Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals Fantasy Football Matchup Breakdown For Week 8
Fantasy

Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals Fantasy Football Matchup Breakdown For Week 8

John Laghezza breaks down the Week 8 tilt between the Cardinals and the Cowboys for fantasy football.

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What happens when two slumpbusters clash in a face-off between two two-win teams that no one outside of Texas, Arizona, or fantasy circles could give a hoot about? Only one way to find out …

Cowboys vs. Cardinals Matchup Breakdown For Week 8 Fantasy Football

*Fantasy Football Rankings listed are Fantasy Life's half-PPR consensus ranks at the time of writing.

ARI_cardinals-logo.svgArizona Cardinals Fantasy Preview For Week 8

Just when we think Jacoby Brissett couldn't possibly be any worse at QB, he goes and does something like this. .. and totally redeems himself. Jim Carrey quotes aside, Brissett continues to do enough to keep his starting job,  pattern-matched alternating QB1 and QB2 performances now for a six-week span. Does this mean he’ll disappoint Sunday again? Not necessarily, though the matchup’s leaning toward a bucking of the trend — Dallas ranks bottom-5 in EPA/dropback (-0.30), opposing passer rating (110.2), completion rate (68.5%), yards/attempt (7.9), and QB fantasy points/game (21.3). Hard to ignore any QB playing with a 53.5-point game total on the board…

Pass catching remains as consolidated as could be, starting with the alpha and omega of tight end consistency, Trey McBride. He’s fantasy’s TE1, even outscoring every WR in the league not named CeeDee Lamb or Christian Watson. Crazy stuff. However, the discourse making me laugh is that somehow removing Marvin Harrison’s non-production from the lineup negatively affected Michael Wilson. I vehemently disagree. Wilson’s yet to earn fewer than seven targets in any game this year, good for 7th at the position, accounting for +23% of Arizona’s targets, air yards, and receiving yards. It’s a game of variance, where production oscillates with QB play quality. Kendrick Bourne’s seeing similar volume since missing Week 4, except he’s rostered in fewer than 20% of leagues, making him a top stream this weekend against Dallas — especially with WR Jalen Brooks out for the season.

For all the focus and blame pointed at passing, Arizona’s inability to run the rock is costing them big time. Easily one of the worst ground games in the NFL (-0.14 EPA/attempt, 3.6 yards/carry, 2.29 yards after contact/rush, 41.3% success, 5.4% explosive rush, 1 +20-yard carry), the Cardinals rank 25th in 3rd & short conversion rate — the ultimate drive killer. Anyway, that could all be put to rest with the return of Jeremiyah Love, who’s still leading the ARI backfield in fantasy scoring despite missing their last two contests.

  • Start: Jacoby Brissett (QB8), Jeremiyah Love (RB19), Michael Wilson (WR21), Trey McBride (TE1)
  • Sit: Bam Knight (RB60)
  • Sleeper: Kendrick Bourne (WR41)
     

DAL_cowboys-logo.svgDallas Cowboys Fantasy Preview For Week 8

Dallas just finished spanking a floundering Eagles D on Monday Night Football, spearheaded by one of Dak Prescott’s best games of the season (212-3-0; +0.36 EPA/dropback, 118.3 pass rating). The Boys finally looked crisp on offense, something we expected from the outset. Expect that momentum to continue with Dallas’ backs against the wall versus a Cardinals’ secondary grading bottom-5 in EA/dropback (-0.22), opposing passer rating (106.3), yards/attempt (8.0), YAC/reception (6.2), and passing TD (9). Wheels up for Prescott, who gets the Colts next in Week 9.

CeeDee Lamb just posted his third top-5 finish in six weeks (5-74-2), further cementing himself as one of the best picks at the 1-2 turn this season. His 11.5 targets/game lead the NFL, but also put a strain on other pass catchers down the depth chart. George Pickens' managers just started nodding along, and despite finding the end zone for the second time in three weeks, remain relatively disappointed with a lone top-15 finish thus far. Hold the line, patience is a virtue — there’s still massive potential in 8.3 targets and 92.7 air yards per game from Dak Prescott.

The bigger surprise, for some at least, is the emergence of WR3 Ryan Flournoy. The third-year sixth-rounder out of Southeast Missouri State is the overall WR15 over the last two weeks, assuming an every-down role on flexworthy advanced metrics (17.1% target/route, 1.45 yards/route). Those 5.7 targets/game gnaw away at the rest of the secondary options over the course. Flournoy’s gone from contingency stash to deep league play, with an added bonus for true WR2 upside in case of trade or injury. Remember, George Pickens becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season and could get shipped. Fantasy food for thought.

Not much to cover in the Dallas backfield with consummate volume back Javonte Williams leading the league in TDs, plus posting just one finish outside the top-20 all season. Nevertheless, keep an eye out for the ascendance of backup Tyler Goodson — any player sitting at a 1% rostership rate with this much theoretical upside is worth circling on your watch lists. Things change in a blink when it comes to this game.

  • Start: Dak Prescott (QB7), Javonte Williams (RB5), CeeDee Lamb (WR8), George Pickens (WR14)
  • Sit: Jake Ferguson (TE35)
  • Sleeper: Ryan Flournoy (WR28)

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