News: BTB: Jets @ Cowboys Expert Picks: Can Cowboys Pull Off Upset Special?

NewsBot · Dec 18, 2015

A sampling of picks made for Saturday's Jets @ Cowboys game suggests the Cowboys are heavy underdogs. Can the Cowboys pull off what many would consider an upset?

The Cowboys host the Jets on Saturday night and are going into the game as 3-point underdogs. The Vegas oddsmakers generally start with a base 3-point advantage for home teams in the NFL, so the current odds would suggest that on a neutral field, the Jets would be favored by six points, and that's a sentiment many of the NFL experts share.

94% of the media experts and algorithms tracked by NFLPickwatch.com favor the Jets in this game, and the panels we track below look similarly lopsided in favor of the Jets.

But that's a situation the Cowboys have been in before. Two weeks ago, 92% of the NFLPickWatch vote went in favor of the Commanders, and our eight-man panel of writers we've followed all season unanimously picked the Commanders for the win as well.

But the Cowboys ended up winning that one, so why shouldn't they be able to pull off the upset win tomorrow as well? Plus, wouldn't it be just like the Cowboys to string us out even further?

The Cowboys pull off the upset against the Jets, the Panthers beat the Giants, Bills beat the Commanders, and Cardinals whip the Eagles

And suddenly there's talk about the playoffs again. Until we crash and burn the following week.

Here are the expert picks for Week 15, 2015.

Name (Cowboys Accuracy) Pick Score Comment

Michael Smith, Pro Football Talk (10-3)

20-6

The Jets’ pass defense is good. The Cowboys’ pass offense is not. Dallas will be shut down offensively.
Sam Farmer, LA Times (9-4)

24-13

The Jets have won three in a row, and there's no reason to think that stops now. The Cowboys aren't going to be able to run it on this defense, and the Jets offense is clicking along pretty well.
David Steele, Sporting News (9-4)

27-7

The Jets can’t let this one get away from them … and there’s no reason to think the Cowboys can take it from them at this point. The Jets’ run defense has been steady all season (best in the NFL this week), meaning that the Dallas offense could be back in the hands of Matt Cassel to win or lose. On the other side, Ryan Fitzpatrick has nine touchdown passes and no interceptions in the Jets’ three-game winning streak.
Elliot Harrison, NFL.com (8-5)

26-17

A win at JerryWorld would put the Jets, who are currently in line for the sixth seed, at 9-5, which would keep them even with the Chiefs and Steelers if everyone wins. Given that Pittsburgh is facing a tough matchup with the Broncos, a Cowboys team led by Matt Cassel must look to New York like a Christmas stocking full of peanut butter cups. White Cassel's red-zone interception at Lambeau last week was like a Christmas stocking full of bricks for Dallas. He must live to play another down and let the Cowboys' best player -- kicker Dan Bailey -- kick.
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports (7-6)

21-20

The Cowboys are done, while the Jets have won three consecutive games. They are rolling. But this is a tough game on a short week, playing Saturday night. The Cowboys are good on defense, and I think they will slow the Jets here. Upset special.
Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk (7-6)

23-13

When the schedule came out, it seemed likely that this late-season prime-time game would have postseason implications for one of the two teams involved. We just thought it would be the other team.
Greg Cote, Miami Herald (5-8)

23-17

Jets in a precarious fight for a wild-card berth and can ill afford a loss in this Saturday-nighter, while ’Boys are still alive only by very generous math. Game features NFL’s top three TD catchers since 2012 in Dez Bryant, Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker. Home-’dog upset would not surprise, but NYJ’s run defense will dominate and Ryan Fitzpatrick will outpitch Matt Cassel.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/greg-cote/article50322065.html#storylink=cpy

In the pick'em panels below that we've followed all season, only one out of ten 66 panelists likes the Cowboys for the win on Saturday.

Site Cowboys Jets Cowboys Season
Pick Accuracy

Bleacher Report

0 8 .722 (70-27)

CBSSports

2 6 .646 (62-34)

NFL Around The League

0 5 .656 (40-21)

SB Nation

1 6 .651 (54-29)

NJ.com