Cowboys @ Cardinals Week 3 Game Preview
Jonathan Fuller previews the Week 3 matchup between the Chargers and Vikings from a fantasy football and betting perspective.
Dallas Cowboys @ Arizona Cardinals
This game may very well be a contest between the NFL’s most talented roster and the least talented roster.
The Dallas Cowboys have looked every bit like a Super Bowl contender through two games, with a dominant defense and one of the top rushing attacks surrounding QB Dak Prescott.
The Dallas defense has allowed just 193 yards of offense per game so far and forced seven turnovers, the best marks in the NFL. They shut down both the Giants and Jets and rank in the top two for the fewest fantasy points allowed to opposing QBs, RBs, and WRs. They will have to prove it against better offenses down the road, but not this week.
The Cowboys will roll into Arizona to take on a Cardinals team that has actually been better than expected but still sits at 0-2 after losses to the Commanders and Giants.
Josh Dobbs has been serviceable under center, particularly when considering that he only joined the team shortly before the season began. He has relied heavily on Marquise Brown and Zach Ertz so far this season, with those two players accounting for a combined 57% target share through two games.
Both Brown and Ertz are reasonable flex plays in PPR leagues due to the likelihood that Arizona will be throwing to catch up, but neither is the most exciting option due to the strength of the Dallas defense.
When the Cowboys have the ball, we know they want to run their offense through Tony Pollard and CeeDee Lamb, and they should be able to this week.
Pollard has had one of the most valuable roles in all of fantasy and is a positive regression candidate due to the lack of touchdowns so far. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that change this week with Pollard finding paydirt at least once, if not multiple times, against an Arizona defense that is average to below average against every position.
There is a good chance that Brandin Cooks will return for the Cowboys, giving Prescott another weapon to help exploit the Cardinals' secondary.
Despite the Cardinals being 12.5-point underdogs at home, this game doesn’t even have the most lopsided spread of the week, as that honor belongs to the Bears @ Chiefs game.
It is difficult to see the Cardinals pushing the Cowboys in this one, so there is a risk that the Dallas offense simply doesn’t have to do much, but Pollard and Lamb are still elite options this week, as there should be plenty of opportunity for them to rack up points even if their day does end a little early in a blowout.