The Steelers have played great through four weeks. They allowed just 26 total points in their first three weeks of play, but gave up 27 to the Colts on the road. At home, they let the Chargers score just twice in their 20-10 victory, and I see them doing a good job of shutting down Dallas. But could they put up enough points to take them down?
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Dak Prescott is going to have to air it out against the Steelers
Now, we've got the Cowboys sort of trending up, while the Steelers are in the "ever so sweet" bounce back spot at home. They find themselves as 3 point favorites, even though their offense doesn't quite compare on paper. However, the Pittsburgh defense is good enough to win them football games on one side of the ball. No offense necessary.
Defensively, the Steelers totally have the edge. They rank 4th in yards allowed and 2nd in points, giving up just 261 yards of offense and 13.3 points per game. Dallas ranks in the 20s in both of those categories, but they are facing a very stale Steelers offense. Both offenses are middle of the pack in moving the ball, each going for roughly 320 yards per contest. However scoring is a totally different story.
The Cowboys are 12th in the NFL, putting up over 24 points per game so far this season. The Steelers are 23rd, putting up just 18.8. Nearly a touchdown difference between these two offenses, but one of them is much stronger on the defensive side of the ball. In primetime games, we see the defenses show out, and we will be betting on that tonight. The Cowboys are 3-1 to the over, while the Steelers are 3-1 to their unders. Dallas snuck over the total in Week 1 after allowing a garbage time touchdown to the Browns.
This game tonight is going to be competitive. I think it certainly stays within a touchdown on either side, which is why I will offer an alternate pick to my own in this contest.
We are backing the defenses in this primetime game once again. Now, if the under scares you, I would suggest teasing the Cowboys and the Under to whatever numbers you are comfortable with. Like I said, I see this being a tight, low scoring game, meaning Dallas should certainly keep it within 9 or 10 points. On the total, under 50 or 51 seems incredibly safe, as I don't see either offense moving the ball in chunk yardage down the field.
Neither of these teams score in bunches very often, so I have no problem backing the under in this spot. The Steelers have only scored 6 total touchdowns in 4 games this year, all of them involving Justin Fields. On the other side of the ball, they've only allowed 5 total, 3 of them coming last week on the road. The Steelers should be able to shut down a Dak Prescott led offense that hasn't found their groove and are playing away from home.
We are also taking a stab at a running back receiving prop this evening. Dowdle has solidified himself as the clear RB1 in this offense, leading the team in RB targets, receptions, carries and rushing yards. Despite Hunter Luepke seeing more snaps last week, I thin Dowdle is capable of clearing this number.
He's done so in 3 straight games, including on just one catch and target last week. Coming off a mini bye week, against a Steelers defense that gets tons of pressure, look for the Cowboys to scheme some RB screens for Dowdle to make plays with his legs. Pittsburgh is also allowing plenty of receiving yards to running backs this year as well, let's look at the numbers.
Steelers D vs Receiving RBs
Week 1: 5/5, 43 yards
Week 2: 5/5, 48 yards
Week 3: 3/3, 10 yards
Week 4: 3/4, 20 yards
I think Mike McCarthy will help his QB on the road against this defense by scripting some easy dump offs for Rico Dowdle early and often in this game. With a number this low, it might only take one catch to clear this line.
Nate has been a recreational sports bettor for about 5 years. In that time, he has grown to love the pursuit of winners and sticking it to The Man. Nate loves data and uses his understanding of numbers to help him be a more profitable sports gambler, however he will be the first to tell you this game is about more than just stats.
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