Sunday Night Football heads to Hollywood as the 4-6 Cincinnati Bengals take on the 6-3 Los Angeles Chargers. Cincinnati comes in off the tough 35-34 defeat to the Ravens last Thursday Night. The Bengals missed on a potential game-winning two-point conversion with 42 seconds remaining. Cincinnati can not afford to lose much more as they sit 3.5 games out of first in the AFC North. The Chargers are playing well of late, having won three straight and four of five, as they try to keep pace with the Chiefs in the AFC West.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Chargers DFS Start ‘Ems
Here are a few of the players we are heavily leaning on in this game. These players are in a good spot to have a solid performance and a favorable DFS matchup.
Joe Burrow ($7.2k DraftKings and $8.5k Fanduel)
We know Joe Burrow gets a difficult match-up on paper this week. Los Angeles is ranked ninth against the pass and eighth in points allowed to the position, but it’s Joe Burrow. In week 10, he went off for 428 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 36.72 fantasy points. Burrow has moved himself up to the overall fantasy QB3 and in his past two games is averaging 33.43 FanDuel points. There is a reason Burrow is the third highest-priced quarterback in DFS this week, you start him and move on.
J.K. Dobbins ($7k DraftKings and $7.2k Fanduel)
No better time to use a player in DFS, than after they disappointed the masses the week prior. Dobbins let his owners down with just seven fantasy points in week 10. Dobbins is still a top-20 running back, as he ranks as the overall PPR RB15 on the season.
In his last five games, he is averaging 19.8 touches per game with 4 touchdowns. The return of Gus Edwards does concern us but Dobbins is still the RB1, is more explosive, and is more talented. At a minimum, Dobbins will still offer DFS value as the passing down back in a game with a high implied game total.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Chargers DFS
Sit’Ems
On the flip side, here are a few of the players we recommend sitting in this one.
Mike Gesicki ($4.1k DraftKings and $5.4k Fanduel)
With Tee Higgins’s potential return this week, that will most likely have a direct impact on Mike Gesicki’s fantasy production. In the past two games without Higgins, Gesicki has 9 catches for 130, two touchdowns, and 32.5 fantasy points. In the prior two with Higgins, he totaled 8 catches, 75 yards, and 9.5 fantasy points.
Gus Edwards ($4.4k DraftKings and $5k Fanduel)
Gus Edwards might be a good play in a standard league because he could potentially get a rushing touchdown. However, we are sitting him in DFS this week. Edwards offers no value in the passing game and last week played less than 30% of the total and red zone snaps.
Cincinnati may not be very good versus the pass but they have a respectable run defense, ranked 15th against the rush, and 1oth in points allowed to running backs. We just do not feel Gus Edwards provides any upside at his low salary.
Total Apex Lock of the Game
Justin Herbert ($5.3k DraftKings and Fanduel)
Justin Herbert has started to enter the QB1 conversation. The Chargers are beginning to feature and use Herbert both more in the passing game and run game. In his last four games, Herbert has jumped his fantasy output to 20.26 points per game. In week 11 he gets a Bengals team that was just torched by Lamar Jackson for 32.9 fantasy points, is ranked 28th in points allowed to the position, and just 23rd versus the pass. Herbert is an excellent choice within the DFS mid-tier priced quarterbacks.
Total Apex Fade of the Game
Chase Brown ($6.5k DraftKings and $6.8k Fanduel)
We are a bit concerned with Chase Brown this week even though he got elite usage last week versus the Ravens. In his past two games, Brown is averaging 26 touches, 4.05 yards per carry and has 2 touchdowns. Our concern is that the Chargers’ defense is ranked third in points allowed to the position and ninth against the rush. We are not sitting Brown by any stretch but fading the potential production this week.
Conclusion
Jamar Chase is not mentioned, but he is an obvious start that needs no recommendation. Chase is arguably the best wideout in the league and is the overall WR1 in fantasy. The Chargers-Bengals is tied for the highest implied game total on the slate at 48 and features a very small spread. We could and should be in line for a potential high-scoring game.
There are plenty of mid-tier options to use in your builds. Another player we recommend is Quentin Johnston, who provides us with a high upside at a suppressed DFS salary. One final note, remember this game is only available on the FanDuel main slate.
