A rematch of Super Bowl LI is on tap for Thursday Night Football when the New England Patriots visit the Atlanta Falcons, providing a deep NFL DFS player pool. Not many players from that game remain on their respective teams, but Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is an exception. He’s having another solid yet unspectacular season for a new-look Falcons offense that features tight end Kyle Pitts and running back Cordarrelle Patterson (ankle) at the skill positions. Atlanta will face an elite Patriots defense, so you’ll have to be judicious when selecting Falcons players for your NFL DFS lineups and determining who will anchor your NFL DFS stacks.
Ryan is 0-4 in his career against New England, but can he extract some revenge on Thursday Night Football and come through for your NFL DFS picks? Before locking in your NFL DFS picks for Thursday Night Football and beyond, be sure to check out the NFL DFS advice, strategy and projections from SportsLine daily Fantasy expert Mike McClure.
McClure is a legendary professional DFS player with almost $2 million in career winnings. His methodology has led to enormous cashes on FanDuel and DraftKings. He took down two high-stakes tournaments on FanDuel in 2020 and recorded a pair top-10 finishes in tournaments with over 130,000 entrants on DraftKings. His lineups also finished inside the top 1 percent in more than a dozen other tournaments last season.
He uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every snap of NFL action, taking factors such as matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account. This allows him to find the best DFS values that he shares only with members at SportsLine.
Now, McClure has turned his attention to Patriots vs. Falcons and locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NFL DFS picks for Falcons vs. Patriots
One of McClure’s top NFL DFS picks for Thursday Night Football is Patriots quarterback Mac Jones. He has put himself into the running for Offensive Rookie of the Year with his play over the last month. Jones has a 6:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio over the last four games compared to a 6:6 ratio over his previous four games.
Jones is coming off the first three touchdown game of his career in Week 10, in which he also posted a career-high 82.61 completion percentage. Now, he faces a Falcons defense on a short week that ranks 30th in passing touchdowns allowed. Atlanta has already allowed multi-TD games to the likes of Taylor Heinicke, Tua Tagovailoa and Trevor Siemian this season.
Part of McClure’s optimal NFL DFS strategy also includes rostering Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, who ranks second among tight ends with 417 receiving yards since Week 5. Pitts is coming off four grabs for 60 yards in Week 10 against the Cowboys and has at least 50 yards in six of nine games this year.
Pitts has become the Falcons’ clear-cut No. 1 receiving option with Calvin Ridley (personal) sidelined. Pitts was the highest drafted tight end in NFL history and leads all players at his position with 15.2 yards per catch (min. 25 receptions). Only a handful of wide receivers top that mark, and he will now face a Patriots defense whose lone touchdown allowed last week was to a tight end.
How to set NFL DFS lineups for Patriots vs. Falcons
McClure is also targeting an undervalued player who is set to explode for huge numbers on Thursday Night Football. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
So who is Mike McClure putting in his optimal NFL DFS lineups for Thursday Night Football? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a daily Fantasy expert with nearly $2 million in winnings, and find out.
