Dallas Sports Fan – Mavs Rolling, Stars Flickering, Cowboys Regrouping

The NBA is starting to take precedence in the Dallas area as the Mavericks are getting hot ahead of a big week on the horizon, while the Stars have been up and down. Of course, the Cowboys are never far away from the sports betting consciousness in this area and they’re working on what to do for next season.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks seem to be up to speed after their slow start, and they’ll have Thursday off after a week that Wagerweb reviews would rate as a resounding success. It started slow with a 22-point loss in San Antonio last Thursday, then the Mavericks dropped New Orleans, followed by wins in Detroit and Boston and things are starting to come together defensively as they held all three opponents to 86 points or less. Granted, it was against the Hornets and Pistons (two teams that aren’t very good), as well as the Celtics (who are looking old), and some players that work with sportsbook software are skeptical. But this is a team that won the title last year and if they can continue to play defense like this, they’ll be a threat to repeat. This week, the Mavericks host Milwaukee and Sacramento before heading the road for games against the Lakers and Clippers, followed by Utah on Thursday.

Dallas Stars

The Stars will be in Los Angeles on Thursday night to face the Kings, who are ahead of Dallas by two points in the standings, and those that are familiar with price per head services may say that that the team is stabilizing to where they should be: just outside of the playoff picture. They’ve won two of their last four, three of which occurred in the last week, which started with 4-1 wins in Nashville and at home against Edmonton, but they would return home for a 5-2 loss to Anaheim. Following the Los Angeles game, the Stars come home to host Colorado, then back out on the road to St. Louis, then back home for Detroit.

Dallas Cowboys

There are plenty of questions surrounding the Cowboys in the offseason, and the defense may be the biggest area of concern, which suffered down the stretch, but it was a few late-game losses that really hurt the Cowboys and that is a team-wide concern. Dallas will probably aim to improve a secondary which was decimated this season and they need a solid unit back there as there as the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles love to throw the ball. How they go about improving the secondary will be a major factor in next season’s sports betting odds.

Dallas Cowboys Update: Cowboys Offense is Ready to Attack

Sports betting experts watched as the Dallas Cowboys’ offense functioned effectively last season even though starting quarterback Tony Romo missed most of the season with a broken collarbone. With the changes coming to the Cowboys offense for 2011 which include a return by Romo and the possible exit of running back Marion Barber, online casino wagering football fans are starting to think that the Cowboys have the makings of the best offense in the NFC.

If the Cowboys can get production from last year’s number one pick wide receiver Dez Bryant, then the sportsbook promo crowd is thinking that the Cowboys receiving corps is the best in the NFC. Along with Bryant would be veteran Roy Williams and number one receiver Miles Austin. Tashard Choice and Felix Jones would carry the ball for the Cowboys behind an offensive line that could use a little help. The only place the Cowboys seem vulnerable on offense is at the offensive tackle position. Dallas is hoping that the current roster can help fill in those important spots.

No one is sure when free agency will start up again, but the Philadelphia Eagles have already indicated that they will be making a lot of NFL picks to help bolster Philly’s chances at a playoff spot. The Eagles put the Cowboys and New York Giants on notice that the NFC East will be competitive this year as the Eagles intend to win the division through improving their team in the offseason.

Even though the players are not on the field right now, the media is still evaluating the play from last year and handing out accolades. In a recent USA Today poll of professional football media experts, DeMarcus Ware was voted as the best outside linebacker currently in the league. Ware’s ability to rush the passer and stop the run makes him an all-around linebacker that the rest of the league is taking note of.

While DeMarcus Ware was getting recognized for his play, the rest of the Dallas defense is still on notice about their play last year. New defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has not had a chance to work extensively with a unit that gave up a lot of points and a lot of yards last year. The weakest point in the Dallas defense is the defensive secondary. It is difficult to dial up a blitz when there is no confidence that the secondary will be able to contain the receivers. The Cowboys drafted some top rated defensive secondary players, but it will be Ryan’s use of his personnel that will determine how successful the defense will be.

As most of the players sit at home and wonder when they will be able to get to the practice field again, players’ representatives and NFL owners try to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement. But it looks like the owners’ coalition is fragmenting as some owners are resisting the terms being discussed and are trying to negotiate with the players on their own. This week is a critical week as Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones and the rest of the NFL owners meet to try and get on the same page and bring the lockout to an end.

Dallas Cowboys Update: Making The Wrong Choice

Dallas Cowboys Update: Making The Wrong Choice

The betting experts can be a fickle bunch, and NFL betting experts are particularly brutal in their assessments. But when you serve up a home run pitch like Cowboys running back Tashard Choice did after the Cowboys loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in week 14, then the NFL predictions are going to weight heavily against you.

