Lineup Breakdown: Analysis of Week 1 Winning Lineups

This article is a new feature where I'll be breaking down the winning lineups from each of the big NFL contests for Week 1! There were multiple millionaires crowned this week, and even more to come this season. As always, Week 1 was full of surprise breakouts, big disappointments, and even a few key injuries that sank some lineups. Let's get things kicked off by looking at the big $1,000,000 winning lineup in the $25 Buy-In FanDuel Sunday Million:

The big winner on FanDuel Week 1 was “jeremybronson", who has a grand total of 60 NFL wins on FD, and 0 across every other sport combined. Needless to say, this was a brand new player who used huge games from two studs (and a defense) on Monday Night Football to take home a MILLION DOLLARS. Even more impressively, he outscored the second-place finisher by a whopping 12.22 points. Let's break down the winning lineup.

QB - Alex Smith ($6,600) @ Houston (0.6% owned) – This game had a small total of just 41 points, with the Chiefs going off as a -1 point favorite (depending on your book and closing line). Smith has always been known as an efficient passer, but not the type to put up monster stat lines. In fact, his three touchdown passes against Houston were equal to 16.7% of his total for all of 2014 (18). Smith connected with Travis Kelce twice and Jamaal Charles once en route to a 23.22 point performance, making him a top-five QB selection this week. Smith was a value play that paid off in a big way on this roster, as he threw for all 3 scores in the first half.

RB - Jamaal Charles ($8,900) @ Houston (5.6% owned) – Many players elect to pair their QB with a WR or TE, but in this case, pairing Smith with Charles made a lot of sense. The Chiefs haven't thrown a touchdown pass to a WR since December 8, 2013, and that trend continued this week with Smith finding his TE and RB for scores. Charles was a medium-risk, high-reward play that paid off with 103 total yards and a score.

RB - Carlos Hyde ($7,300) vs Minnesota (2.2% owned) – Hyde was the most valuable play on this entire roster. Owned in just over two percent of lineups, Hyde exploded on Monday Night Football to the tune of 182 total yards and a pair of scores. He was the highest scoring RB of the week, and he turned in his performance in the final game of the week against the Vikings. At his bargain price tag, Hyde was a worthwhile gamble, and one that turned the tide for this winning lineup.

WR - Julio Jones ($9,000) vs Philadelphia (30.5% owned) – The chalkiest 9K player you're likely too see any time soon, Jones had the huge game that many expected of him on Monday Night Football. He totaled a whopping 141 yards and a pair of scores, making him the highest scoring WR of the week in Atlanta's win over Philadelphia. This was the only player on the winning lineup with ownership over 5.6%!

WR - Percy Harvin ($5,600) vs Indianapolis (0.5% owned) – With news coming out late in the week that star CB Vontae Davis would be shadowing Bills number-one WR Sammy Watkins, the door opened for Harvin to break out, and he did so in a big way. He totaled 88 yards and a score, with the bulk of his damage coming on a 51-yard bomb from Tyrod Taylor.

WR - DeAndre Hopkins ($7,800) vs Kansas City Chiefs (3.3% owned) – Hopkins came in as the number-two scoring WR this week, as he was a huge part of Houston's late surge in their eventual loss to Kansas City. He not only hauled in a nine catches for 98 yards and two scores, but caught a 2-point conversion for good measure. The Texans relied heavily on their star wideout with Arian Foster sidelined, and he delivered in a big way.

TE - Tyler Eifert ($5,000) @ Oakland (4.8% owned) – The Bengals' top draft pick in 2013, Eifert played in just one game last season due to injuries. He returned to action against the Raiders and exploded to the tune of nine catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns. The Raiders struggled with TE last season, and Sunday was no different. Eifert made a few phenomenal catches en route to his huge performance. He was the top scoring TE on the Sunday-Monday slate, barely beating out Austin-Seferian Jenkins (Rob Gronkowski played Thursday Night).

