Correlation plays were found throughout the top Main Event lineups this week, where one twist at wide receiver made a big difference for both of our Main Event and Side Hustle winners. Let’s dive right in.

Main Event Winner: “gormanji”

Tampa Bay Quarterbacks: The great Tom Brady was in a dome against Atlanta’s bottom tier pass defense, making him supremely logical chalk in all fantasy formats last week. Not all good chalk hits the way the Tampa Bay quarterbacks card hit, but when it does everyone else that doesn’t play said chalk is in trouble.

Indianapolis Running Backs: What has easily been the best running backs card over the last month or more was in an absolute smash spot as a 10-point road favorite against Houston last week. Once again, great chalk doesn’t always hit, but the Indianapolis running backs card landed a big score once again.

Los Angeles (American) Wide Receivers: This card was the difference maker for “gormanji,” who earned their trip to Miami by playing this group in a very well correlated, sharp lineup over the Los Angeles (National) option. The Los Angeles (National) wide receiver card was in the next four top finishers in last week’s Main Event. You could argue that Cincinnati vs Los Angeles had more shootout potential than any other game on last week’s slate, so their wide receivers certainly had potential here and that made them a good play. But keep in mind this group has been more of a middle of the pack performer this season on average while the Los Angeles (National) wide receivers card has been the top performer at the position to this point. When you’re debating a more contrarian play you’re ultimately looking for a realistic path to a spike week, “gormanji,” got one here.

Tampa Bay Tight Ends: If you had access to all of the Tampa Bay cards this week, deciding whether or not to play the Tampa Bay quarterbacks with their wide receivers or their tight end was not an easy decision to make. While the Tampa Bay tight ends group was not the highest performer at the position this week, a 24.1 score for tight ends would bet the top scorer at the position more often than not.

Indianapolis Defense: This was another correlated play with the Indianapolis running backs that paid off in a big way, as Indianapolis shut out Houston. Since we already knew we had to beat the strong Dallas score of 21 points, the Indianapolis defense wasn’t just a good play, but it was also a bold one given the situation.

Side Hustle Winner: “EddyNY”

Indianapolis Running Backs with Los Angeles (American) Wide Receivers: This one is pretty interesting to me as we know the Indianapolis running backs card has been a rock star for weeks in our format. But we also know that quarterbacks have been in the majority of Side Hustle winners. On top of that, we have the pairing of a true top performer in the Indianapolis running backs card with the much more contrarian Los Angeles (American) wide receiver group. Fortune favors the bold as they say, and “EddyNY” took this one down by being smart and aggressive.

Lowball Winner: “Big Mo”

New England Quarterbacks: “Big Mo” is a very good player, and this is a historic kind of Lowball lineup as it only posted 5.06 points. The foundation of that low score was built on betting against New England’s passing game in extreme winds, which was a great move as they only threw three passes in Buffalo last Monday night.

New Orleans Running Backs: Play the worst plays is the name of the game in Lowball, and we already knew this group posted a 2.6-point score from last Thursday.

New England Wide Receivers: Given the extreme wind conditions in Buffalo, this was a sharp play that ended posting a negative score (-.1 points).

New England Tight Ends: This one completes the triple stack of the New England passing offense in Lowball, which has a physical offense that was playing in difference making wind. While I’m not sure anyone would have quite predicted that New England would only throw three passes, betting on this offense to have low volume in that phase was definitely sharp.

Jacksonville Defense: Playing one of the worst defenses in the league as a 14-point road dog against a good Los Angeles offense is what Lowball is all about.

Island of Misfit Cards Winner: “mbl267”

San Francisco Tight Ends with Los Angeles (American) Defense: With Deebo Samuel out, there was a logical path to George Kittle having a usage spike. That’s exactly what happened last week as San Francisco lost in a borderline shootout in Seattle. The Los Angeles (American) defense has been genuinely disappointing for over a month now, but they put a big one together in Cincinnati last week. This is yet another example of a winning lineup being built with a standard top play in the San Francisco tight ends card and pairing it with a much more contrarian option in the Los Angeles (American) defense, which tied Dallas. Ultimately, the very low serials took this home for mbl267.

Various Things

The top performing Main Event lineups this week were filled with smart correlation plays paired with more contrarian options in plus matchups. Several top 20 Main Event lineups played the solid New Orleans quarterbacks and/ or the New Orleans wide receivers which both produced good scores that were not likely to lead their respective positions in scoring that week. Even if you don’t take down a tournament, those types of options from Thursday night consistently have solid value.

The Kansas City quarterbacks and tight ends cards, who both had disappointing Sunday nights against Denver, were in several otherwise great lineups that would have finished near the top if the Kansas City options finished anywhere close to expectations as 9 ½ point home favorites.

Thursday Night Minnesota vs Pittsburgh

Both of these teams have good options at running back in traditional fantasy settings, but have both been disappointments in The Owners Club as collective volume for a position group is much more important than a bell cow runner getting most of the workload in our format. Both of these options have potential, but are more likely to produce more middling scores in this matchup as they have most weeks this season. Adam Thielen is set to miss this contest, which hurts the upside for Minnesota’s wide receiver group, but it could create expanded opportunities for their tight ends. Both teams’ quarterbacks have some potential here as this is a late season indoor matchup where both offenses have talent. For Minnesota, Pittsburgh still has a solid defense, and their pass rush could really be a problem here. For Pittsburgh, Big Ben has had a few spike games this season but at the end of the day he’s a future Hall of Famer nearing the end of his career. Pittsburgh’s wide receivers have talent and could continue to see strong volume, but their ability to hit their ceiling ultimately depends on how well Big Ben plays. Pittsburgh’s tight ends group is one to keep an eye on here as well. Both defenses have a shot of being playable this week, as both offenses have average at best offensive lines.