One of the highlights of Week 9 of the 2022 NFL season, the 5-2 Chiefs host the 5-2 Titans at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday Night Football. The winner of this AFC clash will take sole possession of the No. 2 seed in the conference behind Super Bowl favorite Buffalo. Patrick Mahomes and the high-flying Chiefs are whopping -12.5 favorites over Derrick Henry and the Titans, offering little to no standard betting value. Thus, we will be constructing a DraftKings Showdown lineup for this contest, and winning our money through the all-familiar world of DFS.
Andy Reid’s Chiefs may look a bit different without Tyreek Hill since the speedy wideout went to Miami in the offseason, but they certainly still know how to succeed. Kansas City leads the NFL in points, passing TDs, first downs, third-down conversion percentage, and red-zone TD percentage. The Chiefs also rank second in the NFL in total yards and passing yards.
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Not surprisingly, Travis Kelce has been the busiest receiver in this pass-heavy attack — the stud tight end leads K.C. in targets (60), catches (47), receiving yards (553), and TDs (7). But JuJu Smith-Schuster has been great in his first year as a Chief, and both Mecole Hardman and Marquez Valdes-Scantling have shown flashes of brilliance lately. If rookie Skyy Moore and recently-acquired speedster Kadarius Toney can show out, this squad might be headed to its third Super Bowl in five years.
As for the Titans, the King is back in Nashville. No, not Elvis, we’re talking about Derrick Henry. The two-time rushing champ stumbled a bit out of the gates, but he has returned to his dominating form over the past few weeks. That’s important, because Tennessee has struggled to establish its passing game — and for that matter, with stopping the opposing team’s passing attack.
Ryan Tannehill (ankle) missed the Titans’ Week 8 game against Houston — his first missed start in 49 games — and missed practice on Thursday. Rookie Malik Willis stepped under center in the Texans game, completing 6-of-10 passes and throwing a pick. The 17-10 Tennessee victory was all King Henry, with the veteran bruiser racking up 219 rushing yards and two TDs.
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What can we expect from this AFC clash? Well, let’s just say we won’t be promoting any Titans to our captain spot. But plenty of savvy, under-the-radar plays exist for this primetime affair. Let’s dive right into our DraftKings Showdown squad for Sunday Night Football, and ride into the Titans-Chiefs game with a smile like we’re about to hit the jackpot.
Before we get into our picks, here are the key scoring settings for DraftKings Showdown contests: They’re full-point PPR and there are three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, and 100 receiving yards. The Captain pick costs 1.5 times a player’s original price, but he also gets his point total multiplied by 1.5.
MORE DK SHOWDOWN: How to win a Showdown contest
DraftKings Showdown Picks: Titans at Chiefs Monday Night Football
$50,000 budget, need at least one player from each team.
Captain (1.5x points, 1.5x salary): WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, Chiefs ($12,600)
Everyone and their mother will be on Mahomes for their captain spot, but we’ll make the contrarian play and pick his hottest receiver instead. At $18,000, it just doesn’t make sense to captain the QB when we can make JuJu our cap for $12,600. Smith-Schuster has put up points totals of 28.4 and 25.3 over the past two weeks, and now faces a young, inexperienced Titans secondary that allows the sixth-most DraftKings points to receivers. Mahomes clearly loves JuJu — he’s peppered him with eight targets on five different occasions, and hit him for touchdowns in each of the past two weeks. If Smith-Schuster has another 25-point performance, we’re looking at 37.5 points right off the bat for just 25 percent of our budget.
FLEX QB Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs ($12,000)
Don’t worry, kids — of course we were going to pick the best QB in the game averaging 26.2 DraftKings points. We just like him at $12,000 in a flex spot way more than we like him at $18,000 as our captain. The floor and ceiling are always high with Mahomes, who will always look to pass first in Eric Bieniemy and Andy Reid’s system. Tennessee ranks in the bottom 10 in DraftKings points allowed to QBs this system, and the Chiefs had an extra week to prepare for this one thanks to their Week 8 bye. Mahomes is 3-0 in primetime games this season, with nine TDs, one interception, and an average of 258.7 passing yards. Easy money!
FLEX TE Travis Kelce, Chiefs ($10,400)
Kelce completes our magnificent stack of Chiefs skill players, giving us his 21.8 DraftKings points per game for just a shade over $10K. Tennessee has a decent pass-rush, but its coverage is shaky at best — so when Mahomes sees blitzes, expect him to dump to his No. 1 security blanket. Kelce also remains Kansas City’s go-to receiver on third downs (36 of his 47 catches have produced first downs) and in the red zone (he’s caught 12-of-15 red-zone targets for an NFL-best seven TDs). I doubt many winning lineups will exclude Kelce this Sunday night.
FLEX RB Derrick Henry, Titans ($10,800)
Only in a lineup with JuJu at captain over Mahomes and Kelce can we afford King Henry as a flex. This feels great! We have the three top offensive options for the 13-point favorite, and the only real strong option for the underdogs. Henry doesn’t care about lopsided matchups or stacked boxes — he remains the most powerful and dominating running back in the NFL when healthy. And he’s healthy as a horse right now — his carries have increased in each of the past four weeks: 20-22-28-30-32. He’s scored two TDs in two of the Titans’ past three games, and he rumbled to 228 scrimmage yards against the Texans last week. On the surface, the Chiefs’ rushing defense looks solid — they have allowed the third-fewest rushing yards and second-fewest ground TDs — but look closer and you’ll see K.C. has surrendered 127 rushing yards per game over the past three weeks. All hail the King.
FLEX RB Isiah Pacheco, Chiefs ($2,400)
The Chiefs’ backfield is weird, and it’s especially strange that Pacheco technically started Kansas City’s last game against San Francisco but remains just $2,400. We don’t expect massive numbers out of a rookie in a backfield committee — but at $2,400 all we need is upside. As an explosive back with pass-catching ability in this offense — and the clear trust of Mahomes, Bieniemy, and Reid — Pacheco is the best available option at this price range. Tennessee is pretty good against the run, but the Titans have allowed the sixth-most catches and second-most receiving TDs to RBs this season.
FLEX TE Austin Hooper, Titans ($1,800)
It’s a dart-throw, but you gotta do what you gotta do in a stars-and-scrubs build. Our top four offensive weapons have such incredibly high ceilings that a 3-5 point output from either of our final two flex positions shouldn’t matter much. The Chiefs rank in the bottom-10 in DraftKings points allowed to tight ends, and Tennessee will have to pass a bunch to keep up with Mahomes. This is a much different test for Malik Willis than the Texans were last week — you can’t just run your way to a victory over one of the best offenses in football. Whether Willis starts or the banged-up Ryan Tannehill gives it a go, Hooper will be in the middle of the field as the safest security-blanket option.
