The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles will play a near-meaningless game Saturday night, as both teams have locked up a playoff spot. These NFC East rivals will each be missing a ton of key players and predicting who's in is just speculation at this point.
This game is a real mess from a prop perspective and it’s why the traditional prop markets haven’t opened yet as of Friday. Good thing for you, finding derivative markets is right up our alley despite this game being littered with uncertainties on both sides of the ball. Happy Week 18.
Without further ado, we bring you our Week 18 free prop picks for Cowboys vs. Eagles.
Cowboys vs Eagles prop picks
- First half Over 21 (-115)
- Under 219.5 total rushing yards (-115)
- Eagles to kick the longest field goal (-110)
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Cowboys vs Eagles Week 18 props
30 minute total
Finding out who is playing for the Eagles on Saturday might take less time than finding out who’s out. The Eagles have over a dozen players on the COVID list and will be going into Week 18 with their No. 4 running back (Kenneth Gainwell) and No. 3 tight end. The offensive line will be missing pieces as well as every level of the defense. Gardner Minshew will likely see some action.
Not to be outdone, the Cowboys will also be missing pieces of their offensive line as well as rookie Micah Parsons, who has been coincidentally added to the COVID list. This game will be lacking talent all over the field. As of Friday, we aren’t even sure who the starting quarterbacks will be. Despite that, the books are giving the Eagles 4.5 points and Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy and owner Jerry Jones have stated they want to win and ride the momentum into the playoffs.
We’re treating this like a preseason game and expecting both teams’ best players (what's left of them) to hit the pine sometime in the second half. With Parsons out, Minshew and/or Hurts will have a much more comfortable time in the pocket, while Dallas's offense will be moving the ball against an Eagles defense missing five starters. This game could get real ugly in the fourth quarter and we can already picture the broadcast team talking about some mundane thing while Cooper Rush leads the offense to another three-and-out.
Give us some first half points versus these dismantled defenses while it still sits at 21. Sharp money moved the total from 42.5 to 43.5 so some people think points will be scored.
PICK: First half Over 21 (-115 at bet365)
Run out of steam
The Eagles will likely be down to their No. 4 running back in Kenneth Gainwell, with Boston Scott and Jordan Howard on the COVID list and Miles Sanders (hand) being ruled out. Jalen Hurts has been limited at practice this week and his workload is a giant question mark as well. To make things worse, starting guard Nate Herbig and center Jason Kelce will miss the game with Landon Dickerson questionable. The Eagles lead the league in rushing yards per game at 160, but these absences are glaring and we aren’t expecting the same success on the ground Saturday night.
On the other side of the ball, Dallas’s Tony Pollard is questionable and we’re unsure of McCarthy’s usage for his backs heading into Saturday night. Ezekiel Elliott has been dealing with that knee injury since November and we’d be surprised if he sees a big workload. Dallas will also be without one of their best run blockers in Tyron Smith. Dallas won’t be at its best running the ball either.
With a game that reeks of backups playing, we’re fading the run game from both teams and hitting the Under 219.5 total rushing yards — a bet found at bet365. With many moving pieces, we could see a fair share of offensive penalties which could force both teams to play behind the sticks. Dallas already leads the league offensive holding penalties on the season.
Philly will be missing three starters in the secondary while Dallas's pass rush won’t be as effective without Parsons, meaning both teams may find success passing the ball.
PICK: Under 219.5 total rushing yards (-115 at bet365)
We can kick it
One thing that should actually be consistent is both teams’ kicking games. Both teams average roughly 2.0 field goal attempts per game, which is a Top-10 mark, while both clubs are scoring 1.8 FGs per game on the year but it's the Eagles who have the edge.
Philadelphia’s Jake Elliot is hitting over 90 percent of his kicks and is 3 for 3 from 50-plus yards with a long of 58 yards while Dallas’s Greg Zuerlein has struggled mightily of late. The Cowboys have asked him to kick just one field goal over the last two weeks, which was a miss from 40-plus yards. He’s hit just eight of his last 13 kicks from 40-plus yards and the kicker formerly known as Greg the Leg doesn’t have the accuracy and distance as he once had.
The Cowboys are slightly favored to hit the longest field goal which doesn’t make much sense to us. Elliott has the advantages of home field and has been the much better kicker on the year and of late. With both offenses likely leaning on reserves, we could see plenty of stalled-out drives that will hopefully allow coaches to work on their kicking game where Philadelphia has a noticeable advantage.
PICK: Eagles to kick the longest field goal (-110 at bet365)
