A funny thing happened to me last week at FanDuel - all of my 50/50 lineups outscored all of my GPP/tournament entries, despite the fact that the GPP lineups are aimed at having (at least SOME of) them maximize scoring.
The good news here is that I enjoyed outstanding success in the 50/50 leagues that I entered, with a composite record of 14-6 in 50/50's - I had a set of lineups that went 14-1 (129.8, 126.94, 109.08 points scored) while my least successful 0-5 entry hit 102.1 points (Josh Gordon's slow day hurt that group).
One huge problem for my GPP entries last week was I thought that Alfred Morris would get stuffed by St. Louis (which he did), and so by extension Roy Helu should have posted a relatively big day (high single digit receptions, etc.) - but Helu suffered an early foot injury and didn't touch the ball last week, leaving a lot of the "shoot for the moon" lineups with a big fat ZERO.
But worse was in store as Carolina's offense suddenly remembered how to play football in New Orleans, at the same time that the Saints' defense went into a swoon (Junior Gallette had ZERO tackles or assists, and no sacks last week, as one example). New Orleans' team D put up a -4 on a lot of my GPP lineups. The net result of all this was that (with Helu and New Orleans combining for -4 points), my tournament lineups were hurting. Did I mention that my other main idea for GPP/tournament lineups last week was to stack Peyton Manning/Demaryius Thomas/Emmanuel Sanders? Ooooof.
I went 0-8 in the GPP/tournament sector of my FanDuel lineups. Thus my overall results from Week 14 was 14-14. That's a lot of 14s!
Anyway, as you can see I have decided to greatly expand my entries for the final month of the NFL season. I put in my time this year learning about the DFS space and taking some lumps - now, before we get to the dead zone of Week 17, is when I am taking more shots at the bigger tournaments as well as playing a lot more 50/50 leagues at FanDuel. Hopefully this week I'll do better in the GPP/tournament space!
One of our features that I like to look at each week as I craft my Daily Fantasy Sports lineups is the Against the Spread composite put together by Jeff Pasquino - 19 of the Footballguys.com staff tell who they like to win the various games each weekend (early on in the week, on Wednesday, but it is still useful to help zero in on which teams are favored to win by a majority of the staff - teams that are big favorites and yet still favored to win by the staff are usually good hunting grounds for prospective DFS starters. For example, this week Indianapolis is favored to win by 6.5 points, and yet all but two of the staff think Indianapolis will win by 7 or more points, in what is likely to be a high-scoring game.
And, of course, there is T.Y. Hilton's history of feasting on Houston (nine targets for 9/223/1 receiving in one game this year; 24 targets for 15/199/3 receiving vs. Houston during 2013). Yeah, Hilton will be on several of my DFS squads this week.
As usual each week, I also refer to the passing and rushing matchups that I write around here to help guide my DFS squads - my goal each week is to have players on teams that do not face a tough or bad matchup over the weekend/Monday night. Looking forward to the Sunday games, two of the best matchups of the week that I see are:
1. PIT Rushing Attack vs. ATL Rush D: The Falcons just allowed 30/179/2 rushing to the Packers' Eddie Lacy/James Starks tandem on Monday Night Football. To date, the Falcons are ranked 21st in the NFL averaging 122.9 rushing yards allowed per game, with 17 rushing TDs given out to date (worst in the NFL in this category). Enough said.
2. ATL Passing Attack vs. PIT Pass D: The Pittsburgh pass D has allowed 572 yards passing and seven TDs, with zero interceptions and just four sacks generated for -12 yards over the past two games. Meanwhile, Matt Ryan and company heated up in Green Bay during the second half last week, and they are still in a tight race for the NFC South crown.
As I will be taking breaking news and updated injury reports into consideration while crafting my Week 15 DFS squads right up until kickoff on Sunday (I am putting my own money on the line here, after all), I will post my Week 15 results and lineups in next week's edition of Old Dog Learns New Tricks. I hope that you, the reader, will check back in to see how a fellow DFS beginner fared in the 15th week of the 2014 season, along with sharing some thoughts about DFS in Week 16.
Also, I hope that YOU win all YOUR leagues this week! Good Luck!
