The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 5 matchup between the Steelers and Cowboys.
Find a breakdown of every Week 5 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.
| Dallas | Rank | @ | Pittsburgh | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 | Spread | -2.5 | ||
| 20.25 | Implied Total | 22.75 | ||
| 24.3 | 11 | Points/Gm | 18.8 | 22 |
| 26 | 27 | Points All./Gm | 13.3 | 2 |
| 61.8 | 14 | Plays/Gm | 64.3 | 7 |
| 62.8 | 25 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 53.8 | 1 |
| 5.4 | 18 | Off. Yards/Play | 4.9 | 21 |
| 5.7 | 25 | Def. Yards/Play | 4.9 | 6 |
| 34.41% | 32 | Rush% | 53.70% | 4 |
| 65.59% | 1 | Pass% | 46.30% | 29 |
| 50.60% | 24 | Opp. Rush % | 43.26% | 15 |
| 49.40% | 9 | Opp. Pass % | 56.74% | 18 |
- The Cowboys have a 16.7% success rate on first-down running back runs, the lowest rate in the league.
- The Steelers have a 17.6% success rate on first-down running back runs, 31st in the league.
- The Cowboys have one running back run of 10 or more yards, the fewest in the league.
- Opponents have scored 44.2% of their possessions against Dallas (24th) after they allowed a 32.0% rate in 2023 (7th).
- Justin Fields is the only quarterback with 100% of his team’s offensive touchdowns.
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
Dak Prescott: Prescott was efficient on Thursday, completing a season-high 81.5% (22-of-27) of passes for a season-high 8.2 yards per attempt and 2 touchdowns.
A slow second half (5-of-7 for 52 yards) capped his week as QB10 (16.7 points), Prescott’s second straight QB1 scoring week.
This is a spot where I want to handle Prescott as more of a fringe QB1 and floor-based QB2 rather than chasing a spike week.
The Pittsburgh defense was softer last weekend, but they are still 13th in passing points allowed per attempt (0.356) and 11th in passing points allowed (9.9 per game).
Prescott has faced two other teams in the top half of the league in passing points allowed, and those were his weeks as QB17 and QB20 in weekly scoring.
Justin Fields: Fields simultaneously played his worst real football game and best fantasy game on Sunday.
He completed a season-low 64.7% of his passes and lost a fumble.
Down 17 points early, Fields used the negative game script and the matchup against the Colts to fuel a furious second half.
He threw for 192 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 41 yards and another 2 touchdowns after halftime.
When the dust settled, Fields was the highest-scoring quarterback on the week, scoring 32.0 points after 41.7 points over the opening three weeks.
While the Steelers surely did not enjoy it as much as we did (Mike Tomlin referred to Fields as “sloppy”), we have been looking for the old version of Fields to leak through this season after being a caretaker of the offense the opening three games.
It was his first QB1 scoring week of the season.
Pittsburgh should get more pushback again this week.
Prescott is the best quarterback they have played.
Given Dallas’ injuries, Fields is in play again as a fringe QB1 with upside if we get a higher-scoring game than implied.
Dallas will be without Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence (which may just offset the issues the Pittsburgh offensive line has).
Fields was pressured on 43.9% of his dropbacks on Sunday after a 30.8% rate in Weeks 1-3.
Running Back
To continue reading this article
and gain access to The Worksheet and all of Rich’s regular content, including positional rankings, DFS picks, and chats, click below to learn more about our fantasy package
Learn More
More Week 5 Fantasy Breakdowns From The Worksheet:
| Matchup | Time |
|---|---|
| Bucs @ Falcons -- FREE | Thursday Night Football |
| Jets @ Vikings | Sunday -- 9:30 a.m. ET (London) |
| Panthers @ Bears | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Ravens @ Bengals | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Dolphins @ Patriots | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Browns @ Commanders | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Colts @ Jaguars | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Bills @ Texans | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Raiders @ Broncos | Sunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET |
| Cardinals @ 49ers | Sunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET |
| Packers @ Rams | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| Giants @ Seahawks | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| Cowboys @ Steelers | Sunday Night Football |
| Saints @ Chiefs -- FREE | Monday Night Football |
