Thursday Night Preview – Week 13 – Dallas Cowboys @ New Orleans Saints

It’s finally Week 13 and hopefully your fantasy teams are sitting pretty with a playoff spot locked up, but if not, you’ll likely be looking to this matchup for someone to make a splash and kick your week off the right way with a big scoring day.

As the Dallas Cowboys head to New Orleans to take on the Saints, they will look to right the ship as they have lost 3 of their last 4 games and have seen a previously firm grip on the NFC East crown dwindle to a much less comfortable lead. Fortunately for them, they will be bringing back top pass catchers Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb, which should serve to help quite a bit. That being said, if you listened to our most recent podcast, there is always the chance that Amari Cooper plays more of a decoy role in the contest, being that the just missed two games with Covid and is said to still not be at 100%. But no matter how you dice it, getting CeeDee back is a massive addition for the Boys, and even a Cooper at 50% should be able to make some plays.

On the other side, you have the Saints. They are currently on the outside looking in with regard to the NFC playoff picture, but a couple wins could have them in the Wild Card hunt, so this game will be big for them as well. They will once again be without the services of Alvin Kamara, but Mark Ingram should be back so at least you won’t have to play Tony Jones and his 1.69(nice) yards per carry.

Additionally, it appears that Taysom Hill will be getting the start for the Saints at QB this week, which is probably a lateral move from Trevor Siemian, at least as far as overall QB play is concerned, but strictly in the passing game I think it is ultimately a step down. Hill will look to run the ball much more often than Siemian ever did, and this leads to concerns about the actual RBs in the Saints offense as well. If Hill is poaching touches from Ingram, and not working the ball downfield through the air, the Saints might still have a shot to win the game, but from a fantasy perspective it’s a huge hit to the entire offense. For now, I’m deeming this offense a “wait and see” before I’m starting any of it’s components with any measure of confidence.

Conversely, I’m starting every Cowboys offensive player I can get my hands on. I know the Saints defense has been elite this year, but an offense like the Cowboys, when they’re rolling, can put up points against any defensive unit in the league. Amari, CeeDee, Gallup, Dak, Zeke, Tony Pollard, Dalton Schultz… all of these guys would be starts for me in Week 13. There are concerns about Zeke’s recent reduction in workload, but we know he’s been battling a knee injury and hopefully the couple games with reduced touches have allowed him to rest up a bit.

Should be a fun game to watch tonight, and I wish all of you the best of luck as we make our way to the pinnacle of the fantasy season. Playoffs are right around the corner and these last couple weeks can make or break a team, here’s hoping you make it in and make run! Stay Fluid, Stay Loose.