Three important points from a good Tony Pollard game

Cowboys RB Tony Pollard found the end zone in Thursday's beatdown of the Commanders, his second straight week with a TD after an eight-game drought. that score from 7 yards out marked his fourth straight game with at least 1 carry from inside the 10-yard line. That's obviously key to his fantasy potential, but TDs will always be relatively unpredictable. Here are three other positive takeaways from the game: 1) Pollard drew 6 targets and led the team with 6 receptions. That marked his second straight game with at least 5 targets and third 5+ target game among the past four. Stabilizing his usage in that area -- which fluctuated across the first four post-bye contests -- would make Pollard a much comfier fantasy start the rest of the way. 2) He delivered a 27-yard run that was his longest since Week 3 and second-longest of the season. Pollard has been missing some of the burst that drove his game in previous seasons but looked good on that run. 3) Rico Dowdle scored but still isn't taking meaningful work away. The backup played 12 snaps (to Pollard's 41), got 3 carries (vs. 13), and ran 5 routes (vs. 22) in a game Dallas won 45-10. Pollard continues to dominate the work. The matchup certainly helped Pollard's Thanksgiving production. According to Pro Football Reference, he's averaging 2.7 yards before contact per carry for the season but got 6.1 per carry against Washington. Pollard's unlikely to get that much help from the rest of his opponents. But positive RB-scoring matchups remain against Seattle next week and at Buffalo in Week 15. A Week 17 home date with the Lions also looks more favorable after the way their defense played the past two weeks than the adjusted fantasy points allowed suggest.