Week 16 ends with a Monday Night Football battle between the Chargers and Colts. It's not the most exciting matchup, so let's try to spice things up by winning some money on Monkey Knife Fight. Three Game Types are offered, including "More Or Less," "Rapid Fire" and "Stat Shootout." For a full breakdown of the rules for each game, see the House Rules page. Let's dive into some of the contests within each Game Type and discuss how things might play out
More Or Less Contest
Starting things is a 2/2 goal for 3.5X the prize. We will pick sides on Michael Pittman Jr. 66.5 receiving yards and Keenan Allen 64.5 receiving yards. For Pittman, take the under. The Chargers have been tough on wide receivers, allowing the 11th-fewest passing yards per game in the league. Pittman might be the Colts' top wide receiver, but he has recorded 58 or fewer receiving yards in seven of his last eight games. Add the uncertainty with Nick Foles making his first start and it's difficult to have a ton of faith in Pittman reaching the over.
For Allen, I'm leaning toward the over. The Colts have also defended the pass well, allowing the 10th-fewest passing yards per game. However, Allen has much higher upside than Pittman since he has Justin Herbert as his quarterback. He has recorded at least 86 receiving yards in four of five games since returning from injury.
Rapid Fire Contest
Let's look at a 2/2 goal for 3X the prize. The battles are Herbert vs. Pittman fantasy points (with Pittman receiving a 6.5 fantasy points bonus) and Allen vs. Austin Ekeler (with Allen receiving a 3.5 fantasy points bonus). First, take Herbert over Pittman. Not only has Pittman produced limited receiving yards totals, but he has only caught two touchdown passes all season. While Herbert has been a disappointment with only 21 touchdown passes through 14 games, he has thrown for at least 313 yards in three consecutive games with all of his top wide receivers finally healthy.
For the second matchup, I'm rolling with Ekeler over Allen. One of the reasons why Herbert has not produced a ton of touchdown passes is that Ekeler has nine rushing touchdowns already, following the 12 rushing touchdowns that he had over 16 games last season. Ekeler has found his way into the end zone at least once in nine of his last 11 games. He has also been racking up yards in bunches, posting at least 80 total yards in four of his last five games.
Stat Shootout Contest
Closing things out will be the contest in which three players have to combine for at least 21.5 receptions for 2X the prize. Our first selection will be Allen, who has caught 26 passes the last three games. Since returning from injury, he has 52 targets in five games. Next up will be his teammate Ekeler. The Colts have allowed 5.6 receptions per game to running backs and Ekeler has caught at least seven passes in six of his last nine games.
Completing our trio will be Pittman. Yes, he hasn't produced much in terms of yardage lately. However, that's not because of a lack of involvement in the Colts' offense. He caught 10 passes for 60 yards last week and he has at least six receptions in seven of his last nine games.
