Game Info
Kickoff: Sunday, January 5th, `1 PM
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
Network: FOX
Writer: Matt Bevins (MattBQBList on Reddit)
Washington Commanders
Quarterback
Jayden Daniels: QB1, barring benching
The Washington Commanders are playing some quality football, coming off a huge win last week in overtime against the Falcons. The Cowboys are currently sitting as the consensus 24th defense on CBS sports rankings and will likely not have much to fight for. The Cowboys squad is ailing and likely wants to end this season and move along, but they still need to finish off and get out of this matchup. It would not be surprising in the least to see the Commanders go up very early and find a way to backdoor in their backup quarterback. This was the same quarterback who just last week finished the week as the number one quarterback by a very large margin, even topping off the game with 127 rushing yards. While Daniels will likely play it somewhat safe going into the playoffs, the upside for him is far greater than almost any other quarterback going this weekend.
Roll with who got you to the dance, but don’t be surprised if your dance partner disappears in the night.
Running Back
Brian Robinson: Start, RB2
Jeremy McNichols: Sit
Brian Robinson had started the season firing out of a cannon like a Muppet on a late-night show. Touchdowns galore, even two games with over one hundred yards rushing within the first month. While his numbers have waned down immensely, there’s a high likelihood against a down-and-out defense, with no Austin Ekeler to steal touches, that Robinson can get you somewhere between 10 to 13 fantasy points in a week where there’s absolutely zero certainty. He has also caught either 2 or 3 passes in his previous three games and will look to make that a calendar month’s worth of games.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Terry McLaurin: Start, WR1
Olamide Zaccheaus: FLEX Option, WR4
Zach Ertz: Start, TE1
The Commanders had a coming-out party just last week to vault past the Falcons. While it left many teams in their playoffs salty and or losing due to the Terry McLaurin search party that entailed, this is one of the most consistent and expected offenses thus far for the season. Going into this year, it wasn’t looking like there would be a ton of reliable pass catchers for Daniels, but he made it work with some regular 1-2 combo of McLaurin and Zach Ertz. Last week, we saw an amazing surge of Zaccheaus to remove McLaurin from the equation, as McLaurin was targeted 7 times but was unable to convert just one pass for 7 yards. While this was a frustrating experience, it’s one chalked up as an outlier and something that you likely won’t see again. In the four games prior, McLaurin settled in for 6 touchdown passes and had made himself the go-to receiver for Daniels.
Ertz is someone who may be a desperation flex player or a top-15 type of tight end, but he’s gained trust from Daniels in tough spots and left last week’s game with 6 receptions and 2 touchdowns.
Dallas Cowboys
Quarterback
Cooper Rush: Sit
Cooper Rush has performed admirably in the wake of the Dak Prescott injury, but this team is circling the drain, and this is not someone I’d want to trust in any form of a playoff matchup. The Commanders may not be playing a full game with their starters, but the Cowboys will likely treat this game as a “figure it out” of sorts, trying to find out what works and what doesn’t work going into the offseason, as they now have to realize that the only quarterback that works behind center isn’t the one with an emblazoned #4 etched on his chest. Rush has kept the team semi-operational despite a rough showcase against Philly last week. In the month’s games before this, he has had two games with quarterback ratings over 100. He even duked it out with cookies and milk lover Baker Mayfield just two weeks passed. Rush could play for you if you’re in a spot where your quarterbacks are either at the top of the playoff leaderboard or completely out and sitting everyone, but you’d hope to have better options.
Running Back
Rico Dowdle: Start, RB1
Rico. Dowdle. The man has made a name for himself after sitting in the background for generations of Cowboys rushing talent. In the past five games, Dowdle has rushed for over 100 yards on four of them, making himself the centerpiece of the offense whether Ceedee Lamb liked it or not. Dowdle came out of the backfield with some form of necessity, as the team was looking to potentially squeeze every last drop out of Ezekiel Elliott, but out of pure circumstance, it seems as if Dowdle may just have this backfield to himself for a while. Dowdle is shifty, elusive, and can run downfield with ease. There’s not much likelihood of a game here where they want to rush him into the ground as they’ve found their RB1 of the future, but it’s also entirely possible that they give him half of the work, he scores a touchdown and over 70 yards on the ground.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Brandin Cooks: Sit
Jalen Tolbert: Sit
Jake Ferguson: Sit
The wide receiver room took a big hit when Ceedee Lamb was announced as out for the rest of the season, as he’s going to rest and recuperate in the hopes the Cowboys can find a pulse in the offseason. What that leaves us with is scraps and bread crumbs at the position. It could be Brandin Cooks, who has shown signs of life at times. It could be a nice game from Jake Ferguson, who was the hypey tight end of last year. What it also could be is any other wide receiver off their practice squad or bench as they attempt to keep all their talent they want back next year as healthy as possible. I’d punt this team as an option at wide receiver for the sanity of it.