Category: Pop Culture

Eagles will start QB Jalen Hurts against Cowboys, open as 1.5-point favorites

Doug Pederson says Jalen Hurts will start at QB Week 16 for the Eagles. – Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 21, 2020 The Dallas Cowboys (5-9) couldn’t beat Carson Wentz earlier in the season, now they’ll get a chance to take down his …

The Dallas Cowboys (5-9) couldn’t beat Carson Wentz earlier in the season, now they’ll get a chance to take down his replacement. As all expected, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson ended his coy routine on Monday and announced that second-round rookie Jalen Hurts would get his third consecutive start in Week 16. Hurts won his first game and played extremely well in Week 15’s road loss to the Arizona Cardinals that dropped the Eagles record to 4-9-1 and moved them into the NFC East basement.

Both teams have distant playoff chances, and it will be a battle of the backups as Andy Dalton looks to give the Cowboys their first three-game winning streak since the opening three weeks of the 2019 season. Dalton himself hasn’t won three straight games since Week 2 of the 2018 season and in three consecutive weeks since the Cincinnati Bengals opened the 2015 season 8-0. BetMGM has the Eagles as 1.5-point road favorites in this contest.

In the first matchup between the clubs, Dallas started rookie Ben DiNucci after Dalton was knocked out of the previous contest with a concussion against Washington. DiNucci looked completely lost under center in a 23-9 defeat that saw rookie corner Trevon Diggs, drafted ahead of Hurts in Round 2, intercept Wentz twice in the end zone.

The Cowboys are now 3-4 with Dalton starting, and the QB has thrown for 11 touchdowns against six interceptions though he’s throwing for the lowest yards-per-attempt number (6.1) in his entire career.

Hurts meanwhile has taken over for an inept Wentz and injected life into a listless Eagles offense that was a sack and turnover factory. Hurts has thrown for over 500 yards with four scores and no picks in two games, and also ran for 169 yards and another score. He has fumbled four times, which could bode well for a Dallas defense that all of a sudden are turnover machines, forcing seven in the last two games including five recovered fumbles.

The two teams will match up in the late afternoon game on FOX.

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Against The Spread: Cowboys 3-point home dogs to 49ers

For NFL fans of a certain age group, a game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers is as good as it gets. Two teams with pasts so intertwined with one another it’s impossible to separate. It’s this line of thought that had Roger Goodell …

For NFL fans of a certain age group, a game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers is as good as it gets. Two teams with pasts so intertwined with one another it’s impossible to separate. It’s this line of thought that had Roger Goodell and the league salivating over a Week 15 Sunday Night battle between two teams on the precipice of big things in 2020.

Whoops. Like all things in this cursed year, it was derailed. Both teams have suffered too many injuries to list here without eating up a month’s worth of bandwidth. Still, the show must go on, though this time at an earlier and less relevant time slot. The Cowboys will play host to their longtime rivals and will be 3-point underdogs according to BETMGM.

Neither of these two have been good against the spread this year. Dallas remains the worst in the league while the 49ers have covered just five times. The problem for the home team here lies in the scheme. San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan has a way of making linebackers look silly by combining a playaction passing game with a diverse running game and despite the injuries on the defensive side of the ball they still rank No. 10 by DVOA.

The Verdict: The Cowboys fail to cover again but the over (44.5) comes through. 

On the year: 5-7 against the spread, 8-4 over/under

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Against The Spread: Cowboys big dogs against Eagles, should you bite?

The pick against the spread between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.

Sunday Night Football is the crown jewel of the NFL schedule. Nearly every week, two teams with everything to play for battle it out for supremacy. And then there’s the matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, the game no one asked for.

Traditionally this exact game has been a staple of NBC’s schedule. After all, it’s two division rivals in big markets and, much to everyone’s chagrin, someone’s leaving Lincoln Financial Field in first place and the inside track to the playoffs. The oddsmakers at BETMGM believe it to be the Philadelphia Eagles, who are nine-point favorites. This marks just the third time since 2010 that Dallas has found themselves to be this big of an underdog. They won both.

In 2010, the Jon Kitna led Cowboys took down the New York Giants 33-20 in a season that was just about as abysmal as this one. Tony Romo went in the sixth game of a 1-5 start and head coach Wade Phillips was fired shortly after. 2014’s game was quite memorable, with Dallas beating the heavily favored Seattle Seahawks with Romo at the helm.

Still, this Cowboys team has one thing no other NFL team has to date, a goose egg against the spread. That’s right, Dallas has yet to cover in 2020. The stinky cheese stands alone. And while history says that they perform well in this scenario, it’s hard to imagine exactly how.

At the time of publishing, it’s unclear who will be under center for Dallas. Andy Dalton has still not practiced due to the concussion suffered in last weekend’s game, so all signs point to Ben DiNucci, a seventh-round draft pick out of the football factory that is James Madison. Whoever it is, they’ll have legitimate problems up front handling a pass rush that ranks No. 5 in sacks per game.

Still, at the end of the day, the Eagles have done nothing to deserve being favored by so many points. This division is too terrible and too ugly for a team to win a Sunday Night game in blowout fashion.

