Week 15’s Thursday Night Football showdown promises to deliver an exciting matchup when the Chargers host the Chiefs with first place in the AFC West on the line. Kansas City is a three-point favorite at Vegas sportsbooks. The Chargers, meanwhile, are managing injuries to several of their integral offensive players. However, oddsmakers still expect a flurry of points, with totals climbing north of 50. All in all, this stacks up to be a fun DFS contest, so we're excited to unleash our Week 15 FanDuel single-game lineup picks.
Here are the key 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 100/300-yard games like on DraftKings.
MORE FD SINGLE GAME: How to win a FanDuel single-game contest
FanDuel Single-Game DFS Picks: Chiefs vs. Chargers
$50,000 budget, need at least one player from each team.
MVP (1.5x points) QB Justin Herbert, Chargers ($16,500)
The Chiefs are undoubtedly on a dominant defensive run, allowing a mere 9.6 points to offenses over the past five games. However, we’re swinging for the fences here, and Justin Herbert has four 30.0-plus-point FanDuel performances (including a 40.0-spot) on the season. We’ll take our chances.
MORE TNF: DK lineup | Start 'em, sit 'em | Ekeler update
FLEX TE Travis Kelce, Chiefs ($12,500)
Kelce has been quiet of late, posting identical 3-27 lines in each of the past two games. There are no fancy analytics to determine when a player is "due," but sometimes "the squeaky wheel gets the grease," as they say. Kelce hasn’t been barking about a lack of production, but it’s unlikely the Chiefs will allow a player of his caliber to be a bit piece for much longer.
WEEK 15 DFS LINEUPS: DraftKings | FanDuel | Yahoo
FLEX WR Keenan Allen, Chargers ($12,000)
The availability of Austin Ekeler (ankle) and Mike Williams (heel) is currently in doubt after both logged DNPs early in the week. Allen is already the most-targeted pass-catcher on the team, so if those two are down -- or even limited -- it stands to reason Allen will be asked to carry a heavier load. He’s not a big touchdown scorer, but this is a situation where the likelihood of one is elevated.
WEEK 15 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide Receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
FLEX RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chiefs ($11,000)
Edwards-Helaire hasn’t received the large volume of touches we’ve been hoping to see him handle, but he’s played well in three games since his return from a knee injury nonetheless. The Chargers are happy to let teams commit to the run, so it wouldn’t be particularly surprising to see Edwards-Helaire receive a healthy workload.
MORE WEEK 15 DFS: Best stacks | Best values | Lineup builder
FLEX RB Joshua Kelley, Chargers ($8,000)
Kelley handled 10 carries and reeled in his only target after Ekeler left last Sunday’s contest with an ankle injury. Ekeler logged a DNP on Monday and a limited practice in Tuesday’s walk-through. It’s a massive game for the Chargers, so they (and Ekeler himself) may try to do everything in their power to get their star back ready to suit up. It’s an awfully tight window they’re working with, though, so it's possible he sees fewer touches than usual and Kelley gets some key carries around the goal line.