Seattle Seahawks vs. Dallas Cowboys Prediction, Preview, and Odds

The playoff race in the NFC is heating up as Thursday Night Football features a matchup between the Seattle Seahawks (6-5, 5-5-1 ATS) and the Dallas Cowboys (8-3, 8-3 ATS). The Cowboys are currently sitting as the top wildcard spot in the conference, while Seattle is two games back, but holding onto the last playoff spot. Both teams played on Thanksgiving, the Seahawks lost at home to the 49ers 31-13 as 7.5-point underdogs. The Cowboys blew out the Commanders 45-10 as 13.5-point favorites. The Cowboys are currently listed as 9-point favorites. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 EST from AT&T Stadium, and can be found on Amazon Prime Video.

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Fighting for Postseason

The Seattle Seahawks are clinging onto their chances to make the playoffs in the NFC. They currently hold the last spot, but are not doing themselves any favors recently. They have lost three of their last four games, including their last two against NFC West opponents. Geno Smith struggled on Thanksgiving against the Niners, their first five possessions gained a total of 15 yards. Seattle coach Pete Carroll spoke about their struggles early saying, “The first half of this game, we couldn’t get out of our own way enough."

Geno Smith is 15th in the NFL in total passing yards, and averages 234.9 yards per game through the air. He has a 12-8 TD-INT ratio this season, and has been completing 65.4% of his passes. Smith has been grounded the last two weeks, only averaging 206.5 yards per game with a 1-1 TD-INT ratio in two losses. Smith has solid targets on the outside, DK Metcalf is a strong wideout with size, he averages 67.8 yards per game with three touchdowns, and has 10 receptions of at least 20 yards. Tyler Lockett does his work across the middle, he adds 52.3 yards per game. Rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba has begun to come around, he adds another 36.9 YPG. Kenneth Walker II is their lead back, he rushes for 61.3 yards per game and has six touchdowns.

The Seahawks rank 20th in the NFL in scoring with 20.8 points per game, and their defense ranks 22nd by allowing 22.6 points per. Star linebacker Bobby Wagner leads the team in tackles with 113 on the season, and fellow linebacker Boye Mafe leads the team in sacks with seven. No player on the defense has more than two interceptions on the year. Their defense has 15 takeaways on the season, and their offense has turned it over 13 times.

Injury Report:

Questionable: RB Kenneth Walker II, WR Dareke Young

Cowboys Win Three Straight

The Dallas Cowboys are still chasing the one-loss Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East, but are putting themselves in good position for a wildcard birth. The Cowboys have won five of their last six, including their last three games coming into this Thursday night matchup. Dallas easily dismantled Washington on Thanksgiving, and cornerback DaRon Bland stole the headlines by setting a record for most pick-sixes in a season. After the game Dak Prescott spoke about the moment saying, “Didn’t see him initially pick it, but I just heard the crowd erupt, looked up and saw 26 had the ball in his hands. At that point, I just sprinted to the sideline to get a good view.”

Prescott is 6th in the NFL in total passing yards, and averages 266.8 yards per game. He has an impressive 23 to 6 TD-INT ratio and has been completing 70.0% of his passes. Prescott has been hot lately, in the three game win streak he is averaging 308.0 yards per game with a 9-1 TD-INT ratio. CeeDee Lamb just broke 1,000 yards receiving on the season, he averages 96.9 yards per game with six touchdowns. Lamb is Prescott's favorite target, as Lamb has over 500 more receiving yards than the next highest receiver. Brandin Cooks is that next man up at receiver, he adds 45.2 yards per game with four touchdowns. Tony Pollard has been the top running back all season for Dallas, he adds 60.8 yards per game out of the backfield with four touchdowns.

Dallas leads the NFL in scoring with 31.5 points per game, and their defense ranks 4th by allowing just 16.8 per game. Linebacker Damone Clark leads the team in tackles with 75, while Micah Parsons has been a monster in the backfield leading the team with 11.5 sacks. DaRon Bland has seven interceptions on the season, five of which he took to the house. The Dallas defense has 22 takeaways on the season, and their offense has turned the ball over 14 times.

Injury Report:

Questionable: RB Rico Dowdle, DE Tyrus Wheat, S Jayron Kearse

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Best Bets for this Game

Full-Game Side Bet

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The Cowboys will be extra focused in this game. The Seahawks are vying for the same wildcard spots in the playoffs that the Cowboys are battling for, owning the head to head tiebreaker is huge if the standings are tight late. Dallas will not want to miss an opportunity to give the Seahawks another loss, and grab that all important tiebreaker. Dallas also has a brutal stretch coming up, after this week they play the Eagles, Bills and Dolphins in consecutive weeks; this is not a look-ahead spot, it's a must win spot. The Cowboys do not want to be coming off a loss heading into those games. For the Seahawks, Geno Smith has begun to regress to the mean, and look like the mediocre quarterback he has been for the majority of his career. In his past five games he has thrown for under 250 yards three times, and has just a 5-4 TD-INT ratio. The Cowboys have the 5th best passing attack in the league based on yards per game, while the Seahawks pass defense ranks 22nd in the league. Prescott will be able to pass all over this secondary, and put up numbers in a hurry. Cowboys will be motivated here.

Take the Cowboys to win and cover.

Prediction: Cowboys -9

Full-Game Total Pick

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I expect the Cowboys to come out blazing in this game. Their advantage is through the air, their 5th ranked passing attack will find it easy to score on the 22nd best pass defense. The Cowboys leads the NFL in scoring, and will go over their average at home against this Seahawk defense. The Cowboys have gone over the total in four of their last five games, and have scored 40 or more in three of those games. Dallas is a big favorite here, but they have won and covered in each of the past three weeks with even bigger spreads, and all of those games went over the total. The Seahawks only need to score a few points to send this over, and really only had a terrible offensive showing once against the Ravens. Seattle will be able to score enough to send this over the total, as Dallas lights up the scoreboard.

Take the over.

Prediction: Over 46

Paul has been a sports fan his entire life, and was an All-Conference basketball player at The University of Scranton. He is currently a high school basketball coach and a mathematics teacher with a Master’s in Business Administration. This unique combination gives Paul the ability to find mismatches from a coach’s perspective while having the ability to analyze statistical data to spot advantages. Paul will provide you with an array of statistics, trends, and analytics to prepare for any match-up. Follow Paul for up-to-date analysis and all your betting needs. We are thrilled to have Paul on our team.