Sunday Night Football Picks: Washington vs. Cowboys Odds & Predictions
Washington Football vs. Cowboys Odds
| Football Team Odds | +8.5 |
| Cowboys Odds | -8.5 |
| Over/Under | 45.5 |
| Date | Sunday, Dec. 26 |
| Time | 8:20 p.m. ET |
| TV | NBC |
The Washington Football Team and the Dallas Cowboys will engage in a division showdown on Sunday Night Football in Week 16 at AT&T Stadium. Entering play, Washington has suffered back-to-back losses within the division, which has all but erased any possibility they had of a Cinderella run to the postseason. Dallas has clinched a playoff berth, but has their eyes set on the top seed in the NFC playoff picture with three games remaining in the regular season.
Oddsmakers are anticipating a relatively easy victory for the Cowboys in this matchup of two teams trending in opposite directions, pricing Dallas as an 8.5-point favorite on the spread. Now let’s look at each team before locking in our Sunday Night Football pick.
Football Team +8.5
Following a missed game, due to the Coronavirus, quarterback Taylor Heinicke was activated and is expected to start this prime time contest for Washington. His activation has seemingly caused a slight line movement in Washington’s favor, but it is hard to understand why that is the case. Per Pro Football Focus, Heinicke has graded as the 31st best quarterback of 37 qualifying players at his position this fall. The Football Team has struggled to run the football in recent weeks, and could once again find difficulty in this area on Sunday. When these two teams met earlier this month, Heinicke completed less than 50 percent of his passes for only 122 yards. Antonio Gibson totaled only 36 rushing yards on 10 attempts. Bettors should not expect fireworks from this group.
The defense that pundits expected from Washington prior to the season simply has not manifested on the field this fall. Injuries have hurt this group’s ability to stop the run in recent weeks, dropping them out of the top-10 in the NFL in yards-per-carry allowed for the season. Only the New York Jets and Chicago Bears have allowed a higher passer rating to opposing signal callers in 2021. Even though Dak Prescott has been mediocre in recent weeks, he should still be able to find success against a secondary unit that has allowed 28 passing touchdowns and forced only 9 interceptions this year.
Cowboys -8.5
Prescott was sensational to begin the season, totaling 16 passing touchdowns against only four interceptions through his first six games. However, since the beginning of November, he has looked like a completely different quarterback. In seven contests, Prescott has an uninspiring 9-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Prescott has failed to throw for more than 238 yards in four of his last five trips to the field, with the lone exception being an overtime affair on Thanksgiving against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Regardless of how well Dallas plays on offense this evening, they should be able to create some havoc on defense. Only the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots have held opposing quarterbacks to a lower passer rating this season. Opposing signal callers have only 18 touchdowns against 23 interceptions when playing the Cowboys this season. This defense has been less stellar against the run, permitting 4.5 yards-per-carry, but a banged-up Washington offensive line, coupled with the ability to stack the box against an inferior passing attack should result in a strong defensive performance from Dallas tonight.
Sunday Night Football Prediction
Dallas is one of the best teams in the NFL. Washington experienced a temporary hot streak during the latter half of the campaign, coming out of their bye week. However, the magic has clearly worn off, as they have regressed hard back to their mean over the last two weeks. Playing on short rest is only likely to make things more difficult for the Football Team today. Take Dallas to cover the spread here.
PICK: Cowboys -8.5 (-110)
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