The Verdict: The Cowboys cover their first game of the year (+9) and the over (42.5) hits.

On the year: 4-3 against the spread, 4-3 over/under

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Against the Spread: Cowboys-Cardinals line shows belief in Dalton

The pick against the spread between the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals

The betting line for the Monday Night Football game between the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals swung wildly this week. What began with the home team as 2.5 point underdogs now has them as one point favorites with backup Andy Dalton at the helm according to BETMGM.

The Cowboys have yet to cover a single game this year, one of two teams to accomplish that feat to date. For those banking on Dallas being “due”, maybe sit this one out. Even with Leighton Vander Esch set to return, that won’t solve everything that plagues one of the worst defenses in the league.

The Cardinals come to town not being especially good at any one thing, but they have two unique issues that the Cowboys will have to account for. The first is undersized quarterback Kyler Murray, who makes up for whatever short comings with incredible athleticism. He already has five rushing touchdowns and nearly 300 yards on the season.

The other is wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who was last seen putting the entirety of the Dallas secondary in the spin cycle in an overtime win for his former team. For the masochists, here’s that highlight.

The Verdict: The Cowboys fail to cover for the sixth straight game, matching the ineptitude of the New York Jets and the under (54.5) comes through.

On the season: 2-3 ATS, 2-3 over/under

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.250 Cowboys somehow open as 9-point favorites in Week 5

The Cowboys somehow are favored by more than a touchdown in their next contest.

The Dallas Cowboys don’t seem to be a very good football team right now, but that doesn’t mean Vegas doesn’t still like them. After getting railroaded in their Week 4 home game against the Cleveland Browns, dropping their record to 1-3 at the quarter mark of the season, one might expect a close spread for their next opponent. After all, the Cowboys have spent a grand total of 11 offensive plays with the lead in 2020.

Their next opponent, however, is the lowly New York Giants who are now 0-4. The Giants have only scored three touchdowns in their four games, so even though they get the chance to get healthy against the league’s most porous defense and the worst one in Cowboys history through four games, they are still favored to lose. By a lot. 9 points to be exact.

On Sunday night, three books have reported odds for the upcoming Week 5 battle. Westgate Superbook and Draftkings both have the Cowboys as nine-point favorites. William Hill sets the spread at -9.5.

The Giants offense is coordinated by former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. He’ll be returning to AT&T Stadium as a visitor for the first time after spending 14 years with the Dallas organization as a coach and several years as a player.

Against The Spread: Forecasting Cowboys-Browns Week 4 tilt

The pick against the spread for the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns Week 4 matchup.

This hasn’t been a safe space for gamblers so far in 2020. It’s led people astray and for that, the Cowboys Wire has generously offered to give back all the money anyone’s paid to read these articles. Still, at this point there’s no where to go but up from here.

The Dallas Cowboys play host to the Cleveland Browns in the Week 4 match-up. These two teams are nightmare fuel for bettors, going a combined 1-5 against the spread so far in this young season. The Cowboys have yet to cover a spread, though it’s not as if they haven’t had their chances.

In the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams, a game Dallas was favored in by 2.5 points, a late pass interference call against Michael Gallup erased a chance to win and cover. In Week 3 against the Seattle Seahawks, a two missed extra points and a safety was literally the difference in whether or not the team covered. So while it looks bad, Cowboys backers have been more unlucky than bad through three games.

Dallas enters the game as 4.5 point favorites at BETMGM over the Browns. The recent trend in this exact game has not been kind to the team from North Texas. The last three contests when favored by between four and five points, the Cowboys have not only failed to cover the spread, they’ve lost outright, though the last time it happened was Amari Cooper’s first game with the team. Something’s got to give as Cleveland have lost their last five contests when underdogs by the same amount.

The Verdict: Things finally go right for the Cowboys and they put the Browns away, covering the 4.5 point spread while the under (55.5) hits.

On the season: 1-2 ATS, 1-2 over/under

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Madden 21 Ratings: Dak Prescott slotted behind MVP QBs

Madden 21 revealed the top 10 QB ratings, and day Prescott made the list.

The annual release of Madden ratings is synonymous with the approach of training camp and a new NFL season. Fans and players alike flock to the internet to find out and argue over their favorite players’ ratings.

Madden 21, the latest installment of the franchise, is slowly revealing the rankings this offseason. They started with skill position rookie players (CeeDee Lamb was the second highest rookie WR with a 75), and recently revealed the top-10 quarterback ratings in the league.

It’s no surprise that Patrick Mahomes took home the top spot with a 99, the highest possible number in the game, but Cowboys fans will be happy to hear that their quarterback, Dak Prescott made the cut as one of the ten best signal callers in the NFL.

Prescott tied his division rival Carson Wentz with an 84 rating overall, good for ninth in the league.