50/50 Roster 1
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Eli Manning | $7,300.00 | 8 | 13.4 |
| RB | Eddie Lacy | $8,500.00 | 32 | 25.1 |
| RB | Arian Foster | $8,700.00 | 23 | 21.8 |
| WR | Odell Beckham Jr | $8,200.00 | 27 | 25.4 |
| WR | Robert Woods | $5,900.00 | 4 | 5.1 |
| WR | Charles Johnson | $6,000.00 | 12 | 18.3 |
| TE | Delanie Walker | $5,400.00 | 28 | 4.7 |
| K | Billy Cundiff | $4,700.00 | 1 | 6 |
| D | Houston Texans | $5,300.00 | 17 | 10 |
50/50 Roster 2
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Matthew Stafford | $8,300.00 | 12 | 24.24 |
| RB | LeVeon Bell | $9,300.00 | 11 | 44.5 |
| RB | Frank Gore | $5,700.00 | 16 | 6.3 |
| WR | Calvin Johnson | $9,200.00 | 20 | 25.8 |
| WR | Keenan Allen | $7,600.00 | 3 | 1.3 |
| WR | Jermaine Kearse | $4,700.00 | 5 | 6.7 |
| TE | Jordan Cameron | $4,900.00 | 2 | 6.1 |
| K | Nick Novak | $5,000.00 | 3 | 2 |
| D | Houston Texans | $5,300.00 | 22 | 10 |
50/50 Roster 3
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Aaron Rodgers | $10,400.00 | 7 | 27.88 |
| RB | Andrew Williams | $6,500.00 | 2 | 22.2 |
| RB | Roy Helu | $5,300.00 | 1 | 0 |
| WR | Jordy Nelson | $8,900.00 | 11 | 30.6 |
| WR | Randall Cobb | $8,400.00 | 13 | 7.7 |
| WR | Pierre Garcon | $5,600.00 | 8 | 14 |
| TE | Delanie Walker | $5,400.00 | 26 | 4.7 |
| K | Billy Cundiff | $4,700.00 | 2 | 6 |
| D | New Orleans Saints | $4,800.00 | 2 | -4 |
50/50 Roster 4
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Eli Manning | $7,300.00 | 6 | 13.4 |
| RB | Andre Williams | $6,500.00 | 2 | 22.2 |
| RB | Dan Herron | $6,400.00 | 17 | 9.1 |
| WR | Odell Beckham Jr | $8,200.00 | 27 | 25.4 |
| WR | Josh Gordon | $8,000.00 | 56 | 2.5 |
| WR | Jarvis Landry | $6,900.00 | 8 | 8.5 |
| TE | Jimmy Graham | $7,100.00 | 16 | 4 |
| K | Shayne Graham | $4,500.00 | 58 | 4 |
| D | Minnesota Vikings | $5,000.00 | 17 | 13 |
GPP Roster 1
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Aaron Rodgers | $10,400.00 | 7 | 27.88 |
| RB | Isaiah Crowell | $6,500.00 | 8 | 11.4 |
| RB | Roy Helu | $5,300.00 | 1 | 0 |
| WR | Jordy Nelson | $8,900.00 | 11 | 30.6 |
| WR | Randall Cobb | $8,400.00 | 13 | 7.7 |
| WR | Pierre Garcon | $5,600.00 | 8 | 14 |
| TE | Delanie Walker | $5,400.00 | 26 | 4.7 |
| K | Billy Cundiff | $4,700.00 | 2 | 6 |
| D | New Orleans Saints | $4,800.00 | 2 | -4 |
GPP Roster 2
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Ryan Tannehill | $8,600.00 | 1.6 | 13.68 |
| RB | Eddie Lacy | $8,500.00 | 19.9 | 25.1 |
| RB | Arian Foster | $8,700.00 | 20.6 | 21.8 |
| WR | Mike Wallace | $7,100.00 | 2.8 | 5.4 |
| WR | Jarvis Landry | $6,900.00 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| WR | Allen Hurns | $5,300.00 | 0.7 | 12.1 |
| TE | Kyle Rudolph | $5,200.00 | 4.6 | 1.9 |
| K | Caleb Sturgis | $4,900.00 | 2.9 | 8 |
| D | New Orleans Saints | $4,800.00 | 2.9 | -4 |
GPP Roster 3
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Peyton Manning | $10,000.00 | 3.8 | 4.72 |
| RB | Andre Williams | $6,500.00 | 3 | 22.2 |
| RB | Roy Helu | $5,300.00 | 0.2 | 0 |
| WR | Demaryius Thomas | $9,400.00 | 3.4 | 2.1 |
| WR | Emmanuel Sanders | $8,800.00 | 4.9 | 8.9 |
| WR | Jermaine Kearse | $4,700.00 | 1.8 | 6.7 |
| TE | Delanie Walker | $5,400.00 | 16.4 | 4.7 |
| K | Shayne Graham | $4,500.00 | 31.4 | 4 |
| D | Detroit Lions | $5,300.00 | 9.1 | 13 |