It's time for the Week 16 installment of Monday night matchups with my start/sit recommendations. This week, the Lions and Cowboys square off in a potential playoff preview.

Each week of the NFL season, we will be breaking down every game and providing you with some fantasy football advice and lineup recommendations based on matchups that we love, matchups that we hate, and injury information as well. It’s essential to analyze the weekly NFL matchups to find lineup sleepers and gems, while also avoiding those players who may turn out to be busts.

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Lions @ Cowboys - Monday 12/26 @ 8:30 PM EST

Matchups We Love

Ezekiel Elliott (RB, DAL) - The Lions have allowed three rushing touchdowns to running backs this season, but if there's a player who can make you disregard that stat, it's Elliott. He is currently third in the league with 13 rushing TD and leads all RB by a wide margin with 1,551 rushing yards. Even though the Boys have wrapped up the top seed in the NFC, Elliott should still get a decent workload this week, as the Cowboys have announced no plans to simply rest him.

Golden Tate (WR, DET) - Tate has been a target monster recently with 34 in the last three games. He's gone for 325 yards in those games, including 122 against a tough Giants defense on the road last week. The Cowboys don't possess a shutdown corner who will threaten Tate from putting up big numbers again. Keep him plugged in as a WR2 this week for a game where the Lions should be passing plenty.

Matchups We Hate

Matthew Stafford (QB, DET) - Stafford is almost certain to put the ball in the air 35 times or more, as he has each of the last four games and in six of the last seven games. With Theo Riddick out and no viable running game, he could throw the ball enough to produce a decent amount of yardage. He's thrown for multiple TD just once in the last five games, however, and has proven to have a low ceiling since suffering his finger injury. He's better left out of fantasy lineups this week.

Dwayne Washington (RB, DET) - Washington finally got his chance to be the lead back in Detroit when Theo Riddick was ruled out in Week 14. In two starts, he carried the ball 16 times for 64 yards in Week 15 and then 14 times for 31 yards in Week 15. His 2.9 Y/A on the season is far from inspiring and he only has one TD despite being the primary short yardage back. The Cowboys are now the stingiest fantasy defense against RB, making Washington a player to avoid at all costs this week.

Eric Ebron (TE, DET) - Ebron hasn't been a fantasy factor for a while now, not topping 40 yards in a game since Week 11. He has just one receiving touchdown on the season, which came in the Lions' first game. Ebron is talented, but simply hasn't distinguished himself enough to be considered a fantasy starter at tight end.

Cole Beasley (WR, DAL) - Beasley is considered a solid WR3 in PPR formats, but he hasn't even proven to be that in the latter half of the season. Beasley hasn't caught more than five passes in a game since Week 9 in Cleveland, nor has he gone over 60 yards since that time. Beasley does have five TD on the year, but those all came in a six-week span in the middle of the season. Beasley doesn't warrant much fantasy consideration this week.

Notable Players

Dak Prescott (QB, DAL) - In real life, Prescott has been a revelation for the Cowboys. In fantasy, Prescott is more of a QB2 with a high floor, but not one who will come up with huge point totals. Since going for back-to-back 300 yard games in Weeks 10-11, Prescott is averaging 195 yards per game and has a total of three TD and two INT in the last four games. Whether looking for a winning play in H2H or a value play in DFS, you can probably do better than Prescott this week. The Lions have improved defensively as the year wears on and should be playing their best ball as they fight for playoff seeding.

Key Injuries: Dez Bryant (WR, DAL) - questionable, Theo Riddick (RB, DET) - doubtful