Welcome as you join us in our coverage of the 2021 NFL Playoff Draftkings Showdown slates, finishing the wild card round with Arizona @ Los Angeles. Vegas has the O/U set to 49.5 and Los Angeles is expected to win by 3.5 points. On paper the Rams appear to be the better team due to their experience and depth. However, I’m picking the Cardinals to win and designing my lineups accordingly. Arizona does really well when they leave the desert to play ( finished 8-1 in road games, and 3-5 at home), also in their last outing they beat the Rams by 17 points. I plan to have 4 to 5 Cardinal players in my lineups.
DraftKings Showdown- Arizona @Los Angeles Captain Picks
Kyler Murray ($16,800 Capt/ $11,200 Flex)
Murray finished 3rd place for most yards scrambled before a touchdown pass. It happened “week 3”, against a young Jaguars team. Ty McGill had Murray pinned against his teammate as the pocket shattered to pieces. Murray didn’t panic, and simply used his speed to make the most of the little space he had. As a result, Rondale Moore completed a catch for 77 yards and a touchdown. The Rams will try to contain Murray’s scrambling with a QB spy and bring heavy pressure with Donald and company. For most QB’s this would concern me but with Murray all he needs is an inch of space to use his speed for a big play. Overall he’s had a monster season with 3,787 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and completed 69.2% of his passes, finishing second in the league. This is Murray’s first playoff game and Kingsbury expects him to “play the best game of his career”. I’m locking him in my captain spot as he will have to carry the Cardinals to win this game.
Cooper Kupp ($19,500 Capt/ $13,000 Flex)
The all star receiver finished the season with 145 catches, 1,947 receiving yards, 16 touchdowns, and ranked first in each of these categories. The rapport Kupp has developed with Stafford has been wizardly and will be needed in this game. Arizona will be bringing the heat with Chandler Jones and J.J. Watt so Stafford will have to get the ball out quickly, meaning more production for Kupp. He’s shown us all season he is the number one fantasy option week in and week out. So I’m all for locking him in the captain spot.
DraftKings Showdown- Arizona @Los Angeles
Matthew Stafford ($10,800 Flex)
Only 3 playoff appearances out of 12 seasons, and 0 of those games were wins. This game weighs heavy on Stafford as the outcome of the game will mark the direction of his legacy. He came out this week and said “every time I step on the field, I’m proving myself”. In his last outing against the Cardinals, Stafford threw 3 touchdowns and 287 yards. Look for him to build upon this performance in this matchup.
A.J. Green ($5,800 Flex)
Last game against Seattle Green finished with 9 targets. I expect him, Ertz, Connor and Edmonds to get peppered with targets. They won’t be able to run the ball well, and will need to use Murray to get it going through the air. Also his price tag is enticing, hopefully ownership will go more towards other options in that range like Tyler Higbee or the questionable Van Jefferson.
Chase Edmonds ($5,000 Flex)
He missed 6 weeks with his injury and then picked up where he left off. After sitting out the last game in Seattle, I hope Edmonds is all healed up ready to go. He is a pivotal part of the offense as we see in week 16 and 17 where he carried the ball over 15 times and was targeted at least 5 times in each of those games. I like placing Edmonds in my flex and Murray at captain so I can soak up all the correlation.
Tyler Higbee ($5,400 Flex)
As mentioned earlier the Cardinals are going to bring pressure giving Stafford limited time for the deep timing routes to Odell and Van Jefferson. As a result I think we will see more short, quick release throws leading to more targets for Higbee. He already has as prominent role on this offense, over the last 3 games he has averaged over 7 targets a game.
Matt Prater ($4,000 Flex)
In his last two games, Prater has not missed a field goal. He is heating up at the right time, and at his 4k price tag, I can easily fill out my lineups. Defenses for both teams are good so it will be tough to move the ball. The Cardinals will need Praters leg if that’s the case.
So, there are our DraftKings selections for the 2021 Showdown of Arizona @Los Angeles! Remember any DFS questions, you can check out our articles here. Or you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Image Credit: Kirby Lee – USA TODAY Sports
