Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks: Vikings vs. Falcons 12/8/24
Breaking down the best Draftkings picks for this week's Vikings vs. Falcons matchup.
Minnesota Vikings vs. Atlanta Falcons
December 8, 2024 1:00 pm EDT
On Sunday afternoon, the NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a matchup featuring the Minnesota Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons. Let’s take a look at this NFL game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Minnesota Vikings vs. Atlanta Falcons 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 Minnesota Vikings vs. Atlanta Falcons matchup.
Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks
Captain-Sam Darnold, Quarterback, Minnesota Vikings $9,400
Quarterback Sam Darnold has been a significant contributor to the Minnesota Vikings’ offense this season. To assess his impact, let’s examine Darnold’s game data from the 2024 NFL regular season.
In the 12 games that Sam Darnold has played for the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 NFL regular season, Darnold compiled 2,852 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, 187 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown.
More recently, in the Minnesota Vikings 30-27 win over the Chicago Bears two weeks ago, Sam Darnold accumulated 330 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Minnesota Vikings victory over the Bears, Sam Darnold tallied a robust 24.1 Draftkings points.
Additionally, I like Sam Darnold’s matchup in this game. The reason? The Atlanta Falcons have had issues containing opposing quarterbacks in 2024. Let me be more specific. Through 13 games played in the 2024 NFL regular season, the Atlanta Falcons are ranked a rather low 25th in total Draftkings points allowed a game (18.3) to the quarterback position. Keep in mind that the NFL has 32 teams in the entire league. Having stated that, being ranked 25th in any defensive category is clearly 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.
In summary, I think Sam Darnold is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NFL regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing quarterback Sam Darnold at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NFL Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Bijan Robinson, Running Back, Atlanta Falcons $10,400
Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson has indeed been a significant asset to the Falcons offense in 2024. To clarify my previous statement, we should review Robinson’s game data from this season.
In the 12 games that Bijan Robinson has played for the Atlanta Falcons in the 2024 NFL regular season, Robinson has compiled 885 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns, 51 receptions, 392 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well (Draftkings price noted): Justin Jefferson, Wide Receiver (Minnesota Vikings) $10,800: Kirk Cousins, Quarterback (Atlanta Falcons) $9,000.
