The Cowboys are off to a hot 3-0 start and they hit the Big Easy this Sunday night as 2.5-point road favorites facing the New Orleans Saints and the total for the game is sitting at 47.
The reason the Saints are the home underdog is because Brew Brees is out with an injury but their backup in Teddy Bridgewater led them to a win in their last game against the Seahawks on the road.
Last season in a defensive game in Dallas these teams met with the Cowboys beating the Saints 13-10.
Not only have the Saints covered the spread in five of their last six games facing the Cowboys but the underdog is 10-2 ATS in the last 12 meetings between these NFC teams. On top of that, the home team has covered the spread in the last four games between these teams.
The Cowboys are 3-0 and playing great on both sides of the ball, but in their three wins their opponents have a total of only one win.
Beating the JV Team
In their last game the Cowboys easily won 31-6 against the Miami Dolphins, who many are calling the worst team ever.
In the Miami game Dak Prescott had his least impressive performance and still passed for 246 yards with a TD and a pick and Ezekiel Elliot had his 2nd straight game rushing for over 100 yards with 125 yards averaging a sweet 6.6 yards per carry.
Elliot was not the only big RB for the Cowboys in the easy win over the Dolphins, as Tony Pollard also rushed for 103 yards.
The Saints won last week over the Seahawks, but they gave up 515 total yards and their secondary was torched. They are in a for a tough test in this one facing a balanced Dallas offense that is playing with a ton of confidence and putting up an average of 32.3 ppg.
Stats Don’t Tell the Whole Story
The Saints were in the Great Northwest in their last game beating the Seattle Seahawks 33-27 even though they were outgained 515 yards to 265 yards. They took a fumble recovery to the house for a score and also scored a TD on a punt return.
Bridgewater did not have a big game in place of Brees but played well going 19/27 for 178 yards with two TD and no INT.
The player that the Dallas defense has to really worry about is do-it-all RB Alvin Kamara. In the win over the Seahawks he rushed for 69 yards and also led the team with 92 receiving yards.
The Dallas defense has only given up an average of 14.7 ppg, but they have only played the Redskins, Giants, and Dolphins and this game may show if their D is for real.
Our Prediction
While the Cowboys are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games they are only 6-14 ATS in their last 20 games facing a team with a winning record.
The Saints had failed to cover the spread in seven straight games before doing It in their last game and they have not covered in their last five home games.
I think the Saints will give the Cowboys a good game in this one, but Dallas has Elliot and Prescott and they will be too much for the New Orleans defense to handle. Both teams will score points and it will be close, but Dallas will win in the Big Easy and cover the spread moving to 4-0 on the young season.
PICK: Cowboys -2.5