Philadelphia Eagles (8-1 SU, 6-3 ATS) vs. Dallas Cowboys (5-4 SU, 5-4 ATS)
NFL Week 11
Date/Time: Sunday, November 19, 2017 at 8:30 P.M. ET
Where: AT&T Stadium
TV: NBC
by Jerbeek, Expert Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: Phi -3.5/Dal +3.5
Over/Under Total: 48.5
The Philadelphia Eagles will travel to Arlington, Texas on Sunday night to take on the Dallas Cowboys. Philadelphia holds the best record in the NFL with a record of 8-1. The Eagles lead the Cowboys by 3 games in the NFC East division. This is a must win game for the Cowboys if they want to have any chance of winning the division and also very important for keeping their wild card hopes alive. Philadelphia is coming off a bye and is on a 7 game winning streak after their big win against the Broncos in week 9 by a score of 51-23. Dallas is coming off a week 10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 27-7. Previous to that the Cowboys had been on a 3 game winning streak.
The Eagles have been led by 2nd year QB Carson Wentz who has triggered an attack that is averaging 31.4 points per game. Wentz has a TD/Interception ratio of 23/5 and has raised is QB rating from 79 in 2016 to 104 so far this season. The Eagles made a move before the trade deadline to pick up Jay Ajayi from the Miami Dolphins. Ajayi made the most of his 8 carries in his first game with the Eagles as he rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown. It would appear that the Eagles will use a 1-2 punch of Ajayi and LeGarrete Blount going forward. The Eagles have have a 3 pronged receiving attack with TE Zach Ertz and WRs Alshon and Nelson Agholor combining for 16 touchdowns so are in the 2017 season. The Eagles are averaging 7.4 yards per pass attempt.
As good as the offense has been for the Eagles, the defense has been almost as good. The Eagles have allowed 19.9 points per game and have one of the top rushing defenses allowing only 3.6 yards per rush against teams that average 4.0 yards. This could be a huge factor this week as the Cowboys struggle to get their ground game on track without Ezekial Elliot who is on week 2 of his 6 game suspension. Philadelphia totally shutdown the Bronco running game in week 9 allowing only 35 yards rushing and less than 2 yards per carry.
The Cowboys normally boast a strong running game but as mentioned early, the loss of Ezekial Elliot will force them to rely more on QB Dak Prescott. In the first game of Elliots absence the Cowboys went with Alfred Morris at RB and he responded with 53 yards on 11 carries but he does not have the same explosiveness as Elliot. The Cowboys tried to pass more with the Elliot absence and Prescott was 20 for 30 but he was sacked a total of 8 times in the game. A big factor in all of those sacks was the loss of Left Tackle Tryon Smith who missed the game due to a groin injury. Smith is listed as questionable this week but I think after last weeks struggles and the urgency on needing to win this week. Dallas will need to look for WR Dez Bryant to make some big plays as usually when Dez has a big game the Cowboys come up with a win.
The Cowboy defense will be missing a huge piece in this game as LB Sean Lee is expected to miss up to 2 games with a hamstring injury. In the last 4 games the Cowboys have allowed 18.5 points per game against pretty good offenses. The Cowboy defense has been up and down all year and they will need to have one of their good performances to beat the Eagles.
Jerbeeks Pick to Cover the Point Spread: These 2 teams have played 10 times in the past 5 years with the Cowboys winning 7 of the 10 and 2 of the games going into overtime. I expect a hard fought battle between 2 divisional rivals here and in those games I feel it is best to take the underdog, especially when the underdog is at home in a must win game. I will take the Cowboys to win this game 27-24. My recommendation is to play the Dallas Cowboys +3.5 points. – Bet this game for FREE by taking advantage of a 50% bonus up to $250 at one of the web’s oldest and most trusted betting sites: BOVADA
