NFL Week 8 Wagering – Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This is a huge game for not online NFL betting fans but for the Dallas Cowboys as well. Should they lose this then I believe online football wagering fans can honestly say that the wheels have fallen off the semi-truck that was the Dallas Cowboys. They won’t be rolling over any contenders in the NFL after a loss to the Bucs on the road.
Of course, that’s the issue, right? I mean, the ‘Boys are facing one of the best teams in the entire NFL. Yes, you read that correctly. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a solid offense and an exceptional defense. I still maintain that they have one of the best linebackers in the NFL in middle linebacker Barrett Rudd.
Rudd can dominate from that position. I expect that Coach Jon Gruden has already poured over how the St. Louis Rams decimated the Cowboys’ pass protection schemes in Dallas’s loss to the Rams this past Sunday. Gruden will have his fellas ready to take it to the ‘Boys again no matter who the starting quarterback is.
Because the BetUS oddsmakers haven’t released online NFL odds on this game, I’ve listed what I believe the online odds will be.
Kick-off: 10/26/2008 1:00 pm est.
Dallas Cowboys + 3 ½ – 110 + 110 O 44 ½ – 110
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 3 ½ – 110 – 125 U 44 ½ – 110
Here are a few online wagering trends that might help us find a good online bet in this game:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 4 and 0 against the spread versus a team with a winning record.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 4 and 1 against the spread in their last 5 games versus a NFC rival.
The Dallas Cowboys are 1 and 4 against the spread in their last 5 games on grass.
The Dallas Cowboys are 1 and 9 against the spread in their last 10 games versus an NFC rival.
Okay, so things are sort of looking up for the Cowboys, right? I mean, if BetUS hasn’t released online betting odds on this game, it means that Tony Romo is probably going to get the start.
I don’t know how effective a guy will be with a busted pinkie, but Brad Johnson obviously can’t survive back there. Of course, it’s not his fault. The fact is that the Cowboys’ offensive line is overrated in pass protection. Romo loves to run around. That was the thinking from online betting fans. Well, maybe Romo has to run around. Maybe love has nothing to do with it. Maybe he has to run around to escape trouble.
A team can’t function at a high level when their quarterback is always creating on the fly. I expect that the Bucs will throw a healthy dose of short passes and up the middle runs at that porous Cowboys’ defense. Then either Romo or Johnson will have to try and get the ball to one of their overrated wide receivers, either Terrell Owens, who shouldn’t be starting, and Roy Williams who hasn’t gotten into the offensive flow of things. The truth about the ‘Boys is that both Patrick Crayton and Miles Austin should be starting at the wide receiver position.
That’s not going to happen. Forget about Marion Barber because Barrett Rudd will stop him from getting loose.
NFL Week 8 Prediction:
I like the Bucs to cover whatever the online betting spread ends up being. If Romo starts, and because these are the Cowboys, I don’t see the spread going past 3 ½ points, but if Johnson starts, then the Bucs might be 5 ½ to 7 ½ point favorites.
Either way, the Cowboys are looking at a third straight loss, their fourth out of their last five games and their sixth loss against the spread this season.
