The Dallas Cowboys put the entire league on notice last week with the complete dismantling of the Washington Football Team in a 56-14 blowout. After several weeks of subpar performances especially on the offensive side of the football, the Cowboys put together one of their most complete efforts of the season. As it currently stands, the Cowboys own the #2 seed in the NFC but that is far from concrete especially when you consider the Arizona Cardinals will visit Jerry World on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. The visiting Cardinals just lost their lead in the NFC West with an unexpected loss to the Colts and will be 5.5 point underdogs in a needed bounce back scenario.
Despite losing 3 straight games and battling numerous problems on the injury front, the Cardinals have already secured their playoff berth thanks to one of the better records in the NFC at 10-5 SU. For Arizona, the remaining two weeks will determine whether they are division champs or if they will occupy one of the NFC Wildcard spots. The Cardinals 5.5 point underdog betting line is tied for the largest underdog spread the team has faced this year. However, bettors should take note that the Cardinals have covered the spread in all 5 games this season where they have not been favored and also won all 5 of those games outright!
Arizona Cardinals vs. Dallas Cowboys Betting Trends
- Arizona is just 2-4 ATS in the last six games
- Arizona is 7-1 ATS in the last eight games on the road
- Arizona is 5-0 ATS and 5-0 SU this season when listed as the underdog
- Arizona is 5-1 SU and 5-1 ATS in their last six games against Dallas
- Dallas maintains the NFL’s best record at 12-3 ATS this season
- Dallas is 10-0 ATS in the last ten games against NFC opponents
- Dallas has hit the “under” in seven of the last nine games
- Dallas has hit the “under” in eight of the last 12 meetings against Arizona
- Get more details: Cardinals vs. Cowboys Week 17 Betting Stats
Arizona Cardinals vs. Dallas Cowboys Betting Analysis
The Dallas Cowboys have been my biggest profit maker this season in the NFL. Despite being one of the best teams in the entire league, they have often faced relatively slim betting lines that have been advantageous for bettors in most situations. For this week’s match-up against Arizona, I’m not necessarily convinced that will be the case. The Cowboys’ defense has been the key to their late season success but they are not impeccable. The Cowboys have a good pass-rush and have some of the best hands in the NFL in their defensive secondary that will make quarterbacks pay for mistakes.
With that being said, the Cowboys defense still gives up a decent amount of yards and they have been especially susceptible to mobile quarterbacks. Cardinals QB Kyler Murray appears fully healthy for the first time in quite a while and despite the injury concerns, the offense still has numerous weapons with RB Chase Edmonds, WR AJ Green and Christian Kirk, TE Zach Ertz, and others. Needless to say if the Cowboys’ pass-rush is not able to bring down Murray in the backfield, there will be opportunities down the field. This is exactly when the Dallas’ defense struggles after plays breakdown and I believe that could be trouble against Arizona.
To be fair, Dallas is loaded with talent on their offensive side of the football. In fact, I would say the Cowboys are the most talented offense in the NFC so there is the possibility that Dallas wins a relatively high-scoring affair. The problem with that concept is that the Dallas offense has been very inconsistent. Even in last week’s blowout over Washington, it was the defense that really spearheaded the blowout. With RB Ezekiel Elliott still banged up and the offense not willing to turn to RB Tony Pollard, Dallas has been more one-dimensional than most would expect. Barring a breakout performance, I think Dallas will be met with resistance against a very underrated Arizona pass defense.
