There were some prior to the start of the 2013 season that believed Dez Bryant had officially taken over the mantle from Calvin Johnson as the best fantasy wide receiver. Those who believed this pointed to Bryant’s ridiculous performance in the second half of last season.

For comparison’s sake, let’s check out how each receiver has performed over the course of the last 16 games in order to get a better snippet of where they stand going up against one another today.

Bryant: 93 receptions, 1,453 yards and 16 touchdowns
Johnson: 117 receptions, 1,864 yards and 11 touchdowns

Those are some ridiculous numbers. Bryant has still been the better fantasy option during that span despite putting up 24 less receptions for about 400 fewer yards. The only reason for that is because he has five more touchdowns than Johnson over those 16 games.

Through the first seven weeks of the 2013 season, Bryant ranks fifth among wide receivers with 90.90 fantasy points, while Johnson comes in at No. 8 with about five fewer points. This isn’t exactly where we had both ranked at the start of the season, at which point Johnson was considered the consensus No. 1 wide receiver and Bryant was in the top three.

Johnson is coming off a Week 7 performance against the Cincinnati Bengals that saw him finish as the No. 1 overall fantasy receiver. He tallied nine receptions for 155 yards and two scores in his best single-game performance of the season. Meanwhile, Bryant has gone two consecutive games without putting the ball in the end zone after scoring six combined touchdowns in his previous four games. Some of that may have to do with the emergence of Terrance Williams as a consistent receiving threat on the opposite end of the field, something the Lions are lacking at this point.

Detroit is yielding the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing receivers, while the Cowboys’ defense comes into this one right in the middle of the pack.

One intriguing dynamic here is Monte Kiffin’s recent comments that Brandon Carr will be able to handle Johnson in one-on-situations. The defensive coordinator is either over shooting the ability of his cornerback or taking Johnson for granted. The only way either defense will be able to stop these receivers is with double coverage. It’s the same thing we have seen a team like the San Francisco 49ers utilize when going up against elite wide receivers. Cornerback plays underneath with safety help over the top. If either defense decides that man coverage is the better way to go, one of these receivers is going to go off.

Either way you put it, Johnson and Bryant will likely go for 100-plus yards each. It’s going to be more intriguing to see if Bryant is able to accumulate as many targets as Johnson throughout the game. As you already know, Matthew Stafford relies on his No. 1 much more frequently than Tony Romo relies on Bryant. With that said, both receivers are being targeted an average of 10 times per game this season. That’s much lower than the 12.5 targets Johnson received on a weekly basis last season. In the end, the outcome of this matchup will be dependent on who is thrown the ball more.