Fantasy Football 2019 Thanksgiving Day Games Preview

With three games on the Thanksgiving Day slate, how should fantasy football owners prepare for the shortened week for their players?

Week 13 kicks off on Thanksgiving Day with three games. It starts with the Detroit Lions hosting the Chicago Bears, then the Buffalo Bills traveling to Dallas and closing the night are the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. As fantasy football owners prepare for the week, there are some news and notes to keep in mind.

Three games on Thursday changes things a lot. With usually just one game on Thursday, fantasy owners have a bit of maneuvering they can do with their lineup if a player struggles. With three games, depending on how many players you have in those games, your flexibility options change.

Looking at the last few Thursday night games, the scoring has been a bit one-sided and the fantasy scoring has been non-existent. Last week, the Raiders beat the Chargers 26-24. Philip Rivers threw two touchdowns and three interceptions while Melvin Gordon had a great game. Derek Carr had a clean game but not one worthy of a fantasy start.

Two weeks ago, the Texans defeated the Colts 20-17. Brissett barely made it onto the box score while Jonathan Williams had his breakout game. Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Watkins took over the game.

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And three weeks ago, the Browns dominated the Steelers 21-7. Mason Rudolph threw four picks and Jaylen Samuels led the team with 26 rushing yards. While Baker Mayfield threw two touchdowns, he didn’t break 200 yards.

The point is, these Thursday games aren’t the most exciting for fantasy football. With the fantasy playoffs right around the corner, this is not an ideal time to rely on a Thursday night matchup, especially with a fringe player.

So, in this post, I’m going to preview the three Thanksgiving Day games, the injury reports for the star players and fantasy projections.

Lions/Bears

Matthew Stafford hasn’t played for the last three weeks and is unlikely to play in this game. That means Jeff Driskel will be under center again. Unless he’s not. He was limited in practice with a hamstring injury. Bo Scarbrough is likely to be the lead back again with J.D. McKissic as the backup. The wide receiving trio may struggle in this game. Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones are getting targets but not putting up big numbers.

On the other side of the ball, the Bears will have Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback. He’s been startable in two of the last three weeks. Tarik Cohen seems to be getting more playing time. Any David Montgomery owners are not happy about that. I think both running backs get touches against the second-worst rush defense. Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller have looked well as of late.

Neither team has a tight end worth starting this week.

Bills/Cowboys

The Cowboys defense has been stellar against quarterbacks. They’ve allowed over 20 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks just once. Though, Josh Allen has been top-10 worthy with good passing and rushing numbers. Devin Singletary has at least 15 carries in three of the last four weeks. I mentioned both Cole Beasley and John Brown in my waiver wire piece but this is a tough matchup. Maybe we get another touchdown out of Dawson Knox.

The Cowboys offense, on the other hand, looked horrible last week against the Patriots. Things may not rebound against the tough Bill defense. They rank third against quarterbacks, eighth against wide receivers and second against tight ends. The only bright side is they are 17th against running backs. Ezekiel Elliott has just one sub-10 point game this season.

Saints/Falcons

Drew Brees is a must-start against Atlanta. While he struggled against the Falcons in their last meeting, he’s put up 21 and 22 points in his last two games. The Falcons rank 27th against quarterbacks. Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray are a good one-two punch with both running backs scoring at least 10 points last week. Michael Thomas is dominating the league. Another 10 catches and 100 yards is almost guaranteed. I even like Jared Cook in this game.

Somehow, Matt Ryan is still a top-12 quarterback. He has three touchdowns and two interceptions with an average of 255 yards per game over the last three weeks. Devonta Freeman is ready to go for this game. He’ll take over starting duties from Brian Hill. However, Qadree Ollison may vulture another touchdown. Julio Jones is questionable with a shoulder injury. He will be a game-time decision. Tight end Austin Hooper has already been ruled out. That may mean more targets for Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage.

Next. Is Russell Gage a decent flex play on Thanksgiving?. dark

On paper, these three games could be very good. But, for fantasy owners, there may not be a lot of scoring. Hopefully, you pick the right player on your way to a week 13 victory. It all starts on Thursday.

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