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Dolphins vs Saints
By: Jay Pounds (@jaypoundsnfl)
Welcome back to the Week 16 edition of the Monday Night Football preview. In Week 15, the NFL had to move three games to either Monday afternoon or Tuesday and it certainly made for a crazy week of playoffs on Dynasty Owner. In the Browns vs Raiders matchup, I had Hunter Renfrow as my Value of the Game pick, and it turns out he can have a rough outing after all. Foster Moreau combined his cheap salary of $752,098 with 7 catches for 65 yards (13.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points) making him the Value of the Game by a longshot. In the originally scheduled Monday night game, we had the Bears and Vikings face off. In this matchup, I had Darnell Mooney as my Value of the Game and he did not let me down finishing with 11.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (5 receptions, 63 receiving yards, 3 rushing yards) which was good enough to win Value of the Game. In the last 2 match-ups, we had the Seahawks vs Rams and the Football Team vs the Eagles. In the first matchup, I selected DK Metcalf and it was his teammate DeeJay Dallas who took home the award with 14.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (41 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 3 receptions, 11 receiving yards) for $947,350 in salary to win over Rams WR Ben Skowronek who had 8.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (4 receptions for 42 receiving yards) for only $891,131 in salary. In the other Tuesday matchup, I selected Antonio Gibson, but it was Philadelphia QB Jalen Hurts who took home the gold with 29.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points for a salary of only $1,506,292.
What to Watch For
In tonight’s matchup between the Saints and the Dolphins there are a few things we should all be watching with both teams looking to sneak into the playoffs. On the Dolphins side of the ball, I will be watching to see if Duke Johnson can show any resemblance of last week against a nasty Saints run defense. Let’s not forget to mention this Saints defense has made Tom Brady look rather pedestrian since Brady moved to the Sunshine State. On Saints side of things, there are more than a few things to watch for but none more important than the Saints having to rely on rookie Ian Book this week. As you can see these NFL teams are struggling to stay healthy and it will be interesting to see if the Saints can fend off the Covid bug, or if it will cost them a playoff appearance. This is a huge matchup for both teams who are trying to secure a playoff berth.
Jay’s Monday Night Prediction
Miami Dolphins 24  | New Orleans Saints 20  |
Over/Under Projections
Dolphins
| Player | Position | Salary | Projected Points | Over/Under |
| Tua Tagovailoa | QB | $7,568,859 | 22.3 | Over |
| Duke Johnson | RB | $5,203,333 | 4.1 | Over |
| DeVante Parker | WR | $7,625,000 | 11.3 | Over |
| Jaylen Waddle | WR | $6,771,498 | 13.5 | Over |
| Mike Gesicki | TE | $1,652,981 | 11.5 | Under |
Saints
| Player | Position | Salary | Projected Points | Over/Under |
| Ian Book | QB | $1,038,396 | 15.9 | Over |
| Alvin Kamara | RB | $15,000,000 | 22.1 | Over |
| Marquez Callaway | WR | $765,000 | 9.0 | Under |
| Tre’Quan Smith | WR | $855,131 | 8.8 | Over |
| Nick Vannett | TE | $2,666,667 | 0.7 | Over |
Jay’s Dynasty Owner Playoff Game of the Week
This week, I am picking one game with a Chase for the Ring contender that is close in score and will be decided during Monday Night Football. If you happen to find yourself in this situation on Sunday night, please get ahold of me on Twitter (@jaypoundsnfl) and I will gladly feature your game here.
League #31820
Havana Club 79 – Tua Tagovailoa on Bench left to play
Havana Club 79 is the Number 4 team in all of Dynasty Owner and is somewhat of a long shot to survive this week’s matchup. Havana Club 79 comes into Monday night trailing by just under 7 points, but the big issue is his only player, Tua Tagovailoa remains on the Bench meaning Tua will need to score over 27.5 points for Havana Club 79 to pull out a victory. If Havana Club ends up losing the blame will be easy as Matthew Stafford, Tyreek Hill, and Jonathan Taylor all had below average weeks by their standards. Will the first of our Chase for the Ring contestants lose? It will take a massive day from Tua, but I am predicting he gets it done and Havana Club 79 moves on.
Inter Miami CF – Mike Gesicki on Bench left to play
Inter Miami CF is playing the part of David attempting to slay Goliath and doing a fantastic job. Inter Miami CF is heading into tonight feeling confident as many are expecting this Saints defense to shut down whoever they are playing, but they aren’t quite as good against other teams as they are against Tom Brady for some reason. I do expect the Saints to play well on defense, but the Dolphins are one of the hottest teams in football right now and certainly won’t go easy. If Inter Miami CF wants a worry-free night, they just needs to see Tua come out and struggle which is certainly possible, or have him throw a lot of receptions to Mike Gesicki who is on the Bench for Inter Miami CF. As I said earlier, I am going with Havana Club 79 but that could be considered a bold prediction.
Value of the Game
In this weeks Value of the Game, I had a very tough time choosing as both Saints receivers, along with their starting QB for the week being on extremely cheap salaries. I initially thought about putting Ian Book in the Value of the Game spot but the performance by Jake Fromm of the New York Giants yesterday was extremely discouraging for someone wanting to select Book to do well later in the week. Even with that said it makes any Saints receivers a sketchy choice as well but one I am going to have to deal with. Sometimes everyone else is just too expensive and you must pick your shot. It’s another thing that makes Dynasty Owner so much fun!
Winner – Tre’Quan Smith
| Jay’s Projected Stat Line | Receptions | Receiving Yards | TDs | DOFP |
| Tre’Quan Smith | 5 | 61 | 1 | 17.1 |
Be sure to check out my Free Agent Auction article and video that will be released on Tuesday afternoon before Free Agent Auction bids are processed on Wednesday at 5 AM. Don’t forget about Steve Van Tassell’s weekly Tuesday recap article and Friday preview article and video, as well as Matt “The Jerk” Morrison’s Wednesday article and video. Don’t forget to check out Dynasty Owner on YouTube!
Thank you all for reading and hopefully tonight’s game will be a good one with all these projections coming true. Stay safe and good luck on your 2021 Chase for the Ring!