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Thursday Night Football starts/sits and matchups analysis for Week 13 of the NFL season. Which Redskins and Cowboys to start or sit for fantasy football lineups.
Greetings fellow Rotoballers, I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend!
In order to attempt to try and sum up all of the Thanksgiving football action, I'll present my key fantasy takeaways from each game in one sentence. Adam Thielen is a stud with six-plus reception and over 80 yards in his last three games, plug and play him with confidence for the remainder of the 2017 season. Philip Rivers will be playoff gold with an incredibly soft schedule, while Dak Prescott is on a downward spiral. Samaje Perine looks like the volume-based workhorse many hoped he would be this last offseason, receiving no less than 23 carries in his two starts and accumulating over 100 rushing yards in each.
Two NFC East teams with the exact same record are going to but heads in this week's iteration of Thursday Night Football when the Washington Redskins head to Texas to take on the Dallas Cowboys. If Ezekiel Elliott was still available, I would expect this game to be much more of a high-scoring affair. However, the Cowboys look like a shadow of their former selves without the Ohio State-product after going through three consecutive losses. On the other side, the Redskins are coming off of a key victory at home and will look to continue their offensive momentum with a rejuvenated commitment to the ground game.
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Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys
Date and Start Time: Thursday, November 30 at 8:25 PM ET
Notable Injuries and Status:
- Jordan Reed (TE, WAS) - Hamstring - Doubtful
- Morgan Moses (OL, WAS) - Knee/Ankle - Questionable
- Brandon Sheriff (OL, WAS) - Knee - Questionable
- Trent Williams (OL, WAS) - Knee - Questionable
- Zach Brown (LB, WAS) - Shoulder/Achilles - Out
- Zach Martin (OL, DAL) - Concussion - Questionable
- Tyron Smith (OL, DAL) - Back/Groin - Questionable
- Sean Lee (LB, DAL) - Hamstring - Out
Offensive and Defensive Rankings (2017):
| Redskins | Cowboys | |
| Passing Yards | 11th | 27th |
| Rushing Yards | 18th | 4th |
| Pass Defense | 19th | 21st |
| Run Defense | 15th | 17th |
Must Starts
Top Performers That Have To Be In Your Lineup
Kirk Cousins (QB, WAS)
Cousins dropped a major dud last Thursday compared to expectations against a struggling New York Giants defense, completing 19 passes for 242 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. However, I fully trust him to reward fantasy owners against the Cowboys, who have allowed top-six quarterback finishes to Carson Wentz and Philip Rivers without starting linebacker Sean Lee while allowing Cousins to average 22.6 fantasy points against them this season.
Jamison Crowder (WR, WAS)
The man to own in the Washington wide receiver core is Crowder, who seems to have finally ingratiated himself back into the offense as a go-to target in recent weeks. He has scored 22-plus PPR points in two of his last four games while seeing a 21.6 percent target per snap rate and should be able to build upon that success against a vulnerable Dallas secondary. As a last bit of reassurance, Crowder managed to put up 133 yards on nine receptions the last time these two teams faced off.
Must Sits
Players To Avoid Putting In Your Lineup
Dak Prescott (QB, DAL)
Washington may have allowed 50 or more rushing yards to three different quarterbacks on the year, but Prescott is simply impossible to trust given his track record without star runner Ezekiel Elliott. He has thrown for fewer than 200 yards in four of his past five games and faces a Redskins' secondary that can take away his favorite options with cornerback Josh Norman.
Alfred Morris/Rod Smith (RB, DAL)
Even if one of these Cowboy running backs could be proven to have the lion's share of the rushing workload, the lack of scoring plays will hinder either from producing above average flex numbers. Dallas has scored on a league-low five of 31 drives (16.1 percent) over the past three weeks and put up single-digit points in those games. The best case scenario is an early lead that can allow Dallas runners to milk the clock, but don't expect the rolling Washington offense to be down for too long.
Other Notable Must Sits: Terrance Williams (WR, DAL), Byron Marshall (RB, WAS), Ryan Grant (WR, WAS)
Solid Options/Sleepers
Which Players Will Have Solid Games and Which Could Surprise?
Solid Option: Samaje Perine (RB, WAS)
There is a lot to love about the former Oklahoma Sooner. His touch totals of 24 and 27 over the previous two weeks have enabled him to grind out over 100 rushing yards in those games. The Cowboys are also likely to be without stalwart linebacker Sean Lee in Week 13, opening up the door for plenty of big-play runs. Add into the equation that he is also getting a decent amount of receiving work ahead of backfield-mate Byron Marshall (giving him a nice floor in PPR formats) and you get a very startable fantasy asset.
Solid Option: Vernon Davis (TE, WAS)
With Jordan Reed likely to be out for another week, Davis makes for a great streaming option at the tight end position. I'm not ecstatic about his one target last week against the New York Giants who have been particularly susceptible to tight ends all season, but I can't imagine Davis not being a part of the game plan against a Dallas defense that is vulnerable over the middle.
Sleeper: Dez Bryant (WR, DAL)
It may seem odd to categorize Bryant in the sleeper category, but it has become all but obvious that fantasy owners should not be expecting the same WR1 levels of production from him when Ezekiel Elliott isn't on the field. Bryant hasn't caught a touchdown in his last five games (which includes time before the Eliott suspension) and offers little in the way of a safe floor given how few the number of pass completions Dallas averages per game. Cornerback Josh Norman has also had a history of winning their one-on-one matchups, but Bryant is certainly the type of player to rise to the occasion in a revenge game.
Sleeper: Jason Witten (TE, DAL)
Witten is a curious fantasy tight end given his inconsistency on the season, but he’s been a top-10 scorer in two of his last three games Washington is currently ranked in the bottom-three for receptions allowed per game to tight ends. Quarterback Dak Prescott will likely be forced to depend on his short and mid-range options more in this game without an effective ground attack, meaning the door for Witten to post a solid outing is higher than usual.
Other Notable Sleepers: Cole Beasley (WR, DAL), Josh Doctson (WR, WAS)
