Monday Night Football Betting Picks: Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys
To sports bettors’ delight NFL Week 6 concludes with two more games on Monday night. The Bills and Chiefs kick things off at 5 pm ET, followed by the Cowboys and Cardinals at 8:15 ET. We’ve got betting odds and Monday Night Football picks for all of your sports betting needs.
Also Read: Chiefs vs. Bills Betting Picks
Cardinals at Cowboys Betting Odds
While Dak Prescott rehabs a broken ankle, the Dallas Cowboys look to recover from a lackluster start under new head coach Mike McCarthy. Luckily they’re in the NFC East, a division that is abysmal from top to bottom. Despite losing three of their first five games plus an All-Pro quarterback in the process, a win on Monday Night will put the Cowboys firmly in their saddles with a two-game division lead.
They’ll have to do so with Andy Dalton, who makes his first start as the Dallas Cowboys quarterback.
There are worse backup quarterbacks to have.
Dalton has been a starter for most of his career, and he managed to complete 9-of-11 passes for 111 yards on short notice. However, he’ll have his work cut out for him if nothing changes on the defensive side of the ball for Dallas.
The Cowboys’ no. 24-ranked DVOA has allowed the second most points per drive (3 points/drive).
Of course, the Cowboys are playing at one of the fastest paces in the league, which might be exasperating what looks like defensive efficiencies. There’s a chance the Cowboys slow things down now that Dalton is behind center.
When Dalton isn’t handing the ball off to running back Ezekiel Elliott, he’ll have plenty of weapons to throw to — rookie standout CeeDee Lamb, third-year receiver Michael Gallup, and veteran Amari Cooper.
The problem, though? Injuries have depleted the Cowboys offensive line. That’s not exactly new for Dalton, who became a backup quarterback partly due to poor play behind a porous offensive line in Cincinnati.
Murray Returns to Dallas
Second-year quarterback Kyler Murray makes his AT&T Stadium debut — as a pro. Actually, growing up in nearby Allen, Texas while becoming the state’s most decorated high school football player ever, Murray is more than comfortable playing inside Cowboys Stadium. He won three consecutive state championships there.
The former Heisman Trophy winner will have plenty of opportunities to show off in front of family and friends Monday night in Arlington, as he introduces them to his new friend DeAndre Hopkins.
So far, the Murray-Hopkins connection has produced three games with at least 130 receiving yards — three more than Hopkins had with Deshaun Watson in 2019.
Heading into Week 6, Hopkins led the league in receiving yards with 528. You might want to lock him into your primetime DFS lineups, considering the Cowboys have allowed the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers.
Cardinals at Cowboys Betting Picks
I jumped on Cardinals in my early NFL Week 6 Betting Picks, but it turns out I should’ve waited if I wanted to back the away team. Oddsmakers and bettors alike are showing Dalton plenty of respect.
The Cardinals opened as 2.5-point favorites, but the betting line has flipped and you can find the Cowboys -2 at some online sportsbook early Monday morning. Per
ScoresAndOdds, 63% of money is backing Dallas.
I still lean towards the Cardinals, now +2, but I don’t feel great about it. The Cardinals lost a key piece on their defensive front in Week 5 when Chandler Jones went down with a torn bicep. Jones’ absence alleviates much of the pressure for the Cowboys O-line and Dalton.
Still, it’s difficult to conceive of game where Arizona’s spread offense doesn’t score somewhat willingly on the Cowboys. After all, this is the same defense that gave 40 points to the Falcons, 38 to the Seahawks, 49 to the Browns, and 27 to the Giants. Keep in mind the Giants failed to reach double digits in two of their four games before playing the Cowboys. Essentially, each of the teams above had their best offensive performance against the Cowboys.
That makes the Over sound like a hell of a bet, I know. The Over is 4-1 in Cowboys’ games so far. Again, I lean Over but I’m treading carefully for two reasons: 1) Andy Dalton – Dalton is a formidable fill-in for Prescott, but I want to see if the Cowboys make pace adjustments this week. 2) Though Overs are 49-40-1 overall, only four Week 6 games went Over on Sunday (4-8). In Week 5, Overs went 8-7. Scoring remains high but it appears oddsmakers have made the proper adjustment over the last two weeks.
Betting Pick: Cardinals +2
Image Credit: USA Today Sports Images