What We Saw: Week 6

Dallas Cowboys vs New York Jets

 

Dallas Cowboys

 

Quarterback

 

• Dak Prescott: 28/40, 277 yards | 3 carries, 11 yards, 1 TD

 

Dak Prescott got off to yet another slow start. The Jets brought plenty of pressure pretty easily with multiple Cowboys linemen inactive for this game. The line did a poor job trying to protect Dak and he took some big shots in the first half. Even though he didn’t have much time to make a play, Prescott didn’t give up a sack until well into the fourth quarter. That pressure still made things difficult for the Cowboys to get any offensive attack going. It felt like any time they had a nice drive building up, the offense would have to settle for three points instead. It’s tough to say if the offense was heating up in the fourth or if the dumpster-fire officiating just happened to lean in their favor. Either way, Dak did a good job running the ball for the touchdown to get the Cowboys within two points. That rushing touchdown likely saved his day from complete fantasy disappointment. Prescott finished with an okay-but-not-good 18-point performance that will leave plenty of fantasy players wondering what could have been. 

 

Running Backs

 

• Ezekiel Elliott: 28 carries, 105 yards, 1 TD | 6 targets, 5 receptions, 47 yards
• Tony Pollard: 3 carries, 13 yards

 

Ezekiel Elliott started with great efficiency and had a cool bobble catch on the Cowboys’ second drive. He played well for the rest of the first half but was pretty quiet overall mainly because the Cowboys’ offense was struggling. The Cowboys committed to the run to start the second half even though they were down by more than two scores. Unfortunately, Zeke dropped a pass in open space to end the series in the red zone. The Cowboys continued to rely on Elliott and he broke off some bigger gains in the second half. He made his touchdown look easy when the Cowboys made it to the red zone in the fourth quarter. A nice hole meant Zeke only had to lower his head and take the contact before he reached the end zone. Elliott didn’t have many flashy plays, he was the same type of great running back whom we all know is capable of these great fantasy performances when his team just feeds him the dang ball. Fantasy owners should be pleased with Zeke’s season-high in carries and fantasy points. Tony Pollard is still only put out there when Elliott needs a second to catch his breath and is still no more than a handcuff at this point.

 

Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends

 

• Amari Cooper: 2 targets, 1 reception, 3 yards
• Jason Witten: 7 targets, 5 receptions, 57 yards
• Michael Gallup: 7 targets, 4 receptions, 48 yards
• Cedrick Wilson: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 46 yards
• Tavon Austin: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 64 yards

 

Amari Cooper left the game early when he re-injured a quad injury on one of the first drives of the game. His one-catch performance has got to sting for fantasy owners. Without Coop, Dak had to spread the ball around. Jason Witten had a drop on his first target but was pretty reliable otherwise, bailing out Prescott quite a few times. He would have had a touchdown as well but the play was unfortunately called back on a bad OPI call. It’s looking like Witten will continue to be a touchdown-dependant tight end on this team but his floor could be worse. Witten also had his highest target total of the season with Cooper out of the game.

Cedrick Wilson picked up the slack in Cooper’s absence. His second catch of the night was an impressive bobble that showed he has some good hands. Wilson likely won’t be fantasy-relevant unless you play in pretty deep leagues and Cooper is out for a while. This was Wilson’s first game with more than zero fantasy points. Michael Gallup started slow. He dropped a few catchable balls on his first few targets. He did have one nice catch on a tough throw just before the half but it was a mediocre performance overall for Gallup. Plenty of fantasy owners were expecting a solid week from him, but he ended with his worst fantasy performance so far this year. Tavon Austin has been pretty irrelevant this year but had his best fantasy output of the year likely because Cooper was out.

 

New York Jets

 

Quarterback

 

• Sam Darnold: 23/32, 338 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT | 4 carries, 2 yards

 

Sam Darnold started his day with a beautiful throw and Jets nation breathed a collective sigh of relief. Darnold looked pretty darn good and made the Jets look like a completely different team. He had a nice little loft pass to Crowder on the second drive that showed some great poise. Darnold orchestrated what was arguably the best drive of their season with a nice 14-play series that was helped out a bit with four defensive fouls. He knew exactly where he was putting the ball on his huge touchdown pass to Anderson. He also placed his pass well on his second touchdown. Darnold knew he had to get the ball to his receiver’s back hip quickly and made it look easy. 

Darnold continued his good play into the second half with some great efficiency and long, clock-killing drives. Just when he was beginning to look automatic, Sam threw an interception in the red zone that was clearly a silly mistake. Overall, he did well to get the ball out quickly and avoid sacks. I believe Darnold only took about two sacks. After almost putting up 20 fantasy points his first week back, I’m excited to see what Sam can do in the future.

 

Running Backs

 

• Le’Veon Bell: 14 carries, 50 yards, 1 TD | 1 target, 1 reception, 3 yards
• Ty Montgomery: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 17 yards

 

Le’Veon Bell was playing well but didn’t really have any big plays in the first half. His efficiency was mediocre but the main thing that intrigued me was his lack of usage in the passing game. One target to one of the best pass-catching backs in the league is a massive underutilization of this man’s talent. At least the Jets relied on him to punch in the touchdown in the red zone. It was also a bit concerning they didn’t trust Bell when the Jets needed to kill clock in the fourth quarter and didn’t run the ball once for an entire drive, but that’s more on Adam Gase than anything else. Overall, it’s another lackluster performance from a player we all know has the talent to do more. Hopefully, the Jets get him more involved in the next couple of weeks. Ty Montgomery was out there making a few good catches here and there but I doubt he will be worth anybody’s time this year.

 

Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends

 

• Demaryius Thomas: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 62 yards
• Robby Anderson: 8 targets, 5 receptions, 125 yards, 1 TD
• Jamison Crowder: 9 targets, 6 receptions, 98 yards
• Ryan Griffin: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 28 yards, 1 TD

 

Robby Anderson got the first touchdown by a Jets wide receiver all year and he made it a big one for 92 yards. His speed made the play look easy. Darnold looked his way often. With the return of Darnold, Anderson’s fantasy value should be on the rise. The Jets will lean on him often and fantasy players should be elated if that happened to start him. Demaryius Thomas had a pretty quiet first half. He had a catch at the beginning of the game and another just before the half but both were good grabs. Thomas had some good plays to show he’s still a reliable receiving option and his usage should probably be monitored for fantasy purposes. If Darnold keeps looking his way, he could be a sneaky FLEX play in the coming weeks.

Jamison Crowder was Mr. Reliable against the Cowboys. He didn’t drop a target until well into the third quarter and always seemed to be open with Darnold was in a pinch. His stock is definitely on the rise with Darnold back. His targets are coming back and, more importantly, those targets will be much more efficient. Ryan Griffin played well but I wouldn’t want to rely on him finding the end zone for fantasy-relevant production.

 

-Ryan Kruse (@ryanpkruse)