Sunday, October 25, 2020, FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland, 1 p.m. ET
Cowboys at Washington Football Team Betting Preview: Cowboys (-1/-110), Washington (+1/-106)
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys’ quest to become 2020’s version of the “Air Coryell” era San Diego Chargers hit a snag two weeks ago when Dak Prescott snapped his ankle scrambling for yardage. Losing the NFL’s leading passer may have been a blow the rest of this roster couldn’t sustain.
Andy Dalton’s debut as the Dallas starter Monday night was a resounding flop. The 38-10 loss to Arizona was rife with turnovers, sacks and lots of check-down passes. Dalton’s 34 completions netted just 266 yards, and Ezekiel Elliott’s two lost fumbles didn’t help matters.
The biggest problem remains defense, or the utter lack of it. The Cowboys have ceded at least 34 points in each of the last five games, and not because turnovers keep putting them in bad position. Opponents can run and throw against them seemingly any time they please.
Washington Football Team
Washington coach Ron Rivera lived up to his nickname of Riverboat Ron last week, eschewing a certain tying PAT kick and going for a likely game-winning two-point conversion with 36 seconds left. Kyle Allen’s pass under heavy pressure fluttered to the turf to ensure a 20-19 defeat to the previously winless New York Giants.
Conventional wisdom hammered Rivera as though he were a quarterback playing behind this offensive line, but his explanation that this team has to play to win to learn how to win sort of made sense. And a fifth straight loss hasn’t exactly harmed their playoff chances.
At 1-5, Washington is just a game back of Dallas for first place in the NFC East. So if it can limit mistakes on offense in these division games and figure out a way to get leads, their defensive line might be able to seal wins with their ferocious pass rush.
Cowboys at Washington Football Team Betting Pick for Week 7
Call this a battle of the resistible force vs. the movable object. Washington’s offense is one of the worst in the NFL and the Cowboys’ defense could best be described as alleged. Yet one of those ailing units might be able to affect the division’s future.
The sexy matchup, such as it exists in this game, is Dallas’ offense against the Washington defense. If last week is any indication, though, the Cowboys really, really miss Prescott. Expect Washington to make a play late to pull out a narrow win.
Cowboys at Washington Football Team Betting Pick:
Washington 24, Cowboys 21
Cowboys at Washington Best Bet for Week 7
Until last week, the over had been the way to go when betting the Cowboys. With Prescott out for the year, their offense doesn’t appear to be capable of lighting up scoreboards. And Washington does have a top 10 defense in terms of total yards per game.
So the under looks like a solid play for this rivalry game, especially given that Washington’s 30th-ranked offense might enable Dallas to play better defense than usual.
Cowboys at Washington Football Team Best Bet: UNDER 46 total points (-112)
