NFL Betting Preview: New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys

Added on Oct 25, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

The NFL betting week concludes with a Monday Night Football matchup between the reeling Dallas Cowboys and the NFC East leading New York Giants. A win here will give New York sole possession of first place while a loss will drop them into a three way tie with Philadelphia and Washington. For the Cowboys, its a matter of survival and this game is essentially a ‘must win’ for their season.

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
October 25, 2010 5:30 PM Pacific

Teams in ‘must win situations’ are seldom a good wagering value for a number of reasons. The public ‘knows’ the team is in this situation and the linemaker responds accordingly. More significantly, the psychological impact of these situations aren’t always positive. That may very well be in play tonight as the Dallas Cowboys need a win in the worst way to save their season. It may be too late to save head coach Wade Phillips’ job. Most places have this game at 3 but there’s more and more 3′ and even a couple of 4 prices popping up–a clear indication that the public is banking on the ‘must win’ scenario being beneficial to the Cowboys’ chances.

We don’t see it that way. The Cowboys have been in a ‘must win’ situation for several weeks now and it’s meant little. If the urgency of saving the season and their coach’s job didn’t motivate them to victories against Tennessee coming off a bye week and Minnesota the week after, why would it all of a sudden cause them to spring to life now? This could be a situation that’s less of a ‘must win’ and more ‘damage control’ for the Cowboys. Were the line value and overall bad play of the Cowboys not enough to fade them here, the Giants are playing very good football. We haven’t been sold on them this year, but they’re getting results. The Bears are playing good defense and their pass rush in particular has been nasty. The offense has been erratic but is doing enough to put points on the board and the defense is getting them victories. New York has done well in this matchup–they won and covered both games against Dallas a year ago and is 5-2 ATS in the last 7 road meetings. Giants win outright as the Cowboys nightmare season continues.

Bet New York Giants +4 over Dallas Cowboys