Cowboys 17,  Eagles 26 (Eagles covered -6.5, O42)

Pregame: Sunday Night Football features a game between the Cowboys and Eagles that has a large number of startable fantasy players and even from a non-fantasy perspective, this game should be very good. Both teams have very strong defenses, ranking inside the top-10, and are both strong plays for fantasy GMs.  On the offensive side of the ball, the Cowboys skill players are hindered by the lack of Dak Prescott, while the Eagles are souring with Jalen Hurts. With both defenses being so strong, this game will more than likely go one of two ways.  This game will either be a defensive battle with both offenses struggling to get the ball moving, or this game will have the Eagles continue to do their thing on offense while the Cowboys fail to keep up and the game gets out of hand.

Postgame: The Eagles were in full control of this game, holding a double-digit lead for nearly three full quarters (no points scored in the first).  Once the Eagles got rolling, the Cowboys defense struggled to contain them, while the Cowboys couldn’t get anything going offensively until a field goal right before half time. The Cowboys did make it a game in the fourth after a pair of touchdowns, but the Eagles quickly responded with a score of their own to ice the game.  Philly looks great this year and remains the NFL’s only undefeated team, while the Cowboys fall to 4-2 on the season. Both squads had a couple strong fantasy performances, while mixing in a couple bust games as well. 

Cowboys

QB

Pregame: According to reports, Dak Prescott is getting close to being back at full health, which means this might be the last start from Cooper Rush for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately for Rush, it comes against one of the NFL’s top defenses.  The Eagles are fourth best in total yards allowed per game, while ranking seventh in points allowed. Rush had a fine game against the Commanders in Week 4, but outside of that game he has failed to crack 14 fantasy points in a game.  The lack of fantasy upside and a tough matchup keeps Rush off the fantasy radar, while being a borderline second-QB option in superflex leagues. 

Postgame: After the game, Prescott told the reports that his plan is to play Week 7, making this the potential last start for Rush, who struggled mightily against a tough Eagles defense. He completed 18-of-38 attempts for 181 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. After not utilizing Dalton Schultz the past two games, Rush was locked in on his TEs in this game, resulting in a combined six receptions for 62 yards to Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot with Ferguson coming away with the lone receiving touchdown of the day. It was Rush’s first loss as a starter as he’s fared quite well during the absence of Prescott, but it was the first time he faced a very strong defense and the Eagles took full advantage of that by giving him multiple different looks.  Rush enters MNF as the QB24 on the week and that is likely to drop with a pair of stud QBs playing on Monday.  Once Prescott is officially cleared for Week 7 action, Rush can be dropped in all formats.  

RB

Pregame: Ezekiel Elliott & Tony Pollard: So far this season, Zeke has yet to either average 4.0 yards per carry or have over 75 combined yards in a single game, while Pollard has done one or both of those in a game on three occasions.  Elliott continues to get the vast majority of work in the rushing game and has had at least 16 touches per game since Week 1, yet he has only been targeted five times this season.  Pollard has two touchdowns in comparison to Zeke’s one and he continues to be the vastly more efficient and explosive back. It’s clear that the Cowboys love Elliott and want to keep him involved as much as possible, but his RB28 ranking this season has to be a major concern for his fantasy GMs. He will remain in that range until Prescott returns, but until then he will have his fantasy upside capped while Rush is starting. Pollard is a dart-throw in all formats with his ability to break massive plays ,accompanying his low-usage rates. 

Postgame: For the first time this season, Elliott played like his old self, even in a negative game script. He was the more efficient and productive of the two backs, rushing for 81 yards on 13 attempts and one touchdown.  Zeke also added a five-yard reception.  Pollard only received two less rushes than Elliott on Sunday night, producing 44 yards on the ground on 11 attempts.  In addition, he caught 2-of-3 targets for eight yards.  It was surprising that the Cowboys did not utilize either back more on passing downs and that they ran the ball 24 times while trailing by double-digits nearly the entire game. This was Elliott’s best game of the season, resulting in 15.5 fantasy points and has him sitting as the RB9 in standard leagues entering Monday.  If Zeke is able to maintain this productivity, he will be back in the RB2 conversation on a weekly basis. 

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WR

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