2014 Dallas Predictions
The Dallas Cowboys have been stuck in neutral for the past three seasons with a record of 24-24 and it has been five years since they last made an appearance in the postseason.
2013 Record: 8-8
ATS: 9-7
Cowboys Odds to win the NFC East: +300
Cowboys Odds to win the NFC Conference: +2500
Cowboys Odds to win Super Bowl XLIX: +5000
Considering these results, the only reason that general manager Jerry Jones still has his job is the fact that he also owns the team. If Dallas suffers through another mediocre campaign in 2014, he is may be tempted to clean house and start things over from scratch.
Let’s take a look at the numbers
Despite the .500 record, the Cowboys have been in position to win the NFC East all three seasons, but each time they came up short in a Week 17 loss. This has been both a blessing and a curse for a talented team that has had major trouble living up to its lofty expectations.
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Most of the blame tends to fall on veteran quarterback Tony Romo, but he has probably played some of his best football these past few years in a career that has now spanned 11 seasons.
The question marks surrounding Romo this season hinge on his health after coming off back surgery this past offseason. He will still have a very talented core of receivers led by Dez Bryant, but the Cowboys still need to address a running game that was ranked 24th in the NFL last season in yards per game.
Overall, this offense ranked 16th in total yards, but it did a good job finding the end zone with an average of 27.4 points a game, which was the fifth-highest total in the league.
The main concern with Dallas heading into the new season is a defense that was ranked near the bottom of the league in a number of major categories in 2013. It allowed an average of 415.3 yards a game which was ranked dead last and the 27 points a game it gave up was the 26th most in the NFL.
This offseason has not helped the cause with the loss of defensive tackle Jason Hatcher to free agency. Dallas also parted ways with Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Ware and linebacker Sean Lee was lost for the season with a knee injury in May’s OTA’s.
This means the Cowboys will kick things off this September without its top three defensive players on a unit that was one of the worst in the league.
Cowboys Betting Outlook
It is no big surprise that the Cowboys’ projected win total for 2014 has been set at eight since this appears to be the standard benchmark for this team in recent years. The moneyline heavily favors the UNDER at -165, which points to a less than optimistic outlook from the betting public.
I would tend to agree, especially given the dire situation on the defensive side of the ball. Nothing in my mind points to any kind of dramatic turnaround from its dismal performance in 2013 and Romo’s health adds even more doubt to the equation.
If I were Jones I would start preparing myself for a fourth-straight .500 season.
With training camps next up for the NFL betting offseason Cappers Picks NFL Football handicappers have been hard at work putting out the team by team Football Predictions and NFL Season Previews for those of us who can’t wait.
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