Week 8 of the 2025 NFL season comes to a close with the reigning AFC-champion Chiefs hosting the Commanders on Monday Night Football. The Arrowhead Stadium should have plenty of scoring, and it should generate plenty of fantasy football and DFS activity.
Through seven games, Mahomes has looked like he has a damn good chance at winning his third MVP trophy. He entered the weekend ranked fourth in the NFL in passing yards (1,800) and fifth in touchdown passes (14). He also has 250 ground yards and four rushing touchdowns on the campaign.
Unfortunately, the Commanders will be without 2024 Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels (hamstring). However, they will have stud wideouts Deebo Samuel and Terry McLaurin back, which should give Washington a much-needed jolt with Marcus Mariota under center.
Preparing a DraftKings Showdown or FanDuel single-game lineup for this one? Naturally, we have you covered — we assembled an optimal DK and FD squad to hopefully help you win some daily fantasy prize money.
Let's get right to it. Here's the best DFS studs, sleepers and value plays for Chiefs vs. Commanders on Monday Night Football.
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Chiefs vs. Commanders NFL DFS picks: Optimal DraftKings Showdown lineup
➕ Sign up for DraftKings to play Showdown cash and GPP contests.
Before we get into our lineup and strategy, here are the key scoring settings for DraftKings Showdown contests:
They're full-point PPR, and they feature three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, and 100 receiving yards. The Captain pick costs 1.5 times a player's original price, but he also gets his point total multiplied by 1.5.
POS PLAYER TEAM/OPP SALARY
Captain Patrick Mahomes, QB Chiefs vs. WAS $16,500
FLEX Rashee Rice, WR Chiefs vs. WAS $9,600
FLEX Deebo Samuel, WR Commanders @ KC $9,000
FLEX Hollywood Brown, WR Chiefs vs. WAS $5,400
FLEX Kansas City D/ST Chiefs vs. WAS $4,400
FLEX Brashard Smith, RB Chiefs vs. WAS $4,000
Patrick Mahomes, QB, Chiefs ($16,500)
We typically want to have the best fantasy asset in the Captain's chair, so Mahomes was a no-brainer here. He's averaging well over 25 DK points per game on the season, but his PPG over the Chiefs' past three games has ballooned to 29.5.
Mahomes can do it all — he has three passing TDs in each of Kansas City's past two games, and he totaled 318 passing yards and 60 rushing yard three weeks ago in Jacksonville. It's the rushing stats that have ushered in the two-time MVP's fantasy resurgence — he has the best yards-per-rush average in the NFL (6.0).
The Commanders have lost two games in a row, and they should lose this one with Daniels on the sidelines for the second consecutive week. Watch Mahomes light it up like Dak Prescott did against Washington last week (21-30, 264 yards, 3 TDs).
Rashee Rice, WR, Chiefs ($9,600)
What a fun stack to have atop our lineup. Rice looked nice in his first week off suspension, catching seven of his 10 targets for 42 yards and two touchdowns. Now he draws a matchup with a Commanders defense that has been among the 10 most generous to opposing wideouts in 2025. Here's hoping for another 23 DK-point performance!
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Deebo Samuel Sr., WR, Commanders ($9,000)
Deebo feels like the best option out of all the Commanders, as he's a safe security blanket for Marcus Mariota. He can also net a bunch of yards after the catch via screens and end-arounds, because he's so quick and strong through contact. He averages nearly 16 DK points per game this season, so Samuel's our man.
Hollywood Brown, WR, Chiefs ($5,400)
Here's some Monday night bar-room trivia for you: who leads the Chiefs in wide receiver yardage and touchdown receptions in the 2025 season? It's Hollywood, baby. Brown has 316 receiving yards and four TDs, and he got into the end zone last week even with Rice back. This feels like a bargain price.
Kansas City D/ST ($4,400)
The Chiefs D has been as stout as ever, ranking third in scoring defense and fifth in yards allowed. Steve Spagnuolo's unit ranks sixth in third-down defense, second in fourth-down defense and fourth in total first downs surrendered. Kansas City has allowed just seven passing TDs all season (2nd-fewest) and 174.6 pass yards per game (4th-fewest). Good luck, Marcus Mariota.
Brashard Smith, RB, Chiefs ($4,000)
$4,000!? Does DraftKings realize this lightning-quick running back saw a season-high 14 carries and five targets last week!? Furthermore, do they realize that he caught all five passes and amassed 81 total yards from scrimmage!? We're all over this play, and we love our chances of tacking on a ton of points from our final two flex spots if KC runs away with this game.
Chiefs vs. Commanders NFL DFS picks: Optimal FanDuel single-game lineup
➕ Sign up for FanDuel to play cash and GPP single-game contests.
Here are the key scoring settings for FanDuel single-game tournaments: They're half-point PPR with three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, or 100 receiving yards.
The MVP pick multiplies that player's total by 1.5 and, for the first time, the MVP pick also costs 1.5 times that player's salary.
POS PLAYER TEAM/OPP SALARY
MVP Patrick Mahomes, QB Chiefs vs. WAS $19,500
FLEX Rashee Rice, WR Chiefs vs. WAS $13,200
FLEX Xavier Worthy, WR Chiefs vs. WAS $10,400
FLEX Travis Kelce, TE Chiefs vs. WAS $7,400
FLEX Brashard Smith, RB Chiefs vs. WAS $5,800
FLEX Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB Commanders @ KC $3,200
Look, yours truly is not a Chiefs fan — I'm born and raised in New England, actually. But even Patriots fans realize how dominant Patrick Mahomes has been in night games. He has won 29 of his past 36 primetime games and 28 of 40 night games in his career. He's also 47-12 in his career at Arrowhead Stadium. He's not losing to Marcus Mariota at home.
We didn't even bother grabbing Deebo Samuel at $11,000 in this one. Where's the value!? Our sole Commander, Chris Rodriguez Jr., should come in handy when Washington starts trailing and has to abandon the run. And with Chris Jones and company bearing down on Mariota, the pass-catching back should get plenty of check-down opportunities.
If this game's a blowout, we've got a great opportunity to win big prizes with this lineup. Kelce and Worthy both have high ceilings — Kelce leads KC in total yards and the X-man leads the Chiefs in yards per catch (22!). Hopefully they both break off some big plays and TD catches!