We finish up Week 13 with a game that suddenly has playoff implications after a big Philadelphia Eagles win and a bad New York Giants loss. The Dallas Cowboys (3-8) face off against the NFC East-leading (????) Washington Redskins (5-6) on Monday Night Football.
As usual, scroll on down for the live blog or keep reading for preview information.
First here’s my pick from The FAQ.
Dallas at Washington (-4)
I predicted last week that the Cowboys wouldn’t lose another game once Tony Romo returned. Romo went down again and they promptly lost. The Redskins suddenly find themselves in playoff contention and leading the NFC East. There’s no way they won’t screw that up. Cowboys 24, Redskins 21
And here are my entries for both teams from last week’s Power Rankings.
19. Washington Redskins – (5-6) Look who’s leading the NFC East. Seriously, look. Because it’s just going to be for a week or two so you might as well enjoy it, Redskins. Last week: No. 31
23. Dallas Cowboys – (3-8) The Cowboys and Ravens are kind of in the same boat. They’re good teams having bad seasons thanks to poor luck, big plays and key injuries. The Cowboys too will load up in the upcoming draft and after the haul they had last season, including signing La’el Collins as a street free agent, that could be bad news for the rest of the NFC. Last week: No. 24
And here’s our GMS Preview.
The Dallas Cowboys (3-8) head to FedEx Field to square off with the Washington Redskins (5-6) this week. Though this season hasn’t met expectations for Washington, the team has shown signs of life in recent weeks, winning three of its last five. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec 7 and will air on ESPN.
This week marks the first meeting of the season for Washington and Dallas. These two NFC East rivals split their matchups last season. Bashaud Breeland led the Redskins defensive effort in the last meeting, recording eight tackles. Bruce Carter led the defensive effort for Dallas, recording seven tackles and two interceptions.
The Cowboys are a four-point underdog against the Redskins and the Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 42 points.
Sitting at 5-6 for both Straight Up (SU) and Against The Spread (ATS), the Redskins will look to improve heading into Week 13. In their five most recent matchups, the Redskins went 3-2 SU and 2-3 ATS. When the Redskins pass the ball, they do so at a high percentage. They complete passes 68.2% of the time they throw, third in the NFL. The Cowboys will have a hard time putting up points against Washington’s top-five home scoring defense, which gives up 17.5 points per home game. The Cowboys probably won’t throw the ball often in Washington. They are one of the least-effective passing teams in the NFL, averaging 216.2 passing yards per game.
Shifting to the opposition, the Cowboys head into Week 13 with records of 3-8 for both ATS and SU. Over their last five games, the Cowboys have a SU record of 1-4 and a 2-3 record ATS. Odds are in favor of Dallas continuing to rely on its run game against a defense that allows 126.6 rushing yards per game, ranking 27th in the league.
Predictions: SU Winner – Was, ATS Winner – Was, O/U – Over
The game is on ESPN at 8:20 p.m. We get double the Gruden tonight. Who wants to miss that?
