Foretelling Thursday’s Million + Bonus DraftKings 500k
The New England Patriots have struggled to move the ball on offense all year. It can be hard to predict who’s going to land in the endzone whether it be Cam Newton, James White, Damien Harris, or Sony Michel, or even worse they score on one of their many trick plays. The Patriots have switched between the run and pass game through out the season. Cam Newton has passed the ball 35, 17, 40, 18, and 19 times over the last five games. Whereas his opponent Jared Goff has thrown the ball for 61, 37, 51, 31, and 47 times in that same time span.
This Rams defense is averaging the least amount of passing yards per completion and the third least rushing yard per game. The Patriots are 28th in passing yards per completion and 18th in rushing yards given up per game. The Rams run a ton of plays on offense and try to use the run game to open up the pass game. They run play action at the third highest rate in the league, and since they are 4th in plays run per game, they will be able to attack the Patriots through the air, and on the ground.
The Patriots are currently running the ball at the highest rate in the league, with the rams trailing closely behind them in 7th. The Patriots are trying to cover up their bad offense and rely on their defense by running out the clock, so if they get out to an early lead you can expect them to try to run the clock out. Cam has struggled to run the ball against tough defenses all year, so Josh McDaniel’s won’t be putting a ton of designed QB runs in the game plan.
Thursday Million Lineup 1:
Robert Woods: Woods has a solid rushing floor and has seen the endzone more than Kupp has on the season. I think Bellicheck will try and take Kupp away from Jared Goff, as he has consistently been his favorite target.
Darnell Henderson Jr: Henderson has been the slowly losing his carries to Cam Akers, but the Ram have been committed to a committee throughout the season. Sean Mcvay wants to keep this backfield unpredictable and so it’s unlikely that one back will end up taking the majority of the carries for the rest of the reason.
Cam Akers: Last week, Akers saw 21 rush attempts and 63% of the carries for the Rams backfield. Even though I believe that this time share is equal right now, Akers is the most likely player to see an increased workload throughout the season. There should be plenty of rush attempts to go around for both of these rams running backs in this Thursday showdown.
James White: I expect the Patriots to fall behind in this game, which is the perfect game script for James White to see a good fantasy day. After Burkhead went down two weeks ago with a season ending injury, White is the only pass catching back that the Patriots have left.
Jakobi Meyers: If the Patriots fall behind, then they’re going to pass the ball more than people would expect. Meyers is the only wide receiver on New England that gets consistent targets since they lost Julian Edelman. The last big game for Meyers was against the Ravens, which was a close game against a good defense.
Thursday Million Lineup 2:
Jared Goff: If this game is closer than I anticipate than Goff should be the leading fantasy option for Thursdays game. This is a redemption game for Goff who in 2019 fell apart against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Goff looked good in his last primetime outing against a tough defense, beating the Buccaneers 27-24 and leaving the game with 51 passing attempts. The closer this game is, the more the Rams will lean on Goff to throw the ball downfield.
Josh Reynolds: In each game that Cooper Kupp has struggled, Josh Reynolds has seen a dramatic increase in usage. New England might try to scheme out Kupp or Woods, but there’s no way to cover Kupp, Woods, and Reynolds while stopping the run game. Somethings gotta give for the Patriots, and if you can figure it out what you should be able to make some money tomorrow.
Thursday Million Lineup 3:
Cooper Kupp: I have spoken a lot of doubts about Kupp, but the reality is that since he normally lines up in the slot, it will be hard for the Patriots to try and scheme him out the game plan. Kupp may continue to be Goff’s leading option, and tear up this New England defense to make a statement game for the Rams who’s playoff race is getting closer by the day.
Thursday Million Lineup 4:
If you have any lineups that you feel confident in, you can send them in to kicktosscatch@gmail.com. Also be sure to follow kicktosscatch on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to get notified every time an article is posted.
