Atlanta opens up 3.5 point favs

[ActualCowboysFan]

Skins just won in Seattle. I wouldn't lock, stock and barrel a sure win over them in Dallas at this point. The Skins are a bizarre team.

Dallas owns the Skins

 

[jazzcat22]

At this point it won't matter. Julio isn't healthy so he won't outrun anyone behind this soft defense and he hasn't been a redzone target for years.

Don't get me wrong, he will still get his yards when we play zone, but I don't think the quickness and speed from last year is there now to take a pass to the house.

what's going on with Julio? I knew he had some issues earlier, but though that was over.

 

[JD_KaPow]

I keep wondering when we're going to win a close game this season.

ALL of our W's have been by 2+ scores.
To close losses.
One blowout loss.

It's funny because this organization sort of developed a reputation for "playing down" to their opponents in the past. Seemed to change in 2014, 2016, and again this year.

Maybe all those times we "played down", we just really weren't that good of a football team...

Ah, you're figuring it out.

The marker of a good team is that they blow people out and don't get blown out. You're always hearing this garbage about how good teams "know how to win the close games," but it's not how it works. Teams that go 12-4 blow out the bad teams on their schedule and the losses they do have are tight ones against good teams on their schedule. It's rare for a top team to get blown off the field: you'll see it once a season or so, like our DEN game this year, or the Patriots getting crushed by the Chiefs and the Bills in recent seasons. When you play a bunch of close games against mediocre opponents, it says you're not that good. When you win a bunch of close games against mediocre opponents, it says you're not that good and you're lucky.

 

[CowboyRoy]

It does look like a trap game. Good QB, playing at home, on a skid but still talented, sandwiched between two bigger games. No Elliott, possibly.

Still a game where we should be able to step on their throats, though. We're the better team right now.

KC was the first quality team that we beat. And we were at home. None the less, it was a dominant performance. That was a statement game. However, the Cowboys have shown that they can get cocky and come out flat and unprepared in the Garrett era. Dak admitted to thinking he had arrived and taking Denver lightly after he finally beat the Giants.

 

[reddyuta]

Dallas owns the Skins

Skins are a bad matchup against us,they are a big play offense and our Defensive mantra is not to get beat deep at any cost.

 

[Proximo]

Julio dropped one in the end-zone that would of changed the outcome of the game and Freeman went out injured and then came back during the game. This is not the Falcons that went to the Super Bowl.

I saw that drop and thought to myself- if Dez did that this board would literally explode.

 

[Silverstar]

Who is going to cover Julio?

I was thinking Chido by the time this game got here.

Disappointed to the say the least.

 

[Proximo]

Dallas owns the Skins

Prescott is 3-0 against them and Jason Garrett quietly has a very good record against them too. Something like 11-4.

 

[gmoney112]

Matt Ryan has really sucked this year. I don't even know if I'd put him in the top half of starting QBs. Julio has helped him a lot as well.

If we can get pressure, we'll win this game.

 

[DCreppinBoysfan]

I dread the horrible beatings that brown will administered by Julio.

 

[yimyammer]

Dangerous trap game next week looking ahead to the E-gals. I could see us losing this one and turning around and beating Philly...

if the players, coaches, et al are foolish enough to look past the Falcons, then hope is lost imho

 

[bayeslife]

Lol @ Falcons being a trap game

 

[Idgit]

Lol @ Falcons being a trap game

It's pretty much the definition of a trap game. It's a team with a worse record than the Cowboys, at home, having lost 4 of the last 5 (really 5 of the last 6, if you count the LoLions game), with two home losses to the Bills and Dolphins. Sandwiched in between two games against opponents with better records than the Cowboys in a three week span. "Trap" doesn't mean they don't have good players. It just means it's an easy game to make the mistake of overlooking.

Not too worried about the trap aspect, overall. Garrett teams rarely overlook anybody. I do worry about them just legitimately being a matchup problem for Dallas, and I do think we're going to get the best game they've got left in them, whatever that looks like. I also think we'll be playing without Elliott for the first time this week. So we'll see how that all plays out. But this is still a game we should win.

 

[mardwin]

It's pretty much the definition of a trap game. It's a team with a worse record than the Cowboys, at home, having lost 4 of the last 5 (really 5 of the last 6, if you count the LoLions game), with two home losses to the Bills and Dolphins. Sandwiched in between two games against opponents with better records than the Cowboys in a three week span. "Trap" doesn't mean they don't have good players. It just means it's an easy game to make the mistake of overlooking.

Not too worried about the trap aspect, overall. Garrett teams rarely overlook anybody. I do worry about them just legitimately being a matchup problem for Dallas, and I do think we're going to get the best game they've got left in them, whatever that looks like. I also think we'll be playing without Elliott for the first time this week. So we'll see how that all plays out. But this is still a game we should win.

trap game would be a teams like the giants or niners. This team doesn't have many "trap" games on their schedule.

 

[crashintonickdm]

That line will shift.

Also, they’ve been wrong on us a few times this year. 3.5 is merely for just being home too. I like our chances with or without zeke. Atlanta is an average team that isn’t right.

 

[mldardy]

Dangerous trap game next week looking ahead to the E-gals. I could see us losing this one and turning around and beating Philly...

Not a trap game. We're playing the defending NFC Champs on the road. Stop.

 

[Idgit]

trap game would be a teams like the giants or niners. This team doesn't have many "trap" games on their schedule.

Nah. A trap game doesn't mean a bad team necessarily. A trap game is one you overlook because of where it is on the schedule, and it jumps up and bites you. With the Eagles coming up in two weeks, and the big KC game at home this week, ATL definitely qualifies.

 

[visionary]

I can't imagine any team in the NFL looking past Ryan, Julio and Freeman!

Under Garrett the cowboys have consistently been a team that eats the cheese and plays down to its opponents and loses games we should win and loses them in embarrassing fashion

This is a real trap game against a talented team that has been playing poorly but can easily beat us if we slack even a little

 

[aikemirv]

Under Garrett the cowboys have consistently been a team that eats the cheese and plays down to its opponents and loses games we should win and loses them in embarrassing fashion

This is a real trap game against a talented team that has been playing poorly but can easily beat us if we slack even a little

I disagree with that. With Garrett, although the records have not been great, I don't think we usually have shown a lack of effort or playing down to an opponent. Nothing like what we had with Wade Phillips or Pre Parcells.

 

[Idgit]

I disagree with that. With Garrett, although the records have not been great, I don't think we usually have shown a lack of effort or playing down to an opponent. Nothing like what we had with Wade Phillips or Pre Parcells.

Yeah, he's wrong. He's thinking about a bunch of games he thought we should win and blaming the coaches.

We're pretty consistently a team that covers well ATS, if that's a rough indication of how we perform relative to expectations. Top-10 in the league 3 of the last 4 years. You can probably guess which year and why we weren't in that group that fourth year.