Week 14 closes out with a cross-conference showdown between the Patriots and Cardinals on Monday Night Football. Most casual fans might be bored by this battle of mediocre teams, but DFS contests can make any matchup more interesting. Putting together a FanDuel single-game lineup isn't easy, as Arizona has most of the high-priced talent and New England has the better defense, but we went with a chalky MVP pick and found some value sleepers who could really pay off with extra opportunities.
Before we break down our picks, here are the notable scoring settings for FanDuel single-game contests: The point total for the "MVP" is multiplied by 1.5, but he doesn't cost any additional money like the "Captain" in DraftKings Showdown contests. FanDuel's default scoring is half-point PPR and four-point passing TDs, and there are no bonuses for 300-yard/100-yard games like on DraftKings.
MORE FD SINGLE GAME: How to win a FanDuel single-game contest
FanDuel Single Game DFS Picks: Patriots vs. Cardinals Week 14 Monday Night Football
$60,000 budget, need at least one player from each team
MVP (1.5x points): RB Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots ($14,000)
This is a chalky pick, but on FanDuel, where you don't have to pay extra for your MVP/Captain, why wouldn't you go chalk for the best player? Since the start of Week 3, Stevenson has averaged 19.7 touches (5.3 catches) and 103.9 total yards per game. That's come with just five TDs, but Stevenson remains the best bet on the Pats to score in any contest. Against the Cardinals, who allow the 11th-most FanDuel points per game to RBs, he should rack up points one way or another.
MORE MNF: DK Lineup
FLEX QB Kyler Murray, Cardinals ($17,000)
Murray doesn't have a particularly high ceiling against New England's ninth-ranked pass defense, but he always has a solid floor thanks to his rushing ability. He's posted at least 30 rushing yards in each of his past six games and at least 56 yards in each of his past two outings. Even if he plays "poorly," Murray figures to be one of the top DFS scorers from this game, so we felt we needed him in our lineup.
FLEX QB Mac Jones, Patriots ($13,500)
Because we're going cheap with some of our other picks, we could afford both QBs. With Stevenson already in our lineup, we should get virtually every Patriots' TD by adding Jones. He's played turnover-free football in his past four outings, a stretch that was highlighted by a 382-yard, two-TD effort in Week 12 against Minnesota. That was the lone "favorable" matchup in that stretch, and while we're not expecting quite as lofty of a performance this time around, it's worth noting that the Cardinals are allowing even more FanDuel points per game to QBs than Minnesota (fourth-most). It makes sense to take a chance with Jones and hope for around 250 yards and multiple scores.
FLEX WR Kendrick Bourne, Patriots ($5,500)
With Jakobi Meyers (concussion) out, Bourne should see more opportunities than usual. In Week 12 when Meyers played sparingly because of a shoulder injury, Bourne played 69 percent of snaps. In previous weeks when DeVante Parker was out, Bourne played a similar number. He didn't produce a ton, but he still saw around four targets and had some chances to make plays. Many will opt for Parker or Nelson Agholor here, as both have higher floors, but we're going with a lesser-owned play and hoping Bourne hits it big for our lineup.
FLEX TE Trey McBride, Cardinals ($5,500)
McBride has seen seven targets in his two starts since taking over for Zach Ertz (knee). That's nothing to write home about, but he's on the field a lot (at least 75 percent of snaps in both games) and at least semi-involved. We can't afford any of Arizona's top WRs, so we're once again going contrarian with a lower-owned, lower-floor receiving option. New England is allowing the 10th-most FanDuel points to TEs, so this is a good spot for McBride to have a breakout game.
