Dolphins and Cowboys Kick Off Preseason Schedule
The annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio Kicks off this Sunday between the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys. The main reason to be excited about this game is because we will get to see some football. Of course, this is preseason (early preseason at that), which means you will be watching a bunch of guys who will be playing arena football next season, coaching football at their old high schools, or working a regualr job like the rest of us do. But, for a few weeks, they get to put on the football pads and mix it up with the NFL stars. A few of these guys will impress the coaches enough to take the place of the guys who just don’t have it anymore, but most will be cut.
But, there are some important things going on in preseason games too. The most important is getting some reps for the back-up quarterbacks which are always one missed block away from being thrown into a regular season game. It’s tough for these guys to impress during the preseason because they are working with guys who have little or no experience and barely know the playbook. But sometimes you will see one who looks pretty good out there. He’s one to keep an eye on.
The Dolphins and Cowboys bring back memories of great teams from the past. There was Tom Landry vs Don Shula in Super Bowl VI down in New Orleans in the 1971 season. The Cowboys won that one 24-3, and to this day that is the only team held without a touchdown in a Super Bowl. The Dolphins responded to that with two Super Bowl championships in the next two seasons, losing only two games in those two years. They lost none the following year, 1972. Miami has not won a Super Bowl since 1973. That’s hard to believe.
Almost as tough to believe, is that the Cowboys have not won a Super Bowl in nearly two decades. This is the 20th season since the 1995 Super Bowl Champion Cowboys won its third in a four year stretch with Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin leading the way. A memorable Thanksgiving Day Game back then was between the Dolphins and Cowboys when Leon Lett made a boneheaded mistake by trying to fall on a blocked field goal in the closing seconds. Had he left the ball alone, the Cowboys would have had the ball and just run out the clock. But instead, on a snow covered field, he tried to pounce on the ball, it squirted away, and the Dolphins recovered. They then kicked the game winner on the next play as time expired.
The really weird thing about that game was that Dallas went unbeaten the rest of the year, while Miami lost five straight the rest of the way to finish at 9-7.
BetOnline has odds on all of the opening week of preseason action.
Miami vs Dallas– Miami -2 -120 and Dallas +2 +100 ATS. Over/under is 33 with over -103 and under -117. Preseason is shooting in the dark. For most of the game we don’t even know who’s in uniform. So may as well take the points and go with Dallas +2 and the under -117 since defense is ahead of the game this time of year.
