The Seattle Seahawks beat the odds to send themselves into the playoffs despite plenty of experts not viewing them a playoff team prior to the season. The Dallas Cowboys, meanwhile, are about to find out whether they can carry over their success in the regular season into the playoffs. Read on for a preview of this playoff matchup between two teams that last met in the post season 12 years ago. Going into this big game the sportsbook favors America’s team, the Cowboys, by a field goal.
The Seahawks ended the regular season with a win over the Arizona Cardinals at home last Sunday, 27-24. It was a relatively hard-earned win for the Seahawks, considering that they were up against a team that’s going to pick first in the 2019 NFL Draft. Nevertheless, Seattle must be liking what it’s seeing from running back Chris Carson, who’s been incredibly productive of late. Carson has rushed for at least 116 yards and a touchdown over the last three games. Against the Cardinals, Carson had 122 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Seattle is going to run the ball no matter what, as it has ridden that philosophy all the way into a surprising playoff appearance. The Seahawks, who are averaging 26.8 points per game, are tops in the NFL with 160.0 rushing yards per game and second with 33.4 rushing attempts per contest.
When playing on the road this season the Seahawks are 4-4 straight up (SU) and 4-3-1 against the spread (ATS) while going 3-1 ATS in its last three games away from the comforts of home.
Betting on the Dallas Cowboys (10-6)
The Cowboys are headed to the playoffs on the heels of a close 36-35 road win over the New York Giants in Week 17. Dak Prescott had one of his best games of the season thus far in the regular-season finale, as he racked up 387 passing yards and four touchdowns with zero errors on 27-of-44 completions. However, the defense that helped Dallas garner plenty of success this season didn’t seem to show up in Week 17, as Giants quarterback Eli Manning had 301 passing yards and two touchdowns with an interception, while running back Saquon Barkley rushed for 109 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. The Cowboys hope that they’ll play better defensively once there’s actually something on the line. The Cowboys are sixth in the NFL in scoring defense with 20.2 points allowed per game. They also have a run defense that allows just 94.6 rushing yards per outing. That should come in handy against the run-heavy Seahawks.
At home this regular season, the Cowboys are 7-1 SU and 5-2-1 ATS while going 3-0-1 ATS in its last four games at AT&T.
