NFL

Pelissero didn’t speculate on the severity of Branch’s Achilles injury, but said the star safety “will have further tests this morning.” We tend to know where things go from here, but we’ll let them play out and hope for the best. Branch was injured in the fourth quarter on a play that took place in the end zone and remained down for several minutes while being tended to by the training staff. He eventually made his way to the sideline with help and was later carted to the locker room. Branch has started all 12 games he’s appeared in this season for the Lions, totaling 75 tackles. 2.5 sacks, and nine pass breakups. Veteran Avonte Maddox is in line to replace Branch while for however long he is out.

The only constants in life are death, taxes, and Aubrey knocked down field goals from 50-plus yards. The Cowboys’ kicker will have single-handedly propelled multiple fantasy teams to victory this week when all is said and done thanks in part to his five field goal, which included three makes from 50 or more yards. Aubrey’s longest kick came on a 63-yard try late in the third quarter, which marked his third field goal from 60-plus this season. He remains a weekly must-start for fantasy managers heading into Week 15 against the Vikings.

It was a rough night for Ferguson, who was flagged for multiple penalties on the day and also lost a fumble in the second quarter. Ferguson did come up with a key two-point conversion in the fourth quarter to cut the Lions’ lead to a field goal, but the Lions would counter with a touchdown of their own five plays later. Ferguson has seen five or more targets in each of his last five games but has just one touchdown over that span. He’ll be a fringe TE1/TE2 in Week 15 when the Cowboys face the Vikings.

Pickens’ nine targets were second only to Ryan Flournoy, who surprised with a team-high 13 targets. The Lions kept the clamps on Pickens for most of the evening, but he had multiple chances at hauling in a long score, with one of those chances being ruined by a defensive pass interference. CeeDee Lamb exited with a concussion in the first half of Thursday’s game. If he is unable to go, Pickens would be firmly in the WR1 conversation for Week 15 against the Vikings. Even if Lamb does play, Pickens would still be a must-start in the fantasy playoffs.

Flournoy now has two 100-yard performances on his resumé this season. The second-year receiver saw nine of his 13 targets come in the second half with CeeDee Lamb (concussion) sidelined, and was on the receiving end of the only passing touchdown by Cowboys. Flournoy was the beneficiary of a broken coverage by the Lions when safety Brian Branch failed to provide help in the secondary for corner Amik Robertson. The end result was an uncontested 42-yard touchdown to give Flournoy his third receiving touchdown of the season. Flournoy could have some upside as a WR3/WR4 in Week 15 if Lamb were to miss next week’s game, but he can be left on fantasy benches if Lamb is able to play.

The Lions kept Williams bottled up all evening, as the veteran running back managed just one run of 10 or more yards on the day. Williams bailed out his fantasy managers with a one-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, but Williams has now been held to under 4.0 YPC in back-to-back weeks and hasn’t hit 100 rushing yards since Week 7 against the Commanders. Williams’ continues to see good volume, but his limited receiving upside makes him somewhat a touchdown dependent play. He’ll be on the RB1/RB2 fantasy radar for Week 15 against the Vikings.

Bates’ longest field goal on the day came on a 47-yarder late in the second quarter. The field goal came only a few minutes after Bates took a hard hit on a kick return and appeared to briefly get checked out by the medical staff. Bates has attempted seven field goals in his last three games and will remain a high-end fantasy option in Week 15 against the Rams.

Even with Amon-Ra St. Brown in the lineup, Williams managed to tie for the team lead with nine targets and narrowly edged out ARSB in receiving yards. Williams has now totaled 240 yards through the air over the last two weeks. A solid fantasy day could have been made better had Williams managed to score on a seven-yard run that came up a yard short of the end zone. Despite a strong two weeks, Williams remains a volatile play for fantasy managers, but things have been mostly good as of late. He’s gone for 66 or more receiving yards in five of his last six games and scored in four of those games. He’ll be on the WR2/WR3 fantasy radar for Week 15 against the Rams.

A week after having his ankle rolled up on, the Sun God was back on the field against the Cowboys and didn’t appear to miss a beat. St. Brown was targeted on the opening play of the game and hauled in two passes of 25-plus yards to help lead an explosive passing game all night. St. Brown’s biggest play of the game came late in the fourth quarter when he ripped off a 37-yard gain to help set up Jahmyr Gibbs for a 10-yard score on the following play. St. Brown turned in an impressive showing on Thursday night given the circumstances and now has over a week to rest up before Week 15’s game against the Rams.

Were it not for a 35-yard touchdown late in the second quarter, Montgomery’s day would have looked much worse for fantasy managers. Montgomery’s score came on one of the more physical runs you’ll see this season, as the veteran back shed two tacklers before breaking into the secondary before outrunning the Cowboys’ defense on the way to the end zone. Montgomery has now scored in back-to-back weeks, but the yardage total remains a concern. The 60 rushing yards he posted on Thursday were his most since Week 10 against the Commanders. He’ll remain a volatile flex play in Week 15 against the Rams.