Sunday Night Showdown Strategy: Dallas Cowboys at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 5 of the NFL season continues with a bang as the Cowboys take on the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh In this article, I’ll share my top DFS showdown picks and strategies for DraftKings and FanDuel, helping you build winning lineups.

For a deeper dive into general showdown rules, make sure to check out David Jones’s “Daily Fantasy Football Showdown: Strategy for Building Winning Lineups” article. It’s essential reading for anyone crafting MME lineups, as player salary and team dynamics can impact each game’s approach.

Link: https://windailysports.com/daily-fantasy-football-showdown-strategy/

Note on Quarterbacks:

I will not write up the quarterbacks because the wide receiver and tight end section tend to cover the matchups. The QB rankings are at the bottom of the article. 

Dallas Cowboys

Running Back

The Steelers have been the best team against the run this season, only allowing 228 rushing yards in the first four games. Pittsburgh has also allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to running backs at 16 DK. The Dallas backfield is a bit of a mess through four weeks. Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott have seen touches at running back and have had some work coming out of the backfield as receivers.

Last week Dowdle slowly began to pull away as the main running back for the Cowboys as he had 15 more snaps and saw six more carries. Dowdle also caught his first touchdown pass on his only catch. Heading into Sunday Night, my lean would be Dowdle since he is starting to see more work and is the much younger running back. But that being said I am not jamming either into my lineups as Pittsburgh is great against running backs. If you are running multiple lineups then you can fit Dowdle and Elliott into some, but in SE neither is a priority as I would rather focus on the passing game. 

Hunter Luepke and Deuce Vaughn have both seen snaps over the first two weeks, but they are both fades for me unless you are trying to max out one of the 150.

Tier 1: Rico Dowdle

Tier 2: Ezekiel Elliott

Punts/Fades: Hunter Luepke. Deuce Vaughn

Wide Receiver

Pittsburgh has been good against wide receivers this season. They are allowing the ninth fewest DK points to opposing wide receivers at 28. A big reason why Pittsburgh has been great against wide receivers is their ability to keep them out of the end zone. They are tied for sixth in touchdowns allowed with only 2. The secondary will face their toughest test so far this week as CeeDee Lamb has been great this season.

The top guy for the Cowboys is Lamb. Lamb is top 20 in the NFL in receiving yards (316), receptions (20), touchdowns (2), and YAC (154). Lamb is a must-play on name alone, but this week is a lock because of his matchup as well. He sees a target on 29.9% of his routes and is now going up against Beanie Bishop who is allowing the most points per route to opposing wide receivers of all of Pittsburgh’s corners. Lamb’s targets should see a slight uptick as well and Cooks has been placed on IR so Dallas will be down a good receiver.

The other player who will see an uptick in work is Jalen Tolbert. Through the first four weeks, he was seeing a target on 12% of his routes and getting .27 fantasy points per route. He was tied with Cooks with 19 targets in the first four weeks, but should now benefit from the 4.8 targets that are free now that Cooks isn’t playing. 

Jalen Brooks might be worth a punt this week. Brooks has played 23% of the Cowboys snaps and has seen seven targets. While he only moves up to WR4 with Cooks gone, the $600 savings from Turpin make him a slightly better punt for me.

Tier 1: CeeDee Lam

Tier 2: Jalen Tolbert

Punts/Fades: Jalen Brooks/KaVontae Turpin

Tight End

The Steelers have been okay against tight ends this season. They have given up the 18th most DK to opposing tight ends at 8.6. They have allowed 13 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Jake Ferguson leads the tight end room in every statistical category. Over the past two weeks, he has more targets than CeeDee Lamb who has 15, meanwhileFerguson has 18. Unfortunately, he is priced higher this week than he was last week. My priority will still be Lamb, but Ferguson is my second favorite pass catcher for Dallas.

You can also take a chance with Luke Schoonmaker if you need a salry. He is priced at $1600 on DK and has played at least 30% of Dallas’s snaps every game. He didn’t see a target last week so he is more of a punt play if making more than one lineup.

Tier 1: Jake Ferguson

Tier 2: Luke Schoonmaker

Pittsburgh Steelers

Running Back

The Cowboys have not been good against running backs this season. They have allowed 419 rushing yards and six touchdowns. They are also allowing the third most fantasy points to opposing running backs at 30.9. The Cowboys are also struggling to stop running backs catching out of the backfield. They are allowing the sixth most receiving yards to running backs at 187 and a touchdown.

