Jaguars vs. Cowboys Point Spread: NFL Pre-Season Week 1 Odds, Prediction
Week 1 of the 2023 NFL pre-season sees the Jacksonville Jaguars travel to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas to face the Dallas Cowboys.
Jacksonville is a 4.0-point favourite to win on the NFL pre-season betting odds, with the total sitting at 38.0.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
These teams last met in the pre-season in 2021. The Jaguars came away with a 34-14 victory in Dallas. Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the 2021 first overall draft pick, completed 11 of 12 pass attempts for 139 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cowboys finished the 2022 pre-season with a 2-1 record. They dropped the opener against the Broncos, before earning victories against the Chargers and Seahawks. Head coach Mike McCarthy has a 29-28 career pre-season record, but he is just 2-5 with Dallas.
Jacksonville was shutout in the pre-season last year. They lost against the Raiders in the Hall of Fame game before finishing the pre-season with losses against the Browns, Steelers and Falcons. Head coach Doug Pederson is 8-12 all-time in pre-season games, but just 0-4 with the Jaguars.
The Cowboys currently have the second-best odds to win the NFC East division at +191. They are +593 to win the NFC outright and +1377 to win the Super Bowl. Dallas’ regular season win total is set at 9.5.
Jacksonville comes into the year as -161 favourites to win the AFC South. However, they are +1314 long shots to win the AFC outright and+2671 to win the Super Bowl. The Jags’ regular season win total is set at 9.5.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Pederson has always been known as a coach who likes to play his starters in the pre-season and he confirmed as much Monday after practice. But, while you can expect Jacksonville to play their starters against Dallas, they will each only get a series or two.
Lawrence played a total of seven series’ in last year’s pre-season. He sat out the Hall of Fame game and the pre-season finale. The third-year QB is expected to start on Saturday. Lawrence had a breakout season last year, leading the Jags to the Divisional Round of the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. He finished the year with 4,113 passing yards (ninth in NFL), 25 touchdowns (T-8) and just eight interceptions.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are essentially running the opposite game plan as Jacksonville. You won’t see starters like quarterback Dak Prescott or running back Tony Pollard, who takes over from Ezekiel Elliott as the team’s new featured back.
Rico Dowdle and Malik Davis are expected to battle through the pre-season for the No. 2 spot behind Pollard, so they should see a lot of action against Jacksonville. Another running back, rookie Deuce Vaughn, will have a lot of eyes on him. Measuring just 5-foot-5 at the draft combine, the shifty sixth-round draft pick is expected to get a long look at kick-off and punt returns.
JAC
DAL