The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 3 matchup between the Cowboys and Ravens.
Find a breakdown of every Week 3 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.
| Baltimore | Rank | @ | Dallas | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -1 | Spread | 1 | ||
| 24.75 | Implied Total | 23.75 | ||
| 21.5 | 14 | Points/Gm | 26 | 7 |
| 26.5 | 28 | Points All./Gm | 30.5 | 30 |
| 68.5 | 4 | Plays/Gm | 63 | 9 |
| 55 | 7 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 63 | 21 |
| 6.1 | 6 | Off. Yards/Play | 4.9 | 23 |
| 5.6 | 22 | Def. Yards/Play | 5.3 | 16 |
| 43.07% | 18 | Rush% | 36.51% | 26 |
| 56.93% | 15 | Pass% | 63.49% | 7 |
| 33.64% | 2 | Opp. Rush % | 46.03% | 20 |
| 66.36% | 31 | Opp. Pass % | 53.97% | 13 |
- The Cowboys have averaged 23.8 yards per possession (26th) after a league-high 38.3 yards per drive in 2023.
- Dallas running backs have 1 run of 10 or more yards on 36 attempts (2.8%), 31st in the league.
- The Ravens are first in the league in success rate against rushing plays (75.7%).
- Baltimore is 26th in success rate against passing plays (52.1%) after a 62.5% rate in 2023 (3rd).
- Baltimore has allowed 11 plays of 20 or more yards through two weeks, 31st in the league.
- The Cowboys have a 33.8% success rate per passing play, 26th in the league. In 2023, that rate was 48.6% (3rd).
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
Lamar Jackson: Jackson had a mild week for his standards (15.1 points) against the Raiders, but with the lackluster fantasy landscape, Jackson still ended up as QB10 in Week 2.
The good news is that the Ravens found some answers to the Week 1 protection issues during their mini-bye.
Jackson was only pressured on 13.9% of his dropbacks in Week 2 after a 29.4% rate in Week 1.
That also coincided with getting the ball downfield more.
Jackson averaged 8.5 air yards per throw in Week 2 after only 6.5 in the opener.
After throwing 39.0% of his passes at or behind the line of scrimmage in Week 1 with only 29.3% 10 or more yards downfield, Jackson threw behind the line 20.6% of the time with 41.2% of his throws 10 or more yards downfield.
They will need to combat the Dallas pass rush, which, after last week, is still 7th in the league in pressure rate (39.2%).
When Dallas has created pressure to start the season, they have allowed 5.5 yards per pass attempt.
When they did not pressure Derek Carr last week, they were cooked for a league-high 13.0 yards per pass attempt.
Jackson can use his legs if the Dallas pass rush gets home, which is always an out for him as a QB1.
He has scrambled on 25.0% of his pressures.
He has rushed for 122 and 45 yards to start the season.
Dak Prescott: I was nervous about Prescott entering the season due to expected regression and the opening schedule.
Both have played out to open the year, with Prescott posting weeks as QB17 (11.5 points) and QB20 (11.4 points).
When the schedule was released, we assumed this spot would be tough, but the Baltimore defense has not played good football to open the season.
If you give up production to Patrick Mahomes, it’s no big deal.
But when you cannot get stops against Gardner Minshew at home, we start to take notice.
The largest culprit for the early-season issues for Baltimore is they have not gotten after the opposing passer.
They are 28th in the league regarding pressure rate (28.0%).
The Ravens are 27th in blitz rate (17.6%).
When they have blitzed, it hasn’t worked.
The Ravens have a 23.1% pressure rate on blitzes, 28th in the league.
When the Ravens have not pressured the opposing passer, they have allowed an 82.7% completion rate (30th) and 8.4 yards per pass attempt (25th).
I still prefer to use Prescott as a floor-based QB2 because of what we have seen from him in the opening two weeks, but this matchup could be better than I assumed it would be at the start of the season.
Running Back
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More Week 3 Fantasy Breakdowns From The Worksheet:
| Matchup | Time |
|---|---|
| Patriots @ Jets -- FREE | Thursday Night Football |
| Giants @ Browns | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Packers @ Titans | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Bears @ Colts | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Texans @ Vikings | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Eagles @ Saints | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Chargers @ Steelers | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Broncos @ Bucs | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Panthers @ Raiders | Sunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET |
| Dolphins @ Seahawks | Sunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET |
| Ravens @ Cowboys | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| 49ers @ Rams | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| Lions @ Cardinals | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| Chiefs @ Falcons | Sunday Night Football |
| Jaguars @ Bills -- FREE | Monday Night Football |
| Commanders @ Bengals -- FREE | Monday Night Football |