Najee Harris is a priority for me this week. One reason is because of how bad the Cowboys have been against the run. But the other reason is because he is the last man standing right now. Jaylen Warren and Cordarrelle Patterson have both been ruled out. So Pittsburgh is left with Harris and Aaron Shampklin. Harris should see the majority of the workload alongside Justin Fields, who can run, and Shampklin might only see the field to give Harris a breather. Jonathan Ward has also been added to the active roster but his role on this team is unknown so he is an easy fade unless you are maxing out the 150 where a handful of lineups with him isn’t terrible.

Tier 1: Najee Harris

Punts/Fades: Aaron Shampklin/Jonathan Ward

Wide Receiver

The Cowboys have been okay against wide receivers this season. They are ranked 19th in DK points allowed per game at 32.6. They have allowed 50 receptions for 576 yards and three touchdowns. 

The leading wide receiver for Pittsburgh is George Pickens. Pickens is leading the Steelers with 207 snaps played, 29 targets, 20 receptions, 284 yards. But he has yet to score a touchdown this season. Pickens will draw the attention of the Cowboy’s best cornerback, Trevon Diggs. Diggs has been good at limiting opposing wide receivers to only .18 fantasy points per route. While that will normally make me hesitant to use a wide receiver against him, Pickens seems to found a connection with Fields. 

There is a large difference in price between Pickens and the Steelers number two wide receiver, Van Jefferson. Jefferson has struggled in the early part of the season, only averaging .43 yards and .1 fantasy points per route run. But he should see better numbers as he should lineup across Caelen Carson who has been the Cowboy’s weakest link in the secondary. Carson is allowing .4 fantasy points and 1.91 yards per route to opponents. At $3200 on DK Van Jefferson is one of my favorite value plays.

The Steelers also have Calvin Austin but he is a fade for me against the Cowboys. Austin will be going up against Jourdan Lewis who has similar numbers to Diggs this season. It would take a huge play for Austin to hit value at his price.

Tier 1: George Pickens

Tier 2: Van Jefferson

Fade: Calvin Austin

Tight End

Dallas has been great going up against tight ends. They give up the seventh fewest points to opposing tight ends, 6 DK. Tight ends have 11 receptions, and 112 yards, and have failed to score a touchdown against the Cowboys in the first four weeks.

Pat Freiermuth is the Steeler’s top tight end. He has 20 targets in the first week which is the second most only behind Pickens. His $6600 price makes him slightly less of a priority for me as the Cowboys have been so good against tight ends. I will be avoiding the other two Pittsburgh tight ends, Washington and Pruitt, as neither should see much action unless Freiermuth gets hurt.

Tier 1: Pat Freiermuth

Punt/Fade: Darnell Washington, MyCole Pruitt

FanDuel MVP and DraftKings CPT Picks—SNF Showdown 

I want a high-usage player at MVP on FanDuel like a quarterback or a workhorse running back. You need the highest-scoring player, not the best value. The salaries do not change from flex to MVP on FanDuel, so the value at the MVP is not a priority. Take the points up top. 

On DraftKings, you look for the best “value” in the mid to high price range. 

FanDuel

DraftKings

Flex Tier 1:

• CeeDee Lamb
• Najee Harris
• Justin Fields
• Dak Prescott
• George Pickens
• Jake Ferguson
• Rico Dowdle
• Jalen Tolbert
• Pat Freiermuth
• Van Jefferson
• Ezekiel Elliott

Flex Tier 2/Punts:

• Steelers D/ST
• Cowboys D/ST
• Calvin Austin III
• Brandon Aubrey
• Chris Boswell
• Luke Schoonmaker
• Jalen Brooks
• KaVontae Turpin
• Aaron Shampklin
• Hunter Luepke

Best Rules for the slate:

• Play at least 1
  • CeeDee Lamb and/or Najee Harris
  • Dak Prescott and/or Justin Fields
• Don’t play more than 1 defense.
• Don’t play more than 2 skill positions against your defense.
• Don’t play a kicker against your defense
• Don’t play your MVP QB against the opposing defense
• Stack your kicker with at least one skill player, someone has to move the ball down the field

Favorite prop for the game: Justin Fields 50+ Rushing Yards (+100)