3 best early prop bets for Cowboys vs Bears Week 8 NFC matchup
57. 1:00 PM ET. 3-4. FOX. Sunday, Oct 30. 5-2. 123. Cowboys -9.5
The Dallas Cowboys are preparing to take on the Chicago Bears in an NFC matchup that has huge implications for both teams. Right now, Dallas is the No. 4 ranked team in the NFC, and they need this win to continue to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Bears are coming off a big road win against the New England Patriots. However, the short rest and travel for another road game could certainly affect this team as they head to AT&T Stadium.
These two teams happen to have the same strong suits. Both have great defenses, albeit Dallas’s is much better, and offenses that aren’t super strong. However, their biggest asset is the run game, an area where the Cowboys’ defense tends to struggle. Hopefully, recently acquired DT Johnathan Hankins can help America’s Team in that area.
You never want to count out an opponent, especially one coming off a big victory, but the oddsmakers seem to be heavily favoring Dallas in this one. BetMGM (and most other sites) has the Cowboys as 9.5-point favorites. They are also -450 on the moneyline and the total for the game is 42.5.
Interested in getting into the betting action for the game? Here are three early prop bets to consider for the Week 8 battle.
Dallas Cowboys 3 Best Early Prop Bets for Week 8 vs. the Bears
**All numbers are from BetMGM**
1. Tony Pollard, Rushing Yards, Over 73.5 (-115)
According to Jerry Jones, Ezekiel Elliott is sitting out with a grade 2 MCL sprain in his right knee. This would give the RB1 three weeks’ rest before starting Week 10 in Green Bay.
The absence of Elliott will mean significantly more snaps for RB2 Tony Pollard. Even without an injury absence, the Cowboys passing game has been struggling, and they will want to continue to use the ground game to succeed and win this game.
This season, Elliott and Pollard have combined for an average of 25 rush attempts per game. Pollard won’t take all 25, but with an average of 5.6 yards per carry, even if Pollard only gets 15 carries, he will already be at about 84 yards.
2. Justin Fields, Rushing Yards, Under 47.5 (-115)
The Bears’ offensive line is dealing with injury issues and this Cowboys defense will be hungry to get after a young and inconsistent quarterback. With Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Dorance Armstrong, and others on the field, expect to see a lot Fields struggle and get sacked a good amount.
Fields is a mobile quarterback, but it’s hard for any QB to do well against this pass rush. For example, Jalen Hurts had just 27 yards against Dallas in Week 6, which was his second-lowest total of the season so far.
3. First Half Total, Under 20.5 (-105)
We think this game will be low scoring in general. Both of these teams are stronger defensively than offensively. However, the Cowboys tend to be a very slow first-half team so far this year. The good news about that is that they’re able to make half-time adjustments. The bad news is that they need to start stronger.
It’s likely this team will once again find its rhythm later in the game after figuring out how to adjust with less Elliott rushing.
For what it’s worth, the first half under has hit in five of the Cowboys’ seven games so far.
**Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.**
