires a thorough analysis of Dowdle’s player data from the 2024 NFL regular season.

In the 14 games that Rico Dowdle has played for the Dallas Cowboys in the 2024 NFL regular season, Dowdle has compiled 880 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 33 receptions, 205 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.

Additional flex plays I like to perform well this week (Draftkings price noted): Cooper Rush, Quarterback (Dallas Cowboys) $8,600: Mike Evans. Wide Receiver (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) $10,600: CeeDee Lamb. Wide Receiver (Dallas Cowboys) $10,400.