The Eagles beat the Cowboys 30-27 in one of the closer NFL scores of the week. But when the game was over, backup running back Tashard Choice was captured on camera getting Michael Vick’s autograph. Choice had waited all season to finally get a chance to play. He had sat on the bench behind Felix Jones and Marion Barber all season long. In one of his chances to shine, Choice lavishes praise on the opposing quarterback by asking for his autograph.

Choice said the autograph was for his three-year-old nephew, and most of the Cowboys players support Choice. But it is the fans that the Dallas players should be worried about, and the fans are not happy. Dallas sports radio lit up the next day with calls to bench or release Choice. Dallas Cowboys fans are already sensitive about not making the playoffs this year. When one of their running backs does the celebrity worship thing with the opposing quarterback, it is not going to go over well in Dallas. Read more

Cowboy Corner: Cowboys-Eagles Betting Information

COWBOY CORNER – Wild Card Weekend

Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys

Sunday, January 10, 8:00 p.m. ET

5Dimes Odds (5Dimes Reviews): Cowboys -4

Cowboys offense vs Eagles defense

The formula should be the same, but what kind of adjustments will be made?

Last week, sports wagering handicappers saw the Cowboys play with a fire that was fueled from revenge from a previous Week 17 loss, but will the Cowboys be as hungry this time around?

The Cowboys had their running game going as Marion Barber and Felix Jones each ran for 91 yards. Meanwhile, quarterback Tony Romo was superb once again and has now achieved a quarterback rating of 100 or higher in five of his last six games.

Considering Miles Austin has stepped up as the big playmaker in the passing game and Jason Witten is as reliable as can be, the Cowboys have a very versatile unit right now.

More importantly, all of their parts are hot.

Read the rest of the article after the jump.

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Cowboys vs Eagles Part 2: NFL Playoffs

The Cowboys shut out the Eagles big play offense in week 17 of the NFL regular season, and many have speculated that the Eagles didn’t want to show their hand. However that makes no sense considering the fact that if the Eagles won they would have enjoyed a first round bye. Also not many NFL teams would let the Dallas Cowboys shut them out on purpose and let them win the division.

Emmitt Smith you were wrong, not only did the Cowboys finish better than your prediction of 7 and 9, they won the division. This further proves why you are not a broadcaster anymore, not only do you have problems with the spoken word, you are not a good judge of talent. Patrick Crayton put it best when he said a certain someone who predicted 7 and 9 is running around here with a hat on.

This week the Cowboys will face the Eagles at Cowboys Stadium for the second week in a row, and I expect the game to be closer, but the results should be the same. The Cowboys defense looks better each week, the Cowboys are finally developing some talent. The Cowboys offense looked balanced for the first time in awhile, and surprise surprise a balanced attack works. Also Wade Phillips is coaching for his job for as the Dallas Cowboys head coach, so you know he is working extra hard. When you look across the field the coaching staff is pretty confident that they will be back next year no matter what. TV, Game & Matchup information after the jump!

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Dallas Cowboys – Betting Advice & Insight

COWBOY CORNER – WEEK 17

NFL Week 17: Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys

Sunday, January 3, 4:15 p.m. ET

5Dimes Odds (5Dimes Reviews): Cowboys -3

Cowboys offense vs Eagles defense

Very quietly, the Cowboys offense is improving on a weekly basis but nobody seems to notice.

While Roy Williams never developed into that No. 1 receiver everyone was hoping he would be, Miles Austin clearly is. And with the defensive attention being focused on him, internet betting cappers are seeing the Cowboys exploit the middle of the field more often.

Tight end Jason Witten had his third 100-yard receiving game on Sunday and considering how weak the Eagles linebacking corps has been this season, the Cowboys should have an advantage over the middle all day long.

Meanwhile, the much-maligned quarterback, Tony Romo, finally threw his first interception in four games (167 attempts) and has a quarterback rating of 100 or more in four of his last five games. Throw in the running game, which should be particularly effective against the Eagles, and the Cowboys should have a good game if they continue to avoid mistakes.

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Dallas Cowboys vs Philadelphia Eagles Preview

NFL week 17, the Dallas Cowboys will play host to another NFC East division rival, the Philadelphia Eagles. Both the Cowboys & Eagles are playing their best football of the season right now. The Philadelphia Eagles have won 6 straight and clinched a playoff berth. The Dallas Cowboys have won 2 straight and clinched their playoff berth, first the boys beat the Saints when no one gave ‘em a chance and last week they shut out the Redskins. The winner of this weeks game will clinch the NFC East Division. Let’s compare the teams and see how they matchup on paper.

History
Last Meeting:
Week 9 – Cowboys 20 @ Eagles 16

Last Season:
Week 2 – Cowboys 41 vs Eagles 37
Week 17 – Cowboys 6 @ Philadelphia 44

Advantage: Cowboys, the boys are 2 and 1 in the last 3 meetings and are playing at Cowboys Stadium.

