It’s been 84 years since the Dallas Cowboys last took the field on Thanksgiving day. Perhaps it’s not been quite that long, but after nearly a week’s delay due to Covid-19 ravaging the Baltimore Ravens locker room, the once anticipated matchup is ready to happen.
To say it has lost some luster is an understatement. Quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have failed to rekindle the same magic they had last year and the Cowboys are a shell of themselves, the husk getting emptier in recent days. Still, Dallas enter the game as just 7.5 point underdogs to the team that’s lost it’s last three contests.
It’s hard to imagine how the Cowboys manage to hang around in this game. The strength of Baltimore lies in their run game. The most glaring weakness for the Dallas defense in a sea of them is stopping the run. Bob Sturm covered this topic here, but this will likely be a frustrating game full of five yard or worse runs.
Meanwhile, the offensive line is like a supermarket in a zombie movie, picked clean, with just Connor Williams remaining. The move to put Zack Martin on injured reserve is the proverbial white flag on the season. Good luck to quarterback Andy Dalton, who’ll have an inexperienced and makeshift offensive line trying to slow down Wink Martindale’s blitz happy defense.
The Verdict: The Cowboys lose badly, failing to cover the -7.5 point spread but the over (44.5) comes through.
On the year: 4-7 against the spread, 7-4 over/under…
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