Dallas Cowboys - Fantasy News

Cowboys at Raiders Start 'Em / Sit 'Em

by Aaron Bowers

12/15/17

NFL

Dallas Cowboys

Alfred Morris

This week’s edition of Sunday Night Football will feature a matchup of 2016 playoff teams when the Dallas Cowboys travel to Oakland to play the Raiders.

The Cowboys have seemingly righted the ship for the second time this season. A three-game losing streak has given way to a two-game winning streak against the Redskins and Giants. At 7-6, Dallas needs to win out to have a chance at making the postseason. The return of Ezekiel Elliott in Week 16 will help that cause, but the ‘Boys will first have to beat the Raiders without him.

After becoming the darling of the 2016 season, Oakland has been extremely disappointing in 2017. The once-prolific offense has devolved into a dink-and-dunk fest while the defense has been as bad as ever. Yet, because they play in a conference in which nobody wants to make the playoffs, the Raiders still have a legitimate shot to make the postseason.

Dallas Cowboys Week 15 Projected Fantasy Points
Dak Prescott: 18.0 PFP
Dez Bryant: 12.0 PFP
Jason Witten: 7.5 PFP
Alfred Morris: 7.5 PFP
Dan Bailey: 7.5 PFP
Terrance Williams: 6.5 PFP
Cole Beasley: 5.0 PFP

Oakland Raiders Week 15 Projected Fantasy Points
Derek Carr: 15.0 PFP
Marshawn Lynch: 13.0 PFP
Michael Crabtree: 11.0 PFP
Amari Cooper: 9.0 PFP
Jared Cook: 7.5 PFP
Georgio Tavecchio: 6.0 PFP
DeAndre Washington: 6.0 PFP
Jalen Richard: 5.5 PFP
Cordarrelle Patterson: 5.0 PFP

Start 'Em: Alfred Morris (7.5 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 5.21

Rod Smith has been getting all the attention after putting up 30.5 DFP in Week 14. However, he did that on just 11 touches as the game was getting out of hand. The majority of the running back volume is still going to Morris, who has 87 touches since Ezekiel Elliott began his suspension compared to just 47 for Smith. Since becoming the starter, Morris has three games with more than 9.1 DFP and now gets to face an Oakland defense that is one of the worst in the league stopping the run. He should easily power his way past 7.5 DFP.

Sit 'Em: Dez Bryant (12.0 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 10.59

Though he has scored touchdowns in each of his last two games, all is not forgiven for Bryant. While he played well two weeks ago against Washington, he was one broken tackle away from another single-digit fantasy performance against the Giants. Though many in the media have blamed Dak Prescott for Bryant’s poor performance, we would note that the wideout ranks 11^th in the league in targets this season. He just isn’t doing much with the plentiful opportunities he is getting. Since Week 7, he has two games with more than 10.3 DFP and doesn’t have a single game this season with more than eight catches or 100 yards. The Raiders secondary is bad, but they have big, physical corners who can break up jump balls in the end zone. And as we’ve seen this season, if teams can do that, Bryant won’t have much fantasy success.

Start 'Em: Derek Carr (15.0 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 14.76

A year ago, Carr was considered a rising star in the quarterback ranks and Oakland rewarded him with the richest contract in NFL history at the time. Though 2017 hasn’t seen the same success as last season, Carr has been playing better as of late. As he’s recovered from a fractured vertebra, he’s scored more than 15.0 DFP in four of his last seven games. The Cowboys have given up an average of 17.1 DFP per game to opposing quarterbacks and Carr gets to play this game at home. At the very least it is easy to imagine Oakland falling behind early and Carr racking up pass attempts in a frantic attempt to keep pace. That could lead to a big game for the third-year quarterback.

Sit 'Em: Amari Cooper (9.0 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 8.61

Before the season, many expected Cooper to break out and establish himself as one of the top players at the wide receiver position. Needless to say, that has not happened. Cooper has exactly three games with more than 9.0 DFP this season, and one of them came all the way back in Week 1. He is among the league leaders in dropped passes and is battling an ankle injury and an inefficient offense. We still believe in Cooper’s talent; he flashed it in the 11-catch, 210-yard two-touchdown performance in Week 7. However, we have no confidence that he’ll be able to come up with even a mediocre game to get over his PFP this week.