NFC East: Can the Cowboys be the First to Beat Atlanta?

A few years ago, the New Orleans Saints had a perfect season going. They were only a couple of weeks away from going all the way to the playoffs unbeaten. Then they ran into the Dallas Cowboys. And that was that. But the Saints did go on to win the Super bowl, over the Indianapolis Colts. In 2006, the Colts were 9-0 until they met the Cowboys. And they lost. But the Colts recovered from that and won the Super Bowl. So the Cowboys have done this before. They will not be intimidated by the 7-0 Atlanta Falcons. The Cowboys have played the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants twice already this year. If Dez Bryant’s fingers on his right hand were an inch shorter, they’d have beaten them twice. If Tony Romo ever learns to take care of the ball, they’d have beaten a lot of teams this year. Dallas can play with anybody.

The  Falcons are 7-0. You don’t get to 7-0 unless you’re good. You also don’t get to 7-0 unless you can pull out a game in the clutch. Matt Ryan is earning his “Matty Ice” nickname this year as he has engineered several game winning or preserving drives late in the fourth quarter. With Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez to throw to and Michael Turner to hand the ball off to, the Falcons are a very potent football team. But the Falcons are probably not going to go unbeaten. Nobody ever does. So it’s just a matter of when will somebody beat them? The Cowboys are as capable as anyone of being that team.

Justbet has the Cowboys at +3.5 -120 or +165. The Falcons are -3.5 +100 or -185. Over/under 47.5. We’re going to pick the Cowboys straight up. But remember, a Falcons loss could be a good thing. The last two teams to go deep into a season unbeaten and lost to Dallas wound up winning it all.

In other NFC East games, we have:

Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints- Eagles are +3 -115 or +130. Saints are -3 -105 0r -150. We like the Eagles straight up at +130.

Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Giants- The Steelers are just now arriving n New Jersey at 11:00 AM for a 4:00 kickoff. Advantage Giants. Steelers are +3 +110 or +167. The Giants are -3 -130 or -190. We like the Giants – 3.

Carolina Panthers at Washington Redskins– It’s the battle of the last two Heisman Trophy winners as Cam Newton takes on Robert Griffin III. Cam can ill afford to lose this one. Panthers are +3 -105 or +145. The Redskins are -3 -115 or -165. Over/under is 48. We like the Panthers +3.