NFC East Showdown - Washington Redskins vs. Dallas Cowboys

Washington Redskins (3-6 SU, 2-6-1 ATS) at
Dallas Cowboys (6-3 SU, 5-4 ATS)

Sunday, November 22 -- 1 PM ET

BetUS NFL betting odds: DALLAS -11, Total 41.5

In the BetUS NFL betting odds, the Cowboys are listed as an eleven-point favorite, with a posted total of 41.5 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• WASH is 3-11-3 ATS in its last 17 games
• WASH has lost four of its last five games SU
• WASH has played 15 of its last 21 games UNDER the total
• WASH has covered one of its last eight road games
• WASH has won its last seven road games SU
• DALL has won four of its last five games SU
• DALL has covered seven of its last nine home games
• DALL has won eight of its last ten home games SU
• DALL has played four of its last five home games OVER the total

Also...

• WASH has covered four of its last five meetings
• DALL has covered 15 of the last 22 meetings
• DALL has won 17 of the last 23 meetings SU
• DALL has covered 13 of the last 19 meetings as the home team
• DALL has won 11 of the last 13 meetings SU as the home team

Wait! Are you telling me the Washington Redskins actually got a win against the Denver Broncos last week? Yeah, that's right - the 'Skins scored more than 17 points for the first time this season as Denver was weakened by the injury suffered by Kyle Orton, suffering its third consecutive loss, both straight-up and in the NFL betting odds.

Clinton Portis sat that game out with a concussion, while Ladell Betts rushed for 114 yards in his place. Portis sits out again, so Betts gets another opportunity, and I don't think the Redskins will be compromised to a huge degree, although it eats into depth. The offensive line opened some holes for the run, but it still has had problems protecting Jason Campbell, who has been sacked 28 times on the season.

Dallas Cowboys, after losing in their regular season debut at the new stadium to the New York Giants, have been impressive, beating the Panthers by 14, the Falcons by 16 and the Seahawks by 21. Washington has been competent on defense (yielding 288 yards a game) but this hasn't helped them in the NFL betting odds (just two covers in nine games) because of the overall offensive incompetency, which is not likely to experience sustained improvement with both Portis and Chris Cooley out of the lineup.

Unless we're seeing a transformation, we have every right to expect that the 'Skins will not exceed 17 points, and unless they can all of a sudden start forcing turnovers (only five INT's in the secondary) they're not going to get many easy opportunities from Romo. Albert Haynesworth has a painful ankle injury, which won't be conclusively evaluated until right before game time, and if he can't go, that leaves more of a open door for Dallas' very competent ground attack (5.1 ypc), which is too good to be stopped again is it was last week.

Will either of these coaches have a job come February? Jim Zorn's ouster is more certain, but if Wade Phillips doesn't win games like this, he can pack too. We'll go with the Cowboys, the 11-point favorite in the BetUS NFL betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: DALLAS -11 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)