Analysis & Prediction NFL Las Vegas vs Dallas

The Dallas Cowboys could be down their two top receivers when they host the Las Vegas Raiders in the mid-afternoon Thanksgiving holiday matchup on Thursday, but Dallas is still a solid favorite on the NFL odds over the struggling Raiders.

How to Bet Raiders at Cowboys NFL Odds & TV Info

When: Thursday, 4:30 PM ET
Where: AT&T Stadium
TV: CBS
Radio: http://www.siriusxm.com/nfl
Stream Option: NFLSUNDAYTICKET.TV
Opening NFL Lines: Cowboys -8 (total 50.5)

Series History

The all-time series between the Raiders and Cowboys is tied 6-6. The teams last met on Dec. 17, 2017, where the Cowboys won 20-17. Dallas has won three of the last four games the two teams have played.

Why Bet on Las Vegas?

The Raiders (5-5) lost their third straight game last Sunday, 32-13 vs. Cincinnati. The Bengals’ defense limited the Raiders to 278 yards, the second time Cincinnati held an opponent to fewer than 300 yards in a game this year. Las Vegas failed to convert on its first six third-down attempts —a stretch of 14 straight over two games from last week’s loss to Kansas City — until Derek Carr hit Hunter Renfrow for 8 yards on a third-and-2 with two minutes left in the game.

Carr completed 19-of-27 passes for 215 yards, one touchdown and one interception. After a blistering start to the year, Carr has cooled off in recent weeks. He has four touchdowns and four interceptions over the past three weeks and no 300-yard games. With Henry Ruggs out of the picture, Carr was forced to use Darren Waller as his deep target in this game. All four of Carr’s passes that netted more than 20 yards went to Waller. Carr is just 68 yards away from 30,000 career passing yards, in which he would become the fifth QB in league history to reach the feat in his first eight seasons.

Waller caught 7-of-8 targets for 116 yards. He hit triple digits for the first time since Week 1 and his seven receptions tied for his high-water mark dating back to Week 1. Waller needs 165 receiving yards to tie David Casper for second-most career receiving yards by a tight end in franchise history. Josh Jacobs rushed nine times for 37 yards, adding five receptions for 24 yards.

The Raiders offense ranks 10th in the league in total offense (373.3 yards per game), third in passing (289.6 ypg), 28th in rushing (83.7 ypg) and 18th in points (22.3 ppg). Defensively, the Raiders rank tied for 15th in total defense (352.9 ypg), 10th in passing (220.8 ypg), 29th in rushing (132.1 ypg) and tied for 25th in points allowed (26.2 ppg).

According to Pro Football Focus, Raiders cornerback Casey Hayward Jr. has yet to allow a single touchdown on 368 coverage snaps this season. He is the site’s seventh-highest graded cornerback after another strong performance in Week 11.

Why Bet on Dallas?

Dallas will play its game on Thanksgiving and has registered a 31-21-1 record but have lost three of their last four matchups.

The Cowboys lost 19-9 in Kansas City last Sunday playing without Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooper, who is in COVID protocols and will not play in this game, either. Will fellow star WR CeeDee Lamb play? In the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs, Lamb sustained a concussion, meaning he would need to clear protocols in short order to be available. Lamb caught three passes for 14 yards before landing hard on a pass that was intercepted in the end zone late in the second quarter.

Lamb leads the Cowboys with 50 receptions for 740 yards and six touchdowns. Cooper has 44 receptions for 583 yards and five touchdowns. Left tackle Tyron Smith also didn’t play last week but will on Thursday. He has been out since Week 8.

Dak Prescott completed 36-of-40 passes for 189 yards and two interceptions in the Chiefs’ loss. Prescott was down to Michael Gallup as his top receiver with Cooper Lamb out. Averaging 4.94 yards per attempt, he didn’t get any help from his pass catchers against a rejuvenated Kansas City defense: Dallas wideouts dropped a handful of decent throws from Prescott.

Most of the positives from the loss to Kansas City surrounded the play of the defense against one of the best offenses in the NFL. Dallas held the Chiefs to just a single field goal in the second half and forced two turnovers on former MVP Patrick Mahomes. Rookie linebacker Micah Parsons had two more sacks and a forced fumble while Jayron Kearse picked off a pass and took it into plus territory as the second turnover. Dallas did not allow a 100-yard rusher, a 100-yard receiver, nor a passing touchdown in the loss.

The Cowboys offense ranks first in total offense (418.1 ypg), fifth in passing (284.3 ypg), fifth in rushing (133.8 ypg) and third in points (29.3 points). Defensively, the Cowboys rank 18th in total defense (355.6 ypg), 20th in passing (251.9 ypg), 10th in rushing (103.7 ypg) and eighth in points allowed (21.4 ppg).