The Worksheet, a fantasy football overview by Rich Hribar, breaking down everything you need to know for the Week 7 Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys Sunday afternoon game.

Detroit | Rank | @ | Dallas | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
7 | Spread | -7 | ||
20 | Implied Total | 27.5 | ||
28 | 3 | Points/Gm | 18.3 | 23 |
34 | 32 | Points All./Gm | 16.3 | 3 |
66.6 | 8 | Plays/Gm | 59.7 | 24 |
66 | 27 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 66.5 | 28 |
6.2 | 4 | Off. Yards/Play | 5 | 23 |
6.5 | 32 | Def. Yards/Play | 4.6 | 3 |
41.74% | 13 | Rush% | 45.81% | 9 |
58.26% | 20 | Pass% | 54.19% | 24 |
46.36% | 27 | Opp. Rush % | 41.10% | 16 |
53.64% | 6 | Opp. Pass % | 58.90% | 17 |
- Games involving the Lions are averaging a league-high 62.0 combined points per game.
- 81.8% (18-of-22) of the scoring plays for the Lions have been touchdowns, the highest rate in the league.
- Opponents are converting a league-high 50.8% of their third downs against Detroit.
- 38.4% of the passing plays against the Lions have resulted in a first down or touchdown, the highest rate in the league.
- 25.5% of the passing plays against the Cowboys have resulted in a first down or touchdown, the lowest rate in the league.
- The Lions are averaging 11.9 offensive snaps per gain of 20 or more yards, the best rate in the league.
- The Cowboys are allowing a gain of 20 or more yards once every 30.7 plays, the lowest rate in the league.
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
Dak Prescott: We haven’t seen Prescott since Week 1 due to thumb surgery. When we last left off, Prescott had a brutal night against the Buccaneers, but the climate in Dallas is much more optimistic on his return than that night.
Prescott should immediately elevate the aggressiveness of the Dallas offense. The Cowboys were 8% below pass rate expectation Weeks 2-6 protecting Cooper Rush.
Prescott also walks back into one of the best matchups of the season to knock off any potential rust.
The Lions are surrendering 16.8 passing points per game (26th), allowing a 65.9% completion rate (21st), 7.9 yards per pass attempt (29th), and a 4.7% touchdown rate (25th) to opposing passers. Detroit has allowed four top-10 scorers in five games played, with the only exception being Bailey Zappe in his first career start, who still went 17-of-21 passing with 9.0 yards per pass attempt.
If you have followed me over the years, you know that I am inherently cautious on players returning to form after long layoffs and injury. That is the only piece of concern here in an otherwise glowing spot for Prescott to return to. Even if he has some rust, Prescott is right back on the board as a QB1 option.
Jared Goff: Through the first five weeks of the season, Goff has been one of the most volatile fantasy quarterbacks, trading weeks as the QB17, QB7, QB19, QB1, and QB29. Goff has had some highs with four passing touchdowns in both Week 2 and Week 4, but big picture he still sits 19th in EPA per play (-0.1), 25th in success rate (42.6%), and 28th in completion rate below expectation (-3.8%).
This should be the first time since Week 2 that Goff does have a fully healthy offense to keep the lights on. We also could get another Detroit shootout to chase as a QB2 play.
This also is a tough matchup, though. Dallas is allowing 0.31 passing points per attempt (seventh), 5.9 yards per pass attempt (third), and a 2.9% touchdown rate (eighth) to opposing quarterbacks. Dallas also leads the league in pressure rate (41.7%) and is third in rate of dropbacks hitting the quarterback (20.7%).
Running Back
Ezekiel Elliott (TRUST): Elliott is coming off his best game of the season, rushing 13 times for 81 yards and a touchdown. With Prescott returning to the field, the team should increase scoring opportunities moving forward to elevate Elliott’s viability as a touchdown scorer. Through six weeks, Elliott has four total red zone touches while Dallas is 30th in red zone plays run so far.
Where we still have thorns to prune here is that Elliott has just six catches for 32 yards on the season. We are also seeing Tony Pollard still being worked into the fold offensively. Elliott has had 60% of the backfield touches in just two of six games so far this season.
The good news is that with Prescott coming back and inherently added scoring potential, the Lions have also been a team we have picked on regularly.
Detroit is allowing 5.46 YPC to backs (29th) and a league-high 22.4 rushing points per game to backfields.
Tony Pollard: Pollard managed 52 yards on his 13 touches on Sunday night. All of Pollard’s viable scoring weeks have come attached to a huge play on offense because he is still averaging just 10.7 touches per game. If he were catching a bunch of passes as part of those opportunities it would be one thing, but Pollard also has just nine receptions on the season.
Maybe the return of Prescott elevates the target share for all of the running backs and the depressed target opportunities that Pollard and Zeke have seen were tied to Cooper Rush, but that is tough to fly in blind with. Pollard only has two catches back in Week 1.
While Pollard is still stuck as a boom-or-bust FLEX, this is a matchup to lean into the optimistic side of the coin.
Jamaal Williams: Williams will draw another start for the Lions this week as D'Andre Swift is not ready to return to the field.
Over the past three games without Swift in the lineup, Williams has logged 56.4%, 74.1%, and 55.6% of the Detroit backfield touches.
