The Green Bay Packers opened the season with impressive wins over the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders. Flavor Flav could be heard around the country, “Yeeeeaaahhhh boooyeeeee!!!” Both of those games were in the friendly confines of Lambeau Field. In Week 3, their first foray away from The Tundra resulted in a 13-10 humbling by the Cleveland Browns. Flavor Flav was now singing a different tune, “Don’t believe the hype!”
The Packers once again travel on the road for Sunday night’s contest against the Cowboys, but the matchup is Yin to the Brown’s Yang. Cleveland has one of the best run defenses in the land, holding opponent rushing attacks to 2.3 yards per carry and -0.23 EPA per carry, the second-lowest mark. And the Baltimore and Green Bay rushing attacks are no cupcakes. The Cowboys allow the 11th-highest EPA per carry but the second-highest EPA per dropback. The situation is ripe for a bounceback performance by the Packers offense.
The Packers defense is one of the most balanced units in the league. They are sixth in EPA per carry and third in EPA per dropback. The 6.0 defensive aDOT is the second-lowest. The 271 air yards on completions is the seventh-lowest. The pressure rate is sixth-best while the 10 sacks are the third-most. All that while blitzing at the seventh-lowest rate.
The Cowboys offense could be in for a long night, especially with CeeDee Lamb out for this one.
Below are the values that could hopefully help take you to the Promised Land.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL Showdown $1.11M Sunday Night Showdown [$250K to 1st] (GB @ DAL)
TE John FitzPatrick – Green Bay Packers ($1,200)
John FitzPatrick has played 31%, 31% and 23% of the snaps at tight end this season. The 51 total snaps are tied with Luke Musgrave. Both FitzPatrick and Musgrave have only three targets on the season, but FitzPatrick has a red zone look and scored a touchdown last week. The Packers utilize 12 personnel (two tight ends) 39.18% of the time, the fourth-most in the NFL.
WR Jalen Tolbert, Dallas Cowboys ($3,800)
Jalen Tolbert played 88% of the snaps last week after Lamb succumbed to injury, garnering six targets. Tolbert is 6’1″, 194 pounds and runs a 4.49 40-yard dash. Last season, he finished with double-digit FPTS eight times, with a high of 21.7 FPTS. Lamb is out for this one and Tolbert will be the receiver lined up across from George Pickens. He’s going to get targets. Whether he does anything with them is up in the air.
WR Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers ($4,000)
The Packers passing game is tough to latch onto any receiver because Jordan … spreads the Love. Thank you. I’ll be here all night. Dontayvion Wicks is 6’1″ and 212 pounds. He only runs a 4.62 40-yard dash and was selected in the fifth round of the 2023 draft, but there have been comparisons to Davante Adams in the past. Wicks had the case of the dropsies last season, but he’s caught all 12 targets this season. The 12 targets leads the wide receiver group. Wicks has only put up 5.0, 8.4 and 4.1 FPTS in three games this season, but at least he’s been involved.
