This article is part of our Showdown/Single Game DFS Breakdown series.
Much has changed since the Eagles took care of the Cowboys with relative ease in Week 9, a game Philadelphia won 28-23. The Eagles have done fine for themselves, going 2-1 in a brutal stretch of schedule, but Dallas has picked up more steam than expected in that span. Perhaps a little less secure after getting lit up by San Francisco last week, the Eagles have more cause for concern against the 9-3 Cowboys than anyone could have guessed based on the first game. That game was in Philadelphia, so the Eagles will have to do it on the road this time. The Cowboys are favored by 3.5 points and the over/under is 51.5.
QUARTERBACK
Jalen Hurts ($11000 DK, $16000 FD) will look to bounce back from an underwhelming game against San Francisco. The fact that he already produced easily against Dallas this year is reassuring, but the Eagles have endured some struggles since the first game and the Cowboys have mostly improved. Still, Philadelphia matches up better against the Cowboys defense than the did the 49ers, so Hurts should find the conditions improved from last week. If anything, it seems like Hurts should see more usage in this second game after attempting only 23 passes in the first game, where the Eagles controlled most of the game.
Dak Prescott ($10600 DK, $15500 FD) is red hot lately, to the point that his name has come up as a frontrunner in MVP discussions. If he wants to preserve that case
Much has changed since the Eagles took care of the Cowboys with relative ease in Week 9, a game Philadelphia won 28-23. The Eagles have done fine for themselves, going 2-1 in a brutal stretch of schedule, but Dallas has picked up more steam than expected in that span. Perhaps a little less secure after getting lit up by San Francisco last week, the Eagles have more cause for concern against the 9-3 Cowboys than anyone could have guessed based on the first game. That game was in Philadelphia, so the Eagles will have to do it on the road this time. The Cowboys are favored by 3.5 points and the over/under is 51.5.
QUARTERBACK
Jalen Hurts ($11000 DK, $16000 FD) will look to bounce back from an underwhelming game against San Francisco. The fact that he already produced easily against Dallas this year is reassuring, but the Eagles have endured some struggles since the first game and the Cowboys have mostly improved. Still, Philadelphia matches up better against the Cowboys defense than the did the 49ers, so Hurts should find the conditions improved from last week. If anything, it seems like Hurts should see more usage in this second game after attempting only 23 passes in the first game, where the Eagles controlled most of the game.
Dak Prescott ($10600 DK, $15500 FD) is red hot lately, to the point that his name has come up as a frontrunner in MVP discussions. If he wants to preserve that case he'll need to come through with yet another big game here. The Eagles run defense is too strong for the Dallas backfield to carry Dallas to victory, and volume is a likely requirement too given that Hurts is likely to score from the other side. Prescott's fantasy investors would no doubt be content with a repeat of the first game, when Prescott threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns.
RUNNING BACK
D'Andre Swift ($7400 DK, $11500 FD) appears to be fully healthy despite missing some time last week after taking a big hit against the 49ers. Swift was busy but bottled up the last time these teams played, running for just 43 yards on 18 carries, adding two catches for 31 yards on two targets. Kenneth Gainwell ($4600 DK, $7500 FD) gets almost all of the running back snaps aside from Swift – a role in which Gainwell has been a remarkable liability all season. Boston Scott tends to get any snaps Swift and Gainwell do not. The Dallas run defense looks tough overall, so this appears to be a challenging matchup for the Philadelphia backfield.
Tony Pollard ($8000 DK, $11000 FD) has yet to regain the explosiveness he showed prior to 2023, but he quietly built up momentum the last three weeks, scoring once and surpassing 60 rushing yards in each case. He had gone nine games without a touchdown before that, including just 51 yards on 12 carries against the Eagles in Week 9. The Eagles run defense doesn't look much more favorable now, last week's struggles against the 49ers aside. If Pollard doesn't get the ball then Rico Dowdle ($3000 DK, $7000 FD) would be the only other candidate from the Dallas backfield.
WIDE RECEIVER + TIGHT END
A.J. Brown ($10200 DK, $13500 FD) and DeVonta Smith ($8400 DK, $12000 FD) need no explaining – the Eagles wideout duo dominates more often than it doesn't, and Dallas' cornerback personnel is not a serious challenge to them. The Dallas pass rush can derail a passing game, but Brown and Smith should be open. The return of Dallas Goedert ($5400 DK, $8500 FD) could conceivably pull away some opportunities from Brown or/and Smith, but in the last matchup both players saw steady workloads – the volume was limited in each case mostly because Hurts only threw 23 passes in that game. Some durability issue might have been the explanation, but last week Julio Jones ($800 DK, $6000 FD) only played 10 snaps while Olamide Zaccheaus ($1000 DK, $8000 FD) played 24 and Quez Watkins ($2400 DK, $6500 FD) played 43.
CeeDee Lamb ($11200 DK, $14000 FD) is rolling right now and Dallas has become so accustomed to his big numbers that it is no longer possible to imagine Dallas competing in a game like this without a big game from Lamb. He's not guaranteed a big game, but if he doesn't have one then Dallas is pretty much toast from there. Brandin Cooks ($7000 DK, $10000 FD) was invisible the last time these teams played, but since then he has picked up momentum, scoring three times in the four games since then. Jake Ferguson ($6800 DK, $9500 FD) is also a great candidate to be the second-leading pass catcher behind Lamb. Indeed, in the first game Ferguson caught seven passes for 91 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets. The usage beyond those three is difficult to predict between Michael Gallup, Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin. Luke Schoonmaker occasionally chips in as the second tight end, too.
KICKER
Brandon Aubrey ($5000 DK, $8500 FD) is apparently an outrageously good kicker, as he has yet to miss after 26 field goal attempts, including five from beyond 50 yards. Aubrey has six games with double-digit fantasy points so far, and at least seven in 12 games.
Though probably not on Aubrey's level, Jake Elliott ($4800 DK, $8500 FD) is an excellent kicker in his own right with 21 of 23 field goals made, including six of seven from 50 or more. Most of Elliott's damage was done earlier this year, when he raced to 70 fantasy points in the first five weeks.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
Both defenses in this game carry some amount of reputation, but if the scoring occurs as expected then it might be a challenging game for either or both defenses.
The Eagles ($3600 DK, $9000 FD) won last time around and sacked Dak Prescott five times, but the Eagles pass defense has potentially been exposed further since that game – a time span in which Dallas' offense has only gotten better. The Eagles pass rush remains fierce, but their coverage has more questions than answers lately.
Though the Cowboys ($4000 DK, $9000 FD) defense is often capable of big fantasy box scores, it would be a monumental feat even by their high standards if they could get the better of Hurts and the Eagles. The last time they played the normally ferocious Dallas pass rush logged less than half the hits against Hurts (four) that the Eagles landed against Prescott (10), and the Eagles gave Dallas no turnovers. Hurts and the Eagles offense has struggled since then, and Dallas might well have more answers this time, but the personnel in neither case is much different from last time.
