The NFL Grind Down: Sunday Night Football - Cowboys vs. Eagles
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In this article, we will take a look at the top DraftKings and FanDuel picks for Cowboys vs. Eagles, go over potential sleepers, and even take a look at some player props that we can target on fantasy pick’em sites like Sleeper Fantasy ahead of this Sunday Night Football matchup.
NFL DFS Showdown DraftKings Picks and Sleepers — Cowboys vs. Eagles
Whether you are reading this before, during, or after the Sunday main slate, godspeed. May your screens be green and your winnings be plentiful.
We have a tremendous game on tap on Sunday night. The last time these two teams met was in Week 9 where the Eagles narrowly escaped with a victory. That was the game where Dalton Schultz was about an inch shy from a touchdown on fourth down and where Dak Prescott stepped out of bounds on the 2-point conversion. There is a lot up for grabs in this game. The Cowboys will still have a chance at the division title with a win, and the Niners will be interested onlookers, as they’ll have a chance at the top seed in the NFC with a Cowboys win. The Eagles can hurt two franchises at once with a victory tonight in Dallas. The game features a 3.5-point spread and a 51.5-point total.
Key Injuries
None
Dallas Cowboys Preview
The Cowboys have rattled off four straight wins and currently own the best point differential in the NFL. Yes, they have beaten their opponents by more points than the Dolphins, Niners, and Ravens this season. Dak Prescott has been tremendous since the bye week, scoring at least 28 fantasy points in 5 of 6 games. He’s shown more rushing upside recently and put up 31 fantasy points against the Eagles in Week 9. After Josh Allen and Brock Purdy torched Philadelphia the last couple of weeks, Prescott should have the green light in this one. He’s close to a must-play in DFS and is one of the top MVP and CPT considerations.
CeeDee Lamb has looked like a completely different receiver since the bye week. He has seen at least 9 targets in all 6 games during that stretch and has topped 14 targets in 4 of those games. He put up slate-winning performances in Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, and Week 13 (some of those were showdown slates). I can’t fathom a fade in this matchup, as the Eagles are dead last in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers. Brandin Cooks hasn’t seen a high target share this season, but he has made the most of his looks. He has now scored a touchdown in 3 of his last 4 games.
Michael Gallup, Jalen Tolbert, and KaVontae Turpin round out the wide receiver room. All three are cheap enough that all it would take is a touchdown to find their way onto the optimal lineup (at least on DraftKings), but I’ll side with Tolbert as my favorite of the bunch. He has seen 19 targets over the last 5 games compared to 12 for Gallup and 10 for Turpin. The matchup isn’t quite as good for the tight ends, although the Eagles have allowed the 12th most fantasy points to the position. We know Jake Ferguson is going to be heavily involved, especially in the red zone. We could always see one of these super cheap tight ends (Luke Schoonmaker or Peyton Hendershot) find the end zone.
The Tony Pollard hate has calmed in recent weeks, as he has scored a touchdown in 3 straight games. The Cowboys are still looking to pass the ball more than most teams, but we should be encouraged by the fact that Pollard had 20 carries last week against the Seahawks. The problem is that the Eagles are 8th in DVOA against the run and 2nd in fantasy points allowed to running backs. This feels like more of a Prescott game on paper, but Pollard could always get there by scoring a couple of touchdowns. Rico Dowdle will mix in as well, but there are better punt options on the slate.
The Cowboys are going to give up points in this one, but that’s not why we roster defenses in DFS. We look for pressure on the quarterback and potential turnovers. The Cowboys do both of those very well. Kicker Brandon Aubrey has averaged 10.4 fantasy points per game this season and is a strong option in all formats.
Philadelphia Eagles Preview
Jalen Hurts has scored at least 19.9 fantasy points in 11 straight games. This has been a theme throughout his career. He’s capable of throwing for 300+ yards, rushing for 50+ yards, and now he has the tush push. Essentially, he’s a cheat code in DFS. The Cowboys are ranked 7th in DVOA against the pass, but this is a rare game where the Eagles are underdogs. The ball is going to be in his hand for most of the game. He put up 26 fantasy points against Dallas back in Week 9. Much like Dak, Hurts deserves consideration at both MVP and CPT.
Dallas Goedert will be back in the lineup tonight for the Eagles. This is important to note because DeVonta Smith was feasting in his absence. After a slow start to the season, he’s caught 22-of-27 targets for 301 yards and 2 touchdowns over the last 3 games. He essentially stole a lot of those underneath targets that Goedert was seeing in the first half of the season. This creates a conundrum for DFS players, as they can either trust the recent game log or trust the numbers from early in the season. My lean is to be underweight on Smith and overweight on Goedert.
Having Goedert back in the lineup could help keep defenses more honest when it comes to their coverage of A.J. Brown. Brown has averaged 24.6 fantasy points in the 9 games that Goedert has played and 12.9 fantasy points in the 3 games that Goedert has missed this season. I’m firing up Brown as one of the best plays of the slate even though the Cowboys have been tough on wide receivers this season. Quez Watkins, Julio Jones, and Olamide Zaccheaus could always get there with a touchdown, but that seems unlikely given their small target shares and limited playing time.
D’Andre Swift left last week’s game early but isn’t on the injury report for this game. We should assume he’s a full-go for tonight, but the Eagles seem to be rotating their running backs a bit more than they did early in the season. Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott have both seen more playing time recently. The matchup is far from ideal, as the Cowboys are top 10 in DVOA against the run, rush EPA, and fantasy points allowed to running backs. On top of that, Hurts is the preferred goal-line back for the Eagles. I don’t have a ton of interest in Philly’s running backs here.
