Disclaimer

These contests are intended to be fun as you’re watching the game. It’s incredibly difficult to get a real edge as there are so few options, and in MME contests, there are often many duplicate lineups. One play or one penalty can change the entire outcome of the game.

Game Strategy

• Over/Under: 49.5
• Spread: Bengals -5.5
• Bengals Implied Team Total: 27.5
• Cowboys Implied Team Total: 22

The Bengals are a fantasy football dream on both sides of the ball. They possess one of the best offenses led by Joe Burrow and a defense that can't stop a nosebleed. Prioritize Cincinnati's offense but factor in Dallas players as well. D/STs are an easy avoid on this slate but kickers are in play.

Injury Roundup

• Evan McPherson OUT

Captain Consideration

• Ja'Marr Chase
• Chase Brown
• Tee Higgins
• Joe Burrow
• Rico Dowdle
• CeeDee Lamb
• Jake Ferguson

Cincinnati Bengals Showdown Players

Quarterback

Joe Burrow - Captain/Flex

Joe Burrow is having an incredible season. He leads the NFL in both passing yards per game (278.1) and pass touchdowns per game (2.5). He leads a Bengals offense that ranks fourth in EPA/Play and leads the NFL in both Early Down Pass Frequency (EDPF) and Pass Rate Over Expected (PROE). He gets a Cowboys defense that ranks 21st in EPA/Play Allowed. The major concern is Micah Parsons, who should be able to annihilate Cincinnati's porous offensive line, leading to Burrow needing to get the ball out quickly repeatedly. This is nothing new for Burrow though. Expect him to keep balling out.

Running Back

Chase Brown - Captain/Flex

Chase Brown currently has arguably the best role in all of fantasy football. He's a must play. In the past four games without Zack Moss, Brown has scored three touchdowns and has averaged 25 opportunities per (would lead the NFL if over the full season) and 123.5 total yards per (would rank second if over the full season). Brown has a great matchup against a Cowboys defense that ranks 21st in EPA/Play Allowed and 30th in Rush EPA Allowed.

Wide Receiver

Ja'Marr Chase - Captain/Flex

Ja'Marr Chase is arguably the most dynamic receiver in the game today. He ranks second in receiving yards per game (95.2) and leads the NFL in receiving touchdowns (13). Chase has four more touchdown receptions than anyone else. He's priced $1,000 more expensive than anyone else on this slate on DraftKings, but that price is well deserved. Chase is one of the best plays in this one.

Tee Higgins - Captain/Flex

Tee Higgins has caught a touchdown in three straight games and seen 31 targets over that stretch. Higgins has a target lead over Ja'Marr Chase in his seven games this year. In those contests, Higgins has seen 68 targets, while Chase has seen 59 targets. Higgins provides some salary relief as a captain play over Chase. The process of going that route is a smart one.

Andrei Iosivas - Flex

Andrei Iosivas has been a mainstay in the Bengals offense all year. He's played 611 offensive snaps, just 99 fewer than Ja'Marr Chase. After a slow mid-season stretch, Iosivas has been relevant again over his past two games, catching 6 of 7 targets for 81 yards and 1 touchdown. He's an affordable piece to stack with Joe Burrow priced at just $4,400 on DraftKings.

Kicker

Cade York - Flex

Cade York is an intriguing play because he'll be lower-owned than Evan McPherson would've been. York is taking over starting this week while McPherson deals with an injury. He's kicking for a team that has scored the sixth-most points (335).

D/ST

Avoid

Dallas Cowboys Showdown Players

Quarterback

Cooper Rush - Flex

There's not a lot to love about Cooper Rush this week, but he is a cheap quarterback at $8,800. He's been extremely inefficient as a starter but has thrown the ball 41 times per game in his three starts. The matchup is a favorable one against a Bengals defense that ranks 30th in EPA/Play Allowed and 28th in Dropback EPA Allowed. Rush is averaging just 210.3 passing yards per game in his four starts, which ranks 24th. This is a situation where he has an implied floor simply because of being a quarterback, the number of attempts he's going to throw the ball, and the matchup. But it's not necessarily a situation that you'll want to go heavy on Rush this week. 

