NFL Wild Card Packers vs. Cowboys predictions: Odds preview, game and player props
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Fresh from the euphoria of winning back the NFC East title and securing the second seed in the NFC, the Dallas Cowboys host the No. 7 Green Bay Packers on Wild Card Weekend Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Here, we offer some best betting tips and picks for the game.
NFL Wild Card Packers vs. Cowboys odds preview
The second game of Sunday’s three-game Wild Card slate pits the Cowboys against the Packers in Arlington, Texas.
Dallas rounded out a 12-5 season by riding its No. 1 509-point scoring offense to ease past the Washington Commanders and seal the NFC East title for the fifth time in 10 years.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb were near-unstoppable this season. Prescott’s career-best season included 4,516 passing yards, 36 touchdowns, and a completion percentage just shy of below 70 percent. Wide receiver Lamb led the NFL in catches with 135 and was second in yards.
But everyone, not least the Cowboys organization, is painfully aware that the team’s last Super Bowl appearance was in 1996. For Dallas, an expectant fanbase, and a watching nation, the season truly starts here.
The surging Packers ended the regular season with six wins in their last eight, including the all-important 17-9 victory over the Chicago Bears which ensured they would indeed have a spot in the postseason play-in. They now have a chance to play spoiler by pulling out an upset win with new quarterback Jordan Love and a young defense.
Love started all 17 games and threw for 4,158 yards and 32 touchdowns, numbers which don’t look too shabby stacked up against Dak’s. This, though, will be his first playoff start, while Prescott has six under his belt already. Running back Aaron Jones finished with a team-high 656 yards despite missing a chunk of the season with a hamstring injury.
The Cowboys have actually lost nine of the last 10 meetings between these teams, although they didn’t square off in this year’s regular season. Dallas’ home form is stunning: eight wins from eight at AT&T Stadium this season, scoring 30+ points in all but one of those, and 16 home Ws in a row dating back to the 2022 season opener, when Tom Brady was still slinging the rock for the Buccaneers.
Dallas is a 7-point favorite. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. CT live on FOX.
NFL Wild Card Packers vs. Cowboys best bet: Packers +7 (-120 or better)
There’s home advantage and then there’s home advantage. The importance to the Cowboys of this game being in front of their own fans cannot be overstated. This season, they have a near-13-point margin of victory as hosts and have gone 6-2 ATS and they’ll surely win, as they have done 12 times out of 13 as a moneyline favorite this year.
But while the Cowboys deserve to be the big (-360) moneyline favorites they are, don’t necessarily expect a blowout. In nine games against QBs with a higher passer rating like Jordan Love, they were 3-6 ATS. Love and Green Bay’s offense has been adept in recent weeks (they have the fifth-best attack in the NFL by EPA per play) Love has a passer rating of over 100 in seven of his last eight games with just a single interception in that stretch.
Throw in the fact that the Cowboys have a reputation for feeling the postseason pressure — they are 4-14 ATS in their last 18 January games — and have only covered the spread twice in their last six games, it wouldn’t be too unlikely to see the Packers hang around in this one.
NFL Wild Card Packers vs. Cowboys best bet: Cowboys over 29.5 points (-114 at FanDuel)
But there’s no denying the Cowboys are going to score points here. They’re the top-scoring offense in the NFL this year for a reason and Prescott has them ranked third in pass yardage too. There’s been almost no stopping CeeDee Lamb, who has caught a league-leading 135 passes, run up 1,749 yards, and scored nine of his 12 TDs for the season in his last nine games.
Meanwhile, Green Bay’s defense has been sturdy against mediocre attacks but tends to wilt against quality aerial play, leaving plenty of time and space for runners like Tony Pollard to take advantage. The Cowboys have hit the over on their team point total seven times out of eight at home this year.
NFL Wild Card Packers vs. Cowboys player prop: Dak Prescott 2+ touchdowns (-172 at FanDuel)
We’ve been over Prescott’s stellar numbers already but, like his team in general, he’s even better at AT&T Stadium, where his pass completion rate is over 73% and he has recorded 22 of his total 36 touchdown throws. Dak’s 120.0 home QB rating is the best in football, and a Dallas offense led by such talent will be the toughest test Green Bay’s defense has faced all season after ranking 23rd in EPA allowed per play in the regular season.
With Lamb scintillating and Pollard likely to be a big distraction for the Packers defense, Dak to throw at least two TDs feels like one of the safer player props for this game.
NFL Wild Card Packers vs. Cowboys best bets: How to claim your sports betting bonus, best NFL promotions
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