The Line
Cowboys +1.5. O/U 49 points.
Dallas Cowboys
Things are bad in Dallas. Really bad.
After a promising start to the season the Cowboys have fallen off a cliff the last 10 games, and now sit a game under .500 with just three to go. Despite the disastrous play, Dallas still leads the NFC East and controls their own playoff destiny, wholly due to the ineptitude of fellow NFC East competitors.
If they are going to start a run or “get momentum on their side,” it has to start this week. Sure, they can lose Sunday and still control their destiny, but they just need one before heading to Philadelphia.
Unfortunately, the red-hot Rams are not the best team to be facing right now if you need a victory.
Los Angeles Rams
For much of the season, the Rams mirrored the Cowboys. They each started 3-0, then fell to 3-3. They then each battled their way to 6-4 before falling to one of the AFC's elite.
But the last two weeks, these two teams have gone in complete opposite directions. The Rams have found their stride offensively, and after two division wins find themselves right in the thick of the NFC Wild Card hunt.
Where the Cowboys' division offers them an easy path to the postseason, however, the Rams division is the best in football, making each of their remaining games must wins. Sean McVay has outcoached Jason Garrett each of their previous meetings, and he'll be looking to do so again this week.
Trends
- The Rams are 13-5 against the spread their last 18 games.
- The score total has gone under in 7 of the Rams' last 8 games.
- The score total has gone over in 11 of the Cowboys' last 16 games.
- The Cowboys are 1-5 against the spread their last 6 games against the NFC West.
Prediction
I have to take the Rams -1.5 here. As a fan of the Cowboys I'm hopeful that talent can take over and they can start to look like they did the first three weeks of the season. But as a realist, there's not much reason to expect the Cowboys to win on Sunday.
The Rams offense will pose a plethora of problems to the disaster that is the Cowboys defense, and Todd Gurley should have a field day this week on the ground.
Rams win this one outright and cover the spread while doing so.
