Week Eleven: Fantasy Focus on the Cowboys

It's Saturday, so it's time to talk some fantasy football! Not only is this a huge week for the Cowboys as they host the rival Redskins, but it is also an enormously important week for fantasy football.

Bye weeks are over, many of us may be smelling fantasy playoffs, and next week is the trade deadline for many leagues.

Make the jump for the Week 11 Fantasy Focus.

QB Tony Romo - Romo owners found some relief last week when the Dallas quarterback refused to let the team be shut out. His garbage-time TD pass to Roy Williams helped to ease the pain of having the Packers' defense completely dictate the day. It was just one of those games for the Cowboys' offense. If a receiver was open, Romo just barely missed him. If he was on target, the ball would be dropped or a Packers' defender would make a better play on it. Nevertheless, offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, stuck with his QB and his aggressive style of play-calling. That should show you that the Cowboys have a ton of faith in their signal caller.

This week, Romo and company are up against the NFL's number one pass defense in the Redskins. The argument can be made that the 162.7 YPG they are giving up in that department is a result of playing a weak schedule. Against the Broncos last week, some huge plays were given up to Kyle Orton and Brandon Marshall. Romo and his WRs will look to exploit the same weaknesses, although it is unclear whether CB Carlos Rodgers will be benched in favor of Fred Smoot.

After being dominated by the Packers' blitzers, look for the Cowboys' offense to regroup and get back to basics. Romo and Garrett should then be able to find gaps and create mismatches in the overrated Redskins' secondary.

RBs Marion Barber, Felix Jones, Tashard Choice - 5 carries for 26 yards for Barber last week. Nobody is happy with those numbers. When he did have the ball, he looked strong running it. He should have at least double the amount of carries this week. The Cowboys can still pull him out for pass-protection because of his thumb, but the fracture only looks to bother him there.

Felix Jones looks a mere shadow of his explosive-self since injuring his knee in Week 3. It's a bit of a mystery each week on how much the team will use him. He did see a good amount of action against the Packers, but the game was such that the RBs totalled only 11 carries with Felix getting 3 of those. It would be best to take a wait-and-see approach with him.

Tashard Choice is being integrated more into the offense through the "Razorback" formation, as well as his 3rd-down duties. His fantasy success depends so greatly on Barber and Jones that it's tough to predict how much of an impact he will have. Until the Cowboys get their running game back on track, sit him if you have a better option.

WRs Miles Austin - Austin owners now have a tough decision. He's been exposed to the league, so defenses focus on taking him out of the Dallas gameplan. It worked in Philly, until he busted out for a 49-yard TD catch and run. He was held in check last week, catching 4 for just 20. The targets are there and will continue to be since Romo is so comfortable with him. And, if you look at what Marshall did against the 'Skins last week, Austin should be able to have a big game.

Roy Williams - When defenses take away Austin, that leaves Romo to go to Williams. Although RW did have some boo-boos last week, he had a solid fantasy game, catching 5 for 105 with a score. Couple that with the 5 for 75 he caught the prior week, and he's beginning to look like a decent WR again. If he could get rid of the dropsies, he could have some huge games for owners. By doing so, he would also receive more targets from Romo.

This week, he will be going up against DeAngelo Hall. The Cowboys have picked on him in the past with success; expect them to continue to do so.

TEs Jason Witten - It feels like every week I write, "Witten is still looking for the end zone, and this should be the game he finds it." He almost had a TD late last week, but the pass was behind him. 5 catches for 47 yards is nothing to get excited about for Witten owners. Considering Romo rarely had time to pass, Witten still snagged roughly 20% of his passing yards.

You know he's gonna get his targets, and you know he's not going to get you zero points. Stick with him unless you have a better option. He's gotta come up big soon, right?

Cowboys D/ST - Steady as they go...this unit continues to improve week-to-week. By sacking Aaron Rodgers four times last week and holding him to under 200 yards passing, the Dallas defense jumped from ranking 20th in the league to 16th. It is in the top-10 in points allowed (18.8 PPG) and rushing yards allowed (103.1 YPG).

This week, Big D's defense will face an improved Redskins' ground game that now features RB Ladell Betts. The matchup should bode well for Dallas as SOLB Anthony Spencer is coming off one of his best games and the defensive line has continued to limit running opportunities. The secondary is a bit banged-up and will be missing starting FS Ken Hamlin. Converted CB, Alan Ball, will take his place and is considered to be a good cover safety. With the pass rush always a threat, the DBs should be able to take advantage by luring QB Jason Campbell into throwing a pick or two.

K Nick Folk - Holder Mat McBriar took the blame for Folk's miss last week. He's just 14 for 18 on the year, which is uncharacteristic of him.

After ten weeks of fantasy footballing on FleaFlicker, the BTB and BTB Part Deux fantasy leagues are racing to the finish line. In the BTB league, The Speed of Dark has taken the lead with a 7-3 record (some major parity in that league). Here's how both leagues are shaping up:

The Mighty is Back to Winning (9-1)

kill everbody

Heated Competitors (6-4)

The  .500s  (5-5)

A Must Win this Week? (4-6)

Deuces Are Wild (2-8)

My Team Sucks

One is the Loneliest Number (1-5)

If you've got a fantasy dilemma, post it here for the BTB community to discuss. As always, feel free to jump in with other Cowboys/football related discourse even if you don't play FF.

Remember, for all your fantasy football needs, SBNation's fantasy webpage is chock full of live updates to help you set up your team from week-to-week.

For your convenience, here's the link: sbnation.com/fantasy.