Saints vs. Cowboys: Jay Horne’s Week 2 NFL Pick

New Orleans Saints (1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS) vs. Dallas Cowboys (1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS)

NFL Football Week 2

Date/Time: Sunday September 15th, 2024. 1:00PM (EST)

Where: AT&T Stadium Arlington, TX.

TV: FOX

Betting Odds:

Point Spread: NO +6.5/DAL -6.5

Moneyline: NO +230/DAL -280

Total: 44.5

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Last week, the Dallas Cowboys silenced a lot of critics by dismantling the Cleveland Browns 33-17 in the season opener in Cleveland. The Cowboy’s defense continued their dominant form by getting to QB Deshaun Watson for six sacks and forcing two interceptions. While the Dallas offense failed to post big numbers, as we witnessed throughout the 2023 campaign, they were in-game management mode throughout the opener against Cleveland due to the dominant play of the defense. In the end, the Cowboys cruised to an easy victory, and that has restored some lofty expectations for America’s Team.

On Sunday, the Cowboys will host the New Orleans Saints for their home opener at AT&T Stadium as 6.5-point favorites. Like the Cowboys, the Saints are also coming off a big win in the opener. The Saints throttled the Carolina Panthers in a 47-10 blowout. QB Derek Carr was extremely sharp, hitting 19 of 23 passes for 200 yards with three touchdowns, which was likely his best performance in 2 years. Meanwhile, the Saints defense also played well, limiting the Panthers offense to just 193 total yards and forcing three turnovers in the opening contest. Despite the accomplishments, the Saints’ big victory is still overshadowed by one looming question. Were the Saints that good, or were the Panthers that bad? Perhaps those questions will be answered when New Orleans visits Dallas on Sunday for an intriguing NFC match-up!

New Orleans Saints vs. Dallas Cowboys Betting Analysis

Every NFL game has many different match-ups that could impact the outcome of the game, and we try to discuss a few of them each week with our handicapping analysis. For this week’s Saints vs. Cowboys week two match-up, I can save everyone time by getting straight to the match-up that will hold the most weight in this contest, which will center around the New Orleans offensive front against the Cowboys pass-rush. As stated earlier, the Cowboys pass-rush was very impressive in the opener and they were consistently putting pressure on Deshaun Watson which led to the dominating effort.

Since the acquisition of QB Derek Carr, the Saints’ biggest struggles have been in the form of pass-protection and that is where I believe New Orleans is going to be tested heavily again. Prior to last week’s result against Carolina, I did not think that New Orleans made enough off-season moves to warrant substantial improvement on the offensive front. RB Alvin Kamara is no longer in his prime, and this Saints offense is going to have to move the football through the air. Unfortunately, I believe this is a terrible match-up for the style of football they want to produce. With that said, there are paths to a New Orleans cover in this game and perhaps an upset.  However, I believe those paths rely heavily on a big defensive effort and I’m just not sure if that is a probable outcome considering all of the weapons Dallas has on the offensive side of the football.

New Orleans Saints vs. Dallas Cowboys Betting Trends

• The Saints are 5-1 ATS in the last six games.
• The Saints have hit the “under” in 13 of the last 20 games.
• The Saints are 5-1 SU in the last six games.
• The Saints are 10-5 ATS in the last 15 games against Dallas.
• The Cowboys are 2-4 ATS in the last six games.
• The Cowboys are 8-3 SU in the last 11 games.
• The Cowboys are 16-1 SU in the last 17 games at home.
• The Cowboys have hit the “under” in four of the last five games against New Orleans.

New Orleans Saints vs. Dallas Cowboys Betting Prediction

I am interested to see more from this Cowboys offense this week. The running back room received heavy criticism over the offseason, but Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle appeared to handle the shared responsibilities well. I believe the Cowboy’s offense will be less conservative this week, and the defense will continue its stellar play. Give me the Cowboys!
Jay’s Pick: Take Dallas -6.5