Week 3 Fantasy Football Start 'Em Sit 'Em: Steer Clear of Dallas Cowboys Offense

The Dallas Cowboys are more beat up than Victor Ortiz right now.

If you have a player on your fantasy team that’s a member of the Dallas Cowboys, bench him immediately.

Typically, QB Tony Romo, RB Felix Jones, and WRs Dez Bryant and Miles Austin are all terrific fantasy options.

Yet all of them are questionable this week on Monday night football against the Washington Redskins. It sounds like only Bryant and Romo have the chance of playing this weekend.

Bryant has shown a small pain tolerance in his brief NFL career and it remains to be seen if he can fight through his quad injury. Romo, on the other hand, showed he has a huge pain tolerance after conducting a game-winning drive against the 49ers on Sunday after breaking a rib and puncturing his lung.

He made an appearance on ShowTime’s Inside the NFL on Wednesday and could barely get out of his chair as he grimaced in extreme pain. He will likely suck it up and play, but that doesn’t mean he will be nearly as effective as a 100-percent Romo.

That will directly affect Bryant’s production if he’s forced to catch passes from Jon Kitna, the backup that threw two INTs in relief of Romo in the middle of the game on Sunday.

Austin has been battling a hamstring issue since the preseason and really needs a week to let the nagging injury heal. The more they force it with Austin, the likelier a serious injury will occur.

Even if he does play, I wouldn’t start him in fantasy.

The Cowboys are hopeful they can get Jones on the field in time for the game, and the extra day of preparation will make the decision that much harder to make. Unless you have Tashard Choice on your bench to start in case Jones doesn’t play, find a starting running back somewhere else.

There are too many injuries to expect any sort of real fantasy production from the top playmakers on the Cowboys this week.

Combine that with a Redskins defense that has been above-average against the pass and great against the run and this week is going to be a nightmare, fantasy-wise, in Dallas.