The Dallas Cowboys will face the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional round of the NFC playoffs on Saturday, January 12, 2019, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Cowboys set-up this match-up with a win over the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC wild card game. Meanwhile, the Rams finished on top of the NFC West with their 13-3 record.
The Dallas Cowboys started the season slow, going 3-5 SU in their first eight games before finishing strong with seven wins in their last eight games to become the NFC East champions. During the wild card game, the Cowboys defeated the Seattle Seahawks 22-20 to set up a showdown with the Los Angeles Rams.
Against the Seahawks, Dak Prescott threw for 226 yards with one touchdown and one interception while Ezekiel Elliott ran for 137 yards with one score. For the season Prescott threw 3,885 passing yards with 22 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Meanwhile, Elliott rushed for 1,434 yards with six touchdowns. Amari Cooper has 725 receiving yards with six touchdown passes caught.
The Los Angeles Rams had a stellar season, going 13-3 while finishing on top of the NFC West and second overall in the National Football Conference. The Rams losses this season came against playoff teams in the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles.The loss to the Eagles was the Rams’ lone home loss of the season.
Quarterback Jared Goff threw for a total of 4,668 yards with 32 touchdowns and 12 touchdowns on the season. Running back Todd Gurley rushed for 1,251 yards with 17 touchdowns while also catching a total of 580 yards and 4 touchdowns. However, Gurley is on the Rams’ injured list and listed as questionable. If Gurley is a no-go, it will be a big blow to the Rams’ offensive game.
Dallas is 8-1 SU in their last nine games played and but the Cowboys are 3-5 SU on the road this season. The Rams are 13-3 SU in their last 16 games played and 7-1 SU in their last 8 games played at home. Head to head, the Cowboys are 4-2 SU in their last six meetings and Dallas is also 4-1 SU in their last five encounters in Los Angeles.
Because the Rams give up a league-worst 5.07 yards per carry, the Cowboys best chance to win this game is to run the ball with Elliott, eat up the clock and hope their defense holds. As for the Rams, they need to play good defense early on, make some stops and let Goff’s offense score some points. If they do that, they are going to take the Cowboys out the zone and rattle them.
I think that Dallas is going to hang with the Rams early but in the long run, the tem with more weapons is going to pull this one out and that team is none other than the Rams. The big worry for the Rams is if Gurley misses this game. But given the importance of this game and the fact that Gurley has played through severals injuries during the regular season, I think he is playing for as long as he can walk.
All things considered, I think the Rams are headed to the NFC title game. They simply have too many weapons for the Cowboys to match on offense and defend on the other end of the field. We’re picking the Los Angeles Rams to beat the Dallas Cowboys on 1/12/19.
The Cowboys are 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 games played. Dallas is 4-2 ATS in their last six road games. The LA Rams are 4-7-2 ATS in their last 13 games. The Rams are 1-3-2 SU in their last six home games played. Head to head, the Cowboys are 4-2 ATS in their last six games against the Rams and Dallas is also 4-1 ATS in their last five meetings in Los Angeles.
The trends going against the Rams bothers me but the Rams were the second highest scoring team in the league this season and they lost just once at home. I think a spread of up to 7 points should favor Los Angeles but if it goes beyond one touchdown, you’ve got to think twice and maybe go for the Cowboys. For now though, it’s +7 so I’m rolling with the Rams. Prediction: Rams -7
The total has gone under in 10 out of the last 12 games played by Dallas. However, four out of their last five road games against the Rams have yielded the over. Likewise, the total has gone over in five out of the last seven home games played by the LA Rams. The over is also 4-0 in the Rams’ last four divisional playoff games played. The over is also 7-1 in the Cowboys’ last eight games after accumulating 350 or more yards in their previous game.
One one side, we have Jared Goff and his offense who ranked 4th in passing yards per game and averaged 32 points per game on the season. One one side, we have Jared Goff and his offense who ranked 4th in passing yards per game and averaged 32 points per game on the season. On the other side, we have Ezekiel Elliott who ran for 137 yards against the Seahawks going up against the 23rd ranked rush defense. This should be a back and forth high scoring game. Prediction: Over 49
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
