Week 13 Thursday Night Football: Dallas Cowboys vs New Orleans Saints Odds, Picks, and Predictions
The New Orleans Saints (5-6) will try to come back to life as they take on the Dallas Cowboys (7-5) in this week’s edition of Thursday Night Football. Both teams find themselves amidst a losing streak of their own, and come into this Thursday night game with a combined 1-5 record in the last three weeks. Despite their two-game losing streak, the Cowboys are still in the mix for the top seed in the NFC playoff picture, while the Saints are trying to cling onto that last Wild Card spot in the NFC.
The Saints will have to battle their own injuries before they can even take the field though, seeing as they will be entering this game without their QB1, RB1, WR1, TE1, and three starting offensive linemen. The Cowboys were about to join them, with Ceedee Lamb, Amari Cooper, and Ezekiel Elliot all beginning the weel on the injury report, but it appears all three will be good-to-go for tonight’s matchup.
Saints fans should be marginally happy to hear that swiss army knife Taysom Hill will be healthy for the first time this season, and is expected to start behind center. Mark Ingram is set to take over for Alvin Kamara, who will be missing his fourth game in a row.
The spread for this game has been moving throughout the week, opening at -4 in favor of the Cowboys, but now sitting at -6.5 in favor of Dallas. Regardless of the line, some of the best bets are found in the props, and seeing how I went 3-1 on Monday Night, I think it’s fair to say I’m hot. Here are some of my best bets for tonight’s games:
Best Bets
The Dallas Cowboys have been the first touchdown scorer in only five of their 12 games--Ezekiel Elliot has scored two, Ceedee Lamb has two, and Tony Pollard has one. While that’s not too promising, the Saints have only scored the first touchdown in three of their 11 games, with two of them coming from Alvin Kamara in the first two weeks of the season--so first touchdown scorer is a bit of a wild card. Ezekiel Elliott is currently the favorite to score the first touchdown (at +600) but surprisingly the Saints rush defense has been very solid this year, allowing the third-least amount of yards to opposing running backs, and only letting up 9 rushing TD’s throughout the year. Due to this, I see the first TD coming through the air, with someone like CeeDee Lamb (+750) or Dalton Schultz (+950) at the receiving end of things.
I don’t expect a huge game out of Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper, who is expected to be limited due to a two-week absence due to COVID-19. His receiving yard Over/Under currently sits at 49.5, and I will comfortably be taking the under 49.5 receiving yards (-110).
Although I seem to be pretty Cowboy’s heavy so far, I do expect the Saints to give QB Dak Prescott a bit of trouble. The Saints defense ranks 8th overall in interceptions (13), and has given trouble to high-skilled Quarterbacks such as Tom Brady, Josh Allen, and Aaron Rodgers--who all threw two interceptions against this defensive unit. Due to that, I’ll be taking Dak Prescott to throw an Interception (+106).
Prediction
The Cowboys have been one of the best teams against the spread all season, yet have not been able to cover in their last two weeks. However, the Saints have been a dead team recently, so if the Cowboys wanted an opportunity to break out of their slump, this is the week to do it. I’ll be taking The Cowboys (-6.5) this week, but if that number was any higher I would simply leave it alone.
All in all, here is my slip for tonight’s game:
Cowboys -6.5 (-110)
Dalton Schultz first TD Scorer (+950)
CeeDee Lamb Anytime TD Scorer (+135)
Dak Prescott to throw an Interception (+106)
Mark Ingram Over 50.5 Rushing Yards (-110)
If you find yourself in Louisianna and want to place some bets on your saints, click HERE to find the best places to bet in your area. IF you're watching the game live and want to get in on some action, click HERE to pick up some NFL living betting tips from our NFL expert.
