Our neighbors to the south play host to some NFL primetime action as the 49ers and Cardinals prepare to face off in Mexico City!

By: Ryan Humphries on Twitter and LineStar chat @Ryan_Humphries

San Francisco 49ers (-10) vs. Arizona Cardinals | 43 O/U

SF: 26.5 Implied Points | ARI: 16.5 Implied Points

Notable DFS Relevant Injuries: QB Kyler Murray - Questionable (unlikely to play), WR DeAndre Hopkins - Questionable (expected to play), TE Zach Ertz - OUT

Score Prediction: SF - 30, ARI - 16

Showdown Roster Construction (in order of preference): 4-2 49ers, 3-3 Balanced, 4-2 Cardinals, 5-1 49ers

SICScore/Field View 👩‍⚕️🩺

via sicscore.com

49ers Defense / Cardinals Offense

Cardinals Defense / 49ers Offense

Players & Stacks to Consider

Top Captains and Core Flex Plays:

RB Christian McCaffrey: Everyone was salivating at CMC’s usage against the Rams -- his second game in a 49ers uniform where he had 26 touches while passing, catching, and running for a touchdown on an 81% snap share. Theeeeen Elijah Mitchell came off of IR to knock CMC down to 18 touches and a 65% snap%. No one should have assumed that Mitchell’s role would be insignificant but it does look like his usage will take a bigger bite out of CMC’s usage than most expected. With that said, this is still Christian McCaffrey we’re talking about here, and his fantasy ceiling remains quite high. The Cardinals have been sliced and diced by Kenneth Walker III and Dalvin Cook in recent weeks. The 49ers also stroll down south of the border as hefty -10 favorites so we can expect a captain-worthy role for CMC in tonight’s primetime showdown.

WR DeAndre Hopkins: DHop comes into this game with a hamstring injury, but he is apparently healthy enough to give it a go tonight. The risk of Hopkins aggravating his hamstring injury does need to be considered when building lineups, especially when placing him in the high-leverage captain position. However, if he plays this entire game, there is a definite pathway wide enough for him to end the night as the optimal captain. He (likely) won’t have QB Kyler Murray throwing him the ball, but that may not be a significant hit to his upside. Backup QB Colt McCoy started last week as well and sent 14 targets in Hopkins’ direction, which represented a huge 37.8% TGT%. The game script should also favor the Cardinals' passing attack as they are expected to play from behind in this game as +10 underdogs.

WR Deebo Samuel: It’s been a rough few weeks for Deebo’s fantasy production, but he is now three weeks removed from a hamstring injury that held him out of week eight and may have still limited him in week 10 following the 49ers bye. There are a ton of mouths to feed in this dynamic 49ers offense, but if we’re hunting for captain-worthy upside, Deebo has it. He’s a YAC monster who led the NFL with 12.1 YAC/reception in 2020, ranked 4th with 10.0 YAC/reception in 2021, and even in a bit of a down year, he ranks 5th with 9.2 YAC/reception this season. Just get him the ball and let his play-making ability do the rest. The Cardinals have been battered by injuries, more so on offense, but their defense has allowed the 4th most FPPG to WRs over their last four games.

Flex Plays and Leverage Captain Options:

QB Jimmy Garoppolo: Jimmy G provides a very consistent floor and has scored at least 15.9 DKFP in five consecutive games. However, he has a season-high of 21.32 DKFP so the ceiling is a bit questionable. He certainly has enough elite weapons surrounding him to make life easy and put up a huge fantasy score, but the 49ers' offense just isn’t constructed to allow a massive, massive game from Garoppolo. So, while a random huge game is possible, he makes much more sense as a safe floor FLEX play.

TE George Kittle: It’d be irresponsible to NOT consider any starting tight end facing this Cardinals defense, especially when they’re as talented as Kittle. Arizona has allowed THE most FPPG to opposing TEs this season -- 7.5 receptions/gm, 77.8 YPG, and 0.7 TD/gm. Kittle missed the first two games of the season but, since his return in week three, he has owned a respectable 19.3% TGT% in this offense. Unfortunately, there is just not enough volume for ALL of these awesome 49ers weapons to flourish so Kittle may need to find the endzone to be an optimal play tonight. The match-up literally does not get any better, however.

WR Rondale Moore: Perhaps it’s a bit of an “under the radar” breakout season, but Moore is having a breakout season nonetheless. He has now commanded at least eight targets in five of his last six games and Colt McCoy supplied him with a season-high 13 targets last week, leading to nine receptions and 94 yards. Moore is not a big target but he can make magic happen in space. As a result, Moore owns a low 5.5-yard aDOT but he is catching 73.2% of his targets and racking up a solid 6.9 YAC/reception. If the 49ers focus on limiting Hopkins, or if Hopkins has a setback with the hamstring injury, Moore could easily find himself in tonight’s optimal lineup.

