FANTASY FOOTBALL IN-SEASON FEATURES

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Prediction: CLE 13 , DAL 27 (Line: DAL by 7.5)

Players Updated: Miles Austin

Players to Watch: Brandon Weeden, Felix Jones

The 2-7 Browns are better than their record suggest but they are also 0-4 on the road and about to face one of the tougher defenses this year. The 4-5 Cowboys come off their win in Philadelphia but are only 1-2 at home. Dallas is far too desperate to take anyone lightly and need to win games like this big because everyone is getting more scrutiny this season.

Pregame Notes: The Browns come off their bye already knowing that the season is over and that player evaluations will start to take precedence. Trent Richardson has more than justified his draft pick but Brandon Weeden is still no lock to continue next year in that fine Cleveland tradition that has witnessed eight different quarterbacks over the last ten years.

Weeden was on a nice streak with two scores in three straight games but then his stats fell apart for the last two games with only 176 yards at most and no scores. Of course both were at home and featured Richardson running the ball more. That's not going to be a big option for the offense until the Chiefs game in week 14. Weeden's been more than solid considering what he has to work with but he needs to show up even more in these final games in order to get the ultra-rare "two years starting" badge in Cleveland.

Richardson's scored six times this year and totaled over 100 yards three times including the last two. His first 100 yard effort was in a road game in Cincinnati but his second meeting with the Bengals only produced 54 total yards. Nice to see Richardson catch six passes against the Ravens when the three previous games saw him rarely used as a receiver. Richardson already has 31 receptions on the season.

The Browns wideouts are very hard to forecast because almost all of them are healthy again. Mohamed Massaquoi and Travis Benjamin returned in week nine and joined Josh Gordon and Greg Little. Gordon has been the only hot hand with four touchdowns in three games but he turned back into a pumpkin in the last two weeks with fewer than 50 yards and no score in each. Again - when Richardson can run it really takes the wind out of the passing game but that should not be an issue for the next two weeks at the least.

The Browns face a defense that is top ten against all positions and one of the very best versus wideouts - particularly playing in Dallas. THe Cowboys have only allowed seven passing scores this year and only once more than one to an opponent. Add in that they've held visitors to only one rushing touchdown and this is certain to be a lower scoring game.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Brian Hoyer, CLE	@PIT	0	0	0	0	0	180	0	2
Figure Hoyer gets a chance to show what he can do as the #2 next year after the Cards bring in someone else.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Thaddeus Lewis, CLE	@PIT	0	0	0	0	0	140	0	2
The practice squad player got called up with both Brandon Weeden and Colt McCoy questionable with shoulder injuries. Needless to say, not a great start no matter what.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Montario Hardesty, CLE	@PIT	40	0	2	10	0	0	0	0
With Richardson out, Hardesty will take the start in maybe the worst possible venue to play.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Greg Little, CLE	@PIT	0	0	2	20	0	0	0	0
Little was held to just one catch for six yards in the last meeting. This may not be that good.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Kellen Davis, CLE	@PIT	0	0	2	20	0	0	0	0
On the one hand, only three teams have given up as many TE TDs as the Lions. On the other hand, the Bears ignore the position as evidenced by Davis' one catch for three yards in the earlier meeting. So once again follow Jay Cutler's lead and ignore Chicago tight ends.

	Opp	fga	FGM	xpa	XPM	ConFac
K Shayne Graham, CLE	@PIT	2	2	3	3
The Texans put up 29 on Indy a fortnight ago, 17 of them courtesy of Graham. With Houston still playing for home field, plenty of reasons to like Graham's prospects again this time around.

	Opp	fga	FGM	xpa	XPM	ConFac
K Phil Dawson, CLE	@PIT	2	1	0	0
Never in PIT.

Pregame Notes: The Cowboys are only 4-5 but since the Giants are losing games and are only 6-4, there is still a chance to win the division though they've lost the first head-to-head tiebreaker with the Giants. The Cowboys are about to start the easiest stretch of their schedule now with five home games and only two road games - both of those against average opponents at best. The Cowboys need a big win here to get back on track.

For all the bad press that Tony Romo attracts, he's been pretty much error-free in three of his last four games that had no turnovers and almost no sacks. When he is bad - sure. He can throw four or more interceptions which he has done twice now. In home games he's been limited to only one touchdown at most but this will be a weaker team showing up and Romo has yet to play in Dallas this season and throw for fewer than 283 yards. His problem has been one of fewer touchdowns with 13 scores so far this year and seven games of just one or no touchdowns.

DeMarco Murray's been out since week six and early reports are that he may miss his fifth game thanks to a foot that is slow to heal. Murray's always been tagged as injury prone and it was the main reason why he fell in the NFL draft. Felix Jones is running rather well lately with 71 yards on 16 carries last week in Philly where he scored on a pass reception. His last two games were both on the road and against decent defenses and he still produced 90+ total yards in each since the Cowboys have stopped using a committee as much and mainly just rely on Jones. This would be a very nice week for Jones at home against one of the weaker rushing defenses of the Browns.

Jason Witten is still a beast with receptions though his 15 catches in the last two weeks only gained 98 combined yards. His last two home games merely posted 18 (NYG) and 13 (CHI) receptions though he's not as likely to be needed as he was in those games.

The best news is that both Dez Bryant and Miles Austin have played well in every home game. Both wideouts have either scored a touchdown or turned in over 100 yards while in Cowboys Stadium. The Browns secondary allows scores to wide receivers but only two players notched 100 yard games against them. Add in the Cowboys likely success running the ball and while both wideouts are decent starts, neither should have a monster game here. LCB Pat Haden will match on Miles Austin and should hold him to lower stats this week but otherwise the usual suspects should see at least good results in this match-up.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Tony Romo, DAL	@WAS	0	0	0	0	0	320	2	2
Romo has been less effective in road games but the WAS defense is plenty bad against the pass. This will turn into a shootout at some point and Romo should be a lock for high yardage and a couple of scores. He already posted 441 yards and 3 scores on them in week 12.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB DeMarco Murray, DAL	@WAS	50	0	4	30	0	0	0	0
Murray has not been a great runner this year but he adds in four catches per week. He's less likely to score this week though and Jones took his place in week 12 with only 14 rushing yards on the day. Murray is still worth a start as a RB2 or RB3 fro his potential but most likely he's only in for a moderate yardage game at best.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Dez Bryant, DAL	@WAS	0	0	6	100	1	0	0	0
Bryant has already scored in each of the last seven games and ended with 8-145 and two scores on the Skins in week 12. He's a must start going against a very suspect defense.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Miles Austin, DAL	@WAS	0	0	4	60	0	0	0	0
Austin was held to no catches in the last meeting with the Skins but should improve this week in this must-win matchup. He's still outside of fantasy relevance in a season finale game.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Jason Witten, DAL	@WAS	0	0	8	70	1	0	0	0
Witten is always a must-start and already posted 9-74 on the Skins in week 12. He's a top pick each week.

	Opp	fga	FGM	xpa	XPM	ConFac
K Dan Bailey, DAL	@WAS	3	3	2	2
Bailey is never more than an average start.

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