The Eagles’ defense has been atrocious the last month or so, but the Cowboys do tend to lose these big games. Due to that fact, I’ll have a little exposure to this defense in my MME set. Kicker Jake Elliott is a strong option, as the Eagles should be able to move the ball but could have drives stall out in the red zone.
Lineup Construction Thoughts
Given the way the Eagles have played defense the last month, I prefer the Cowboys onslaught over the Eagles onslaught. Now, this isn’t your typical onslaught where you take all the expensive players from one team and then take a value play from the other team. If building onslaught lineups, I like the idea of a Cowboys stack and then bringing it back with either Jalen Hurts or A.J. Brown. There are certainly paths where Hurts or Brown can put up 25 without the rest of the team doing much offensively. The balanced approach is viable as well. For the most part, I plan to be underweight on the running backs and the defenses, while being overweight on the passing attacks and the kickers.
Cowboys-Eagles DFS Salaries & Projections
| Player | Team | Pos | Proj | DK Sal | CPT Sal | DK/$ | FD Sal | FD/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CeeDee Lamb | DAL | WR | 25.25 | $11,200 | $16,800 | 2.25 | $14,000 | 1.80 |
| Jalen Hurts | PHI | QB | 23.77 | $11,000 | $16,500 | 2.16 | $16,000 | 1.49 |
| Dak Prescott | DAL | QB | 22.93 | $10,600 | $15,900 | 2.16 | $15,500 | 1.48 |
| A.J. Brown | PHI | WR | 19.54 | $10,200 | $15,300 | 1.92 | $13,500 | 1.45 |
| Tony Pollard | DAL | RB | 17.73 | $8,000 | $12,000 | 2.22 | $11,000 | 1.61 |
| DeVonta Smith | PHI | WR | 14.66 | $8,400 | $12,600 | 1.75 | $12,000 | 1.22 |
| D’Andre Swift | PHI | RB | 12.77 | $7,400 | $11,100 | 1.73 | $11,500 | 1.11 |
| Jake Ferguson | DAL | TE | 11.76 | $6,800 | $10,200 | 1.73 | $9,500 | 1.24 |
| Dallas Goedert | PHI | TE | 10.29 | $5,400 | $8,100 | 1.91 | $8,500 | 1.21 |
| Brandin Cooks | DAL | WR | 9.95 | $7,000 | $10,500 | 1.42 | $10,000 | 1.00 |
| Brandon Aubrey | DAL | K | 9.61 | $5,000 | $7,500 | 1.92 | $8,500 | 1.13 |
| Jake Elliott | PHI | K | 7.47 | $4,800 | $7,200 | 1.56 | $8,500 | 0.88 |
| Cowboys | DAL | DST | 6.46 | $4,000 | $6,000 | 1.62 | $9,000 | 0.72 |
| Eagles | PHI | DST | 5.52 | $3,600 | $5,400 | 1.53 | $9,000 | 0.61 |
| Kenneth Gainwell | PHI | RB | 4.91 | $4,600 | $6,900 | 1.07 | $7,500 | 0.65 |
| Rico Dowdle | DAL | RB | 4.51 | $3,000 | $4,500 | 1.50 | $7,000 | 0.64 |
| Michael Gallup | DAL | WR | 4.42 | $3,200 | $4,800 | 1.38 | $8,000 | 0.55 |
| Jalen Tolbert | DAL | WR | 3.99 | $2,800 | $4,200 | 1.43 | $7,500 | 0.53 |
| Quez Watkins | PHI | WR | 3.52 | $2,400 | $3,600 | 1.47 | $6,500 | 0.54 |
| KaVontae Turpin | DAL | WR | 3.35 | $1,600 | $2,400 | 2.09 | $6,000 | 0.56 |
| Luke Schoonmaker | DAL | TE | 2.28 | $1,200 | $1,800 | 1.90 | $6,500 | 0.35 |
| Julio Jones | PHI | WR | 1.23 | $800 | $1,200 | 1.54 | $6,000 | 0.21 |
| Boston Scott | PHI | RB | 1.05 | $2,000 | $3,000 | 0.53 | $7,000 | 0.15 |
| Olamide Zaccheaus | PHI | WR | 0.95 | $1,000 | $1,500 | 0.95 | $8,000 | 0.12 |
Fantasy Sleepers
Dallas Goedert: $5,400 DK / $8,500 FD
Players coming back from injury always tend to be under-owned in DFS. The natural reaction is to want to see it first before trusting a player who hasn’t played in a while. However, Goedert missed time with a forearm injury, so it’s unlikely that he’ll be on any sort of snap count. He’s a big part of this offense, and the Eagles could be forced into a game plan where they have to drop back to pass more than usual.
Cowboys vs. Eagles Player Pick’em
Season record: 28-15
25-7 over the last 32 games
CeeDee Lamb more than 95.5 Receiving + Rushing Yards (1.77x) – Sleeper
Did we hit with our pick on Thursday night? Of course we did! I usually don’t like to boast, but this is an epic run that we’ve been on. For tonight, we are looking to exploit the best matchup of the game. Despite having some talented cornerbacks, the Eagles have allowed the most receptions and the 2nd-most receiving yards to wide receivers this season. Lamb has seen at least 14 targets in 4 of his last 6 games and has topped 115 receiving yards in 5 of his last 7 games. I’m doing the rushing + receiving combo prop, as the Cowboys have given Lamb 5 rushing attempts in the last 4 games.
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