After clinching the NFC East a week ago, the Cowboys travel to New Jersey to take on the division rival Giants. At 9-6 and locked into their playoff position, Dallas doesn't have much other than pride to play for this Sunday.
The lowly Giants are in a similar situation, with nothing but the draft to look forward to in 2019. Let's take a look at the line and see where to place the money.
The Line
Cowboys +6, O/U 41.5 points.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys closed the deal on the NFC East last Sunday and clinched the number 4 seed with their 27-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For a team that was once 3-5 and felt like it would end the season by firing their head coach, the Cowboys have had quite the turnaround to get into the postseason.
Dallas is locked in the 4 seed, with no mobility regardless of Sunday's result. Both Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett have insisted the Cowboys will play hard on Sunday, however, and play as many of their starters as health will allow.
Whether or not this holds true obviously remains to be seen, but no one would blame the Cowboys if they were to rest Tyron Smith and Zack Martin or lighten Ezekiel Elliott's load for this ultimately meaningless game.
New York Giants
It's been a rather disappointing 2018 season for the New York Giants. After selecting 2nd in last year's NFL Draft, the Giants will once again be selecting top 10 this year. Now sitting at 5-10 questions are circling around the future of every veteran member of the New York Giants, including their Super Bowl winning quarterback.
It's possible this is Eli Manning's final game in a Giants' uniform, though the latest reports seem to indicate that he will be back with the team in 2019. The Giants are also littered with offensive skill talent, even if Odell Beckham misses the season finale with his injury.
Though their actual record is bad, the Giants have actually been solid against the spread this season and sit at 8-6-1. They've also been playing much better lately, and are 4-1 against the spread their last 5 games.
Trends
- The Cowboys are 5-1-1 against the spread their last 7 games.
- Dallas has also won 6 of their last 7 games straight up.
- The Cowboys have won 8 of their last 11 games against the Giants.
- The score total has gone under in each of the last 5 Cowboys/Giants games.
Prediction
Week 17 of the NFL season is one of the last things I'd ever bet on. We have no actual idea how seriously the Cowboys will take this game in terms of the personnel they deploy, and the odds are the Giants will be trying their hardest to win the final game of their season.
Still, I like the Cowboys +6 on Sunday. I do expect the Cowboys to play hard defensively, and allow most of their young starters to play a good amount of snaps. The Giants are also not good, so it's hard for me to expect them to cover any spread this large.
I advise staying away from these meaningless games, but I do like Dallas to cover the 6 point spread this week.
