The Rams and 49ers will clash in Los Angeles in the Week 5 kickoff on Thursday Night Football tonight. It's a star-studded divisional bout, and it should feature plenty of offense for DFS and fantasy football enthusiasts.
Outside of a Week 3 loss to the Super Bowl-champion Eagles, the Rams have been perfect out of the gates. Matthew Stafford has looked fantastic, Puka Nacua seems poised for the receiving triple crown, and Davante Adams has fit like a glove in LA.
The 49ers' start to the season has been a bit more turbulent. Christian McCaffrey seems like the only healthy player in the Bay Area! George Kittle (hamstring) remains on IR, while Brock Purdy (toe), Ricky Pearsall (knee) and Jauan Jennings (ankle, ribs) all seem in doubt for tonight's short-week contest.
Still, an NFC West affair usually serves as must-see TV. And both sides have enough playmakers regardless of the injury report to make this a close contest. All we care about: winning some green off our DraftKings Showdown and FanDuel single-game tournaments.
Here's some tips on how to play DFS on Thurdsay, as well as The Sporting News' optimal lineups for Rams vs. 49ers in LA. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy Thursday Night Football!
MORE: Fantasy rankings this week | Start 'Em Sit 'Em Week 5 | Week 5 Waiver Wire | Week 5 Sleepers | Week 5 Busts
Rams vs. 49ers NFL DFS picks: Optimal DraftKings TNF Showdown lineup
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 | Puka Nacua, WR | Rams vs. SF | $17,400 |
| FLEX | Christian McCaffrey, RB | 49ers at LA | $11,400 |
| FLEX | Matthew Stafford, QB | Rams vs. SF | $10,400 |
| FLEX | Eddy Pineiro, K | 49ers at LA | $5,000 |
| FLEX | Los Angeles D/ST | Rams vs. SF | $4,000 |
| FLEX | Luke Farrell, TE | 49ers at LA | $1,600 |
Captain: Puka Nacua, WR, Rams ($17,400)
Nacua has looked like a league-winner through a month of play, and if he stays healthy he might just cruise to the receiving triple crown for WR fantasy stats (receptions, yards, touchdowns). He has scored at least 25.8 PPR points in every game, and he put up 39 on Sunday against Indianapolis.
He's Matthew Stafford's newest wideout BFF, following in a distinguished line that includes Calvin Johnson and Cooper Kupp. We can't imagine having a better Captain than Nacua, who averages 29.6 DraftKings points per game this season.
FLEX 1: Christian McCaffrey, RB, 49ers ($11,400)
If there's one 49ers player you can trust right now, it's Christian McCaffrey. He has put San Francisco on his back through four weeks, averaging 24 DK points per game despite scoring just two touchdowns on the season. Positive touchdown regression will come, folks — don't leave CMC in the player pool.
FLEX 2: Matthew Stafford, QB, Rams ($10,400)
The Stafford-Nacua stack is the best one in football right now, as the tandem just combined to score 69.4 DK points in Week 4. The 49ers defense is banged up, just like its offense, so these two should eat again with San Francisco on short rest.
FLEX 3: Eddy Pineiro, K, 49ers ($5,000)
An underrated play in Showdown contests, rostering a good kicker can come in real handy in a stars-and-sleepers format. Pineiro averages close to 10 PPG on DK, and he put up a 12-spot just a couple weeks ago. He's a perfect 7-for-7 on field goal attempts, including 3-for-3 from the 40-yard line and beyond. Trust in Steady Eddy.
FLEX 4: Los Angeles Rams D/ST ($4,000)
By now, you must realize we have the Rams winning this game. Our lineup construction, as always, mirrors our projected game script. Los Angeles is just too strong for a 49ers team this banged up to upset on the road.
The Rams D has been outshined by its offense, but it's been damn good. It's coming off a game with two interceptions, two sacks and a forced fumble against an undefeated Indy team. If we can get 20 total points between our kicker and D/ST, we'll be happy.
FLEX 5: Luke Farrell, TE, 49ers ($1,600)
We finish our lineup with a dart-throw tight end, one who has caught 5 of 6 targets for 39 yards and a TD. His highest-yardage performance came last week, so maybe he can make an encore happen this evening with so many of his peers on the injury report.
Rams vs. 49ers NFL DFS picks: Optimal FanDuel TNF single-game lineup
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 | Puka Nacua, WR | Rams vs. SF | $19,200 |
| FLEX | Christian McCaffrey, RB | 49ers at LA | $13,200 |
| FLEX | Matthew Stafford, QB | Rams vs. SF | $11,800 |
| FLEX | Davante Adams, WR | Rams vs. SF | $9,800 |
| FLEX | Blake Corum, RB | Rams vs. SF | $4,400 |
| FLEX | Kyle Juszczyk, FB | 49ers at LA | $1,600 |
Our FanDuel lineup is similar to our DraftKings' one, but it has even more upside and higher-floor sleepers.
We love that we have Nacua in the MVP chair with Stafford and Adams stacked with him, as those three and McCaffrey could score 120 FD points themselves. Talk about an All-Star fantasy nucleus!
As for Corum, talk about a solid sleeper in a short week. His rushing attempts have increased in each week of the season, and he has a 10 FD point performance with a TD already. If LA gets out to a lead, Sean McVay won't give every touch to Kyren Williams.
Juszczyk has a TD, too, and he always seems to make his mark on primetime games. We might just mess around and win the jackpot! Let's go!