Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys – Week 7 NFL Betting Analysis
Philadelphia Eagles (3-3 2-4 ATS) at Dallas Cowboys (3-3 3-3 ATS)
The Eagles are coming off a bad loss and head to the Big D to take on the Cowboys, who have lost three in a row but are still a 3-point home betting favorite with a total of 48.5.
The public has been backing the Cowboys even in their recent slide, as they opened as a 1.5-point favorite and as of Tuesday are a 3-point favorite.
The Eagles lost their last game 38-20 against the Minnesota Vikings where they gave up 4 passing TD. The pass defense has been a major issue for Philly on the season and in their loss to the Vikings they gave up 325 passing yards.
The Cowboys have cooled off a tad after their hot start dropping their last three games. After averaging over 32 ppg in their first three games “America’s Team” has averaged 18.7 ppg in their last three games.
Last season Dallas won both games against Philadelphia. The Cowboys are the betting favorite and in the last seven games between these bitter NFC East rivals the favorite has covered six times.
The winner of this game will be in sole possession of first place in the NFC East.
Forget about Minnesota
The Eagles need to forget about their road loss to the Vikings in their last game where they were beaten soundly. They gave up 447 yards, the secondary was lit up, and they failed to run the ball well.
Even with Carson Wentz passing for over 300 yards with 2 TD and one pick he did not look that good and the team is still without downfield threat DeSean Jackson. The team has Alshon Jeffery back from injury and TE Zach Ertz, but the deep ball is simply not there.
The Eagles rushed for 108 yards in the loss to the Vikes and Jordan Howard led the team with 49 rushing yards but only averaged 3.8 yards per carry. He had rushed for 149 yards in his previous two games where he averaged at least 4.8 yards per carry in each.
The Dallas defense ranks a respectable 12th against the pass and the run. However, in their last game they lost 24-22 to the New York Jets, who came into the game winless and has an offense that ranks 2nd to last in the league averaging 12.6 ppg.
Stop the Bleeding
The Cowboys have to be embarrassed to lose to the Jets in their last game where their pass defense was lit up and they outgained New York and had no turnovers.
Dak Prescott passed for 277 yards and had no TD and was not picked off and he may be without his #1 WR in Amari Cooper, who was injured in the Jets’ game. Prescott went from being getting ready for a big-money contract to having detractors and in Dallas’ three-game skid he only has two TD.
Ezekiel Elliot only averaged 3.8 yards per carry in route to 105 rushing yards against the Jets and he has not had a big game in the Cowboys; skid.
The Philly D ranks 2nd in the NFL against the run, but only 29th against the pass.
Our Prediction
While the Eagles are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games the Cowboys are 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games facing teams from the NFC East.
The road team is 11-4 ATS in the last 15 games between these teams but that trend will not continue. Prescott will have a solid game in this division showdown as will Elliot and it will be pretty close, but the Cowboys will win and cover taking over first place in the NFC East in the process.
PICK: Cowboys -3