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Commanders' Thursday win over Giants keeps Cowboys in the NFC East race
Washington's Thursday night win over New York left the Giants at 5-4-1, keeping the 4-5 Cowboys in the NFC East race before they host San Francisco.
The Dallas Cowboys got help in the NFC East on Thursday night without playing. Washington beat the New York Giants, and that kept the division leader from building a lead Dallas probably could not have made up.
As RJ Ochoa noted at Blogging The Boys, a Giants win would have given New York six victories. Add the tie from its earlier meeting with Washington, and that is close to six and a half wins in practical terms. Instead the Giants sit at 5-4-1. The 4-5 Cowboys trail them by a game and a half with eight games left. Washington is 3-5-1 after the win and is still in the race too.
The gap is still there. Ochoa's piece, syndicated by SB Nation on Yahoo Sports, projects the Giants' remaining schedule to land them at about nine or 10 wins. To get past that, Dallas would likely need 10 or 11. The Cowboys' remaining slate includes road trips to Seattle and the Los Angeles Rams. It also holds both games that could swing the division: New York at AT&T Stadium late in the season, then the finale at Washington. Dallas already lost to the Giants 20-28 in the opener and beat Washington 37-20. Ochoa summed up the night simply: "The dream lives another day."
For Dallas, that dream rests on Sunday. Washington's result does not help the Cowboys much if they lose at home to San Francisco.
What it means for Sunday against the 49ers
The Cowboys host the 49ers on Sunday on Fox after winning two of their last three. They beat Indianapolis 27-23 on the road last week, with a 33-30 home loss to Arizona between that and a 38-21 rout in Philadelphia. Dallas has played well away from home, going 3-2 on the road. At home the Cowboys are 1-3, with losses to Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Arizona. They have scored 246 points and allowed 236, or roughly 27 scored and 26 allowed per game. Six of their nine games have been decided by eight points or fewer.
The 49ers are favored across this site's board, which tracks the game at 12 venues. On Novig, San Francisco is -194 on the moneyline and Dallas is +186. The 49ers are favored by 3.5 points at -111 on Novig, and the Cowboys get +3.5 at +108. The best Dallas spread anywhere is bet365's +4.5 at -117. The total is 55.5 on Novig, a bit above the roughly 53.5 combined points Dallas games have averaged. BetMGM has the highest number at 56. Sportsbook hold on the moneyline ranges from 3.2% to 5.3%, so the venues are not far apart. Full prices are on the game page.
The home stretch after this game is friendlier. Early prices have Dallas favored by 7.5 over Tennessee on November 22 (-426 on the Novig moneyline). The Cowboys are also a slight favorite at -125 over Philadelphia on Thanksgiving at the one venue posting that game. Still, Sunday comes first. A loss would drop Dallas to 4-6 and erase most of what Thursday's result gave them. More on the season is on our Cowboys team page.