DALLAS COWBOYS
New Era: Right off the bat one has to realize that this is Wade Phillips’ first season as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Wade brings a superb defensive mind and head coaching success. Wade has 30 years of NFL coaching experience, 5 as the head-man. In his 5 seasons, Wade is 45-35 with only one non-winning season and 3 playoff appearances. However, Bill Parcells couldn’t figure out how to win playoff games in Dallas and Wade Phillips is 0-3 in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if this great defensive mind can take the Cowboys to the next level.
Over or Under: During the last 4 seasons the Cowboys have busted the over in 34 of their 71 NFL games, going 34-29-3 O/U in that time. Since Tony Romo took over for Drew Bledsoe in the 6th game of last season, the Cowboys hopped the over in 6 of their last 11 regular season games, going 6-3-2 O/U to end the season. Overall, the Cowboys were 9-4-3 O/U last year. In 2005 they were 8-8 and in 2004 the Boys were 9-7. With Terrell Owens, Tony Romo, and a very good rushing duo of Julius Jones and Marion Barber, the Cowboys can put up points. The Cowboys also gave up plenty of big plays last season giving up 20 or more points in 9 regular season games.
Against the Spread: Dallas was 9-7 ATS last season, but are 31-31-4 ATS over the last 4 seasons. Oddsmakers have to study the Cowboys well, as they are both loved and hated, meaning lots of personal wages go out on Cowboy games. With 4 ties and a perfect .500 record, the Cowboys are as consistently even as an NFL team gets. At 15-13-4 ATS in Dallas, the Cowboys are a little better at home than on the road (16-18), but not by much. One trend I’ve noticed, the Cowboys have struggled against divisional foes over the last 2 seasons, going 3-8-1 ATS in that span.
Straight Up: The Cowboys are traditionally a better home team than they are on the road, but that’s the case with most NFL teams (and sports teams in general). On the road, the Cowboys are 15-17 over the last 4 seasons, while going 19-13 in Dallas. More recently (In 2006), the Boys were 4-4 at home and 5-3 on the road, so last year the norm reversed. In Parcell’s 3 years with the club, Dallas was even in the regular season at 16-16 while going 0-2 in the playoffs.
Average Joes: Everywhere you look, the Cowboys are right around .500, give or take a couple games. Its seems to me that “America’s Team” is also “The Bookie’s Team” because that vig is almost guaranteed. Whether it’s the Cowboys’ 10-12-2 divisional record over the last 4 years, their 12-12 SU divisional record, their SU 16-16 regular season record over the last 3 seasons, or their 5-5-3 O/U record in divisional games in ’05 and ’06, the Cowboys always seem to be a game or two away from .500 if they’re not completely even.
