Cowboys vs Vikings Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 8

The Worksheet, a fantasy football overview by Rich Hribar, breaking down everything you need to know for the Week 8 Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings Sunday Night Football game.

Dallas	Rank	@	Minnesota	Rank
-2.5		Spread	2.5
28.5		Implied Total	26
34.2	1	Points/Gm	24.5	14
24.3	20	Points All./Gm	22.8	13
70	1	Plays/Gm	69.8	2
60.2	6	Opp. Plays/Gm	64.2	20
6.6	1	Off. Yards/Play	5.9	10
6.3	29	Def. Yards/Play	5.6	17
46.19%	6	Rush%	40.57%	17
53.81%	27	Pass%	59.43%	16
33.52%	2	Opp. Rush %	41.56%	18
66.48%	31	Opp. Pass %	58.44%	15

Dallas is the last remaining team undefeated against the spread.
The Cowboys are the last remaining team in the league that has not run an offensive play while trailing by double digits.
The Cowboys are averaging 6.9 yards per play on first down, the most in the league.
Dallas is allowing 7.0 yards per play on first downs defensively, 31st in the league.
43.7% of Dak Prescott’s pass attempts have resulted in a first down or touchdown, the highest rate in the league.
Dallas is averaging 5.5 yards per first down rushing attempt, the most in the league.
The Vikings have allowed a rushing touchdown in 11 consecutive games dating back to last season, the longest active streak in the league.
Dallas is second in the league in explosive rushing yardage gained per game (79.0 yards) while Minnesota is fourth (70.0).
86.7% (13-of-15) of the Minnesota offensive touchdowns have come via passing, the highest rate in the league. The league average is 64.2%.

Trust = spike production for that player
Bust = down-week production for that player’s standards

Quarterback

Dak Prescott: Prescott is dealing with a calf injury that the Cowboys have been largely ominous about his availability for Sunday. If Dak can play, but is immobile, that is alright since he was not really running this season to begin with.

Prescott hit the bye week coming off 445 passing yards and three touchdowns as Dallas was finally pressed on the scoreboard for the first time since Week 1, forcing Prescott to throw 51 times after 26.8 pass attempts per game Weeks 2-5.

Minnesota should be able to hang here as well, so we could get more fireworks for Prescott as a QB1 option as long as his calf does not limit him. Minnesota leads the league in pressure rate (32.1%) despite ranking 17th in blitz rate (23.5%). Teams have not gotten to Prescott. Prescott is 29th in pressure rate as a passer, but when he has been pressured, he is completing 51.0% of his passes for 6.6 yards per pass attempt compared to an 80% completion rate and 8.9 Y/A when kept clean. 15 of his 16 passing scores have come while kept clean as well.

The Vikings are 10th in passing points allowed per game (14.5), but they have recently faced a stretch of Sam Darnold, Jared Goff, and Baker Mayfield. In their first three games, Joe Burrow (9.7 Y/A), Kyler Murray (11.1 Y/A), and Russell Wilson (9.3 Y/A) all were efficient.

Kirk Cousins (TRUST): Backing Cousins in a Prime-Time Game in this economy? That’s right. Cousins has already been a QB1 in four of his six games this season with three top-six scoring weeks. The Cowboys’ defense is living off turnover cache, but they are also allowing the fourth-most yards per play defensively and currently rank 27th in yards allowed per pass attempt (8.2 yards) and 27th in yards allowed per completion (12.5 yards). The turnovers have kept the point totals down some, but they are allowing 17,1 passing points per game (21st). The one concern I do have is that the Vikings are due to start having more balance in terms of passing-to-rushing touchdown ratio as they have just two rushing scores on the year.

Running Back

Ezekiel Elliott (TRUST): Elliott has done nothing but roll since Week 1, averaging 117.4 total yards and 21.7 PPR points per game over his past five games. Heading into the bye, we even saw him finally stack some targets on all his routes run catching 7-of-9 targets for 50 yards after securing 9-of-11 targets for 55 yards over the first five games of the year.

Minnesota is allowing 4.6 yards per carry to opposing backs (28th) and 15.8 rushing points per game to backfields (26th).

Dalvin Cook (TRUST): Prior to the bye, Cook returned from an ankle issue that had been limiting him since Week 2. He looked like his old self, racking up 143 yards and a score on a season-high 31 touches against Carolina. Dallas has faced the second-fewest rushing attempts in the league from backfields (14.8), but while teams have been able to stay in neutral scripts against them, running backs have averaged 4.6 YPC (22nd). Even when teams have fallen out of strong run scripts, Dallas is allowing 12.8 receiving points per game to opposing backfields (22nd), while backs are averaging 1.04 points per touch against the Cowboys, the third-highest rate in the league.

