Raiders vs. Cowboys Point Spread: NFL Pre-Season Week 3 Odds, Prediction
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Jeremy Perry
The Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys are preparing for their final warm-up game before the start of the regular season. Las Vegas has seen tremendous potential out of one of their rookie quarterbacks and it’s helped the Raiders jump out to a 2-0 record. Meanwhile, the Cowboys could have a star in the making at the running back position, yet still remain winless at 0-2.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Head coach Josh McDaniels of the Raiders has worked to an 8-6 pre-season record throughout his career. However, he’s been able to win all six pre-season games that he’s been the head coach of with the Raiders. His team’s focus in these exhibition games is part of why they’re such a big road favourite.
On the other hand, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has been doing this for a long time. He’s 29-30 throughout his pre-season coaching career and is 2-7 in the last three years.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders might have something in rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell. He’s been one of the best rookie quarterbacks that the league in the pre-season with back-to-back dominant performances. He completed 11 of his 18 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns without a turnover in the opener against the Los Angeles Rams. Then he completed 15 of his 18 passes for 141 yards and another touchdown without a turnover against the San Francisco 49ers.
O’Connell has been so impressive that people have suggested he could pressure Jimmy Garoppolo at some point in the regular season. With veterans Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer also on the depth chart, the Raiders have a quality rotation at quarterback to get the job done in this contest.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys seem prepared to rest most of their big names for this final pre-season affair against Las Vegas. We likely won’t see Micah Parsons, Tony Pollard, or Dak Prescott hit the field. In their absence, we should see guys like Cooper Rush and Will Grier get reps from the quarterback position. Rookie running back Deuce Vaughn will see time as well as he searches for that backup role in the offence.
Vaughn has been the most electric part of this Cowboys offence throughout the pre-season. He had eight carries for 50 yards and a touchdown in the opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Then he followed it up with five carries for 14 yards and another touchdown in Dallas’ next game. However, the Cowboys had just 14 points last week and 293 yards.
LV
DAL