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Cowboys Eagles Betting Information

COWBOY CORNER – WEEK 9

As any sportsbook bettor will tell you, the Dallas Cowboys are becoming NFL darlings again. They’ve won three straight games, largely because the passing attack and pass rush have both come to life. Now, travelling to Philadelphia for the Sunday nighter, America’s Team gets a chance to show us it’s for real.

Week 9 – DALLAS COWBOYS @ PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Sunday, November 8, 8:20 p.m. ET

Favorite: Eagles -3

Cowboys offense vs Eagles defense

No NFL betting fan can deny that Tony Romo has found himself after a few off weeks. He’s lighting up the scoreboard of late and the biggest reason for his renewed success is Miles Austin. Unlike Roy Williams, Austin reportedly took Michael Irvin’s offseason advice, learning to anticipate snap counts and explode off the line. All Austin has done is score five times in his last three games. It’s amazing how dangerous Romo becomes when he has a legit No. 1 option again.

We should, however, temper our expectations for Romo and the Cowboy offense this week – especially in the passing game. Romo carved up The Chiefs, Falcons and Seahawks over the last three games; in other words, he didn’t face an elite pass defense. Sunday at Philadelphia presents an entirely new challenge; the swarming Eagle “D” allows less than 200 passing yards per game and ranks second in the NFL with 23 sacks. We all know Romo can lay the odd egg when pressured. In fact, one of his worst recent performances came in Week 17 last season in Philadelphia. Romo threw for just 183 yards, got picked off and lost two fumbles in a 44-6 loss. Is he up to the challenge this week?

Cowboys defense vs Eagles offense

This isn’t the online betting mismatch It was a few weeks ago. There’s no question that the Eagles are soaring offensively right now; under Andy Reid’s pass-happy system, Donovan McNabb is posting big numbers and hooking up regularly with blindingly fast DeSean Jackson for huge passing gains. However, Dallas’ “D” is improving after a slow start. DeMarcus Ware has five sacks in his last three games and the Cowboys haven’t allowed more than 21 points in a game since Week 2. It won’t be a total picnic for McNabb.

Outlook

As much as Dallas will bring the heat, its secondary is just average. McNabb and Jackson will find a way to exploit that; Reid may pass even more than he normally does with Brian Westbrook still possibly not 100 per cent (concussion). The Cowboys have the offensive weapons to answer back in theory but we still won’t know how Romo will respond to facing his first tough defense in weeks. It looks like the Eagles are good NFL picks to take over first in the NFC East on Sunday. After all, look how they dismantled the Giants last week.

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles

Last Week: Bobby Carpenter recorded a sack….no really he did. The Dallas Cowboys ran over the Seattle Seahawks to a tune of 38 – 17. The Cowboys have looked great in both of their wins over Atlanta and Seattle, but their real test will come this week against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Last Year: The Cowboys and Eagles split their two meetings, but the Eagles win over the Cowboys at the end of the season has left a bad taste in the mouths of Dallas Sports Fans. The Eagles thumped the Cowboys 44 – 6 in the final game of the 2008 season. The most disheartening part about this loss is that a win would have ensured the Cowboys a playoff spot and they lost by 38 points.

This Year: The Cowboys have improved their record with 2 impressive wins over the Falcons and Seahawks in recent weeks. Tony Romo has not thrown an interception in a few games and the team is getting healthy. The hated Eagles have been a very up and down team this year, they lost to the Raiders, but have posted impressive wins over the Redskins and Giants in recent weeks. This game is pretty unpredictable, but Vegas has the Eagles winning by 3.

Gameday Information:

Cowboys – Eagles Game Information
Cowboys – Eagles Game Time: 7:15 PM – Central Time
Cowboys – Eagles Day / Date: Sunday – November 8 2009
Cowboys – Eagles Location: Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia PA
Cowboys – Eagles TV Channel: NBC
Cowboys – Eagles Announcers: Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth
Cowboys – Eagles Betting:

• Odds, Spread, Advice
• Early Point Spread: Cowboys +3
• Early Over-Under: 47.5

Cowboys – Eagles Tickets:

• 
  

• Cowboys Stadium Parking Information

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Eagles-Giants NFC Divisional Round Preview and Prediction

For the record, I am not a Cowboys fan. I’m not one of those haters that actively roots for the Cowboys to lose and that wouldn’t even urinate on Jerry Jones if he were on fire — and believe me, they’re out there in hordes — but I do somewhat enjoy the ridiculous ebb and flow and overreaction of Cowboys fans and the media here in Dallas to everything that goes on at Valley Ranch.

