The last match of Christmas week in the NFL comes from the stadium that Jerry built as the Dallas Cowboys host the Detroit Lions in the Monday Night Football, the last MNF of the season.
The Cowboys won their division when New York Giants lost on Thursday night and they know they will be the number one seed in the NFC in the playoffs. Detroit Lions can seal their own playoff place with a win here but whatever happens they will need to beat Green Bay next week to win their division.
Dallas Cowboys
If you take the New York Giants away from proceedings the Dallas Cowboys are unbeaten for the season. The two matches against the Giants have raised plenty of concerns for the Boys heading into the playoffs but they regained their equilibrium with a classy win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week.
Dak Prescott silenced his critics in that match with a near perfect display and another one here will do him no harm. This is a nothing match for Dallas though so it will be interesting to see how long they keep their starters in especially having seen the warnings around the NFL with the brutal injuries over the weekend.
Detroit Lions
Were it not for the fact that they can seal a playoff spot here this would be a nothing game for the Detroit Lions but if they fall a few scores behind early we might see them save their starters for the winner takes all clash with the Green Bay Packers next week. This will provide a good test leading into that match though.
Matthew Stafford is playing through the pain of a dislocated finger and that isn’t ideal at the best of times but when you take on the best side in the league it is even more of a disadvantage. It will annoy the Lions that this injury has come about because they will know that this Cowboys defence is one you can get after in the passing game.
Betting
Of all the matches that are left in the season this one is one of the tougher ones to bet on because we just don’t know how long the starters are going to be in for. We probably should assess the match based on them staying in throughout but the possibility for them to be pulled needs to be raised.
With that in mind I’m just going to target a low player line on a guy who should stay in even when and if starters are pulled. That is Cole Beasley. He is Dak Prescott’s favourite target as we’ve said repeatedly this season so I expect him to catch a few passes especially with Detroit missing their best corners. Even were Prescott to be pulled Tony Romo can still find him so 45.5 yards looks well with his range.
Tips
Back C.Beasley – Over 45.5 receiving yards for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Skybet
Back him here:
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