Flex Fillers, Fliers, and Sleepers:

RB Elijah Mitchell: CMC is the clear leader in this backfield and easily the preferred receiving back, but the 49ers were not shy about handing off to Mitchell 18 times in his first game back from the IR. Plenty of carries near the goal line were included in those 18 carries and if the 49ers get up big, it would be reasonable to assume that McCaffrey (given his injury history) would have his workload suppressed in what may be a comfortable win.

49ers D/ST: They’re 10-point favorites and will face a Cardinals O-Line that has been decimated by injuries. As far as fantasy points go, the 49ers D/ST has not been lights out recently, but they should be able to pin their ears back and cause havoc against Colt McCoy across his many expected dropbacks.

K Robbie Gould OR K Matt Prater: We’ll keep it straightforward with the kickers. Gould is firmly in play as a value FLEX play given the 26.5 team total that the 49ers possess. Prater comes into play in an ownership leverage spot. Prater missed the last game but, even with Colt McCoy at QB, they were able to move the ball effectively against the Rams and replacement kicker Tristan Vizcaino knocked in both of his field goal attempts and connected on 3-of-3 PATs.

TE Trey McBride: He only drew one target last week but McBride ended up playing 90% of the snaps after Zach Ertz went down with a knee injury. Now that he’s had a full week of practice, he should be much more involved and represents a pretty clear showdown value at only $1,000 on DraftKings.

TE Maxx Williams: So, it also wouldn’t surprise me if Maxx Williams sees the field quite a bit after being elevated from the practice squad this week. He has a decent history as a pass-catching tight end and checks in at the stone minimum of $200 on DK.

Monday Night Football TD Call 🏈

RB Elijah Mitchell

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Stack Concepts:

Note: [*Player Name] indicates captain selection.

*RB Christian McCaffrey, QB Jimmy Garoppolo, K Robbie Gould: This would be a full team stack that may gain exposure to every offensive point scored by the 49ers tonight. CMC’s role as a receiver also makes him a viable stack candidate with Jimmy G.

*WR DeAndre Hopkins, QB Colt McCoy, RB Elijah Mitchell: Tough spot for all Cardinals players tonight but Hopkins is one of those match-up-proof WRs that can overcome things like facing a tough defense with a backup QB throwing to him. While Colt McCoy was not highlighted above, for correlation purposes, we probably still want to stack him in any CPTN Hopkins lineups. If the Cardinals are passing a lot, that likely means the 49ers may be running a lot, so we’ll use Elijah Mitchell as a “bring back” option here.

*WR Deebo Samuel, QB Jimmy Garoppolo, WR Rondale Moore: It’s a pure guessing game trying to figure out which 49ers offensive weapon will have the biggest performance of the night but Deebo is as good of a bet as any. He doesn’t necessarily need huge volume to have a massive captain-worthy game due to the number of yards he can rack up after the catch.

*QB Jimmy Garoppolo, TE George Kittle, WR Brandon Aiyuk: Perhaps this stack doesn’t have insane upside, but this is a CPTN Garoppolo double stack that we can feel pretty good about in cash.

*TE George Kittle, QB Jimmy Garoppolo, WR DeAndre Hopkins: Pretty similar concept to the CPTN Deebo stack above but, as discussed, the Cardinals defense is a dream match-up for a tight end so let’s keep Kittle in mind as a more affordable captain option tonight.

*WR Rondale Moore, RB Christian McCaffrey, WR Deebo Samuel: Moore racks up plenty of short-yardage receptions, which makes him great for PPR scoring. But if he doesn’t find the endzone (only one TD this season) then I don’t think it’s overly necessary to stack Colt McCoy with him in the FLEX. Instead, we’ll fill in with a couple of 49ers playmakers.

5-1 49ers “Smash” Builds: San Fran may win this game in blowout fashion and they have so, so many viable DFS options. 5-1 49ers-heavy “smash” builds will be very viable in GPPs tonight but 90+% of lineups will likely still feature at least two Cardinals players. Rolling out a 5-1 49ers lineup is an easy way to be contrarian tonight.

PrizePicks MNF Power Play ⚡

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Jimmy Garoppolo MORE than 1.5 Rush Yards

Trey McBride MORE than 20.5 Receiving Yards

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That will wrap us up with today's "Primetime Preview" edition! Once again, you can find me on Twitter or in LineStar chat @Ryan_Humphries. Good luck everyone!