Following their Thanksgiving Day beatdown of the New York Giants (in the second half), the Dallas Cowboys’ schedule gave them three consecutive bizarre battles with non-rivals who reside quite a bit outside the team’s current sphere of relevance.
First came the Colts, who were led by Matt Ryan and Jeff Saturday until the hourglass ran out in the fourth quarter. Then came the Texans, who battled far harder than most anticipated, but couldn’t stop Dallas from gaining 98 all-important yards on the final drive of the game.
Now, it’s time for the Cowboys to travel to Jacksonville and take on the Jaguars, a team that sits at 5-8, but in a far friskier place than they occupied last season with Urban Meyer in charge.
The Jags are now on the outside looking in of the playoff picture, but have an outside shot to make the dance if they can run the table and watch the Titans spiral. Hopefully, the Cowboys can put a stop to that narrative quickly.
Cowboys vs Jaguars Odds, Spread, Moneyline for Week 15
As of Tuesday morning, the Cowboys are -4.5 road favorites traveling to Jacksonville (according to FanDuel); the Jaguars, for reference, are coming off a fairly healthy 36-22 of the Tennessee Titans that has upended the playoff picture slightly, for the time being.
Dallas is -115 to cover that -4.5 spread, while the Jaguars are -105 to get within five points. On the moneyline, Dallas is -225 to win, while the Jags are +188 to come away victorious. That’s a (sigh) solid bet, considering Dallas is nearly locked into the No. 5 seed and the Jaguars have plenty to play for within their division.
Cowboys vs Jaguars Prediction and Preview for Week 15
Trap Game Alert for sure, as the Cowboys head home to take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Christmas Eve following this brief sojourn in unfamiliar territory.
While Trevor Lawrence didn’t rise to immediate stardom in Year 1, he looks the part of a top QB this season now that he’s escaped Meyer’s shadow. 20 touchdowns against six picks looks a hell of a lot better than 12:17, a league-leading interception total as a rookie.
That said, Jacksonville hasn’t earned their reputation as a frisky defense. This isn’t Myles Jack in the AFC Title Game anymore; the Jags are 27th in the NFL in yards allowed per game, though they’re 14th in yards allowed on the ground and middle of the pack in points against (15th, 22.6 per game).
Dallas’ patchwork secondary must shut down Lawrence to win, and will have to rely on tertiary receiving options like Noah Brown again if the running game gets bottled up. Predicting a narrow Cowboys win, 23-21, with Lawrence’s final drive stalling at the 50.
**Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.**
3 causes for concern from Cowboys narrow win vs Texans
The Cowboys were lucky to escape with a win against the Texans on Sunday. Here are three causes for concern from the come-from-behind victory.