After getting their lunch served in their first two games of the exhibition season, the Cowboys will be out for blood as they take to the gridiron in front of the hometown faithful for the first time against a Vikings squad that’s yet to drop a preseason game under the watchful eye of Mike Zimmer.
ODDS
The Cowboys opened up as 3-point home chalk with the total lined at 42. Early bettors have sided with the visiting Vikings with the spread dropping to -2.5 with the total holding firm.
QUARTERBACK ROTATION
The Vikes find themselves in the exact same situation the Steelers do heading into Week 3 of the preseason with each club having one more game under their collective belt after partaking in the Hall of Fame game.
However, now is the time for Teddy Bridgewater to continue building his rapport with the WR corps with Adrian Peterson still roaming the sidelines due to an injury sustained earlier in camp. His loss is Bridgewater’s gain, as he will likely go into the third quarter of this one so as to build more chemistry with wide receivers Charles Johnson and Mike Wallace.
Look for Shaun Hill to likely close the festivities as he looks to build upon his 11-of-17 effort that saw him throw for 82 yards and a 1:1 TD/INT ratio against the Raiders.
Tony Romo has thrown a grand total of one pass through the Cowboys first two games. Brandon Weeden and Dustin Vaughan have taken the lion’s share of the snaps, but look for that to change in this dress rehearsal.
COACHES' MOTIVATION
After getting embarrassed last week at the 49ers falling 23-6 as 4-point underdogs, the talk out of Cowboys camp heading into the final week was all about having good practices and closing the exhibition season out on a high.
Jason Garrett will be getting some reinforcements to work with here with a number of the walking wounded – including Dez Bryant – returning to the fold.
Whether rust plays a role remains to be seen.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"Charles continues to make plays," said Vikings coach Mike Zimmer. "He catches the ball, he runs good routes. The touchdown that he caught, I though the guy was grabbing the heck out of him along the way, but Charles is a big, strong receiver that has good speed and I think they're developing a pretty good camaraderie between them." – Mike Zimmer on the solid foundation his up and coming QB and WR are building every passing game.
POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH
Though playing without three starters on the offensive line, the trio of Darren McFadden, Lance Dunbar and Joseph Randle hardly allowed Cowboy fans to forget that DeMarco Murray is now toting the rock for their hated division rivals in Philly.
They combined for a paltry 34 yards on 10 carries and three catches for a whopping six yards. For the Cowboys offense to really take flight this season, one of these three is going to have to separate themselves from the pack to allow for Romo and the offense to flourish.
Minnesota has allowed an average of just 92.3 yards per game on the ground thus far, so whichever of these three rises to the occasion, you have to figure has a leg up on the starting gig.
INJURIES
Save for the gruesome injury suffered by stud tackle Phil Loadholt, the Vikings have been able to stay off the injury bug’s radar.
Cowboys’ cornerback Brandon Carr will continue to nurse his broken hand back to health, but the good news out of Big D is that Bryant, tackle Tyron Smith, defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford, cornerback Morris Claiborne, and linebacker Sean Lee will all see their first live game gridiron action of 2015.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Bridgewater and coach Mike Zimmer improved to 7-0 in preseason games after taking out the Raiders last week. On top of that, they’re 6-1 ATS in those contests and won both games they went off the board dogged in.
Dallas has too many injuries and players returning from injury to simply just flick the switch and start playing like the dominating unit it was at times last season. Minnesota is not the laughing stock of the NFC North anymore. In fact, I truly believe it has the makeup right now to challenge for a wild card spot.
Why mess with a good thing. Take the points and look for Minnesota to keep the Cowboys searching for answers heading into the regular season.
Vikings 20 Cowboys 16
BookMaker opened the spread for this game at -3 in favor of the Cowboys. The NFL odds total surfaced at 42. Minute-by-minute spreads, totals and props are available for this game using the live betting platform at BookMaker.
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