NFL Picks Week 15: Take the Dallas Cowboys over the Washington Redskins

December 18, 2010   ·   Jack Jones   ·   Jump to comments

This Sunday the Dallas Cowboys will try to win their home finale when they host the Washington Redskins in a meaningless battle between two NFC East teams. The Cowboys come into the game off a 30-27 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, while the Redskins lost a heartbreaker at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, falling 17-16 thanks to two missed field goals and a botched extra point. The Cowboys will look to avenge a 13-7 Week 1 loss to the Redskins, where neither team played all that well. Despite a 1-6 record at home, our NFL odds have the Cowboys favored by 6.5 points over the Redskins, with the total sitting at 46.

Washington (5-8)

It’s hard to imagine there is much fight left in the Redskins this season, especially after they outplayed the Buccaneers last week and still found a way to lose the game. Donovan McNabb is having the worst season of his career, and the defense is ranked dead last in the NFL, giving up 395 yards of total offense a game.

McNabb is coming off one of his best games of the season, as he completed 22 of 35 for 228 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was the first game that McNabb didn’t throw an interception and had a quarterback rating over 100 (100.7) since Week 2 when he lit up the Texans defense for 426 yards and a touchdown. There’s a chance McNabb might not even start this week, as head coach Mike Shanahan has not named his starter up to this point.

Ryan Torain provided a much needed lift to the running game last week, rushing for 172 yards on 24 carries, and will likely be asked to carry an even bigger load this week, especially if McNabb doesn’t play. The Redskins managed just 89 yards against the Cowboys back in Week 1.

Dallas (4-9)

There is no question that this is a much different and much better team than the one that played the Redskins back in Week 1. Since Jason Garrett has taken over head coaching responsibilities, the Cowboys have gone 3-2 and are averaging 32 points a game.

Jon Kitna has really put together a fine season for the Cowboys after stepping in for the injured Tony Romo back in Week 7. Kitna went 24 of 35 for 242 yards and two touchdowns against the Eagles last week but also had two interceptions. Kitna had thrown just two interceptions to seven touchdowns in his previous four games.

The Cowboys came into the game against the Eagles averaging 165 yards on the ground in their last three games, but managed just 110 yards on 24 carries. Look for Dallas to have a much better time running the ball this week, as the Redskins come in allowing 134 yards a game and just gave up 188 yards to the Bucs last week.

Looking at the Odds

I believe there is no question that you lay the points and bet the Cowboys this week. It appears as though the Cowboys have bought into Garrett’s plan and want to do everything they can to keep him as their coach next season. The big difference in this game will be the Redskins’ inability to stop the Dallas offense. My final score prediction is Dallas 38, Washington 24.

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