The Bengals-Titans matchup that begins Saturday is one of the most interesting of the second round of the playoffs, at least from the perspective of the DFS. Cincinnati apparently has no shortage of high-ceilinged stars, while Tennessee’s offense could once again be a one-man show with the long-awaited return of rushing champion Derrick Henry. Of course, seasoned daily fantasy players know you have to take chances to win big, which is why our FanDuel single-game lineup features some big-ticket stars and a couple sleepers no one talks about.
Here are the key scoring adjustments for FanDuel single game contests: The point total for the “MVP” is multiplied by 1.5, but does not cost additional money like the “Captain” in DraftKings Showdown contests. FanDuel’s default score is and , and there are no bonuses for 100/300 yard games like in DraftKings.
FanDuel Single Game DFS Picks: Bengals vs. titans
Budget of $50,000, at least one player from each team is needed.
If Henry is playing, even after a prolonged absence due to a foot injury, he can have a monster game. Obviously there’s risk here, as he could see fewer carries than normal or worse, aggravate the injury early on, but we’ll take our chances. The good thing about drafting Henry is that the Titans usually keep the run going even if they fall behind early, so Henry should get at least 15 carries while he’s healthy. Even in a mediocre matchup like this, that’s enough for him to do damage.
Burrow is playing at an extremely high level right now, and despite his offensive line’s inability to protect him, which could be a real problem in this game, he should still put up numbers against Tennessee’s 25th-ranked passing defense. Burrow is also an effective scrambler, something he hasn’t shown much of this year, but with Tennessee’s strong pass rush likely to get him out of the pocket at least a couple of times, expect some points on the ground, too. Put it all together, and Burrow is worth its hefty price tag.
Given Tennessee’s struggles against WRs this year, we had to take one of Cincinnati’s pass receivers to stack with Burrow. Since we’re using Henry, we couldn’t afford the Ja’Marr Chase, so Higgins is the obvious pivot. Coming off his worst game of the season (one catch, 10 yards), we hope other DFS players are fading away at the dangerous wide receiver, who is just as capable of a monster game as Chase. Higgins’ game record from Weeks 12-16 proves it, as he topped 113 yards four times and scored four total TDs in that span.
Although we have Burrow and Higgins, we think Tennessee’s defense can hold up better than expected in this game. That opens the door for McPherson to get several scoring opportunities. He has averaged more than three FG attempts in his last five games, including four in last week’s playoff victory. McPherson was also 9-for-11 on kicks from 50-plus yards this year, so distance isn’t an issue.
Cincinnati has struggled against the TE all season, so we wanted one of Anthony Firkser or Swaim in this lineup. We went with Swaim, who isn’t necessarily the best passing option but ultimately is more on the field by a wide margin (71 percent of snaps in Week 18 compared to Firkser’s 34 percent). This is a TD or bust play, but when you pay for Henry and Burrow, you have to sacrifice somewhere.