Running Back

Rico Dowdle - Captain/Flex

Rico Dowdle is the best way to play the Cowboys offense in this one. Dallas has fully committed to him being their bell-cow workhorse back over the past two weeks. Over that span, Dowdle has averaged 23.5 opportunities per (would rank fourth if over the full season) and 110.5 total yards per (would rank fifth if over the full season). Dowdle is at home and has a great matchup on tap against a Bengals defense that ranks 30th in EPA/Play Allowed and 29th in Rush EPA Allowed.

Wide Receiver

CeeDee Lamb - Captain/Flex

CeeDee Lamb's targets in his six games prior to last week's stinker on Thanksgiving: 14, 17, 12, 10, 12, and 12. He's off the injury report and ready to roll in an incredible matchup against a Bengals defense that ranks 30th in EPA/Play Allowed and 28th in Dropback EPA Allowed. Lamb is a solid play, but when priced as the second-most expensive player on DraftKings at ($10,600), he's a less appetizing play than some Bengals.

Brandin Cooks - Avoid

Brandin Cooks returned to the lineup last week for the first time since Week 4 and played on only 39% of the offensive snaps. He still saw seven targets and caught three for 16 yards and 1 touchdown. Cooks' role could get closer to what we saw earlier this season, which was having 70%+ of the snaps, but that is far from a guarantee as the Cowboys are in talent evaluation mode with Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin. Cooks is averaging just 8.9 yards per catch this season, and he's expensive at $7,000 making it very difficult to trust on this slate.. 

Jalen Tolbert - Flex

Jalen Tolbert is priced at just $2,800, which feels like a dramatic overreaction to the return of Brandin Cooks. Tolbert has been a mainstay in the Cowboys offense all year. He's played 702 offensive snaps, which leads all Cowboys receivers. Despite Cooks' return last week, Tolbert still played on 72% of the offensive snaps and caught two of four targets for 41 yards. Tolbert's affordable price tag puts him on the map.

KaVontae Turpin - Flex

KaVontae Turpin caught all three of his targets for 86 yards and 1 touchdown three weeks ago and then caught four of five targets for 53 yards last week. He's in play at just $3,000 on DraftKings because he has the athleticism to break a long touchdown every single time he touches the ball.

Tight End

Jake Ferguson - Captain or Flex

Jake Ferguson was concussed very early on in Week 11 and then missed Weeks 12 and 13. He's essentially missed three straight games and will be low-owned due to recency bias. Priced at just $5,400 on DraftKings, Ferguson is an exciting tournament play with double-digit target upside. He's seen double-digit targets in 25% of the games he's finished healthy this season. He's cheap enough this week that you could easily see him getting enough volume to be in captain consideration. The only concern however, has as been the lack of touchdowns for Ferguson throughout his career. While in past seasons was much more utilized in the red zone, Ferguson has just five red zone targets this season compared to 29 last year. If he's going to pay off as a captain, he's going to have to find a way to score a touchdown this week, and Cincinnati might be the perfect team to face as they've allowed a tight end to score a touchdown in each of their last four games. 

Kicker

Brandon Aubrey - Flex

The Cowboys offense has a fantastic matchup against a terrible Bengals defense, which should translate into multiple field goal opportunities for Brandon Aubrey. Aubrey is tied for second in 50+ yards makes (10), which are incredibly valuable on a one-game slate.

D/ST

Dallas Cowboys- Low End Flex

What you're getting with Dallas is sack potential. This is a defense that is benefitting tremendously due to Micah Parsons being back, as the Cowboys defense has 10 sacks over the last two games and is a big reason that they're still in playoff contention. Parsons alone has 3.5 sacks over the last two games, and we've Joe Burrow take seven sacks over the last two weeks. They're cheap enough at $3,400 that there is a chance that the Cowboys could end up in a winning lineup this week.