This article is part of our DFS NFL series.
Thursday Night Football's matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks brings some interesting options 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
Let's start with a 2/2 goal for 3.5X the prize. We'll pick sides on Tyler Lockett 64.5 receiving yards and Brandon Aiyuk 53.5 receiving yards. For Lockett, I'll lean toward the over. This is definitely not a great matchup against a very good 49ers defense. However, the Seahawks have been awful against the run, which is a strength of the 49ers. If they fall into an early deficit, Lockett could receive a lot of targets as they play catch-up. He was targeted 11 times when the Seahawks lost to the 49ers in Week 2, coming away with nine receptions for 107 yards.
The over is also the way to go with Aiyuk. The big news on the injury front for the 49ers is that Deebo Samuel (knee) is out. That should leave Aiyuk to lead their wide receiver group. When Samuel was out Week 8 against the Rams, Aiyuk finished with six receptions, 81 yards and a touchdown.
Rapid Fire Contest
One option to consider for this contest is a 2/2 goal for 3X the prize. The battles are Christian McCaffrey vs. Geno Smith fantasy points (with Smith receiving a +5.5 fantasy points bonus) and Lockett vs. DK Metcalf fantasy points (with Lockett receiving a +0.5 fantasy points bonus). First, take McCaffrey over Smith. As mentioned, the Seahawks have been awful against the run, allowing the second-most rushing yards per game in the league. Smith could be in line for a long night with the 49ers allowing only 15.2 points per game. When he faced them Week 2, he finished with 197 passing yards, no touchdowns and one interception.
For the two Seahawks wide receivers, the best option is Metcalf. Both he and Lockett have found the end zone often lately, but that could change against the 49ers. The key for Metcalf could be volume. The last five games, he has caught 35 of 48 targets for 396 yards. Over that same span, Lockett has 25 receptions on 38 targets for 365 yards.
Stat Shootout Contest
This could be a low-scoring game, especially for the Seahawks, so I'm going to avoid the total touchdowns option. Let's target three players to combine for at least 18.5 receptions for 2X the prize. Starting things will be the duo of Metcalf and Lockett. When these teams played each other Week 2, the pair combined for 13 receptions on 17 targets. Metcalf and Lockett both average 5.5 receptions per game this season.
Completing our trio will be McCaffrey. He is one of the best pass-catching running backs in the league, finishing with at least 100 receptions in a season twice in his career. In seven games with the 49ers, he has recorded at least seven catches in a game three times. That's been an area of weakness for the Seahawks, who have allowed the 10th-most receptions to running backs in the league.
