This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Football series.
The NFL season culminates Sunday in Super Bowl LIX between Kansas City and Philadelphia at 6:30 p.m. EST. Yahoo's final NFL DFS slate of the season will be of the single-game variety, and Sunday's biggest contest is the NFL $70K Big Game Baller, which pays out a guaranteed prize pool of $70,000 to the top 728 finishers, including $20,000 to the winner. You can submit up to 100 entries into this contest, which has a maximum total capacity of 4,012 entries but will still run if it doesn't fill, potentially providing you with enhanced odds of winning, also known as overlay.
Keep in mind that Yahoo DFS contests use 0.5 PPR scoring rather than full PPR, which lowers the comparative value of wide receivers and running backs (in that order) while especially affecting high-volume pass-catchers. Your NFL $70k Big Game Baller lineup will consist of one Superstar and four Flex plays, with no positional requirements. Positions eligible for your lineup are QB, RB, WR, TE and D/ST. The Superstar gets a 1.5X fantasy point multiplier without a change in cap hit.
SUPERSTAR Candidates
Saquon Barkley, PHI vs. KC ($40): Barkley's putting the finishing touches on a historic season, as he's just two scrimmage yards shy of Terrell Davis' single-season record of 2,762 (including playoffs). Philadelphia's star RB has averaged 147.3 rushing yards per game in the playoffs after leading the NFL with 125.3 rushing yards per game in the regular season. Kansas City's run defense was elite in the regular season but has been more vulnerable in the playoffs, as Houston's Joe Mixon and Buffalo's James Cook each rushed for at least 85 yards against this unit and combined for three TDs on the ground.
Jalen Hurts, PHI vs. KC ($34): Hurts can do damage with both his arm and his legs, as he illustrated by throwing one touchdown pass and adding three rushing TDs in Philadelphia's 55-23 NFC Championship Game win over the Commanders. That outing marked the second time Hurts has produced such a stat line in the postseason, as he also had one passing TD and three rushing scores in a 38-35 loss to Kansas City in Super Bowl LVII two years ago. While Hurts' passing numbers have been modest recently (193.5 passing yards per game in the regular season), he's arguably the most reliable short-yardage runner in the NFL thanks to Philadelphia's patented Tush Push play, which has helped him compile 42 rushing scores over the past three regular seasons. Hurts also has enough speed to burn a defense that overcommits to Barkley on an option play or fake, as the QB showed with his 44-yard touchdown run on the opening possession of the divisional-round win over the Rams.
Patrick Mahomes, KC vs. PHI ($32): Mahomes had a pedestrian regular season by his lofty standards, only to unsurprisingly turn things up in the playoffs once it really mattered. He produced three total TDs in the 32-29 AFC Championship Game win over the Bills (one passing, two rushing), giving Mahomes an even 50 touchdowns (43 passing, seven rushing) against only 10 turnovers (eight interceptions, two fumbles lost) through 20 career playoff games. Mahomes also has a 17-3 record in those games and is trying to win his fourth Super Bowl. If a big game with his arm is what it takes for KC to put itself in position for a threepeat, expect Mahomes to deliver, even against an elite Eagles defense that allowed the fewest passing yards in the league during the regular season.
Honorable Mention:
A.J. Brown, PHI vs. KC ($28)
FLEX Plays
Xavier Worthy, KC vs. PHI ($27): Despite scoring two TDs in his NFL debut, Worthy took a while to blossom in his rookie season, but the speedster out of Texas has benefited from KC bolstering its WR room and lessening the defensive attention paid to Worthy. After failing to reach 75 scrimmage yards in a game through Week 14, the 2024 first-round pick has posted at least 75 scrimmage yards and a TD in four of five subsequent games with Mahomes at QB, including a career-high 101 scrimmage yards in the AFC Championship Game against Buffalo. Mahomes probably spreads the ball around too much for Worthy to earn Superstar consideration, but the talented WR could be worthy of paying up for as a supporting piece.
Travis Kelce, KC vs. PHI ($19): Kelce was held to a playoff career-low 19 receiving yards against the Bills, but he had reached 70 receiving yards in 14 consecutive postseason games prior to that and has 19 receiving TDs in 20 playoff games with Mahomes as his QB. The star TE may have lost half a step at age 35, but this is still a nice buy-low opportunity given Kelce's excellent chemistry with Mahomes and the duo's penchant for stepping up in big games.
Dallas Goedert, PHI vs. KC ($18): Goedert lacks Kelce's name recognition, but the Eagles TE has actually been just as effective this postseason, averaging 62.7 receiving yards in three playoff games compared to Kelce's 68.0 in two, with each player having scored one TD. Both TEs play important roles in keeping their respective offenses on schedule as reliable chain movers, making them strong value plays. This is also an ideal matchup for Goedert considering KC allowed the most receiving yards in the NFL to TEs (1,191) in the regular season.
Honorable Mentions:
Kareem Hunt, KC vs. PHI ($24); DeVonta Smith, PHI vs. KC ($21); Hollywood Brown, KC vs. PHI ($15)
