Minnesota Vikings at Dallas Cowboys Matchup Preview 11/10/19: Analysis, Depth Charts, Daily Fantasy

Don’t come into the 2020 fantasy football season unprepared! Prepare with our complete fantasy football rankings and projections. Even if you don’t play full season fantasy we can help with our NFL DFS projections. It may seem like a daunting task but with our tools you will be able to succeed vs the competition this season.

Back to back weeks, we have had good Sunday Night football matchups. Last week the Ravens and the Patriots had their duel and this week we get the Vikings and the Cowboys. The (6-3) Vikings currently sit in second place in the NFC North, one game behind the Packers. If the season were to end today, they would hold the second wild-card spot. A win this week would be huge for them over a team like the Cowboys because they could eventually both be fighting for the wild-card spots at the end of the season. Likewise, the (5-3) Cowboys are in a similar situation. They currently hold the lead in the NFC East, but the Eagles are right behind them by half a game. A loss this week would leave them tied for first place with the Cowboys have the advantage with their win over the Eagles a few weeks ago. This is all to say that this should be a good, 4 quarter game that will be exciting to watch. For odds movement and full matchup history, visit the Minnesota Vikings at Dallas Cowboys matchup page.

TV Schedule

Date: Sunday, November 10, 2019
Time: 8:20pm ET
Location: AT&T Stadium – Arlington, TX
Coverage: NBC

Injury Report

Minnesota Vikings: DE Stephen Weatherly (Q), DE Ifeadi Odenigbo (Q), FB C.J. Ham (Q), DT Linval Joseph (Q), WR Adam Thielen (Q), CB Trae Waynes (Q), CB Mike Hughes (Q), S Andrew Sendejo (Q)
Dallas Cowboys: G Zack Martin (Q), OT La’el Collins (Q), OT Tyron Smith (Q), S Jeff Heath (Q), LB Sean Lee (Q), WR Amari Cooper (Q), LB Leighton Vander Esch (Q)

Minnesota Vikings Analysis

The Vikings are coming off a tough loss to the Chiefs last week. Kirk Cousins only completed 50% of his passes which is not very good but still had 220 yards with 3 touchdowns. Dalvin Cook has been explosive all season but despite another 100+ yards from scrimmage game, he wasn’t very efficient with the ball on the ground, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry. Adam Thielen injured his hamstring a few weeks ago against the Lions which sat him out against the Redskins. Last week, he reaggravated it and is listed as questionable for this week. He has continued to miss practice which makes his return unlikely. His absence would hinder the Vikings and put more work on Cook and Diggs.

The Vikings have their hands full this week with the Cowboys. The Cowboys’ defense has allowed 17.8 points per game which is the fifth-lowest total in the league. Yards allowed in both passing and rushing are below league averages, so moving the ball will be the biggest challenge. Dalvin Cook is my playmaker for the Vikings this week. His success both through the air and on the ground will be a determining factor in how the Vikings do this week.

Minnesota Vikings Depth Chart

QB: Kirk Cousins
RB1: Dalvin Cook
RB2: Alexander Mattison
WR1: Stefon Diggs
WR2: Olabisi Johnson
WR3: Adam Thielen
TE: Kyle Rudolph

Dallas Cowboys Analysis

Other than the Cowboys’ loss to the Jets a few weeks ago, they have looked good this season. They are coming off a Monday night win against the Giants which kept them over the Eagles in the division as the Eagles also won their game. The Eagles have their bye week this week, so the Cowboys can take their destiny into their own hands and either fall back into a tied position or extend their lead to a full game.

The Vikings’ defense is one rank better than the Cowboys as they have allowed 17.6 points per game which is fourth-best in the NFL and 0.2 points better than the Cowboys. This is about as even as it gets. Offensively, Ezekiel Elliott will need to come through again. Last week he had 139 yards on 23 carries which helped boost the Cowboys to 37 points despite Elliot not finding the endzone. The Vikings have allowed a surprising 15 rushing touchdowns this season which makes Elliott’s value look really good this week.

Dallas Cowboys Depth Chart

QB: Dak Prescott
RB1: Ezekiel Elliott
RB2: Tony Pollard
WR1: Amari Cooper
WR2: Michael Gallup
WR3: Randall Cobb
TE: Jason Witten

Daily Fantasy: Running Backs

Both teams field top 5 defenses this week. There is a high chance that this game is a low scoring affair, but if any offense is going to be produced, it will come through each team’s running backs. Dalvin Cook already has over 1200 yards of total offense through 9 games. His ability to just rack up tons of yards each game is extremely valuable for the Vikings. Ezekiel Elliott just needs 83 yards to surpass 1000 total yards from scrimmage. He has also been at the heart of the Cowboy’s success. Whether Cook or Elliott performs better will likely determine the outcome of this game.