The Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1) and Dallas Cowboys (2-2) will face off in this week’s Sunday Night Football matchup. The Cowboys got back on track after beating their division rivals, the New York Giants, though they may have to move forward without star defender Micah Parsons.
The Steelers are coming off their first loss of the season to the Indianapolis Colts, where Joe Flacco and the Colts’ offense exposed some holes in Pittsburgh’s defense. Both teams bring dedicated fanbases to this prime-time single game slate , with the Steelers looking to bounce back and strengthen their defensive showing.
Steelers vs Cowboys odds, money line, over/under :
- Spread: Steelers (-2.5)
- Moneyline: Steelers (-135); Cowboys (+115)
- Over/under: 44
Notable Injury List
Dallas Cowboys
- Trevon Diggs (CB) – Questionable
- Caelen Carson (CB) – Questionable
- Marist Liufau (LB) – Questionable
- Micah Parsons (LB) – Out
- Brandin Cooks (WR) – Out
- DeMarcus Lawrence (DE) – IR
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Russell Wilson (QB) – Questionable
- Jaylen Warren (RB) – OUT
- Cordarrellle Patterson (RB) -OUT
- Mycole Pruitt (TE) – OUT
- Alex Highsmith (LB) – OUT
- Jeremiah Moon (LB) – IR
- James Daniels (G) – IR
- Cory Trice (CB) – IR
MVP Candidates
Dak Prescott ($15,500) has only reached his ceiling potential once in Week 3 against the Ravens where he logged a rushing touchdown and led a pass heavy offense after the Cowboys fell behind early in the game. Prescott feels like a good option if you believe he will be passing for 300 plus yards and using his legs a bit more.
Justin Fields‘ ($15,000) amazing outing against the Colts last Sunday garnered 34 fantasy points, a season high thus far, where he rushed for 55 yards and 2 TDs. The Cowboys’ defense has allowed 2 rushing touchdowns to quarterbacks tying for 3rd worst in the league. Fields obviously has show spurts of greatness before but it’s the sustainability that’s in question. Pick Fields at MVP if you trust the run to win this game for the Steelers and lack faith in the mediocre running back options elsewhere.
CeeDee Lamb ($17,000) in a scenario where Dak Prescott gets into a good passing rhythm is most likely going to benefit the most. Over 22% of the target share, roughly 7-10 targets per game, have been directed at Lamb in four games. He had eight games over 100 yards last season but only if Prescott targeted Lamb over 11 times a game. Pick CeeDee Lamb at MVP if you believe this to be his breakout game against a tougher pass defense.
Flex Targets
Najee Harris ($12,000) statistically has been impressive over the past three seasons with over 1,000 rushing yards each season but it’s all in the volume of carries. This season Harris is averaging around 3.4 yards per carry. Considering the possibility of a few receptions and a weak Cowboys defense versus the run, Harris could see potential upside as a solid flex option and a very contrarian MVP if you can stomach it.
Note: Harris scored 24 & 21 fantasy points in Weeks 17 & 18 last season for context on the potential upside in a perfect scenario.
George Pickens ($12,500) is a solid option for good usage if the Steelers rely on a running back by committee approach with Fields passing a ton. Pickens saw his most targets, receptions, and yards this season in last week’s game against the Colts. With the limited pass catching options for the Steelers there isn’t really anywhere else for Fields to go outside of tight end, Freiermuth.
Jalen Tolbert ($10,000) is the third receiving option, behind tight end Jake Ferguson, getting 13% of the target share and the number one target in the red zone (23%). Catching 2 passes and 1 touchdown in the red zone this season seems interesting especially with Brandin Cooks out this week.
Jake Ferguson ($10,500) minus Brandin Cooks against the Steelers feels like a much more appealing option than usual. The downside is Ferguson’s price limiting the variations oof lineup construction available that could favor a pass heavy game from the Cowboys.
Pat Freiermuth ($8,500) is the Steeler’s second receiving option with a higher completion percentage overall (85%) and within the red zone (75%) than George Pickens. Freiermuth’s price makes him an interesting choice if you are looking to get a piece of the passing game without paying up for Pickens.
Aaron Shampklin ($5,000) and L’Mical Perine ($5,000) become viable options given the injury news ahead of this matchup. Najee Harris is likely to be “chalk” but the same could be said for the other running back options with the recent injury news. Look for many lineups to target the run game against a weak Cowboys run defense. Placing Perine and Shampklin in a lineup helps crunch higher tier players into the other four positions.
Kickers Brandon Aubrey ($9,500) and Chris Boswell ($9,000) work well considering that kickers are directly correlated with quarterbacks and can be great options at the mid-tier price range. Both players reached over 20 fantasy points in Week 1 speaking to the sheer upside of kickers on a single game slate.
Contrarian Picks
Calvin Austin III ($7,500) and Luke Schoonmaker ($7,500) on their respective squads feel like great contrarian plays if your looking to differentiate lineup construction and think out of the box. The truth is nothing is 100% certain in football and all things become possible.
Calvin Austin III recorded 95 yards and a touchdown in Week 3 against the Chargers for 17.5 fantasy points. Schoonmaker has caught 7 of 8 targets this season with a 87.5% completion percentage, the one missed target was in the red zone.
The Cowboys ($9,000) and Steelers ($9,500) defenses will always be boom or bust with a strong tendency to lean more towards bust in most cases for a single game slate. While there is an upside, the floor on defenses in the flex position is far too low to consistently pan out.
No matter what your approach to choosing lineups for the Steelers vs Cowboys DFS single game slate, it’s important to develop a script in your mind on how you think the game will play out. Let the script dictate how you choose each player. When playing various lineups be sure to have various scripts helping you create unique plays that avoid being overly chalky or predictable .
Check out Blitz Sports Media Staff Picks for Week 5 HERE.
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