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But a Thanksgiving matchup against the undefeated Carolina Panthers provided a much stiffer test and the loss of Romo yet again after a sack saw him fall on his recently recovered shoulder.
In stepped backup quarterback Matt Cassel, who was responsible for trying to get Dallas' biggest offensive playmakers in wide receiver Dez Bryant and running back Darren McFadden going.
Dallas was completely outmatched in a 33-14 loss that was over by halftime. Fantasy owners who had these three Cowboys could not have been much happier than Dallas fans either. Let's take a look at how Cassel, McFadden and Bryant fared on Thanksgiving and what fantasy owners should do with them moving forward.
Matt Cassel
Cassel could not have done much worse than Romo did before he exited the game. Dallas' starter threw three interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, as the Cowboys offense couldn't do a thing against an aggressive Carolina defense.
Backup Cassel fared better but came in when the game was well out of reach. Yet he still showed confidence working in the Dallas offense in an efficient outing.
In the four games he started with the Cowboys, Cassel recorded single-digit fantasy points in three of them, which included a game against the weak New York Giants secondary.
Fantasy owners who are considering starting Cassel in their lineups moving forward must have no other possible options on their roster. Stay away from him for the rest of the season.
Dez Bryant
Fantasy owners of Bryant have seen a pattern since his return from injury in Week 8 against the Seattle Seahawks. It seems that every other week, Bryant can put together a decent fantasy output. This week wasn't his week to shine.
While he received eight targets, seven of them coming from Romo, Bryant was only able to reel in two receptions as he was frustrated by the Panthers secondary. Two points from a wide receiver who has No. 1 capabilities on fantasy teams is a frustrating sight for owners.
It was apparent early that he was in for a tough night too, as the NFL shows:
If Romo is out for an extended period, you'll have to rely on Cassel to feed the ball to Bryant enough to rack up some points. Luckily for you, Bryant is still one of the most explosive receivers in the game and can make even the most unassuming backups look like NFL mainstays.
Keep him in your lineup. The numbers will come.
Darren McFadden
Playing from behind for most of the game, McFadden wasn't getting a lot of carries on the ground. But he was able to show off his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, catching two more passes than Bryant on the day.
He proved to be a great security blanket for Romo when under pressure, as the NFL shows:
The running back was also the highest fantasy scorer of the three on Thursday and has become a consistent back after Joseph Randle's exit from Dallas.
While he only had seven points, McFadden has had four weeks of 10 points or more in the last six games. He's a solid flex option and should see a lot of the ball even if Cassel is under center for the rest of the season.
Fantasy and game stats courtesy of ESPN.com.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
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