K - Steven Hauschka ($5,100) @ St. Louis (3.3% owned) – Hauschka paid off, hitting all three of his FG attempts and both XP attempts. He was very low owned in a game that turned into a shootout late. He was a low-owned option at K this week.

D/ST – San Francisco 49ers ($4,600) vs Minnesota (0.6% owned) – The 49ers defense was much maligned over the offseason, losing players to suspensions, free agency, and even retirement. They showed up in a big way with five sacks and an interception, while allowing the lowest point total of the week (3).

If any of you know where we can find Mr. Bronson, shoot us a tweet @dfcafe! We would love to have him on for an interview and lineup breakdown!

The $20 Buy-In DraftKings Millionaire Maker produced TWO millionaires this weekend, “BALLAH" and “beisel90". Incredibly, a million dollars changed hands on Carlos Hyde's final 5-yard carry immediately following the two-minute warning, as the 0.5 points were just enough to cover the final winning margin of just 0.38 FP. Let's break down the TWO MILLION DOLLAR winning lineup:

QB – Tony Romo vs New York Giants (9.6% owned) – Romo was a dark horse candidate to have a big game this week against a Giants defense that has seen its share of issues over the past few seasons. He finished with a flurry, totaling 159 yards and two touchdown passes in the final quarter, despite Dez Bryant sitting out the final eight minutes of the game. He was one of just two QBs (Carson Palmer) who had three touchdown passes and also reached the 300 yard bonus on DK.

RB – Carlos Hyde vs Minnesota (5.1% owned) – Much like the winning lineup on FanDuel, Hyde made yet another player into a millionaire with his enormous performance on the big MNF stage. He reached the 100-yard bonus with ease en route to the top RB score of the week.

RB – Chris Ivory vs Cleveland (17.2% owned) – Ivory was a favorite value play among DFS players this weekend as he squared off against the porous Browns run defense. He paid off at a low salary, totaling 91 rushing yards and a pair of scores (he also had a score called back due to a penalty).

WR – John Brown vs New Orleans (14.4% owned) – While he was the lowest scoring player on the winning roster, he also came in with a very low salary, which he paid off with ease. He caught the first touchdown pass of the game from Carson Palmer, and it was smooth sailing from there. Brown took on an increased role with Michael Floyd limited.

WR – Julio Jones vs Philadelphia (21.8% owned) – You know the story here. Jones was the most popular elite WR option, and he didn't disappoint. He dominated the Eagles secondary all night long as he cruised to the top WR score of the week with 141 yards and two scores.

WR – Jarvis Landry at Washington (19.4% owned) – Landry was far too cheap this week, and despite seeing volume (eight catches for 53 yards), his damage came on special teams, when he returned a punt for a score, netting our eventual winner an extra six points.

TE – Tyler Eifert at Oakland (3.9% owned) – No surprise here that Eifert found his way onto another huge winning lineup with his monster performance against the Raiders. He was nearly impossible to cover, and the Bengals did a fine job exploiting the matchup.

FLEX – Eddie Lacy at Chicago (24% owned) – Lacy was the chalkiest player on the winning roster, and rightfully so. The Packers were sizable favorites in this one, and Lacy was once again a huge part of the offense. He totaled 99 yards and a score, which was more than enough to fill out this impressive roster.

D/ST – New York Jets vs Cleveland (17.7% owned) – The Jets were a popular play against an anemic Browns offense that took an even bigger hit when Josh McCown went down to an injury. Our eventual winner had to be loving it, as Johnny Manziel did throw a touchdown pass, but quickly succumbed to pressure and turned the ball over three times.

There's your recap for the BIG winners in Week 1! Take some notes on roster construction, and most importantly, realize that the NFL provides many players with opportunities to have huge games. Players like Julio Jones were chalk plays, but as you can see here, these types of plays can be near must-plays in these types of situations. Finding key players at low ownership (Tyler Eifert, for example) can really set you apart from the field. Dig deep in your research, check out all of our content at DFC, and you may just find yourself atop the leaderboard next week!