In a clash of two of the top competitors in the NFC, the 6-3 Minnesota Vikings travel to Arlington to battle with the 5-3 Dallas Cowboys this Sunday night.
Minnesota is coming off a tough road loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but had looked rather dominant in the weeks leading up to that game. Dallas, on the other hand, has now won two straight divisional games after dropping three in a row.
This could very well be a preview of Wild Card weekend, and each team certainly feels like they need this one on Sunday.
The Line
Cowboys -3. O/U 48 points.
Dallas Cowboys
It’s been an interesting year for the 2019 Cowboys. Starting off 3-0 with blowout wins over the Giants, Redskins, and Dolphins had fans thinking this could be a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Then, things came crashing back to earth quickly with three straight losses, including to the Jets, qualifying as one of the worst losses in Jason Garrett’s tenure as head coach.
They’ve won back to back games they had to have, though, putting themselves in first place of the division halfway through this season. Now, the Cowboys face another test against a tough conference foe in the Minnesota Vikings.
Pundits are looking for Dallas to prove they can beat a quality opponent, and they’ll get the shot to do just that this Sunday.
Minnesota Vikings
Typically, Mike Zimmer coached teams are defined by their defense. But the 2019 Vikings have been quite different.
The Kirk Cousins-led Vikings offense has been one of the most consistent in all of football this season, ranking top ten in DVOA both on the ground and through the air. Minnesota’s offense is littered with weapons: from Dalvin Cook to Stefon Diggs, this Vikings offense is loaded with skill position talent.
Their weakness, however, is on the interior of their offensive line. Dallas will hope to exploit their pass blocking inconsistencies on the inside with the newly acquired Michael Bennett this Sunday.
Trends
- Minnesota is 9-1 against the spread their last 10 games against the Cowboys.
- The score total has gone under during 6 of the Vikings last 8 road games.
- Dallas is 8-1 outright their last 9 home games.
- The score total has gone under 4 of the last 5 times these teams have played.
Prediction
Rather than taking either team to win this game, I’ll take over 48 points on Sunday night. Both these offenses have been among the best in the league this season, and I expect each to find a fair amount of success this week as well.
Prescott and the Cowboys offense is number one in DVOA, and should be able to exploit a Vikings secondary which has struggled quite a bit as of late.
Despite a strong defensive showing against the Giants a week ago, Minnesota’s high powered rushing attack should also produce some decent results against the Cowboys defense.
All in all, I expect a lot of points to be scored on Sunday, so I’ll take the over.
