Every NFL week starts with a Thursday Night Football game for most of the remainder of the 2021 season, and these are our favorite slates to play Daily Fantasy Football. The TNF showdown slate allows you a smaller crop of players to choose from, and if your cheap sleeper pick hits, you can cash big in your tournaments or easily win your head-to-head DFS matchups.
Every week, I'll get the Thursday Night DFS picks from our experts and we'll feature them below. But first, let's preview the matchup and what we might expect.
The Minnesota Vikings host the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game that has paramount playoff implications for both teams in their hunt to grab a Wildcard spot in their respective conferences. Although this game has a low projected point total of 44, it will be an interesting DFS slate nonetheless with Dalvin Cook surprisingly expected to play despite suffering a shoulder injury two weeks ago that looked like a potential season-ender at the time. Cook's return should boost an offense that will be without multiple starters including Adam Thielen and Christian Darrisaw. This means KJ Osborn will likely be a popular Daily Fantasy play due to price tag and his projected role with Thielen out.
On the flip side, maybe the Steelers figured something out on offense finally in Week 13 by allowing Ben Roethlisberger to call more of his own shots in an up-tempo and very pass-heavy gamescript that led to the comeback against the Ravens. Of course, we've seen this play out before and in the past it has led the Steelers to resort to saying things like we need to go back to establishing a run game, taking more snaps under center and even drafting Najee Harris. If they stick with the plan it's not-so-great news for Harris but makes Diontae Johnson one of the 10 best WR plays this week.
Without further ado, here's a look at who our experts are picking on this DFS Thursday Night Football slate:
Dave Richard
CAPTAIN/MVP: Diontae Johnson, WR
FLEX: Ben Roethlisberger, QB
FLEX: Najee Harris, RB
FLEX: Pat Freiermuth, TE
FLEX: K.J. Osborn, WR
FLEX: Ray Ray McCloud, WR
Jamey Eisenberg
CAPTAIN/MVP: Ben Roethlisberger, QB
FLEX: Diontae Johnson, WR
FLEX: Najee Harris, RB
FLEX: Pat Freiermuth, TE
FLEX: K.J. Osborn, WR
FLEX: Greg Joseph, K
Heath Cummings
CAPTAIN/MVP: Kirk Cousins, QB
FLEX: Justin Jefferson, WR
FLEX: Dalvin Cook, RB
FLEX: Chase Claypool, WR
FLEX: Greg Joseph, K
Frank Stampfl
CAPTAIN/MVP Justin Jefferson, WR
FLEX: Diontae Johnson, WR
FLEX: Najee Harris, RB
FLEX: Pat Freiermuth, TE
FLEX: K.J. Osborn, WR
FLEX: CJ Ham, RB
Chris Towers
CAPTAIN/MVP Justin Jefferson, WR
FLEX: Chase Claypool, WR
FLEX: Najee Harris, RB
FLEX: Kirk Cousins, QB
FLEX: Dan Bailey, K