The Top-10

  1. Patrick Mahomes (99 overall)
  2. Russell Wilson (97 overall)
  3. Lamar Jackson (94 overall)
  4. Drew Brees (93 overall)
  5. Tom Brady (90 overall)
  6. Aaron Rodgers (89 overall)
  7. Matt Ryan (87 overall)
  8. Deshaun Watson (86 overall)
  9. Dak Prescott (84 ovreall)
  10. Carson Wentz (84 overall)

The ranking for Prescott could feel a little low for some fans’ liking, considering a year ago he was second in the league in passing yards, fourth in touchdowns, and fourth in QBR.

The names above Prescott have all earned their due. Five of the eight ahead of the Cowboys QB have won MVP at some point, and the others are Wilson, Brees, and Watson.

Check back for more Madden 21 rating updates as the season draws near.

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Cowboys open as 2.5-point favorites in Week 1 vs Rams

The Dallas Cowboys apparently are going to be heavy betting favorites early in the 2020 season. Everyone already knew who each team was going to play over the course of the season, but with the NFL schedule now released, sports books know when those …

The Dallas Cowboys apparently are going to be heavy betting favorites early in the 2020 season. Everyone already knew who each team was going to play over the course of the season, but with the NFL schedule now released, sports books know when those matchups will take place. Pandemic stay-at-home orders willing, the Cowboys are going to kickoff the season and christen the Los Angeles Rams’ new SoFi Stadium in Week 1.

The Sunday Night football matchup was one of our 6 likely primetime matchups and will feature what’s expected to be two high-octane offenses. The sports books are licking their lips at all of the possible prop bets, but the line is interesting to say the least. Traveling on the road, Dallas opens -2.5 according to the MGM Sportsbook.

The 50.5 over-under stands as the highest total on Sunday, only surpassed on opening weekend by the Thursday Night contest when the Houston Texans travel to Kansas City to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

The Rams are undergoing a bit of a makeover on offense, releasing star running back Todd Gurley and trading away wideout Brandin Cooks. Without a first-round pick, the Rams waited until the second round and selected RB Cam Akers from Florida State to replace Gurley and Florida’s Van Jefferson to replace Cooks.

Dallas has been lauded for their draft class, and will roll out rookie CeeDee Lamb to join with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup to take on a secondary led by Jalen Ramsey, acquired in a trade during the 2019 season.

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Rewind: Twitter went wild over slide, Cowboys’ shocking selection of CeeDee Lamb

Remember that time during the 2020 NFL Draft when the Cowboys were about to be on the clock and everyone was nervous they’d screw it up but then they walked away with the draft’s best receiver and all of Cowboys Nation unified like never before?

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The Dallas Cowboys created the biggest buzz of the 2020 Draft’s first round when they selected CeeDee Lamb from Oklahoma. Thought by most to be long gone from the board before Dallas even approached the clock, the buzz started building around Pick No. 11.

The reaction around the internet, as fans were watching the league’s organizations go through the first virtual draft in NFL history was electric and wild. It turned out to be the highest-viewed draft in history, by a whopping 35 percent.

Nothing could compare though to the build up and reaction to Dallas having Lamb  fall in their laps; the tension build up seemed to traverse the internet into every Cowboys fans devices.

A walk down memory lane…

The Build Up

The Pick Is In

We Now Go Live to the Lamb Household…

Mike McCarthy

Jerry Jones

Hater in the house.

Fans Are Overjoyed

Well, not all fans. Redskins superfan and platinum rapper Wale checks in from the DC area.

The Pros’ reactions

What a time to be alive.

 

The Collective: Cowboys take up 10% of NFL sales’ top spots, Elliott Top 5

Once again, the Cowboys reign supreme when it comes to popularity.

America’s Team indeed. No matter how many fanbases try to elevate their favorite team to the status, the efforts bear no fruit. Year after year, metric after metric, the Dallas Cowboys reign supreme, and the latest information from the sales department just confirms the undisputed title.

5 different Cowboys players landed inside the Top 50 sales list for the year-long period from March 1, 2019 through February 29, 2020.

If running backs don’t matter, no one has informed fans of the Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott. As the only non-QB in the top five, the No. 4 overall pick from 2016 checks in at No. 4, after Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes, GOAT Tom Brady and 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson. Behind Elliott comes two more signal callers, Baker Mayfield (?) and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers.

The next-ranked running back is the Giants’ Saquon Barkley, one of New York’s two entries (QB Daniel Jones, No. 28).

The Cowboys’ own QB, Dak Prescott, checks in at No. 12 on the list, five spots ahead of the Eagles’ Carson Wentz. The other 2016 draft class quarterback, the Rams’ Jared Goff, didn’t appear on the list. Eagles TE Zack Ertz represents at No. 31. No Washington Redskins player made the list.

Also represented as current Cowboys players are linebacker Leighton Vander Esch (No. 24) and wideout Amari Cooper (No. 30).

Rounding out the Cowboys Five is a player who returned to the field for what appeared to be one final hurrah. TE Jason Witten came out of retirement and a year as a broadcaster to play for Jason Garrett one more season. Now, he’s moved on to a supporting role in the new Las Vegas Raiders, but he ranked No. 36 in sales for 2019 with Dallas.

Just in case he ends up in a Dallas uniform for next year’s report, Jets safety Jamal Adams checked in at No. 41.

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