'Thursday Night Football' can feel like it makes or breaks your fantasy football results for a given week in your seasonal leagues -- and now it's the fantasy playoffs, so you can't afford to whiff on a bust when making start 'em, sit 'em decisions in Week 14. There's also a lot on the line when it comes to Showdown DFS contests on DraftKings, so we're here with lineup advice for both.
Here’s a breakdown of Week 14's Thursday opener between the Cowboys and Bears in Chicago (8:20 p.m. ET, FOX, NFL Network and Amazon Prime Video).
MORE TNF: DraftKings Showdown lineup | Betting preview
Dallas Cowboys: Who to start or sit in fantasy football on Thursday night
Start: RB Ezekiel Elliott
Elliott should dominate the backfield touches in a better matchup than you think given the damage high-volume backs such as Josh Jacobs and Todd Gurley have done against the Bears. It doesn't hurt that Tony Pollard is likely to miss the game because of an ankle injury.
Start: QB Dak Prescott
Where there's a Zeke running hard and getting open in the short passing game, there's a Dak throwing well downfield off play-action against a pass rush that isn't getting home and a secondary minus Prince Amukamara.
Start: WR Amari Cooper
Cooper can struggle on the road at times, but he's fully healthy and he's not exactly drawing any lockdown corners here. as Kyle Fuller falls short of that. Dallas can move him around out of that matchup with no Amukamara.
Start: WR Michael Gallup
Gallup almost scored a great TD to make up for his quiet Thanksgiving against the Bills. He should benefit from the drop-off in outside coverage from Amukamara, too. You're rolling with the two Dallas wideouts given their talent levels.
Sit: WR Randall Cobb
The Bears have gone weaker in the slot with Buster Skrine, but you can't trust Cobb here to suddenly bring up memories of playing the Bears as a member of the Packers. A lower-scoring game means not extending much beyond the main guys.
Sit: TE Jason Witten
He scored for the first time since Weeks 1 and 2 with his touchdown against the Bills in Week 13. You can play him only if you're absolutely desperate in a deep PPR where you don't have better tight end options.
Sit: K Brett Maher
He's struggling, and this is on the road outside in the cold. You can find someone else better during the weekend.
Sit: Cowboys defense/special teams
The Bears actually don't give up a lot despite their offensive inconsistency, so it's a no.
WEEK 14 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Chicago Bears: Who to start or sit in fantasy football on Thursday night
Start: WR Allen Robinson
He's locked in every week and they move him around well so he won't get a ton of Byron Jones. He's had an underrated solid season of receiving production.
Sit: QB Mitchell Trubisky
Trubisky has looked a lot better, but you absolutely cannot trust him in seasonal formats with no more bye weeks.
Start (in PPR): WR Anthony Miller
He can be involved a lot in the slot against the Cowboys' coverage issues, as they just gave up a big game there to Cole Beasley.
Start: RB David Montgomery
The volume is returning and he looked great all-around against the Lions. The Cowboys are leakier against the run without Antwaun Woods and Leighton Vander Esch. He has a good shot to score at least one of the Bears' TDs.
Start (in deep PPR): RB Tarik Cohen
The Bears aren't great at covering backs, which helps Montgomery's case and Cohen's, too. He was needed a lot in the first half against the Lions before fading because of Montgomery's big second half. The game script might be reversed to help him here.
Sit: Bears defense/special teams
They have been one of the biggest fantasy disappointments. The Jaguars and Bears the past two seasons show how you cannot invest too highly in a defense based on last year's results because things change so much there.
WEEK 14 DFS LINEUPS:
DK Cash | DK GPP | FD Cash | FD GPP | Y! Cash | Y! GPP
Team-Team DraftKings Showdown lineup for Thursday night
Captain: WR Anthony Miller ($10,500)
FLEX: RB Ezekiel Elliott ($11,200)
FLEX: WR Allen Robinson ($9,600)
FLEX: WR Michael Gallup ($8,200)
FLEX: RB David Montgomery ($7,600)
FLEX: TE Blake Jarwin ($2,200)
Because we don't like the defenses and can't invest too much in the quarterbacks, we've got both lead backs and three of the top four wide receivers in this game to exploit some sudden secondary weaknesses on both teams. Jarwin is the classic dice roll for one of those random long TD catches he gets.
