Dallas Cowboys Over/Under Wins Odds 2021: Dak to lead Dallas to the over
A healthy Dak Prescott is a big boost for the Dallas Cowboys. If he's back to his pre-injury form then expect good things this season writes Zach Rainey...
The Dallas Cowboys are going to be one of the more curious cases in the NFL this season.
Everyone will be anxious to see how Dak Prescott looks after that gruesome injury that caused him to miss the final 11 games of the season.
One thing that will help Prescott is that his offensive line is a lot more intact compared to last season. It was unfortunate we missed that time from Dak, as he was just on the cusp of being a 5,000-yard passer in the season before.
He also had seemed to be developing a rapport with rookie wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. One thing I was encouraged about was Lamb’s development even after Prescott went out, and I think could push Michael Gallup to become the team’s No. 2 receiver. Fortunately, he has enough explosiveness in his game to be able to to make plays from any part of the field.
With the line fully healthy again, I expect to see more this season from Ezekiel Elliot. I’ll give him the pass last year. It was the COVID year and your franchise quarterback got hurt. It’s not nice, but it’s okay to not like Andy Dalton as his replacement if you’re Elliot.
But because of that, Tony Pollard found his way onto the field late in the year and I could be in line for some reps this season.
The Cowboys will need all of these guys, because I have the feeling they’re going to need to score a lot of points. The glaring need for the Cowboys in the draft was corner, and they got played almost just perfectly to where the top-two corners in the draft were then gone. They went from thinking they would have their pick of the two, to getting neither.
But they did take a player who I think could make multiple Pro Bowls in Micah Parsons from Penn State. You put him beside a fully healthy Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith? This could end up being the league’s best linebacker group in two or three years.
Again, it will be the back end of this defense that lets them down this year. But if they can play just enough defense from the front-seven and score a lot of points, Cowboys take the NFC East.
Dallas could start the year 0-2 with losses to Super Bowl Champion Tampa and the Los Angeles Chargers. But after that, I have them rattling off seven straight. They’re better than Philly and Carolina and they'll take the game against the New York Giants in Week 5.
Who knows if Mac Jones will be playing by Week 6 when they face New England, so I’m giving that to Dallas to go into the Bye at 4-2.
After the bye I think they’ll beat Minnesota, Denver and Atlanta before losing at Kansas City.
They’ll rebound to beat Vegas and New Orleans, but Washington sneaks up and gets one in Week 14. In my mind, it’s the Giants that will be the Cowboys’ primary competitor this year, not Washington.
Dallas wins hosting Washington in Week 16, falls to Arizona Week 17 and wins at Philly to end the year 11-6.
Currently, the projection for Dallas is 9.5. I’ll take the over at plus-money.