Why am I prefacing this post in such a manner? Well, because I just want to make it very clear that I have no inherent passion for the upcoming Eagles-Giants NFC Divisional Round playoff game this weekend, outside of just the normal interest that a football fan would have. However, the thought of writing an Eagles-Giants preview on Dallas Sports Fans, and rubbing a little more salt in the wounds of the Cowboys 2008 season, was just too delicious a thought to pass up.

(This just in: apparently, the Dallas Cowboys did not make the playoffs in 2008. Multiple media sources are reporting that the team’s prodigious hopes coming into the year went down in an infamous blaze of gory in Philadelphia two weekends ago. Can anyone else confirm this? Where is Randy Galloway when you need him…)

Robert may restrict my admin access after this post.

Anyway, before we go any further, below is a quick breakdown of this weekend’s Eagles-Giants NFC Divisional Round playoff game, in which both teams have a chance to do something that the Cowboys do not: advance to the NFC Championship game next weekend.

Philadelphia Eagles (10-6-1) at New York Giants (12-4)

• Sunday, January 11, 2009
• TV Schedule: 1:00 ET on FOX
• Announcer Pairing: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Pam Oliver
• Point Spread: New York Giants -4 1/2
• Over-Under Odds: 40

(Info for this game, and this weekend’s other games provided by the NFL Divisional Round Playoff TV Schedule post at MSF.)

Let’s run down some of the quick keys to the game real game, taken straight off the top of my head:

First, it is imperative that the Giants be able to establish a consistent passing game. Eli Manning and the passing attack of the Giants has been wildly inconsistent since Plaxico Burress was suspended following the infamous incident in which he shot himself in the leg. If you haven’t seen the hidden camera footage of the incident, or the untold story of how Plaxico was actually trying to shoot Tiki Barber, reported by Flash Sports Tonight, it’s rather interesting:

(BTW, if you can’t see the video, just head over to the FST website and watch it there.)

Anyway, guys like Domenik Hixon and Amani Toomer are going to have step up and give Eli Manning consistent targets on 3rd down — and catch the ball. Hixon has had trouble shaking the dropsies, and will need to correct that for the Giants to be able to threaten the Eagles defense in multiple ways. We know the Giants will be able to run the ball, and they have Brandon Jacobs back healthy and ready to play, but they will need balance against the Eagles D and Jim Johnson, who are playing at an extremely high level right now.

On the flip side, Philadelphia’s offense needs to be balanced as well. It goes without saying that Brian Westbrook needs to stay healthy and play the entire game for Philly to have a chance. He is the motor that makes the Eagles go and provides a dynamic threat to any defense. But he can’t beat a team like the Giants all by himself. The Eagles will throw the ball, and they will throw it a lot, and they need to threaten the Giants downfield to open up the inside running and short passes to Westbrook out of the backfield. For this to happen, Donovan McNabb needs to be accurate and they need a big game from DeSean Jackson.

A couple quick links to give you more info and better analysis that I’m capable of providing:

Giants-Eagles Preview — (Pat Kirwan, NFL.com)

Giants D-Line must pressure McNabb — (Thomas George, NFL.com)

And now, before I give you my prediction, chime in with yours:

[poll id="4"]

(And for the record, if you vote for the Cowboys, you are either an idiot, Jessica Simpson, or Jerry Jones. Honestly, I’m not sure which of those three I would rather be — or which one would do a better job of running the team.)

Sounds like another poll to me!

[poll id="5"]

This is the joy of having admin access and posting before Robert even wakes up. This post will go live before he can edit this post.

Okay, I’m done playing around. Time to offer up a prediction that you can take to the bank to be absolutely and terribly wrong.

The Giants have been an outstanding team all year long, and obviously have the better pedigree having won the Super Bowl last year. Philadelphia always seems to be that team that is just dangerous enough to win some games in the playoffs, but never can quite get over the hump. I like how Philly’s D is playing, and the fact that Brian Westbrook appears healthy and is providing that dynamic running/receiving threat gives them a fighting chance.

But I’m going with the defending champs. Having Brandon Jacobs back means that the great trio of Jacobs-Ward-Bradshaw and can pound away at the Eagles D and take some pressure off of Eli Manning and his undermanned received corps. I think the threat of the run, combined with play-action, will allow Eli to spread the ball around effectively to Hixon, Toomer, Steve Smith, and Kevin Boss.

I agree with Pat Kirwan of NFL.com and pretty much everyone else who thinks that this game will go down the final drive and be an outstanding, exciting viewing experience. In the end, I like the Giants to make the one or two plays that will decide the game, and to ride their running back trio into the NFC Championship game next week.

New York Giants 24 | Philadelphia Eagles 20 | Dallas Cowboys 0

Maybe next year Cowboys fans. But this weekend, you’ll have to watch the two best, most consistent, and most well-run franchises in the NFC East duke it out. And it should be one hell of a game to watch.

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