Welcome to the NFL Week 13 Thursday Night Football Showdown Slate!

At one point, this game looked pretty interesting both the Cowboys and Saints were looking for a get-right game. Dallas has lost three of their last four while the Saints have lost their last four-straight and both teams received some promising news on some of their injured players. But while the Cowboys are still enjoying news like the return of Amari Cooper from the reserve/COVID list and Ezekiel Elliott taking part in full practices, the Saints are reeling as a number of their players have been ruled out as of Thursday morning. Just ruled out are Alvin Kamara, two of their top offensive linemen in Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk and defensive end Marcus Davenport. This is going to be one heck of a test for new starting quarterback, Taysom Hill.

Now before we begin, please take a moment to understand what exactly you are getting yourself into by playing single-game Showdown Slates. We love to have some skin in the game, for sure, but these slates are, for all intents and purposes, a lottery ticket. Sure, there are times when the chalk hits and everyone shares in the prizes, but, more often than not, you need to hit on that random dart-throw that differentiates your lineup from that of the herd in order to claim the top prize. As a result, we encourage you to play responsibly and not over-invest. Stick to the GPP contests (single-entry preferred), don’t blow your whole bankroll, and understand that, unless you are a max-entry player, you should prioritize having fun.

OK. Lecture over. Let’s get to tonight’s action.

Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints

Spread: Cowboys -6 (was -4.5 until Thursday news broke)

O/U: 47

Weather: dome

Notable Injuries:

Dallas Cowboys

Amari Cooper, WR – COVID (questionable)

Cedrick Wilson, WR – ankle (out)

Malik Turner, WR – illness (questionable)

Blake Jarwin, TE – COVID (questionable)

Terence Steele, RT – COVID (questionable)

New Orleans Saints

Alvin Kamara, RB – knee (out)

Terron Armstead, LT – knee (out)

Ryan Ramczyk, RT – knee (out)

Marcus Davenport, DE – shoulder (out)

Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE – ankle (out)

Kaden Ellis, LB – hamstring (out)

DVOA Defensive Rankings

Cowboys

vs Pass: 4th  

vs Run: 18th 

Saints

vs Pass: 13th  

vs Run: 1st 

**Please note that players not listed below are not necessarily a complete fade and any player listed can certainly be used as the MVP/Captain. These are merely suggestions for players to use when setting Showdown lineups.

MVP/Captain

Dak Prescott, QB DAL – Even without Marcus Davenport, the Saints run defense is elite and will give the Dallas ground game some trouble. That means it’s all going to fall on Prescott who is in dire need of leading this team to a victory. The Saints have some weaknesses in the secondary and with Cooper returning, he’s going to have an abundance of targets waiting for him to throw them the ball.

CeeDee Lamb, WR DAL – The days of Marshon Lattimore being an effective shadow are over so we don’t expect him to work against Lamb too often tonight. Lamb has been working extremely well out of the slot and that puts him against P.J. Williams, one of the absolute worst corners in the game.

Taysom Hill, QB NO – This is going to be a tough game for Hill, given the offensive line and weapon injuries the Saints are currently enduring. Hill is already notorious for poaching goal-line carries and we wouldn’t expect anything different. If he can also throw effectively, he could be an interesting play at the top.

Mid-Tier

Michael Gallup, WR DAL – He’s tried to be an effective weapon for Dak while Lamb and Cooper have been out and showed some fire on Thanksgiving with his five-catch, 106-yard performance. He’s a solid option on Draft Kings with the full-point PPR scoring, but the lack of red zone targets is a bummer. He could break into the end zone at any point, though, especially if Cooper lags at all tonight.

Amari Cooper, WR DAL – The lingering effects from COVID hit people differently, so it may look like Cooper is behind by a half-step at times. Still, the Saints deep coverage is vulnerable and Cooper could end up stretching the field if he feels ready to take off. 

Tre’Quan Smith, WR NO – Some might point out that he was quiet on Thanksgiving, but weren’t all the Saints against Buffalo? We’ll have to see what his rapport looks like on the field with Taysom Hill, but he did see 20 targets over three games with Trevor Siemian. He does most of his work out of the slot which is a weakness of the Cowboys, so if he can gain position on Jourdan Lewis, he could have a decent night.

Deonte Harris, WR NO – He’s small, he’s quick and he always looks like he’s going to break a touchdown run on a kick return. The Saints will try to keep him away from Trevon Diggs in coverage so look for him to try and stretch the field with his speed advantage over Anthony Brown.

Ezekiel Elliott, RB DAL – The big question is just how much work Zeke is going to get in this match-up. He’s still got the knee issue and the Saints have a fantastic run defense and allow the third-fewest rushing yards per game and in total for the year. Will the Cowboys feed him the rock? My partner in crime Jim Bowden usually has his finger on the pulse of the Cowboys and he’s thinking 50-60 yards and a touchdown.

Tony Pollard, RB DAL – He’s going to have a share in the workload with the only question being how much of a share. If you’re going to use a Cowboys running back in your lineups, I suggest you split the exposure to 50/50. Pollard is a strong pass-catcher and the Saints rank just 19th in DVOA against running back pass-plays.

Mark Ingram, RB NO – He’ll be the lead back in tonight’s game with Alvin Kamara on the shelf, but with Dallas getting back Demarcus Lawrence, it’s only going to get tougher for Ingram. You also have to worry about Hill poaching the goal-line work. I’ve always been a big Ingram fan, but the exposure to him tonight is likely to be minimal.

Dalton Schultz, TE DAL – The Saints are only allowing about 10 fantasy points per game to the tight end position and rank seventh in DVOA against them. But Schults remains a strong red zone target for Dak and while we may not see a lot of yards, he could find his way into the end zone.

Dallas Cowboys D/STDemarcus Lawrence returns, Micah Parsons is a beast and the Saints have lost both of their starting tackles. Dallas ranks fifth in the league with 19 takeaways and are going to be as opportunistic as possible against a struggling Saints offense.

Dart Throws

Juwan Johnson, TE NO – An interesting dart throw here as Johnson and Hill had a decent rapport back in the preseason and have been working together quite often on the second team. Johnson is a hybrid wide receiver/tight end playing in the tight end slot. Dallas ranks 18th in DVOA against the tight end and they’re giving up just over 12 fantasy points per game to the position.

Noah Brown, WR DAL – He’s got the speed to burn Marshon Lattimore in coverage down the sidelines. Prescott could easily test that side of the field a few times just to keep the Saints coverage honest and in doing so, hit a long score.

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