Jahnke: Fantasy football reactions from the Ravens’ Week 13 win over the Cowboys

Tuesday Night Football gave us a close game, at least for the first half.

Both teams were able to find some success on the ground tonight, though three missed field goals and two interceptions halted drives without points and prevented the contest from potentially being a high-scoring affair. The Baltimore Ravens were ultimately more efficient in the passing game, allowing them to pull away in the second half and bring home the victory.

As always, this collection of fantasy reactions will include snap counts for skill players on each team, along with notes on players who saw their fantasy stocks rise or fall during the action.

Dallas Cowboys at Baltimore Ravens

Dallas Cowboys	Baltimore Ravens
WR	WR
Michael Gallup – 74 snaps	Miles Boykin – 48 snaps
Amari Cooper – 69 snaps	Marquise Brown – 45 snaps
CeeDee Lamb – 48 snaps	Devin Duvernay – 44 snaps
Cedrick Wilson – 20 snaps	James Proche – 4 snaps
Noah Brown – 11 snaps

TE	TE
Dalton Schultz – 71 snaps	Luke Willson – 27 snaps
Blake Bell – 18 snaps	Eric Tomlinson – 14 snaps
Sean McKeon – 3 snaps

HB	HB
Ezekiel Elliott – 50 snaps	J.K. Dobbins – 21 snaps
Tony Pollard – 31 snaps	Gus Edwards – 18 snaps
	Mark Ingram II – 11 snaps
	Justice Hill – 6 snaps

Total – 79 snaps	Total – 55 snaps

Winner: QB Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Jackson did exactly what he needed to for the Ravens to win. He didn’t put up many yards in the passing game, but he was efficient and threw two touchdowns.

The Ravens quarterback has run more as the season has gone on, and this was his second-best game on the ground this year — he gained 94 yards and a touchdown across 13 attempts.

Jackson did throw an interception on his first drive, but the Ravens either scored a touchdown or attempted a field goal on seven of the following eight. Ideally, he will gain more yards through the air in the coming weeks, but it’s hard to be mad at three touchdowns and a lot of rushing yards.

Loser: RB Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys

Pollard has fought for more playing time all season. He’s consistently played 30-40% of snaps thanks to his quality of play, but if anything, he will receive less playing time going forward after this game.

He ran the ball six times but gained only 7 yards over the game's first 58 minutes. It wasn’t until the last drive where Pollard found success, with 15 yards on two carries coming on that drive. Ezekiel Elliott looked much better, gaining 77 yards on 18 carries. Elliott also contributed in the passing game with four catches for 18 yards.

Pollard at least contributed significantly as a kick returner with 126 yards on four returns, but the rest of the Cowboys' starters either scored a touchdown or had a good number of receptions.

Returning From Reserve/Covid-19: RB J.K. Dobbins, Baltimore Ravens

Dobbins gave us a breakout performance in Week 11, playing over 60% of the Ravens' offensive snaps and racking up 70 yards and a score on 15 carries to go along with 15 yards receiving from two catches. Then, both he and Mark Ingram II landed on the Covid list, resulting in both players missing Week 12.

They went back to a heavy rotation among the backs tonight. Gus Edwards and Dobbins split the early-down work, with 17 snaps each, while Ingram started the game and ended up with 10 early-down snaps. Justice Hill took over half of the third-down snaps, with Dobbins also seeing a few third-down plays. Edwards and Ingram had one third-down snap each.

The Ravens found success on the ground regardless of who ran, so at least the backs put up big numbers. Edwards notched 101 yards on seven carries, Dobbins tallied 71 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries and Ingram contributed with 28 yards on six attempts. None of the halfbacks were given more than one target.

Ideally, the Ravens were easing Dobbins back into action and he will see even more work next week. If not, this backfield needs to be avoided against defenses that are better against the run or have a good enough offense that the Ravens are forced to pass more than 17 times.

Missing Due to Covid-19: WR Dez Bryant, Baltimore Ravens

Five Ravens wide receivers have played more than 25 snaps this season. Willie Snead IV is one of the five, but he remains on the Covid-19 list from the last Ravens outbreak. Dez Bryant is another, but he reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 shortly before this game. This left the Ravens with Marquise Brown, Devin Duvernay and Miles Boykin. The three played the vast majority of snaps.

Brown put together one of his better games of the season, catching five passes for 39 yards with a receiving touchdown to boot. He received nearly half of Lamar Jackson’s targets. Boykin and Duvernay caught one pass each, with Boykin’s catch going for a touchdown.

The two players will likely split time again once Snead is back, and both will likely not see much playing time if both Snead and Bryant come back this season.