Sunday Night Football DFS Breakdown: New York Giants vs. Cincinnati Bengals

There's still (very little) time to turn it around, but through five games the 2024 season has been a nightmare for the 1-4 Bengals, who entered the year with Super Bowl ambitions. The Giants (2-3) haven't exactly had a great time themselves, and in this game they're without their top two offensive players (Malik Nabers and Devin Singletary), so if the Bengals can't get a win here the season might be over for them. Urgency should be present for the Bengals, who are favored by 3.5 points, with the over/under at 46.0.

QUARTERBACK

Joe Burrow ($10000 DK, $16000 FD) was dynamite against Baltimore in Week 5, and Cincinnati's loss certainly can't be blamed on him. That the Bengals lost anyway leaves them in an even more desperate position this week, and if the Giants are vaguely competitive then you have to expect the Bengals to play with maximum urgency. It's all on the line here and if the Giants show up the Bengals can't hold anything back. It's tough to fade Burrow on this slate, and if you do you might want to try to make room for both Chase and Higgins at receiver to still corner as much of Burrow's production without picking him as you can.

Daniel Jones ($9000 DK, $14000 FD) deserves credit for leading the Giants to a road win against Seattle last week, especially given that he had to play without Nabers and Singletary. It's perhaps asking a lot of Jones to do it two weeks in a row, but the Bengals defense has been far from imposing this year. More importantly, as a dual-threat quarterback Jones can be a tough fade on single-game slates. Not just that, but if the Bengals keep rolling on offense then the Giants could be forced to call an aggressive, high-usage game for Jones.

RUNNING BACK

Tyrone Tracy ($7400 DK, $9500 FD) was a revelation against Seattle in Week 5, turning 18 carries into 129 yards and thus earning the right to start in place of Singletary in this game. Eric Gray ($3000 DK, $7500 FD) showed something as a receiver last week, but he also lost a fumble and fell behind Tracy on the depth chart as a result. As long as Tracy doesn't give the Giants reason to change their minds on that front then Tracy should be in position for a strong game here, as his usage is nearly locked in and the Bengals might have one of the worst run defenses in the league.

Chase Brown ($8600 DK, $10500 FD) is expected to play through his quadriceps injury, and if so he should be the preferred option between himself and Zack Moss ($8000 DK, $10000 FD), though both should play regularly. And as much as Brown is the more explosive of the two, Moss could arguably be understood as the 'steadier' of the two. 

WIDE RECEIVER + TIGHT END

Darius Slayton ($6600 DK, $8500 FD) stepped up big time last week and will need to do so again here with Nabers (concussion) out again. Slayton is a good player, and if Jones is on his game then Slayton can keep rolling. It's still easier for Jones to get the ball to Wan'Dale Robinson ($8200 DK, $11000 FD), because Robinson runs his routes much closer to the line of scrimmage. Indeed, Robinson will be a good candidate to see double-digit targets here. Jalin Hyatt ($2000 DK, $5500 FD) saw zero targets last week, but if he keeps developing he could turn into a big-play threat at any moment. He could be a worthwhile punt pick in this game. Theo Johnson ($2800 DK, $7000 FD) had an encouraging Week 5 as well, catching five of five targets for 48 yards, leaving Daniel Bellinger with very little playing playing time as Chris Manhertz functions as the main blocking specialist behind Johnson. If Slayton or Robinson regress at all in this game Johnson might claim the voided usage. 

At receiver the Bengals of course channel as much usage as possible through Ja'Marr Chase ($11400 DK, $17000 FD) and Tee Higgins ($9400 DK, $13000 FD), both of whom had big games against the Ravens last week. The Giants defense showed well in a dangerous road spot against Seattle last week, and perhaps in doing so they demonstrated some progress as a defense. With that said, Chase and Higgins are likely the correct favorites in that matchup. If Chase or Higgins have a down game then it could be to the benefit of WR3 Andrei Iosivas ($4400 DK, $8500 FD). Jermaine Burton and Charlie Jones rarely play, but might see something like five snaps or so each. At tight end the Bengals regularly use all of Mike Gesicki ($4000 DK, $7500 FD), Erick All ($3400 DK, $7000 FD) and Drew Sample ($1600 DK, $6000 FD), though Sample almost always specializes as a blocker while Gesicki and All work a platoon as pass catchers. Gesicki and All make their impacts on mostly unpredictable bases, but they're fully capable of contributing if they get the chance.

KICKER

Evan McPherson ($5200 DK, $9000 FD) doesn't have the cleanest hit rate as a field goal kicker at a glance, but part of that is because the Bengals put a lot on his plate and trust him with high-difficulty attempts that many or most kickers would never get a chance at. More specifically, the Bengals rely on McPherson from long range on a regular basis, which is important for showdown slates. The Bengals should be able to move the ball a little bit in this game, and anytime they get within 60 yards there's a chance McPherson puts five points points on the board for his fantasy investors.

Greg Joseph ($5000 DK, $9000 FD) is not an accurate kicker, but he does have notable range and the ability to strike from well beyond 50 yards. That could be a pertinent detail here, because the Giants might be less than perfectly consistent on offense, and they might need to take all easy points they can get. Joseph rarely makes it easy, but if they're desperate for three points and within 60 yards the Giants might turn to Joseph, if only for desperate reasons.

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS

The Giants ($3600 DK, $8000 FD) have some guys on defense that the Bengals need to be careful around, but the absence of Kayvon Thibodeaux is a big loss for them. As much as the Bengals are capable of duds from time to time, it would be somewhat jarring if the Bengals fell so flat in such an urgent game.

The Bengals ($4800 DK, $8000 FD) don't have a lot going for them on defense these days, and Daniel Jones played just fine in Week 5 even without Nabers, but perhaps it would be asking too much for Jones to play well two weeks in a row without Nabers.