Suddenly Hot Cowboys Host Seattle

NFL News - October 27th, 2009 - Written by Scott

Just when the pundits thought they had the Dallas Cowboys figured out, Sunday happened.

The Cowboys, underdogs by two points, showed they still have a pulse by surviving two weeks of media antagonizing and pounding the Atlanta Falcons, 37-21. It was the type of win that makes everyone step back and reconsider their assumptions about a team with as many weapons when healthy as anyone. And Tony Romo showed what he can do with Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Roy Williams healthy.

No, the trio wasn't spectacular and showed up little in the stat box, but provided enough distraction on the field for Romo to throw three touchdowns, two of them to Miles Austin, and all the sudden Dallas is a 9 1/2-point favorite this week against the Seattle Seahawks, according to BetUS Sportsbook.

The over/under is 45 1/2 and there is history to indicate the Seattle games are prone to go over this time in the season. They have hit the over in nine of their last 11 games in which they are an underdog of eight or more. They have also played nine straight post-bye games over.

The Seahawks had their bye last week and it couldn't have come at a better time. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is still somewhat banged up after breaking his ribs in the second game of the year. Seattle is clearly better with him, winning their only two games when he started. In those wins, the Seahawks' defense has been lights out, shutting out the Rams and Jaguars while holding them to a combined 446 total yards.

In their losses, though, it's been dismal. Neither the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts or Arizona Cardinals scored fewer than 23 points in wins, proving that the once-AFC West favorite needs to provide some consitency.

Two weeks ago, Julius Jones led the team with just five rushing yards in a 27-3 loss to the Cardinals, and only has 270 on the year. It was a career-low for the six-year veteran and the 14 rushing yards overall was a franchise-low for Seattle. Their 17 minutes of possession was second-lowest in the team's history, too.

But the Cowboys showed that an extra week to prepare can do wonders, and it wouldn't take much for the Seahawks to regain their explosiveness with T.J. Houshmanzadeh at wideout and Hasselbeck to throw to him.

It was a long off week for Dallas, which had to constantly field questions about the stability of head coach Wade Phillips, and the tango at wide receiver with the emergence of Miles Austin and ailments of Williams. But Austin justified his second-career start, gobbling up 100 yards and scoring twice for the second week in a row. As a team, the Cowboys rallied off 414 total yards and scored a season-high in points. They are now sixth in the NFL in total offense and are riding a two-game winning streak and according to NFL Week 8 Betting Odds, could look to add another win to their record.

Seattle is 1-9 ATS in their last nine coming off a bye week.

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