dallas cowboys vs pittsburgh steelers pick and preview

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Dallas Cowboys vs Pittsburgh Steelers Pick and Preview

Cowboys +3 (8-4 overall, 3-3 road) at Steelers -3 (9-3, 4-2 home) under/over 41.5

Sunday’s Dallas Cowboys-Pittsburgh Steelers matchup doesn’t quite carry the importance of their Super Bowl meetings in the past, but it is a key game to this season’s playoff picture in both the NFC and AFC.
Diamond sportsbook has Pittsburgh favored by about a field goal in the game, which pairs the two teams who have played each other in three Super Bowls (X, XIII, and XXX)

FOX will carry the 4:15 p.m. (Eastern time) Dallas-Pittsburgh matchup Sunday to most of the country. Dallas, at 8-4, is three games behind the New York Giants in the NFC East, but the Cowboys do hold a one-game lead in the race for an NFC wild card slot. Pittsburgh (9-3), meanwhile, leads the AFC North by one game over Baltimore. Pittsburgh is two games clear in the race for a wild-card berth.

Both teams are playing well entering the game. The Steelers are coming off a dominating second half performance in winning at New England 33-10. Pittsburgh has won three straight games, limiting those three opponents to 30 total points. Dallas, meanwhile, has won three straight games since quarterback Tony Romo returned from injury.

Despite losing Romo for three games, Dallas remains ranked #8 in the NFL in total offense and scoring offense, while the Steelers rank 24th in total offense and 20th in scoring offense. Dallas has scored 69 points combined over the past two weeks, and Romo has thrown for at least 330 yards in both games.

Pittsburgh can credit its success this season to the defensive side of the ball, where the Steelers lead the NFL in every primary defensive category (total, scoring, rushing, and passing). Pittsburgh is allowing only 238 yards and 14.2 points per game. Dallas is #9 in total defense and #15 in scoring defense in the league.

Dallas had two key players injured in its Thanksgiving Day win against Seattle. Running back Marion Barber, who has led Dallas in rushing in 10 of 12 games, dislocated a toe, and linebacker Demarcus Ware strained his left knee. The status of both players for Sunday’s game will be determined later in the week.

After Sunday’s home game with Dallas, Pittsburgh plays two very tough games, at Baltimore and at Tennessee. Dallas also has a very difficult closing schedule, hosting the New York Giants and Baltimore over the next two weeks. With tough games remaining, Sunday’s Cowboys-Steelers game grows in importance for both teams as they make a final push for the playoffs.

This season, as a favorite of less than a touchdown at home, Pittsburgh is 1-4 against the spread, losing twice outright. The Steelers are 1-2 outright against NFC East teams, losing 21-14 to the Giants in Pittsburgh, losing 15-6 at Philadelphia, and winning 23-6 at Washington. Pittsburgh is 4-2 outright at home this season, winning two straight.

Dallas, meanwhile, has been an underdog only one time this season: The Giants were favored by 9.5 points against Dallas in early November, and New York won 35-14. Sunday will mark only the seventh time Dallas has been an underdog over the past three seasons (47 games). On the road this year, Dallas has lost three of its last four games outright, but it played two of those games without Romo. Against the AFC North, Dallas is 2-0 outright and 1-1 against the spread, but the Cowboys have played the two weakest teams in the division (Cleveland, a 28-10 win, and Cincinnati, a 31-22 win).

Against teams that are above .500 this season, both Dallas and Pittsburgh are 3-3 outright and 2-4 against the spread.

Dallas and Pittsburgh have not played since 2004, when the Steelers won at Dallas, 24-20.