The 2022 NFL season has not produced many quality prime-time games, but NFL Week 8 Monday Night Football features a classic AFC North battle between the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns and for those playing DFS Showdown slates on DraftKings and FanDuel, you have to be excited. Joe Burrow may not have Ja’Marr Chase with him this week, but between his numerous other weapons on the field, the Bengals should still see success on offense.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns have the best running back in the NFL in Nick Chubb so they’re going to work over the Bengals defense in a way they haven’t seen this season. The over has hit in seven of the last nine games between these two so a game total of 45 gives us hope for another high-scoring game and a really fun DFS Showdown night. Here’s a look at tonight’s player pool for single-game contests.
Please note that players not listed below are not necessarily a complete fade and any player listed can certainly be used as the MVP/Captain. These are merely suggestions for players to use when setting Showdown lineups.
MVP/Captain
Joe Burrow, QB CIN
He’s been on-fire over the last two weeks, passing for 781 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s even run two touchdowns in himself during that span. Add to that his 1,004 yards and six touchdowns in three career games against the Browns and the wave of injuries to Cleveland’s secondary and we’ve got ourselves a quarterback!
Tee Higgins, WR CIN
With the injury to Chase, Higgins steps in as the No. 1 receiver for the Bengals and the team shouldn’t skip a beat. As the No. 2, Higgins has 14 grabs for 184 yards and a touchdown over three games against the Browns and their whole secondary is now banged-up. Heading into tonight’s action the Browns ranked 21st in DVOA against the opposition’s top receiver, so look for Higgins to exploit some match-ups.
Nick Chubb, RB CLE
Is there any other Brown more deserving to sit in the captain’s seat than Chubb? He’s run against the Bengals seven times and has three 100-yard efforts and four touchdowns in his last three against them. Wyatt Teller being out does the Browns offensive line no good, but that alone isn’t enough to hurt the No. 1 running back in all of football.
Mid-Tier DFS Value Picks
Joe Mixon, RB CIN
The Browns have given up an average of 135.6 rushing yards per game with 13 rushing touchdowns allowed on the season. In fact, they gave up multi-touchdown games to Gus Edwards and Rhamondre Stevenson over the last two weeks and then over 170 yards and a score to Austin Ekeler the week before. The Bengals usually use the pass to set up the run, but it’s still produced an average of 17 carries per game for Mixon. You know Burrow loves to sling the rock, but we certainly cannot ignore Mixon in this one.
Tyler Boyd, WR CIN
He steps up a level this week and will be the No. 2 receiver for the Bengals tonight. However, keep in mind that Boyd played 84-percent of his snaps working out of the slot and the team likely won’t deviate too much from the plan. He’ll be on the outside in two-receiver sets, but the Bengals aren’t going to need to use much 12 or 21-personnel packages, so expect top see him matched up with Greg Newsome a bunch and there’s nothing wrong with that from a Bengals standpoint.
Amari Cooper, WR CLE
Cooper and his quarterback have put together a solid on-field rapport and Cooper is rolling this season with an average of just over eight targets per game, including four double-digit target games. He’s turned that into two 100-yard efforts and four touchdowns over his last six. He would have had another last week to give him three-straight weeks with a score, but it was called back due to a penalty. If he’s lined up with Chidobe Awuzie, it could be a tough night, but he gets moved around so much, he’ll find himself opposite Eli Apple at some point and we are all here for that one.
Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR CLE
Expect to see him up against Eli Apple throughout most of the night and that should be a nice physical battle. They match-up well on paper, but Peoples-Jones should have little to no trouble gaining separation down on the field. The Bengals rank 20th in DVOA against the opposition’s No. 2 receiver and the Browns are going to try to exploit that.
Harrison Bryant, TE CLE
Before getting hurt, David Njoku was averaging just over seven targets per game over his last five which he was turning into six receptions for just under 76 yards per game. He was also playing between 85-90-percent of the snaps. In pure “next man up” fashion, Bryant now steps in and should see a very similar workload, including a piece of those red zone targets vacated by Njoku’s absence. With the lack of name recognition and the fact that the Bengals rank ninth in DVOA against the tight end, we should get him at low -ownership tonight.
Kareem Hunt, RB CLE
The trade rumors continue to swirl around Hunt, so be sure to check the weekly inactives to make sure he’s still ready to go for tonight’s action. Showcasing talent for a trade is not uncommon in the NFL, so Hunt could garner a few extra looks. He’s been seeing decent red zone touches, though once the Browns hit the green zone, it’s all about Chubb, so be careful not to over-invest. He’s a contrarian play to Chubb tonight, so if you’re fading the big man, Hunt could be worth a spot in your lineup.
Jacoby Brissett, QB CLE
He’s been good, but not great. The only way you use him is if you believe the Browns are going to abandon the run and take things to the air in catch-up mode, but even that is a risk. He’s averaged just 226.3 passing yards per game and only has one multi-touchdown game. In fact, he’s only got two touchdown passes to four interceptions over his last four games, so this goes beyond contrarian.
Hayden Hurst, TE CIN
We’ve watched Hurst’s snap count go up over the past three weeks and with Chase gone, we may see it creep up even a little more. He’s also averaged six targets per game over the past three weeks and while it hasn’t brought about more than two touchdowns over his last four, we’re seeing a slight bump in numbers in full-point PPR formats. The Browns rank 12th in DVOA against the tight end, so perhaps, with no Chase, some red zone work opens up for him.
Mike Thomas, WR CIN
Obviously, he’s the “new” face in town with Chase out for a few weeks. Thomas hasn’t seen a whole lot of action this season, but should see his snaps and target share increase as the team’s new No. 3 receiver. His specialty has always been the deep ball, so look for the Bengals to deploy him in similar fashion. He’s still a bit of an unknown, so having a home in your primary lineup is risky. If you play multiple lineups, though, you’re going to want a share or two of him.
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Dart-Throw DFS Bargains
Samaje Perine, RB CIN
While the Bengals have gotten Mixon more third-down work, Perine still plays a role inside the passing game. With the Browns ranking 27th in DVOA against running back pass-plays, you can throw the dart if you’re a multi-lineup player.
David Bell, WR CLE
He doesn’t see much in the way of targets, but given the limited weapons Brissett has available to him, Bell just might be a Hail Mary play for DFS.
For additional NFL DFS Week 8 coverage, check out our full coverage on Fantasy Alarm.
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