5 Daily Fantasy Football Matchups to Exploit in Week 5

Dallas Cowboys' Passing Offense

Since the preseason, lovers of Dez Bryant have patiently awaited this day. Bryant has dealt with gobs of tough matchups to start the year, but he has still managed to have decent fantasy performances while getting monster usage. Now, he'll finally get to put that usage up against a below-average unit. It's time to unleash the beast.

The Green Bay Packers enter Week 5 ranked 21st against the pass, according to numberFire's schedule-adjusted metrics. That may not sound awful, but their mediocrity there is more due to a great pass rush than talent in the secondary.

Packers' opponents have lost 0.19 expected points due to sacks per drop back this year, the third-best mark in the league behind the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans. They were fourth in that metric last year, too, so it's not a huge surprise to see them disrupting opposing quarterbacks.

The overall passing metrics account for this. And yet, the Packers are still just 21st when we look at the whole scope of things. This tells us that when the quarterback is able to get the pass away, good things generally happen for the offense. And not many teams are better at keeping their passer upright than the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys have lost just 6.81 expected points due to sacks the entire season, the second-best mark in the league on a per-drop back basis. Despite some major changes to the offensive line over the offseason, they're still allowing Dak Prescott to pick apart opposing defenses.

So, the Packers' big strength defensively is something the Cowboys are able to successfully neutralize. That makes a 21st-place ranking appear a bit generous. This is something the Cowboys can exploit.

This strength for the Packers also helps explain why quarterbacks have had mixed results against them thus far. Russell Wilson struggled in Week 1, but that was after losing left tackle George Fant due to injury in the preseason. Mike Glennon was poor in Week 4, but he, too, was playing behind a line that had dealt with injuries the previous few weeks. Also, he's Mike Glennon. A great pass rush can create havoc in those conditions.

But both Matt Ryan and Andy Dalton found efficiency against the Packers, pushing Julio Jones and A.J. Green, respectively, to 100-yard days through the air. Talented units can pick apart this defense, and the Cowboys most certainly qualify as such.

While Bryant has faced some brutal matchups thus far, the same can be said about Prescott, who has also managed to thrive despite the conditions. Prescott has scored at least 17 points on FanDuel in each game, rising up to a season high of 23.58 in Week 4. Prescott was one of the league's top passers in per-drop back efficiency last year, so this shouldn't be a major shock. He's a quarterback you can consider in both cash games and tournaments.

Bryant's appeal spreads to both game types, as well. He has 28.06% of the team's overall targets, giving him a massive floor. He can unlock his ceiling by having 52.17% of the team's targets 16-plus yards downfield and 41.18% of the red-zone looks. Bryant is $7,800, and Prescott is $7,700, so you're going to want to stack these puppies whenever you can.