Cowboys win 27-23 at Indianapolis as Javonte Williams scores the go-ahead touchdown
Javonte Williams scored the go-ahead touchdown in Dallas' 27-23 win over the Colts. The Cowboys are 4-5 with San Francisco coming to town.
The Dallas Cowboys left Indianapolis with a 27-23 win on Sunday. Javonte Williams walked into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown, a play ESPN featured in its game highlights. The win moves Dallas to 4-5 and stops the bleeding from last week's 33-30 home loss to Arizona.
The Cowboys are still one game under .500, but they're only a win away from evening their record at the midpoint of the season's second half. It was also their third road win. Dallas is 3-2 away from home, with wins at Houston, Philadelphia and now Indianapolis, and its road losses came at Green Bay and against the Giants.
The close finish fit the pattern. Four of the Cowboys' nine games have been decided by four points or fewer: 34-30 at Houston, 34-31 against Baltimore, 33-30 against Arizona and now 27-23 against the Colts. Dallas has split those four. The team has scored 246 points and allowed 236, so its point differential is +10, about what you'd expect from a club sitting at 4-5.
What it means for San Francisco
Next up is the San Francisco 49ers at home on Sunday, November 15, on Fox. Home games have been the bigger problem for Dallas. The Cowboys are 1-3 at home, and their only win there was 37-20 over Washington. The three home losses, to Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Arizona, all came against teams that scored at least 24 points.
The bigger question is momentum, because Dallas hasn't strung together two wins all season. Its results have gone loss, win, loss, win, loss, loss, win, loss, win. Beating San Francisco would give the Cowboys their first winning streak and a .500 record.
The market has San Francisco as a clear road favorite. Across the 11 venues on this site's board, the 49ers are favored at -208 on the moneyline at Novig, with Dallas at +203. Novig lists the spread at San Francisco -4.5 (-100), while DraftKings has the best number for the favorite at -3.5 (-115). That leaves the venues a full point apart on the spread. Sportsbook hold ranges from 2.9% to 5.0% on the spread and from 3.2% to 5.1% on the moneyline.
The total sits at 55.5 at Novig, and other venues range from 55 at BetRivers to 56.5 at Hard Rock Bet. The Dallas numbers support a total that high. The Cowboys average roughly 27.3 points scored and 26.2 allowed, and five of their nine games have finished above 55.5 combined points. Those include the 63 points against Arizona and 65 against Baltimore. Sunday's 50-point game in Indianapolis came in under the line.
The Cowboys' season page has full results and schedule details at /teams/dallas-cowboys.