The Cincinnati Bengals look to improve to 2-0 this preseason as they visit the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night in a nationally televised game. It’s the Cowboys’ first home game of the season and that’s why they are slight Mybookie Sportsbook favorites.
The Cowboys have taken defensive tackle Maliek Collins off the physically unable to perform list as he works back from offseason surgery to repair a broken foot suffered in the spring. He has worked off to the side since the start of training camp on his rehab and conditioning. Collins won’t play here.
Many eyes are on Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey. He was just 15-of-20 last year on field goals with all five of his misses coming after he returned from a groin pull that knocked him out of four games. The misses were short (23 yards), medium (34, 48) and far (53, 50). He also suffered the first two missed point-after attempts of his career. Bailey has made 28 of 33 field goal attempts in special-teams and 11-on-11 situational work during training camp, but four of the five misses came in a two-practice span.
Cornerback and safety depth are concerns with few hints as to how things may work out after the rather dismal jobs done by most of the third- and fourth-stringers against the 49ers. Tight end also is a concern as that position group will probably have to be a committee approach to fill the huge shoes left by the retired Jason Witten.
Bengals at Cowboys 2018 NFL Preseason Week 2 Betting Preview
- When: Saturday, 7 p.m. ET
- Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington
- TV: NFL Network
- Radio: Siriusxm
- NFL Betting Lines: Dallas Cowboys -3 (Total 41)
Why Bet on Cincinnati?
The Bengals opened the preseason with a 30-27 home win over Chicago. The Bengals were last in the league on offense last season, the worst finish in franchise history. They overhauled their offensive line, and coordinator Bill Lazor injected more diversity into the playbook. It showed the first time out. Andy Dalton went 6 of 8 for 103 yards with two TDs, completing four passes of at least 20 yards vs. Chicago. Outside of a Dalton pick-six that could be attributed to John Ross slipping on his route, the first-team offense impressed. Joe Mixon broke two tackles and spun around for a touchdown, A.J. Green was terrific as always and young receivers like Ross, Tyler Boyd, and Josh Malone showed some good signs. Ross is getting every opportunity to show off the speed that made him the ninth overall pick, but he still has a way to go. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis pointed out that it’s essentially still a rookie season for Ross as he barely played in 2017 due to injury. A few key guys like TE Tyler Eifert and LB Vontaze Burfict didn’t play in the preseason opener. Eifert could go in this game even though neither he nor Burfict practiced Tuesday. Burfict suffered an ankle injury during Monday’s practice. It’s unclear how severe it is, though he’ll have plenty of time to recover since he’s out for the first four games to start the season due to suspension. Eifert was held out for unknown reasons. The Bengals have been giving him random days off in training camp. New defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has made stopping the run this season’s top priority after the Bengals were one of three teams that allowed more than 2,000 yards rushing last season. The Cowboys have finished second in the NFL rushing the past two seasons and after a pedestrian opener, last week in which they ran it at just 3.6 yards per pop for a meager 105 yards look for them to try and run it plenty a Bengals first-team defense that held the Bears to three yards on three carries.Why Bet on Dallas?
The Cowboys lost 24-21 last week at San Francisco. Dak Prescott made the most of his brief appearance in the preseason opener for Dallas by throwing a 30-yard touchdown pass to rookie Michael Gallup on his only drive. Prescott completed all three pass attempts and converted a third-and-9 with a 12-yard scramble. Cowboys rookie RB Bo Scarbrough had a 28-yard run and scored a 1-yard TD in the second quarter. Star RB Ezekiel Elliott didn’t play and probably won’t here. Elliott is expected to play one series in the Cowboys’ third preseason game only. “I think this year will be a lot like last year, I’ll play a little bit in that third game,” Elliott said. “Probably play the first series.” Elliott was in on the first drive of Dallas’ third preseason game last year, finishing with six carries for 18 yards and hauling in two catches for six yards.
The Cowboys have taken defensive tackle Maliek Collins off the physically unable to perform list as he works back from offseason surgery to repair a broken foot suffered in the spring. He has worked off to the side since the start of training camp on his rehab and conditioning. Collins won’t play here.
Many eyes are on Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey. He was just 15-of-20 last year on field goals with all five of his misses coming after he returned from a groin pull that knocked him out of four games. The misses were short (23 yards), medium (34, 48) and far (53, 50). He also suffered the first two missed point-after attempts of his career. Bailey has made 28 of 33 field goal attempts in special-teams and 11-on-11 situational work during training camp, but four of the five misses came in a two-practice span.
Cornerback and safety depth are concerns with few hints as to how things may work out after the rather dismal jobs done by most of the third- and fourth-stringers against the 49ers. Tight end also is a concern as that position group will probably have to be a committee approach to fill the huge shoes left by the retired Jason Witten.
Latest NFL Betting Trends
- Bengals are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 road games
- Bengals are 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 Saturday games
- Cowboys are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall
- Under is 4-1 in Cowboys last 5 home games
