Cardinals vs Cowboys: Week 6 Game Analysis

As the old saying goes, things have gone from bad to worse for the Dallas Cowboys in 2020. After getting off to a painfully slow start this season, the Boys saw franchise quarterback Dak Prescott suffer a season-ending ankle injury last week. Now, as the team turns to veteran Andy Dalton, Dallas will try to give its playoff hopes a boost when they host Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night.

While Dallas is mired in the middle of a mess, Arizona and Murray are blossoming before our very eyes. Now, let’s find out if the Cowboys can overcome the loss of their franchise quarterback in order to cover the Week 6 NFL betting spread in this intriguing matchup.

Betting Lines

Head-to-Head

If you didn’t know it before, Arizona has won four of the last five – and six of the last 10 meetings – in this NFC rivalry. However, the last time they met in 2017, Dallas recorded a 28-17 road win to snap a four-game skid. The Cardinals are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road dates against Dallas, but Arizona is also 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings overall. The Home team has cashed in eight times in the last 11 meetings while the underdog has gone 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.

Arizona Cardinals

Betting Record

Next game: vs Seahawks

Last Game

Arizona snapped a modest two-game skid and got back in the win column by subduing reeling Jets 30-10 in Week 5 to cover the chalk as a touchdown road favorite. Second-year quarterback Kyler Murray passed for a career-high 380 yards with one touchdown and one pick while adding 31 rushing yards and another score on nine carries. Running backs Kenyon Drake and Chase Edmonds added rushing scores while Pro Bowl wide receiver DeaAndre Hopkins caught six passes for 131 yards and one touchdown. The win helped Arizona improve to 8-2-2 ATS in their last 12 road games and now the Cards head into their Monday Night Football matchup having gone 3-0-1 ATS in their last four Week 6 games.

Stats Pack

Arizona ranks a solid 10th in total offense, 16th in passing, a stellar sixth in rushing and 16th in scoring (25.6 ppg). Defensively, the Cardinals have been surprisingly rock-solid in ranking 10th overall, fifth against the pass, 19th against the run and an impressive fifth in points allowed (20.4 ppg).

Trends

Everyone knew the Houston Texans and now deposed former head coach and GM Bill O’Brien made an insanely huge mistake by trading Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and sure enough, the superstar wideout is in the midst of another stellar season. Hopkins has 45 catches for 528 yards and two touchdowns. Hopkins has three games of at least 130 receiving yards including last week’s effort against the Jets and could be in for a huge day against a Cowboys defense that has been non-existent this season.

Injury Report

Chandler Jones – LB

Devon Kennard – OLB

Chris Banjo – S

Rashard Lawrence – DT

JR Sweezy – G

DJ Foster – RB

Rees Odhiambo – T

Dallas Cowboys

Betting Record

Next game: at Washington

Last Game

While the Cowboys managed to snap their own two-game losing streak by getting past the New York Giants 37-34 last weekend, Dallas failed to cover the chalk as a 7.5-point home favorite and suffered a huge blow with franchise quarterback Dak Prescott suffering a gruesome broken ankle in the win.

Prescott completed 14 of 21 passes for 166 yards with one interception before giving way to backup Andy Dalton who went 9 for 11 for 11 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Running back Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 91 yards and two scores on 19 carries, but now Dallas must win without Prescott for the remainder of 2020. The Boys are 4-1 ATS in their last five Monday night contests but just 2-5 ATS in their last seven home games.

Stats Pack

Dallas has been absolutely explosive offensive in ranking first in total offense, first in passing, 19th in rushing and third in scoring (32.6 ppg). Then again, the Cowboys have been completely awful on defense. Dallas ranks 27th overall, 20th against the pass, 28th against the run and dead last in points allowed (36.0 ppg). The Cowboys have allowed 34 points or more in each of their last four games.

Trends

I don’t know how anyone passed on former Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb as the top receiver in this year’s draft, but Dallas is reaping the benefits of acquiring the gifted pass-catcher with the 17th overall pick. Lamb had eight catches for 124 yards last week after hauling in five passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns in Week 4 against the Browns. With at least five catches in every game this season and a season-high eight last weekend, Lamb is trending upward.

Injury Report

Dak Prescott – QB

Trysten Hill – DT

Betting on the Game

Point Spread

It bodes well for Arizona fans and betting backers that the Cardinals are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games against a team with a losing home record and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games against a team with a losing record. Arizona has also gone 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall and 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games in the month of October.

The Cowboys are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 home games against a team with a winning road record and 8-20 ATS in their last 28 games against a team with a winning record.Dallas is also 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall and a discouraging 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games against their NFC counterparts.

Moneyline

Arizona is just 2-5 SU in its last seven road games and 2-14 SU in their last 16 road games against Dallas. Still, Arizona is 4-1 SU in the last five meetings against the Cowboys while Dallas has gone 3-7 SU in its last 10 games. The good news for Cowboys fans and betting backers is the fact that Dallas has gone a robust 14-5 SU in its last 19 home games.

Over/Under

The Under is 5-0 in Arizona’s last 5 games overall and 4-0 in the Cardinals last 4 games as a favorite. There’s more. The Under is 4-0 in Arizona’s last 4 games as a road favorite and 7-0 in the Cardinals last 7 Monday Night Football games.

However, the Over is 5-0 in the Cowboys last 5 home games and 16-5 in their last 21 games against their NFC counterparts. The Over is also 5-2 in Dallas’ last 7 games against a team with a winning record and 7-3 in their last 10 games in Week 6.

Here is a look at the latest Super Bowl odds.