The Washington Football team heads to Cowboys Stadium to take on the Dallas Cowboys in this NFL Thursday Night matchup.
The Cowboys have been a fixture in Thanksgiving Day games. They have played in 52 home games on Thanksgiving Day and they have a record of 31-20-1 during those games. They have played at home since 1978 and last year, lost 26-15 to the Buffalo Bill.s Meanwhile, the Washington Football Team last played in 2018 when they lost to Dallas 31-23. Washington has a Thanksgiving Day record of 3-8.
The Washington Football Team picked up their third win of the season last week. The team was down 9-7 when Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow got injured and left the game. Alex Smith led the team to 13 straight points as Washington rallied to beat Cincinnati 20-9. Smith threw for 17-25 passes for 166 yards with one score and one pick. Their running game produced 164 yards.
Smith has passed for 918 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Antonio Gibson leads the team with 530 rushing yards on the year with eight touchdowns. He had 94 to lead Washington the last time out and he’s led the team in rushing 9 out of their last 10 games. Terry McLaurin had five catches for 84 yards against Cincinnati to bring his season total to 871 yards with 62 catches including three touchdowns.
Washington has a bottom-third offense. They are scoring just 20.0 points per game this season and gaining just 324 yards per outing. However, their pass defense ranks first with 195.4 yards per game allowed and 10th in scoring defense at 22.7 points per game allowed.
The Dallas Cowboys won for the first time in a month the last time out. Andy Dalton returned to the starting lineup while Ezekiel Elliott had his first 100-yard rushing game of the season. Since the injury to Dak Prescott, the team has changed quarterbacks thrice: from Prescott to Dalton, Dalton to Ben DiNucci, and then DiNucci back to Dalton. Dalton suffered a concussion then tested positive for COVID-19 so that’s why he missed two games.
Dalton has completed 53.2% of his passes for 655 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions. He played well during his return last Sunday as he completed almost 70% of his passes for 203 yards with three touchdowns and only one interception. Elliott leads Dallas with 675 rushing yards with five rushing touchdowns. Amari Cooper leads the Cowboys with 736 receiving yards on 65 catches with two touchdowns while CeeDee Lamb has four touchdown catches to lead the team.
Dallas ranks 6th in total offense with 393.1 yards and is seventh in passing at 276.1 yards per game. They are also averaging 117 but have committed 21 turnovers, second-most in the league. On defense, they are last in points allowed at 31.8 points per game.
Washington is 3-11 SU in their last 14 games played. The Washington Football Team is 0-6 SU in their last six games played on the road. Dallas is 1-4 SU in their last six games played. The Cowboys are 2-3 SU in five home games played this season, and 14-4 SU in their last six games against the NFC east division. Head to head, the Cowboys are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games played against the Washington Football Team.
The key for Washington here is for the defense to do its job early in the game. In their last three games, the Washington defense has allowed at least 200 yards in the first half. They enter this game ranked second in sack percentage at 9.41. On offense, Smith earned his first win in two years but the ground game had a lot to do with it. Antonio Gibson, J.D. McKissic, and Peyton Barber all had at least one rush of 11 or more yards. The team rushed 34 times for 164 yards against the Bengals.
Andy Dalton threw for three touchdowns while Ezekiel Elliott had a season-high 103 rushing yards. The Cowboys scored at least 30 points for the first time since October 11th, the day when Dak Prescott got hurt. The Dallas defense has not allowed more than 28 points in their last four games after giving up 30 or more points in five out of their first six games.
Washington took the first meeting between these two teams 25-3 last October 25. Both teams are coming off wins in their previous game so both should head to this contest with plenty of confidence.
Washington’s offense has stabilized since Alex Smith returned to the starting lineup a couple of weeks ago. Meanwhile, Dallas has underachieved this season and Washington seems to be the more consistent team between the two.
Washington’s last three losses have come by three or fewer points so they’re a team that keeps things close, even when they lose. I’ll take the plus points here.
Prediction: Washington Football Team
The Washington Football Team is 4-5-1 ATS in 10 games played this season. Washington is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games against the NFC, and 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games played against the NFC east division. Dallas is 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Cowboys are 1-4 ATS in their last five games played at home. Head to head, the Cowboys are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games played against the Washington Football Team.
After failing to cover in any of their first eight games of the 2020 season, the Dallas Cowboys have covered their last two by at least a touchdown. However, Dallas is 1-7 ATS in their last eight games against the NFC, and 2-9 ATS in their last 11 Thanksgiving Day games. Washington’s defense is ranked in the Top 10 and they held the Cowboys to three points in their first meeting. Of course, the Washington Football Team covers the spread here.
Prediction Washington +3
The total has gone under in four out of the last six games played by the Washington Football Team. The under is 2-1 in their last three road games against NFC teams. The total has gone under in four out of the last five games played by the Cowboys. Dallas has seen the total go under in four out of their last five games played in November. Head to head, the total has gone over in eight out of the last 10 meetings between these two teams. The over is also 5-0 in their last five meetings between these two teams.
These teams have combined to score 50.2 points per game in their last 10 meetings and 47.67 points per game in their previous three meetings. The over has hit in all but two of their last 10 head-to-head meetings. Defensively, these teams have been terrible this season. Washington has allowed at least 30 points in three of four road games this season while Dallas has conceded 34 or more points in four out of their last five games played at home. I like these teams to hit the over.
Prediction: Over 46
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