This is it, football fans — the final game of the 2024 NFL season. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired of the “I’m not watching” narrative we’ve all heard about over the past two weeks.
Guys, it’s the freakin’ Super Bowl. The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to make NFL history as the first team to win three straight Super Bowls, and the Philadelphia Eagles are commonly thought to have the deepest roster in the entire league and have been to the big game twice in the last three years.
In my eyes, these are the two best and most complete teams in the NFL and both have equally high claim to where they finished the season: the final two teams standing.
Now, I’m not expecting the same game script, but two years ago these two teams combined for over 70 points in Super Bowl 57. Where there are points, there’s fantasy football value — and that’s what this article is all about. Who are we locking into our DFS lineups on the final football Sunday of the season?
Super Bowl 59: DFS Lineup
- Captain: Jalen Hurts
- Flex: Travis Kelce
- Flex: Dallas Goedert
- Flex: A.J. Brown
- Flex: Hollywood Brown
- Flex: DeAndre Hopkins
Hurt ’em Jalen
You can choose how you want to look at this pick — and either way, you’ll end up with the same result.
- Hurts is a baller: In Super Bowl 57, Hurts went absolutely nuclear against a very similar Chiefs defense to the one he will face in Super Bowl 59. In that game, he threw for over 300 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 70 yards and three scores. Hurts is a championship-caliber QB (including at Alabama) and has proven his ability to ball on the biggest stage.
- The Chiefs HAVE to stop Saquon Barkley: If you’ve watched any football this season, you’ve heard about Barkley and his dominance with the Eagles. Well, he’s been even more dominant in the playoffs; if the Chiefs want to stay in this game, they’ll have to keep Barkley under lock and key. This will open up plenty of space for Hurts in the rushing game and passing game.
There you have it. Do I think the Eagles are going to win this game? No, frankly I don’t. But do I think Hurts can lead you to paydirt in DFS? Absolutely. In fact, I think the path to success is most clear for Hurts over anyone else on the field — and that’s why I’m making him my captain.
Finding Blank Space (in the Eagles Defense): Travis Kelce
Once you get past the Taylor Swift pun, you’ll get to some stats, I swear. If you think, like I do, that the Chiefs’ three-peat is inevitable, then Mahomes will have to ball out — like he does. And if Mahomes plays well … so should his favorite weapon, Playoff Trav.
Kelce has been Mr. Consistency over the years, especially in the postseason, where he had an NFL record 14 consecutive postseason games with 70 receiving yards come to an end versus the Bills in the AFC title game.
During Wild Card Weekend, Tucker Kraft had five catches against the Eagles. In the Divisional Round matchup, Tyler Higbee had seven grabs a and TD, and we saw Zach Ertz all over the place for the Washington Commanders in the NFC title game, with 11 receptions and over 100 yards.
This should be a tight game, and when push comes to shove, Mahomes will go to ol’ reliable. I love Kelce to score here, and I love him to be featured the entire game.
Hitting Paydirt With Dallas Goedert
We are down to the final two teams, so there aren’t many weaknesses to exploit if they have made it this far. However, besides being the two best teams in football, they both have something else in common: they don’t cover tight ends very well.
The Chiefs allowed a league-high 8.7 yards per pass thrown to the TE this season, which is 19.2% worse than the league average, and the Eagles have allowed touchdowns on 13.7% of passes thrown to TEs on the scoring half of the field, eighth-worst in football. What does this mean? Expect Goedert and Kelce to be used often in this game as the two teams try to figure each other out.
Goedert trailed only the San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle among TEs in yards per route this season, and we all know how good Kelce can be in the postseason, having recorded 14 consecutive postseason games with 70+ receiving yards until the AFC title game. Goedert has had 4+ catches and 45+ yards in each of the Eagles playoff games thus far and has a good matchup in the Super Bowl.
With the Chiefs near the bottom in most statistical categories in covering the TE, while having to also worry about A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley, and DeVonta Smith, Mr. Goedert will have his day as well.
Pick Your Poison: DeAndre Hopkins and Hollywood Brown
I think one of these WRs is going to go off and one of these WRs is going to be invisible … however, I just have no idea which one is which — so I’m starting both of them.
With only two teams on the slate, salary is tough to come by, so I like the “boom” potential of featuring Mahomes’ No. 2 receiving option (behind Kelce) no matter who it actually is. I like Hopkins and Brown together for two reasons: They both represent a different type of attention from Mahomes.
While Hopkins has seen his overall snap count dwindle since he’s been acquired by the Chiefs, his end-zone target share has gone up. Also, it seems very “Chiefs” to randomly feature the WR they’ve been devaluing most based on recent snap counts on the biggest stage possible.
On the flip side, Brown has been targeted on 22 of his 82 routes since making his Chiefs debut in Week 16, and that is the driving factor behind him being my favorite value among Kansas City’s receivers (32.5% discount on DraftKings from Xavier Worthy). Even more enticing is his 65% snap count in the playoffs, making Brown a type of foil.