Washington at Dallas: Sunday Night Football Bets and Preview

The Dallas Cowboys are on the Sunday Night Football schedule in Week 16 as they host the Washington Football Team. At 10-4, a Cowboys victory would keep Dallas in contention for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. For Washington, 6-8, a win would keep postseason hopes alive.

NFL betting lines this week have the Cowboys as big favorites at home. Continue reading to learn more about this Washington at Dallas matchup, as well as the best bets for this weekend.

Washington at Dallas

• Date: Sunday, Dec. 26th
• Time: 8:20 P.M. EST (NBC)
• Venue: AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX
• Records: Cowboys (10-4, 1st NFC East) Washington (6-8, 3rd NFC East)

Cowboys Defensive Surge

After dropping three of four games during Weeks 9-12, the Cowboys have won three straight contests courtesy of several strong defensive performances. The Dallas defense has limited opponents to 14.3 points per game during their win streak. In their Week 15 victory against the New York Giants, the Cowboys held New York to just 6 points.

Fueling the defensive surge has been rookie linebacker Micah Parsons and NFL interception leader Trevon Diggs. With 12 sacks on the season, Parsons ranks 3rd in the NFC in the category and 1st among rookies.

WFT Recent Struggles

Following their Week 9 bye, the Washington Football Team was one of the hottest in the NFL. Winning four straight games, Washington was able to dig out of a 2-6 start to the season before a Week 14 matchup against Dallas.

Since then, there has not been much good news for the WFT.

After being defeated by the Cowboys 27-20 in Week 14, Washington was without starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke and backup Kyle Allen in a critical Week 15 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. With only a few days to become acclimated to the offense, NFL journeyman quarterback Garrett Gilbert was forced to start. Despite jumping out to a first-quarter 10-0 lead against the Eagles, Gilbert and the rest of the WFT offense only scored seven more points the rest of the way in a 27-17 loss.

Dallas Cowboys (-10.5)

In this Sunday Night Football game, the Cowboys host the WFT with the NFL’s 2nd best scoring attack. On the other side, Washington’s scoring defense ranks 25th.

A significant contributor to the offensive success for Dallas has been the ability to both run and pass the ball effectively. At 6th in the league in both rushing and passing yards per game, Dallas is the only team ranked this high in both categories. The Cowboys should be able to move the ball efficiently against Washington’s 30th ranked passing defense (260.6 yards per game).

As 6.5-point favorites on the road in their Week 14 matchup, Dallas held on to a sizeable early lead against Washington and won by 7. This week though, with a 10.5-point spread, I find it difficult to predict a Cowboys’ cover. Since Week 8, Washington has not played a game decided by greater than 10 points. Despite the unknown availability of WFT starting and backup quarterbacks Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen, I’m picking Washington to cover the spread in a 30-21 loss to the Cowboys.

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