An offensive explosion by the Dallas Cowboys last week didn’t do much to persuade the oddsmakers on the opening total for their NFC East showdown with the Washington Redskins on Sunday afternoon. Dallas entered last week’s tilt with Jacksonville scoring an average of less than 17 points per game. Certainly they couldn’t rip up the Jags vaunted defense. But anything can happen in the NFL and the Boys dropped 40 on the Jags, covering the total of 39 all by themselves. It was the second time in the last three games Dallas cashed the over and the total opened at 41.5 for their matchup with the Skins.
Watch this Week 7 regular season matchup live on Sunday, October 21, 2018, at 4:25 p.m. ET at FedEx Field.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Dallas Cowboys +2
Washington Redskins -2
Over/Under 41.5
The NFC East might be the most competitive division in the NFL with three teams sitting at three wins through the first six weeks. Washington holds the lead by a half-game since they already had their bye and they rebounded nicely from a thrashing at the hands of the Saints to upend Cam Newton and the Panthers last week, winning the game outright as a 1-point dog to improve to 3-2 ATS.
The opening NFL betting line pegged the Skins as a 2-point favorite against one of their fiercest enemies. The Cowboys have won four straight in the series and six of the last seven meetings, going 5-2 ATS in that span. And the Boys have been rude guests to our nation’s capital over the past several meetings winning five in a row at FedEx Field while going 4-1 ATS.
The Dallas backfield of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott has never lost to the Skins and they had an eye-opening experience last week. With Zeke running free and Dak doing his thing, the Cowboys’ offense finally found a rhythm that had been missing all season. In the past four meetings with the Skins, Dallas is averaging 32.3 points per game and has cashed the over in all four.
The Boys are coming off their most impressive victory in some time and the dynamic duo of Elliott and Prescott were the catalysts. Dallas relies on Zeke for most of its offense and he came through against the Jags with 106 yards and a touchdown on 24 rush attempts. Dak scampered for 82 yards and a score on 11 carries and the Boys racked up 206 yards on the ground against a stout Jags group.
We saw a different Cowboys team last week, one that worked more on throwing the football in the first half of the Jacksonville game to soften up the defense, and the ploy worked. Prescott had 151 of his 183 passing yards in the first half with a pair of scores as the Boys built a 24-0 lead. It’s not always going to work, but expect the Cowboys to offer up some of the same principles on Sunday to keep Washington off balance. But make no mistake, Dallas is a run first team and Elliott will be featured prominently.
Zeke has rushed for over 100 yards in three of his last four games and he trails Todd Gurley by 37 yards for the league’s lead. Washington has a top-10 defensive unit, but they’ve shown cracks, especially against the Saints a few Monday’s ago. And typical of the Cowboys is for them to wear teams down over the course of a game. Elliott had only 45 yards in the first half last week, but ended up cracking the 100-yard barrier with his team willing to chew up the clock.
We could have a similar situation on Sunday and make your live betting wagers based on the game score. If the Boys are leading, that’s a sign Zeke will get more attempts in the second half and his yards should soar. The same goes for Adrian Peterson and the Skins. Don’t be afraid to back Zeke or AP on the adjusted live betting lines at BookMaker.eu in the second half depending on how the game is playing out.
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