The Atlanta Falcons will face the Dallas Cowboys in Week 9. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Falcons skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 9 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Kirk Cousins, QB
Sadly, the way the NFL schedule works, Cousins doesn’t get to face the Bucs again this season. What fun is that?
He again lit up the divisional foe last week. If you extend his numbers against Tampa Bay for a 600-pass season, we are talking about a cool 5,414 passing yards and 56 touchdowns.
It’s been the rest of the NFL that has been a problem. The former Viking put up top-five numbers in both Buccaneers games — he has one finish inside the top 20 fantasy signal-callers otherwise.
Three pocket passers have cleared 21 fantasy points against the Cowboys this season (Brock Purdy, Jared Goff, and Derek Carr), a list Cousins could join this week. His profile is so-so, but this is more a play against a Dallas defense that has seen their success rate when blitzing tank since the injuries suffered up front.
Cousins’ efficiency when not pressured is his best since 2021 and lands him as a low-end QB1 for me this weekend.
Bijan Robinson, RB
Bijan Robinson caught a touchdown pass last week in which he was Kirk Cousins’ fourth read — that was encouraging for a few reasons.
The fact that Robinson stayed engaged and was able to catch his quarterback’s eye after that long was good to see, as was this offensive line holding up long enough for such a play to take place.
The Cowboys allow the most yards per RB target this season (8.5), a weakness that I suspect the Falcons to pick at routinely (Robinson’s pace: 66 receptions). Atlanta’s featured back is averaging 5.3 ypc over the past month. We can safely give him north of 15 touches, which means he’s a top-10 running back with a clear path to leading the position in scoring this week.
Tyler Allgeier, RB
Allgeier continues to be used just enough to be annoying but not enough to justify playing by himself.
Allgeier carried the ball 12 times against Tampa Bay last week for just 33 yards, usage that has been about what we’ve come to expect. In a game where points shouldn’t be tough to come by, you might be able to get away with him in deep formats or as a DFS pivot off of Bijan Robinson. In that instance, you’re chasing a score and there aren’t many better matchups for that — Dallas has allowed a touchdown on 5.5% of running back carries, the third-highest rate in the league.
Allgeier remains atop my handcuff rankings and is a must-roster option as a result, even if playing him with confidence is unlikely to occur as long as Robinson is active.
Darnell Mooney, WR
Mooney’s value given his summer ADP has been nothing short of special, as he has a 25-yard catch or a touchdown in five of his past seven games. He’s been a reliable WR2 for the Falcons and a viable Flex play for fantasy managers this season, though I worry about his status as such this weekend.
Target rate when Kirk Cousins is blitzed, 2024:
- Drake London: 33.9%
- Mooney: 21.3%
Target rate when Cousins is not blitzed, 2024:
- London: 22.3%
- Mooney: 21.6%
With the Cowboys blitzing at the seventh-highest rate this season (30%), I fear that a low-volume day could result in a single-digit performance. I do think this game sees plenty of points put on the board, so getting a piece of the action isn’t an awful idea. However, if you have a few similar options (Keon Coleman and Ladd McConkey types), I’d go in the other direction.
Drake London, WR
London has scored on or seen an end-zone target in six of his past seven games as Kirk Cousins continues to use him as discount Justin Jefferson, a role that carries a top-12 upside.
His target-earning ability hasn’t taken off in a major way, but with his slot role nearly doubling, his production floor is that of a fantasy difference-maker. Among 42 qualifiers, London leads the way in the percentage of red-zone routes that result in a target (42.9%, WR average: 24.2%). That role has him leading my DFS lineup this week against the worst red-zone defense in the league (Dallas allows a touchdown on 73.9% of opponent trips).
Kyle Pitts, TE | ATL vs. DAL)
Now this — this is the type of list we thought we’d see more of:
- Justin Jefferson
- Nico Collins
- A.J. Brown
- Pitts
Those are the players in the league that have 65 receiving yards in each of their past four games. Pitts got there with a pair of long touchdowns on Sunday, including a 36-yarder where he worked through a holding penalty, displaying some physical gifts that we fell in love with coming out of school.
The other score was essentially the personification of Pitts’ career up to this point but with a positive spin — barely.
I was set up at about the 1.5 yard line during Kyle Pitts' controversial second touchdown.
So here's my view of it. I tried to focus into when I believe the ball started to come out. The more I watch this, the more I think the refs got the call of TD wrong. @FOX13News pic.twitter.com/2kbBhM1Ask
— Sean Barie FOX 13 (@SeanBarieTV)
This was one of a few calls on Sunday where a 50/50 call stood simply because of what was called on the field — Pitts’ managers aren’t under any obligation to apologize, but we were close to a different narrative.
His on-field target share and slot usage are both trending toward career lows, so be careful. I’m cautiously optimistic, especially against a Cowboys defense that has allowed a league-high 149.0 passer rating when targeting the position. However, I don’t think we’ve seen Pitts be unlocked or anything like that — he’s still a volatile option.
Dallas Cowboys at Atlanta Falcons Insights
Dallas Cowboys
Team: Strong second half? The on-field product is struggling right now, but this franchise does have back-to-back-to-back seasons with a four-game win streak in the second half of the season.
QB: Dak Prescott has been intercepted multiple times in three straight games, a first for him and the 11th time in the franchise has seen a QB do that. Only twice in their long history has it happened in four straight (Danny White in 1983 and Craig Morton in 1972).
Offense: In Weeks 1-4, Dallas allowed pressure 25.8% of the time, a rate that has spiked in their three games since (37.3%).
Defense: The Cowboys are 2-3 over their past five games. In three games against teams favored to make the playoffs over that stretch, they’ve allowed 105 points (35 points per game). In the other two games, there were 32 points total. They face playoff hopefuls in each of the next four weeks (Falcons, Eagles, Texans, and Commanders).
Fantasy: Jake Ferguson had zero air yards in Week 8 despite eight targets and has been held under 30 air yards in four straight. He’s an asset in PPR leagues, but the per-catch ceiling is low (zero touchdowns this season, nine catches for 34 yards over his past two games).
Betting: Dallas has covered each of their past five road dome games, as well as the past three cashing under tickets.
Atlanta Falcons
Team: In Week 8, the Falcons improved to 3-0 following a loss this season, winning those games by five points.
QB: Kirk Cousins’ 62.4% quick pass rate is his highest since 2018, his first season with the Vikings.
Offense: Atlanta converted 3-8 third-and-long situations (seven-plus yards) in Week 5 against the Bucs; since then, they are just 2-15 in such spots.
Defense: The Falcons have the lowest sack rate in the NFL (2.2%), and it isn’t close (Carolina ranks 31st at 3.6%). We’ve only had two sub-3% sack teams over the past decade (the 2018 Raiders and the 2020 Titans).
Fantasy: I’m not overreacting, but Drake London posted the lowest aDOT of his season on Sunday (6.7 yards) with his second-lowest on-field target share (18.8%). Shorter routes typically correlate with more volume, not less, so this is at least something to monitor.
Betting: The Falcons are just 1-4 ATS at home this season, and they were fortunate to get that one (Week 5’s comeback win over the Bucs in overtime as a 2.5-point favorite).
