Highlighting a strong Week 11 of NFL action, Patrick Mahomes and the AFC-leading Chiefs (7-2) travel to Los Angeles to face Justin Herbert and the Chargers (5-4) on Sunday Night Football. This should be an entertaining divisional clash, with Kansas City trying to stay ahead of the Dolphins and Titans and Los Angeles trying to rebound from a tough Week 10 loss to the 49ers. With the Chiefs favored -5, this is a tough one to bet — the Chiefs won by a field goal when these squads met in late September, but L.A. was much more healthy at that stage of the season. This seems like a great opportunity for us to assemble a DraftKings Showdown lineup, which is exactly what we will do today.
The big question marks surrounding this game involve both squads' top two receivers. The Chargers may finally get Keenan Allen (hamstring) back on the field, after the veteran has missed the better part of the past 10 weeks (he logged 23 snaps in Week 7, but during L.A.'s bye week he re-aggravated the injury he initially sustained in Week 1). As for WR2 Mike Williams (ankle), the team's best deep-ball threat, he seems like a long-shot to return as he and the team have expressed a desire to be cautious with the ankle. Both wideouts have practiced in limited fashion this week.
WEEK 11 DFS LINEUPS: DraftKings | FanDuel
For the Chiefs, they pretty much always knew their Week 11 offense would be without JuJu Smith-Schuster. The veteran receiver suffered a nasty concussion last week after a blindside hit by Jaguars safety Andre Cisco, after which JuJu exhibited a neurological response called a fencing posture that reminded everyone of Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa's awful concussion earlier in the season. Kansas City will also be without WR2 Mecole Hardman, who was placed on IR Thursday night with an abdominal injury.
Still, this game features plenty of star power, including Chargers running back Austin Ekeler and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, each one of the best in the NFL at their respective position. And the scoring should be plentiful, with oddsmakers listing the over/under for this AFC West clash at a whopping 52 points.
WEEK 11 DFS: Best stacks | Best values
Let's dive into our Sunday Night Football Showdown lineup, and offer our reasoning for each one of our picks.
Before we get into our picks, here are the key scoring settings for DraftKings Showdown contests: They're full-point PPR and there are three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, and 100 receiving yards. The Captain pick costs 1.5 times a player's original price, but he also gets his point total multiplied by 1.5.
MORE DK SHOWDOWN: How to win a Showdown contest
DraftKings Showdown Picks: Chiefs at Chargers Sunday Night Football
$50,000 budget, need at least one player from each team.
Captain (1.5x points, 1.5x salary): TE Travis Kelce, Chiefs ($15,600)
We have a feeling most lineups will feature Mahomes or Ekeler at Captain, but we'll go with the mild contrarian play of Kelce in the 1.5x boost. This price is $2,100 cheaper than Mahomes would have been as Cap, and $600 cheaper than Ekeler. And Kelce could very easily wind up the highest-scoring fantasy player in this game! He has been regularly peppered with Mahomes looks, seeing target counts ranging between seven and 17 even before the injuries to JuJu and Hardman. He has either scored a touchdown or topped 90 receiving yards in every game but one this year. That one game: Week 2 vs. Los Angeles, one of the top defenses when it comes to defending tight ends. But Kelce is not your typical tight end, and we expect him to get his vengeance this week, burning a Bolts D that's missing edge rusher Joey Bosa (groin) and top cornerback J.C. Jackson (knee).
FLEX QB Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs ($11,400)
We're going with a stars-and-scrubs build this week, as the top three studs seem too good to pass up. Currently the front-runner for MVP honors, Mahomes has been brilliant this season despite losing longtime downfield threat Tyreek Hill over the offseason. He has 330-plus passing yards in each of the Chiefs' past four games, and he's thrown 10 TDs (and rushed for one) in that span. His 28.5 fantasy points per game on the season has been impressive enough, but his 36.6 average over the past two games puts him on a whole different stratosphere of fantasy production. I highly doubt many Showdown lineups will win without Mahomes at least flexed.
FLEX RB Austin Ekeler, Chargers ($11,000)
Three roster spots, three absolute studs. Ekeler was held largely in check last week against a stout 49ers defense, but his stretch leading up to Week 10 was eye-popping. From Week 4 through Week 9, Ek scored a total of 10 all-purpose TDs and averaged a whopping 31.9 fantasy points. Kansas City has surrendered the eighth-most fantasy points to RBs this season, and Ekeler caught 9-of-10 targets against the Chiefs when these teams last met early in the season. Talk about a PPR legend. The combined production we get from Kelce, Mahomes, and Ekeler will outscore the entirety of a ton of conservatively-built lineups.
FLEX WR Kadarius Toney, Chiefs ($8,000)
Toney is loving life as a Chief! The speedy wideout caught 4-of-5 targets for 57 yards and a TD last week, and broke away for a 32-yard rush as well. Andy Reid, Eric Bieniemy, and company sure look like they're committed to utilizing their electric midseason acquisition, and we'd venture to say his involvement in Mahomes' offense will only increase with time, reps, and the omnipresence of the dreaded injury bug affecting K.C.'s other wideouts. This is tremendous value for a guy with massive playmaking upside.
FLEX TE Tre' McKitty, Chargers ($2,200)
Now for the scrubs! But these aren't just no-names picked out of a hat — our final two roster spots have plenty of upside in PPR formats. McKitty stepped up after starting Chargers tight end Gerald Everett suffered a groin injury, catching 3-of-6 targets for 21 yards. Minimal production, we admit, but imagine what a full week of starter's reps will do for McKitty. Even if Everett does suit up Sunday night, he won't play the whole game. And McKitty could be featured in two-TE sets if Allen and Williams both sit, never mind if those two and DeAndre Carter (illness) are sidelined. Go for the upside!
FLEX WR Justin Watson, Chiefs ($1,400)
Most people have never even heard of Watson, which is why we're landing him at a measly $1,400. But Watson has very quietly hauled in 3-of-6 targets for 49 yards over the past two weeks, and if he falls into the end zone this weekend we will be handsomely rewarded for our penny-stock investment. Without Smith-Schuster and Hardman, he should see plenty of playing time — and if Kelce, Toney, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling command all the attention of the Chargers' secondary, he could slip away for a long play. One thing's for sure: rostering Watson is worth it if we can afford our top four studs at the top of our lineup.
