Cowboys eager for redemption
Never one to mince words, Jerry Jones has put Jason Garrett and his coaching staff on alert heading into what’s supposed to be a festive holiday.
Dallas plays its traditional Thanksgiving home game today, hosting the Bills. At 6-5 and coming off a very winnable game in New England that the Cowboys managed to mess up, Jones isn’t in a thankful mood. Maybe he should be considering the NFC East the Cowboys lead is a very weak division, especially with Philadelphia so damaged by injuries.
A flop against a Buffalo squad that is 8-3 and in the thick of the AFC wild-card race, but like Dallas hasn’t handled teams with winning records very well, could really sour Jones’ mood.
“It’s frustrating to be reminded of the fundamentals of football and coaching that beat us out there,” Jones said. “There is no question [New England] put pressure on people returning the kicks and people handling the ball on special teams. There is no question that [Patriots coach Bill Belichick] used that to put some special emphasis on it. So yeah, I’m frustrated.”
The Cowboys are a seven-point choice over Buffalo. Dallas doesn’t rout anyone these days and could fall here. COWBOYS, 20-16
Chicago (minus 2 ⁄ ) at Detroit Watch the parade, do the cooking, play some backyard ball instead of watching this. BEARS, 17-10 New Orleans (minus 7) at Atlanta The Falcons went to Big Easy and romped. Payback. SAINTS, 36-21
SUNDAY Oakland (plus 10) at Kansas City Raiders fell into a trap game last week. They’ll be focused enough for key AFC West match. CHIEFS, 30-28 L.A. Chargers (minus 2 ⁄ )
at Denver Is Philip Rivers set for retirement? Sure has looked that way recently. BRONCOS, 20-19
New England (minus 3) at Houston Patriots are vulnerable, but Bill O’Brien’s team tends to disappear against New England. PATRIOTS, 16-14 San Francisco (plus 6)
at Baltimore That stunning Lamar Jackson-led show on Monday night sure impressed oddsmakers. RAVENS, 27-24 Los Angeles Rams (minus 3)
at Arizona What was that we saw — or didn’t see — from Rams against Ravens? RAMS, 24-20 Cleveland (minus 2) at Pittsburgh Easy remaining schedule has Browns thinking playoff run. Can’t stumble here. BROWNS, 17-13 Green Bay (minus 6 ⁄ )
at N.Y. Giants Not sure anyone on Giants D could start for Niners, who plagued Aaron Rodgers last week. PACKERS, 30-14
Washington (plus 10) at Carolina Big spread for slumping team such as Panthers. We’ll buy into it. PANTHERS, 31-20 Tennessee (plus 2 ⁄ ) at Indianapolis Major matchup in AFC South, with loser in trouble in playoff chase. COLTS, 24-23
Philadelphia (minus 9) at Miami Eagles too banged-up to be favoured by nine over Miami Hurricanes. EAGLES, 20-13 Tampa Bay (plus 1) at Jacksonville A Super Sunshine State matchup? Not exactly. JAGUARS, 21-19 N.Y. Jets (minus 3 ⁄ ) at Cincinnati Jets get their fourth straight victory, Bengals their 12th loss in row this season. JETS, 30-22
MONDAY NIGHT Minnesota (plus 3) at Seattle Pretty even game — except for coaching matchup. SEAHAWKS, 20-16
——— 2019 RECORD: Last Week: 8-5-1 against spread, 9-5 straight up. Season Totals: 93-80-2 against spread, 108-65-1 straight up.