What better way to start off a season than 2-0 with both wins coming within your division?
This is exactly what the Dallas Cowboys are looking to accomplish this week when they travel to Washington to face the 0-1 Redskins.
This is essentially an elimination game for Washington, as the 0-2 hole is a death sentence in the NFL, but the Cowboys are looking to pursue division dominance once again.
Let’s get into the betting line and preview for this NFC East rivalry.
The Line
Cowboys -4.5, O/U 46.5 Points.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys opened up the Kellen Moore offensive coordinator era in style, going on a 35-3 run against the New York Giants after giving up the opening touchdown. The Giants scored a late garbage time touchdown, but this game was never really in doubt.
Now Dallas takes their new-looked offense on the road for the first time, and fans are feeling rightfully confident. The Cowboys look like a top 5 team in the league right now, and put the entire football world on notice in the season opener.
I’m super high on this team playing to it’s talent level going forward in 2019, and they should take care of business against the struggling (and banged up) Redskins.
Washington Redskins
Washington headed into the season opener expected by most to be picking top 5-10 in next year’s NFL draft. And, despite a hot start against the Eagles in the first half, Washington fell back to earth really quickly.
Led by Case Keenum at quarterback, the now 0-1 Redskins are banged up on the offensive side of the ball. Starting tackle Trent Williams is holding out, forcing Donald Penn to start at tackle while Ereck Flowers is starting at guard. Yes, that Ereck Flowers.
Surprisingly, Flowers was pretty much fine against the Eagles last week, but I still wouldn’t feel confident in pass protection if I was a Washington fan. Starting running back Derrius Guice is also out again due to injury, slotting Adrian Peterson into his place.
Defensively the Redskins feature a defensive line with a lot of fearsome names, though their production against the run wasn’t great last season. Still, this will be the first real test for the Cowboys offensive line in 2019.
Trends
- The Cowboys are 5-1-1 against the spread their last 7 games as road favorites. They’re also 6-1 straight up during that same stretch.
- The Cowboys are 6-3 against the spread their last 9 games against Washington.
- The Cowboys are 5-1 straight up their last 6 games at Washington.
- Dallas is 5-0 against the spread their last 5 games against the NFC East.
The Pick
The Cowboys being a 4.5 point favorite on the road means they’d be giving about 10 points to Washington if this game was being played in Arlington. That’s a lot of points for any NFL game, let alone one within the division.
Still, the Cowboys beating Washington by a touchdown feels like it could be very realistic this week. There’s the possibility that the public will overreact to Dallas’ week one dominance, but I’ll take them -4.5 on the road on Sunday.