Tony Pollard: Pollard is still not getting enough touches (12.7 per game) to be a locked-in fantasy option, but he has shown a floor if in a bind. Pollard has finished as an RB2 or better in just one game but has been outside of the top-40 scoring backs just once as well. Averaging a gaudy 6.3 yards per touch, Pollard carries as much per-play upside as any back in the league.

Wide Receiver

Justin Jefferson: Jefferson exits the bye as the WR9 in PPR points per game (18.6) which nearly lined up with his expected points per game (17.6). Jefferson has at least five receptions in every game this season and already has four end zone targets after just eight as a rookie.

While Trevon Diggs has been awesome this season and has been a turnover machine, he also has given up his share of splash plays in the ilk of Marcus Peters. Per Sports Info Solutions, Diggs has allowed the third-most receiving yards when targeted (369 yards) and 23.1 yards per catch. If the Cowboys choose to not use Diggs to shadow Jefferson, Anthony Brown has allowed the most receiving yardage (374 yards) in coverage this season. Jefferson is a front-end WR1.

CeeDee Lamb: With the Cowboys forced to pass in Week 6, we finally got to see some targets go to the Dallas wideouts and Lamb was the beneficiary working against Jalen Mills. Lamb caught 9-of-11 targets for 149 yards and two scores heading into the bye.

The Cowboys may get Michael Gallup back this week, who is set to practice after missing the past five games. With Gallup on the field in Week 1, Lamb only played 39% of the snaps in 12 and 21 personnel. Lamb ran a pass route on 75.8% of the dropbacks in Week 1 and since has run a route on 163-of-175 dropbacks since. Gallup still may not be activated before Sunday night, so keep tabs on this week, but that is something to note. Even if Gallup does play, he may not be back to his full workload.

The Vikings have been solid against opposing wideouts, allowing a 59.2% catch rate (third) and 8.0 yards per target (12th), but their recent quarterback schedule has aided things in that department, and they lost Patrick Peterson to injured reserve with a hamstring injury prior to the bye. Keep treating Lamb as a fringe-WR1 option.

Amari Cooper: Cooper has been not received more than 18.8% of the team targets in a game since Week 1, catching more than three passes in just one of his past five games played. He has found the end zone twice over that span to salvage a couple of weeks, but those two games with a touchdown were his only scoring weeks higher than WR39 since Week 1. The target share is concerning if Gallup does return, but Cooper’s attachment to this offense keeps him in play as a volatile WR2 option.

Adam Thielen (TRUST): Thielen was another wideout who hit the bye on a strong note, catching 11-of-13 targets for 126 yards and a touchdown in Week 6. Thielen has seen at least 21% of the team targets come in his direction in every game but one this season while all of the receiving notes mentioned above apply to Thielen here as well. If Dallas does not shadow Jefferson with Diggs, Thielen has lined up at RWR for 43% of his snaps (where Brown has played 59% of his snaps) and 32% at LWR (where Diggs has played 61% of his snaps). Theilen benefits in a scenario of matching up with Brown most of the Minnesota wideouts.

K.J. Osborn: Osborn has been the WR13 and the WR14 in his two games with a touchdown and the WR34 or lower in his four games without a trip to the end zone. Prior to his 19.8-point PPR game in Week 6, Osborn had eight catches for 66 yards over his previous three games. Osborn is a single-game DFS play as he has run a route on 74.6% of the team dropbacks but is not a stable option in seasonal leagues.

Cedrick Wilson: Wilson is another single-game DFS dart if Gallup remains out for another week. Wilson has not had a week higher than WR42 on the season, and that includes two games with a touchdown. He is coming off a season-high seven targets (4-42-0). If Gallup is activated, circle back here for an update.

Tight End

Dalton Schultz: Schultz played a season-high 84% of the snaps in Week 6, catching 5-of-6 targets for 79 yards against the Patriots. Blake Jarwin ended up catching a touchdown pass in that game, but it was his only catch as Schultz has taken over as the primary tight end for Dallas. Schultz has been a top-eight scoring tight end in each of his past four games, which includes his lofty target share coming down in Week 6 to 12.2%.

The Vikings have faced the fourth-fewest targets to opposing tight ends (5.2 per game), but they are 30th in yards allowed per target (10.2 yards) on those targets to keep Schultz in play as a TE1.

Tyler Conklin: Conklin has finished higher than TE16 in just one game this season. He is still active per dropback if you want to chase in single-game DFS. Conklin is running a route on 67.9% of the team dropbacks, which ranks 12th among all tight ends.

More Week 8 Fantasy breakdowns from The Worksheet: