NFL Thanksgiving Betting – Cowboys, Eagles Battle for NFC East Lead

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (-3, 54.5)

The Thanksgiving Day game between the Philadelphia Eagles (8-3, 2-3 away) and the Dallas Cowboys (8-3, 3-3 home) at AT&T Stadium has been circled on the calendars of both teams for months.

How sweet is it now that both squads are battling for NFC East dominance with the playoffs just around the corner? Sweeter than my mom’s cranberry sauce. (I take that back. Sorry mom.)

But all joking aside, with the division lead at stake, the game promises maximum entertainment, and the players know it. Philadelphia defensive end Fletcher Cox said, “It’s going to be a great game. I’m really excited, man. I’m looking forward to it. We’re ready to roll. We’re ready for Thursday.”

The Eagles have been on a roll. Philly was demolished, 53-20, in Green Bay in week 11 (failing to come close to the spread); aside from that, though, the team is still humming with Mark Sanchez under center. The USC product threw his third 300-yard game in a row last week in a win over Tennessee. In the backfield, LeSean McCoy looks like he has returned to his Pro Bowl form.

Considering the Cowboys have allowed 160 rushing yards, combined, in the last two games, look for head coach Chip Kelly to come in with a pass-oriented game plan.

Hinted Kelly, “We’ve got a pretty good understanding of what [the Cowboys] are right now. They play extremely hard on the defensive side; and then, obviously, offensively they are running the ball at a very, very high rate.”

Defensively, the Eagles are allowing over 260 yards passing per game, which means Tony Romo should have a big day. Last week against the Giants, the Cowboys signal caller threw four TDs, including the game-winner to Dez Bryant late in the fourth quarter. DeMarco Murray, the NFL’s rushing leader, continued his torrid season against New York, rushing for over 100 yards for the tenth time this season.

A big question for both teams is who will be more prepared on a short week.

Said Jason Witten, “I think the excitement and adrenaline can override how tired you are. It’s a great opportunity for us. You can’t worry about anything else. Just get through it and move forward.”

This will be a battle; with it coming on four days’ rest, the under (54.5) is the major play.

(Photo credit: J-Ham2000 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)