NFL Week 13 Recap: Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Seahawks-Cowboys Thursday Night Football

2TAFYPR Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) sprints to the end zone to score a touchdown after making a catch as Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland (26) gives chase in the first half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)

D.K. Metcalf dominates: Metcalf has played much better against man coverage than zone coverage throughout his career, and the Cowboys have lined up in man coverage at one of the highest rates in the NFL in 2023.

• Most fantasy managers should be happy: Geno Smith and Dak Prescott scored multiple touchdowns, while Zach Charbonnet, Tony Pollard, D.K. Metcalf, CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks all found the end zone.

Jake Ferguson puts together a strong performance: In a week where several tight ends are hurt or on bye weeks, Ferguson put up 75-plus receiving yards for the third time in his career and scored the ninth touchdown of the game.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes


PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2023.

WR:CB Matchup Chart

Seattle Seahawks @ Dallas Cowboys

  • D.K. Metcalf: 6 receptions, 134 yards, 3 touchdowns
  • CeeDee Lamb: 12 receptions, 116 yards, 1 touchdown; 2 carries, 30 rushing yards

Monitor Zach Charbonnet’s health:  Charbonnet left the game with a knee injury in the fourth quarter.

  • Kenneth Walker III missed this game with an oblique injury. Walker left early in Week 11, so this was Charbonnet’s third game as the Seahawks’ lead back.
  • Charbonnet was rotated out more often this week than the last two after playing 100 offensive snaps over five days. He played less on third downs and in two-minute drills, leading to less receiving production.
  • He ran 15 times for 47 yards and 14 times for 47 yards in his previous two games. He reached those numbers with 25 minutes left in the game. He ended this Week 13 game with 19 carries for 60 yards.
  • Unfortunately for Charbonnet, all three games have come against teams in the top 10 in PFF run-defense grade, which has made it difficult for him to shine in the run game.
  • Charbonnet scored his first NFL touchdown, and he set a single-game personal best in receiving yards thanks to a single 39-yard reception.
  • He went to the medical tent and the locker room in the middle of the fourth quarter and was ruled doubtful to return shortly after.
  • DeeJay Dallas took over, but the Seahawks were in clear passing situations. Dallas has spent significant time as the team’s passing-down back anyway.
  • Seventh-round rookie Kenny McIntosh started the season on injured reserve. He returned in Week 10 but has yet to play his first NFL snap on offense. If Charbonnet and Walker miss next week, it will be some combination of Dallas and McIntosh, with a wide range of possibilities for how snaps would be distributed.
  • Three of the Seahawks' next four games are also against top-10-graded run defenses, which is bad news for whoever runs out of the backfield.

Cowboys continue rotation at WR3: Michael Gallup hasn’t played as much as he did earlier in the season, but the rotation for the third spot changed this week.

  • Gallup's playing time had dipped to around one-third of the offensive snaps, but it bounced back slightly this week. However, this still isn’t as much as he played earlier this season or in past years.
  • Over the middle part of the season, Jalen Tolbert was rotating in for Gallup. This week, KaVontae Turpin was mixing in more than usual.
  • Turpin has got significant playing time in recent weeks, particularly in the fourth quarter of blowouts. He played eight offensive snaps and ran seven routes in the first half, the most for him in a game since Week 2 when Brandin Cooks was out due to injury. He was targeted three times on those routes, catching one pass for 10 yards. Tolbert caught his only target for 17 yards, while Gallup was held without a catch.
  • Gallup signed a five-year contract in 2022, so he’s still under contract for three seasons after this one. He could potentially be a post-June 1st cut, given his reduced role this season.

Miscellaneous Notes

  • Dee Eskridge had spent the middle part of the season as the Seahawks' fifth wide receiver, but he was inactive tonight with a rib injury. Dareke Young was inactive for a third straight game with an abdomen injury. Cody Thompson took over as the fifth wide receiver.
  • This was only the second time in D.K. Metcalf’s career that he gained over 100 yards and scored multiple touchdowns. The first one came in 2020.
  • Cowboys rookie running back Deuce Vaughn was a healthy inactive for the sixth time in the last seven games.
  • Cowboys tight end Peyton Hendershot had his 21-day practice window opened on Nov. 15. He was a full participant in practice and wasn’t given an injury designation initially. He still wasn’t activated, so he will need to be added to the active roster early next week, or his season will be over.

 


Table Notes

Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.

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