DALLAS COWBOYS UNDER 8 REGULAR SEASON WINS
One play that has stuck out to me in looking at the upcoming season is Dallas U8. Right now I'm showing it at -155, which I'm not crazy about, but lets try to figure out how they make it to 9 wins. (Something they haven't done in some time)
I'm not a professional gambler/handicapper etc but I have been a Cowboys my whole life and considering a very sizable wager on this one.
Schedule
SF 49ers
TEN Titans
STL Rams
NO Saints
HOU Texans
SEA Seahawks
NY Giants
WAS Redskins
ARI Cardinals
JAX Jaguars
BYE
NY Giants
PHL Eagles
CHI Bears
PHL Eagles
IND Colts
WAS Redskins
Doesn't look fun. And Dallas is scheduled for FIVE prime time games. Enter Tony Romo.
We are also staring at SF, NO and SEA early in the season.
Sandwiched between NO and SEA is HOU. You would be ill advised to think this Texans team is only going to win 2 games again. And although it doesn't get national attention, the rivalry between Dallas and Houston in the state of Texas is fierce. In fact I think the Texans would be ok only winning 2 games this season as long as one of them is against the Cowboys. The Texans are no powerhouse, but sandwiched between SF and traveling to face the Super Bowl Champs in SEA, this is a game I wouldn't eye test as a win for DAL just yet.
Another situation I'm looking at is the Cowboys' bye. They play the Jaguars the week before. I don't write off any team in this league, but I'd rather play them than most. Now, what I'm getting at is this...teams that go into their bye off a win have a tendency to not play well their first game after the bye, as opposed to a team who just took a beatdown before their bye. Off a win its a time to rest, off a loss its time to work and fix things, at least subconsciously in the minds of the players, in my opinion. The Cowboys travel to MetLife to play the Giants the week after their bye. This is another team you can't just look at their record last season and write off.
Then they continue with the Eagles, Bears, Eagles, Colts. I don't have to write a lot about this. The eagles are going to win the division. We have a sandwich game with the Bears, which will be your classic lookahead to the eagles. Oh, and its on a short week, playing AT Soldier Field on Thursday Night Football. You could look at this as having extra time to prepare for the eagles in the 2nd game, but remember every win and loss is weighted the same on this wager and I don't see good things coming out of Chicago on Dec 4. I think winning 1 of these 3 games is all we can ask of the Cowboys.
On to the Colts, a game which I think will depend on whether or not the colts have wrapped up the AFC South yet. Either way, they are still the better team.
And then in week 17, we get the WAS Redskins. A game that on paper, should go to Dallas, but if playoff implications have anything to do with it, we know it won't be that easy. So if somehow Dallas is already to 8 wins by the final week, which I wouldn't count on, you have to still be feeling okay. If it did come down to that, there are always hedging opportunities that final week if you are on the number.
The Cowboys have already lost Sean Lee. We saw what happened to that defense last year after he went out. One of the worst defenses in franchise history. Oh, and Demarcus Ware is now gone. I expect opposing quarterbacks and receivers to play games with our secondary.
Also, football is a game of attrition. The teams that win games and make playoff runs are healthy teams. I don't wish this upon anyone, but Romo is 34 and off back surgery. He's one hit away from sitting, which will most likely make this a winning ticket.
Lay the -155 and take the Dallas Cowboys Under 8 Regular Season Wins
Sorry for the long read, I don't post often but this is one I thought I would share my thoughts on. Look forward to hearing anyones thoughts for or against this play. Best of luck with anything you decide to go with!