The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 8 matchup between the Broncos and Cowboys.
Find a breakdown of every Week 8 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.
| Dallas | Rank | @ | Denver | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | Spread | -3.0 | ||
| 23.75 | Implied Total | 26.75 | ||
| 31.7 | 2 | Points/Gm | 23.3 | 17 |
| 29.4 | 30 | Points All./Gm | 18.1 | 4 |
| 63.9 | 10 | Plays/Gm | 65.1 | 6 |
| 66.3 | 28 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 60.9 | 15 |
| 6.1 | 2 | Off. Yards/Play | 5.3 | 19 |
| 6.1 | 30 | Def. Yards/Play | 4.5 | 2 |
| 39.15% | 26 | Rush% | 42.11% | 18 |
| 60.85% | 7 | Pass% | 57.89% | 15 |
| 45.47% | 23 | Opp. Rush % | 39.91% | 9 |
| 54.53% | 10 | Opp. Pass % | 60.09% | 24 |
- The Cowboys have 16 plays of 30 or more yards on offense, the most in the league.
- The Broncos have scored first in just one game this season, matching the Saints for the fewest times in the league.
- Denver has won a league-high four games when their opponent has scored first.
- Dallas games are averaging a league-high in combined points (61.1), combined touchdowns (7.0), and combined yards (792.1) per game.
- The Cowboys are third in the NFL in scoring rate per drive (52%) and third in points per drive (2.84).
- Dallas is 30th in scoring rate allowed per drive (48%) and 30th in points allowed per drive (2.72).
- Denver is 9th in scoring rate allowed per drive (34.6%) and 3rd in points allowed per drive (1.54).
- Denver has punted on 45% of their possessions, 29th in the league.
- Denver has forced a punt on a league-high 50.6% of opponent possessions.
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
Dak Prescott: Dak stayed scorching on Sunday, completing 21 of 30 passes for 264 yards (8.8 Y/A) with 3 touchdowns.
That was Prescott’s fourth straight game with at least three touchdown passes.
He has also thrown zero interceptions over that stretch.
The past three games have come against the Jets, Panthers, and Commanders, but that first one did come against Green Bay.
This week will be a more challenging test, as he heads to Denver.
The Broncos lead the league in pressure rate (44.6%) and are fourth in blitz rate (35.1%).
Prescott is second in the league in yards per pass attempt when pressured (8.3 Y/A).
He does dip to 6.8 Y/A (20th) when blitzed, although his 69% completion rate when blitzed is nice enough to rank sixth in the league.
Prescott is playing so well that he is hard to aggressively move off as a QB1, especially in a week with six teams off.
We will always price in some floor facing the Broncos, but we have seen Denver play in some high and tight contests that offer upside.
The Broncos have played games with a combined score of 57 points against Indianapolis, 43 points against the Chargers, and 65 points on Sunday against the Giants, all games decided by three points or fewer.
They also played a tight game with the Eagles.
In those weeks, Daniel Jones (316 yards), Justin Herbert (300 yards), Jalen Hurts (280 yards), and Jaxson Dart (283 yards) all posted solid passing yardage.
The touchdown totals are the tricky part, which is where Dak has been riding high.
Denver has allowed multiple passing touchdowns in only six regular-season games going back to last season (two this season).
Only Jones and Dart had true spike weeks this year for fantasy (both had rushing touchdowns with their passing yardage), but all four of those mentioned quarterbacks flirted with QB1 output for fantasy in those weeks.
Going back to last year, we saw them play in shootouts against Herbert, Joe Burrow, and Jameis Winston (Winston and Burrow were both QB1 overall scorers in those games), so there are paths for this game to be high-scoring while still showing respect for the Denver defense.
Bo Nix: (TRUST): Sunday was quite a ride for Nix and the Broncos.
Nix was objectively terrible through three quarters on Sunday, completing 11 of 25 passes (44%) for 105 yards (4.2 Y/A).
In a jailbreak fourth quarter, Nix went 16 of 25 (64%) for 174 yards (7.0 Y/A) with 2 passing touchdowns, 2 rushing touchdowns, and 2 two-point conversions.
In what looked like was going to be one of the worst games of the year based on expectations, Nix scored more fantasy points (40) than any other quarterback has in a game this season.
His 35.6 fantasy points in the fourth quarter were the most in any fourth quarter in the 2000s.
It was the second-most fantasy points scored in any standalone quarter over that span, only bested by Tyreek Hill in the first quarter of Week 12 in 2020 against the Buccaneers, when he caught 7 passes for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns to open the game.
Even if Nix had flatlined to end last week, we still would have been bullish on him here.
Dallas has allowed a league-high 19.9 passing points per game and the most passing points per attempt (0.586).
On top of that, the Cowboys have also allowed 5.7 rushing points per game to quarterbacks, 31st in the league.
Even last week, with Washington losing Jayden Daniels and missing their best two wide receivers, the Cowboys allowed 21.6 combined fantasy points to Daniels and Marcus Mariota.
Running Back
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Learn MoreMore Week 8 Fantasy Breakdowns From The Worksheet:
| Matchup | Time |
|---|---|
| Vikings @ Chargers | Thursday Night Football |
| Dolphins @ Falcons | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Jets @ Bengals | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Browns @ Patriots | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Giants @ Eagles | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Bills @ Panthers | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Bears @ Ravens | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| 49ers @ Texans | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Bucs @ Saints | Sunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET |
| Cowboys @ Broncos | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| Titans @ Colts | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| Packers @ Steelers | Sunday Night Football |
| Commanders @ Chiefs | Monday Night Football |