Monday Night Football: Eagles/Cowboys Prediction & Pick Against the Spread

So it was an average Sunday for me. I came out in the black, which was good, but I was just 1 game away from having a great Sunday betting on the NFL. I’m going to blame the rain on ruining the Steelers game for me. I guess that’s one reason to wait to place your bets right before the game when you know for certain what the weather conditions and player statuses will be. Let it be a lesson learned and let’s move on.

Tonight, the Dallas Cowboys are hosting the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys came out as 7-point favorites, but the spread then dropped to Cowboys -6.5 after the betting public starting betting heavy on the underdog Eagles. I’m sure most of you are thinking Cowboys at home home on Monday Night is the way to go. Some of you might not be persuaded by the Eagles performance last week because it was, after all, the Rams. I just want to warn you of a few things before you decided to throw money down on the Cowboys. First, be warned that I am an Eagles fan.

Here is why you SHOULDN’T bet on the Cowboys tonight. The Eagles are 3-1 against the Cowboys in their last 4 games including a win in Dallas last season. The Eagles are great at getting pressure on Tony Romo and forcing him to make bad decisions with the ball. I expect the Eagles to get a few sacks and an INT off Romo tonight. The Eagles defense will make this a tight game. I’m not too worried about Terrell Owens. The Eagles have 4 Pro-Bowlers in their secondary (Asante Samuel, Brian Dawkins, Lito Sheppard, and Sheldon Brown). Asante Samuel will be on Owens the majority of time and if T.O. ever gets past him, Dawkins will be right there to lay the hammer on T.O. I wouldn’t be shocked if this is your classic, low-scoring NFC East defensive tussle.

However, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend putting money on the Eagles. The Eagles lost badly to the Cowboys when they played in Philadelphia last year. I see Witten as the Cowboys biggest threat this game (not Owens). Jason Witten destroyed us in the game in Philly last season.

To update you on the injury front, Marion Barber is listed as probable and it looks like the Eagles will get their top WR Reggie Brown back for this game. Reggie Brown was resting a hamstring injury that was nagging him throughout preseason, but he should be back in the lineup tonight. I think DeSean Jackson’s 106 yards last week helped his hamstring heal a little quicker.

UPDATE: ESPN’s bottom line listed Reggie Brown as OUT.

Personally, I’m putting 3 units (to get 2 units) on the Eagles +7.5 (I bought a point) to make the game a little more interesting, but I think the best thing for you to do is pass on this game and wait for the week 3 NFL lines. As an Eagles fan, I cannot give a prediction or an official pick on this game.

Enjoy the game tonight.