Usually there's some amount of competitive intrigue to these prime time games, but Sunday night's contest between the Packers and Cowboys might be a little lopsided.
The line is holding strong even with the public mostly betting on Green Bay, but the Packers are 6.5-point road favorites after a frustrating Week 3 loss to the Cleveland. The Cowboys, meanwhile, are now without CeeDee Lamb and right guard Tyler Booker due to ankle injuries. Dallas looked somewhat weak even with Lamb and Booker healthy – losing two more of their best starters cannot be helpful.
With that said, the Green Bay offensive line is somehow even more battered than the Dallas one. The Packers are hopeful that they'll have enough depth on hand to withstand the losses, but they'll be without high-priced starters in Aaron Banks (left guard) and Zach Tom (right tackle). Former first-round pick Jordan Morgan should step in for Banks, but retread fringe prospect Darian Kinnard might be your starting right tackle.
Luckily for Green Bay, they're the ones with Micah Parsons now, and it's possible Dallas lacks the pass-rushing personnel to capitalize on Green Bay's otherwise vulnerable offensive line.
This article will break down the matchup as a single-game fantasy slate, outlining the potential Sunday Night Football DFS strategies for the game
QUARTERBACK
Dak Prescott ($9400 DK, $12800 FD) is not exactly an easy fade but there's an awful lot working against him at the moment. No CeeDee Lamb is bad, and the absences of Cooper Beebe/Tyler Booker on the line makes it worse. The Packers defense, meanwhile, might be one of the best in the league.
Jordan Love ($10000 DK, $13000 FD) is arguably the preferable pick of the quarterbacks here, yet even he might not need to do much in this game. If Green Bay gets an early lead they are willing and prepared to go run-heavy to burn up the clock, but Love should be effective on a per-play basis against a weak Dallas defense.
RUNNING BACK
Josh Jacobs ($10800 DK, $13400 FD) is arguably the toughest fade on the slate. Dallas is in a difficult spot here – badly against the ropes and playing a bitter rival that's always looking to inflict more revenge on the Cowboys for what happened in the 90s. Beating Dallas is important in Wisconsin, and Jacobs is the one in position to accumulate the most volume. With that said, Chris Brooks ($2800 DK, $3200 FD) and Emanuel Wilson ($2400 DK, $1800 FD) are both capable of hurting the Dallas defense, too, and they might see second-half opportunities if Green Bay gets to a safe lead. Brooks is the preferred passing-down back of the two, but the Packers seem to use Wilson more as a pure runner.
Javonte Williams ($9000 DK, $10200 FD) is worth consideration as his bounce-back season continues, but this matchup might not be a good one. Without Beebe and Booker the run blocking might go badly for Dallas, and the rushing volume might not be there if Dallas falls behind like they're generally projected to. Williams is the clear passing-down back for Dallas, though, so he could stay involved as a receiver even if Dallas abandons the run. Miles Sanders ($3000 DK, $4200 FD) is a rushing specialist, by contrast, and is probably not an advised play.
WIDE RECEIVER + TIGHT END
George Pickens ($9800 DK, $10600 FD) and Jake Ferguson () should see a lot of targets in this one, a game where Dallas is projected to be the clearly worse team. The Dallas defense appears unable to stop anyone, and even if Dallas tries to stay run-heavy it's likely they'll eventually need to throw the ball to catch up. KaVontae Turpin ($4400 DK, $5400 FD) is a surprisingly tough fade – Turpin is unlikely to play a full snap count, yet Turpin should play more snaps than usual and when he is on the field Turpin sees from-scrimmage usage at a high per-snap pace. Jalen Tolbert ($3800 DK, $4800 FD) should play more snaps than Turpin and looks like a fine value overall, but he's likely much less productive than Turpin on a per-snap basis. You don't want to go overboard with picks among the Dallas pass catchers, but in addition to Turpin and Tolbert even Ryan Flournoy is a reasonable bargain pick. Luke Schoonmaker ($600 DK, $2000 FD) and Brevyn Ford-Spann ($200 DK, $1600 FD) are punt plays at tight end.
Matthew Golden ($7000 DK, $6600 FD) has built up some momentum lately and could be in line for a breakout performance here if the Packers offensive line can hold up. Romeo Doubs ($6400 DK, $8000 FD) also projects well, especially if returning Dallas cornerback DaRon Bland plays in the slot rather than the boundary. Bland can be beat from the slot, but Trevon Diggs and Kaiir Elam on the boundary are probably easier to get past. Dontayvion Wicks ($4000 DK, $6000 FD) is the main Green Bay slot wideout, so he would probably prefer Bland move to the outside. Malik Heath is probably the WR4 while Savion Williams is likely a return specialist for the most part.
Tucker Kraft ($8600 DK, $9000 FD) is an explosive tight end who always warrants single-game slate consideration. The Packers are sometimes prone to spread the ball around and as a result don't use Kraft as much as they should, but when Kraft gets his opportunities he almost always capitalizes. Luke Musgrave has been reduced to a punt play while splitting snaps with John FitzPatrick.
KICKER
Brandon Aubrey ($5600 DK, $7400 FD) remains arguably the best kicker in the NFL, as he's made all four of his field goal attempts from beyond 50 yards, with seven of his eight made field goals striking from 40-to-49 yards. Few fantasy kickers can pile up double-digit points as quickly as Aubrey, who produced 22 fantasy points in Week 2 and 19 points over Weeks 1 and 3.
Brandon McManus ($5200 DK, $6800 FD) is not nearly the kicker Aubrey is, grading worse for accuracy and especially range. What McManus could have on his side in this game is opportunity – if Green Bay has a safe lead but doesn't convert red-zone trips to touchdowns then McManus could be what bridges the gap.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
The Cowboys ($3400 DK, $5800 FD) are probably not an especially advisable pick, even with Green Bay's offensive line testing its depth. The Packers are somewhat prepared for this scenario, as only Kinnard is a truly weak projected starter and even he is at least a former fifth-round pick with a heavy frame and plus reach. Other than Kenny Clark and maybe Sam Williams there just isn't much disruptiveness in the Dallas front seven. If you pick the Dallas DST it should probably be for special teams reasons – Turpin is a very dangerous returner, at least.
The Packers ($5400 DK, $7000 FD) have no Turpin, but their defense is likely the preferable one in this game. Dak Prescott has very few pass catchers to utilize and his offensive line is missing two interior starters. With Micah Parsons on the edge there's a constant pass-rush threat in that region, while a player like DeVonte Wyatt could cause some trouble for backups Brock Hoffman and T.J. Bass.