Williams hit a speed bump in Week 5, turning 15 touches into 56 yards. None of those touches were receptions. Williams has just five catches for 30 yards on the season with or without Swift after he caught just 26 passes all of 2021. That lack of receiving work makes Williams a touchdown dependent RB2 with a lower floor than a number of his peers. In his two games failing to reach the end zone so far, Williams has been the RB41 and the RB51.
Dallas is allowing 11.4 rushing points per game (11th) to opposing backs and 0.71 points per touch (fourth) to backs while the team total here provide some trepidation on setting expectations too high.
Wide Receiver
CeeDee Lamb (TRUST): Lamb survived the past five weeks without Prescott under center, finishing outside of the top-30 scoring receivers in just one of his five weeks with Cooper Rush under center. Lamb caught five or more passes in all five games.
Dallas has used Lamb creatively and effectively to open the year while he is seeing a ton of volume in context of the offense. Lamb is playing as a near 50/50 player inside and out, playing 57.8% of his snaps out wide and 42.2% in the slot.
Lamb leads the league with 33.3% of his team targets, seeing at least 26.8% or more in every game this season. Lamb has been targeted on 31.1% of his routes, fourth in the league among wideouts.
That all has come on a team actively hiding their passing game. With Prescott returning to the field and pushing Dallas even towards the league’s baseline passing rate, Lamb should be set up to explode on those target rates.
Detroit is allowing 9.5 yards per target to opposing boundary wide receivers (24th), but have been particularly roasted from the slot, allowing a league-high 90.5% catch rate and 11.6 yards per target to interior wideouts if we do see a situation where Jeffrey Okudah shadows Lamb when lined up on the perimeter.
Amon-Ra St. Brown: When we last saw St. Brown in Week 5, he was battling through a high-ankle injury that limited him to playing just 32% of the snaps. St. Brown was a shell of himself, catching 4-of-6 targets for 18 yards.
Even with that performance factored in, St. Brown has been targeted on 33.3% of his routes, trailing only Tyreek Hill (33.5%).
Coming out of the bye at full strength, St. Brown moves right back into being a WR1 in full-PPR formats and a high-end WR2 in non-PPR formats.
The Cowboys have been much better defending boundary wideouts than in the slot, allowing 8.0 yards per target (15th) and a 74.4% catch rate (22nd) to inside wideouts with three touchdowns.
Michael Gallup: Gallup has just eight catches for 86 yards and a touchdown since returning in Week 4, but his targets have climbed in each game while he has run a route on 72-of-86 team dropbacks in his games played. That usage is still an overall positive coming back from his injury.
With Prescott now returning to the field, we can start looking at the potential that Gallup can be in play as a weekly WR3/FLEX outside of just hoping there was enough of a passing pie to carry Lamb on a weekly level.
Detroit is allowing a 53.3% completion rate on throws over 15 yards downfield (29th) to keep some splash play potential on the board if chasing the matchup or forced to use Gallup due to byes or injuries.
Josh Reynolds: Reynolds has really maxed out his opportunity this year. He currently leads the Lions with 335 receiving yards and has been a top-36 scorer in each of his past four games played.
Reynolds has taken advantage of both St. Brown and D.J. Chark missing sections of time. With St. Brown on the field, Reynolds has a 15.0% target share and has been targeted on 14.7% of his routes. With St. Brown off of the field, Reynolds has a 25.4% team target share and has been targeted on 26.5% of his routes.
That puts both Reynolds in Tyler Boyd territory for fantasy with St. Brown returning to the field. Reynolds does get in the slot for 36% of his snaps to help him out with this matchup.
Dallas has been strong defending outside wideouts, allowing 7.0 yards per target (fifth) and a 56.0% catch rate (fourth) to perimeter wideouts.
Tight End
T.J. Hockenson: With Hockenson, we will always have Week 4. In that Week 4 explosion, Hockenson secured 8-of-12 targets for 179 yards and two touchdowns. In his other four games, Hockenson has reeled in 11-of-22 targets for 88 yards and a score.
When all three of the Detroit wideouts have been on the field this season, Hockenson is second on the team with an 18.5% target share behind St. Brown, so we still have that going for Hockenson as a lower-end TE1 option.
Dallas has been tough on opposing tight ends, allowing just 4.4 yards per target (second) without a touchdown allowed to the position so far this season.
Dalton Schultz: It has been a lost front of the season for Schultz through a PCL injury that has forced him to miss two games outright and play in just 10 snaps in another. Tack on the loss of Prescott over that span, and Schultz has just two catches for 18 yards since Week 1 when he caught 7-of-9 targets for 62 yards.
We will monitor the status for Schultz this week, but he also will be given new life for the rest of the season attached to Prescott as long as he comes back fully healthy.
If all checks out this week, Schultz can claw his way back into a wide-open back half of the TE1 portion of the field, especially with players like Dallas Goedert and Tyler Higbee on bye.
Detroit is 27th in fantasy points allowed per target to tight ends (2.07), allowing 8.7 yards per target (27th) and an 8.3% touchdown rate (26th) to the position.

More Week 7 Fantasy breakdowns from The Worksheet:
NO at ARI | ATL at CIN | CLE at BAL | IND at TEN | DET at DAL | GB at WAS | NYG at JAX | TB at CAR | HOU at LVR | NYJ at DEN | KC at SF | SEA at LAC | PIT at MIA | CHI at NE