When NBC booked the New Orleans Saints and the Dallas Cowboys for Week 4, they had visions of Tony Romo throwing the ball to Dez Bryant and Drew Brees chucking darts all over the place. At least the two Dallas players won't be in the lineup in this one, and there's a decent chance that Luke McCown will be playing in place of Brees.
WHEN THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS HAVE THE BALL
The reason there is still no line posted on this game as of Wednesday night is because of the unknown status of Brees. At this point last week, Saints backers had to think that the face of the franchise was going to play against the Panthers in such a crucial game, especially after it was determined that there was no structural damage to his shoulder. Instead, he sat out.
McCown played sufficiently in Brees' place, going 31-of-38 for 310 yards, but he led the team to just two offensive touchdowns in spite of the fact that it had a healthy 380 yards of offense on the road in the rain against a pretty darn good defense.
Obviously, if Brees plays on Sunday, the Saints have a better shot to turn this game into a shootout. However, the emphasis which has been put on the short passing game to get the ball in the hands of the running backs parlayed with Brees' questionable shoulder or McCown's lack of anything that resembles a cannon for an arm has to leave live bettors in a spot where the under looks great.
The only problem here we see for the Cowboys is that they just let Devonta Freeman run wild against them versus the Falcons last week in their worst offensive showing of the year. If a back like Freeman can play a huge role against this defense, a trio of backs in Mark Ingram, C.J. Spiller and Khiry Robinson could also have a major role.
WHEN THE DALLAS COWBOYS HAVE THE BALL
Brandon Weeden wasn't bad in his first start for the Cowboys of 2015. He put 28 points on the board offensively, and there is no shame in going 22-of-26 for 232 yards, even if Lance Dunbar had 10 catches for 100 of said yards.
Clearly, the game plan here is simple and more or less forced on the Cowboys without their quarterback and their best defensive threat. Weeden isn't going to be able to work the ball down the field, knowing that Cole Beasley and Terrence Williams don't exactly have the same leaping abilities and speed of Bryant.
The Saints aren't known for their defense, but they do have some ability here to keep the game in front of them. If they can keep their safeties in the box and force Weeden to make some tougher decisions, they could have some success.
Either way, live bettors are going to notice that this offense for Dallas isn't going to be quick strike. Joseph Randle isn't the type of back who is regularly going to bust big time runs like he had early on against the Falcons, and if this 'O' isn't ripping off 10+ yard carries, live bettors will find lots of clock ticking without a lot of points being scored, promoting the under.
TREND TO TRACK
These two teams have played against each other in three consecutive seasons and four times in the last five years. The common thread in these games has been a heck of a lot of yards and a heck of a lot of points. In each of these last four games, at least one of these teams has gotten over 440 yards and at least 30 points.
The total number of points in the four duels came in at 55, 66, 65 and 57, and the total number of yards featured 883, 838, 1,008 and 871.
Needless to say, these two teams have been an over bettors' dream, but again, those games all featured Brees and Romo, not McCown and Weeden.
The NFL odds for this Sunday contest will be first released by BookMaker. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The game between the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys is set for Sunday, October 4, 2015, at 8:30 p.m. ET at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The matchup will be televised live on NBC.
