In a crucial NFC East battle, Daniel Jones and the New York Giants will line up against Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. These teams split the season series last year, and New York will benefit from home-field advantage on Sunday. Let’s identify the best Cowboys-Giants player prop picks and anytime touchdown scorer bets for Week 1’s edition of Sunday Night Football.
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Cowboys-Giants Player Props & Anytime Touchdown Bet | Sunday Night Football
Sunday Night Football Betting Odds
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
Cowboys: -180 | Giants: +152
Cowboys -3.5: -108 | Giants +3.5: -112
Over 45.5: -105 | Under 45.5: -115
Cowboys-Giants Player Prop
The Dallas Cowboys parted ways with tight end Dalton Schultz in the offseason and chose not to bring in a free agent at the position. They did draft rookie Luke Schoonmaker, but he profiles as more of a project than an opening-day starter. That leaves Jake Ferguson to start at tight end, and I expect him to play a big role early.
Last year, Schultz averaged 38.5 receiving yards per game. He recorded at least 23 receiving yards in 10 of his 15 appearances. While Ferguson may not see the same volume that Schultz did, quarterback Dak Prescott has been praising the tight end all offseason, telling the media in mid-August that Ferguson was “close” to becoming a “big-time guy.”
It’s not like Ferguson is coming out of nowhere. In the two games that Schultz missed last season, Ferguson racked up 26.5 receiving yards per game, beating this number once. Despite playing behind Schultz in his last game against the Giants, Ferguson still went off for 57 yards on three catches, while Schultz added 31 yards and two scores on his own.
The line at FanDuel is more than a little soft. Most books have Ferguson at 24.5, including Pinnacle, a sharp book. Those books usually have the juice stacked on the over, too. However, we can buy the over 22.5 for -108 (51%) at FanDuel. Let’s lock that one in before the number disappears.
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Cowboys-Giants Player Prop Pick: Jake Ferguson Over 22.5 Receiving Yards -108 at FanDuel
Cowboys-Giants Anytime Touchdown Scorer
The New York Giants didn’t have much of an offensive line last year. Aside from star left tackle Andrew Thomas, most of their linemen scored PFF grades at or below replacement level. In response, the Giants chose to beef up their front five by adding rookie John Michael Schmitz, who was the best center in college football last year. He takes over for Jon Feliciano, who was one of their bigger liabilities last year.
While adding Schmitz won’t turn everything around immediately for New York, it gives them a much-needed shot in the arm — and it could help them at the goal line, especially against this Dallas front seven. The Cowboys have some solid pass rushers but struggled against the run last year, ranking 15th in yards allowed per rush attempt (4.4) and 22nd in rushing yards allowed per game (124.4).
Daniel Jones adds more than most realize on the ground. He racked up 708 rushing yards and seven scores on 120 attempts last year, including 93 yards on 12 attempts against the Cowboys. He didn’t end up finding paydirt, but his red-zone usage is encouraging — he logged 24 carries inside the 20-yard line and another seven inside the five, good for 32.4% and 29.2% of New York’s total rushes from that far back, respectively.
We can buy Jones at odds of +200 (33.3%) via FanDuel to score a touchdown on Sunday Night Football. You’ll find this listed at +185 (35.1%) on DraftKings. I suspect that both the sharps and the books are reading a bit too much into the Dallas defense stifling the run in the red zone. Let’s trust Jones to get in the end zone on Sunday with a better blocker in front of him.
Cowboys-Giants Anytime Touchdown Scorer Bet: Daniel Jones +200 at FanDuel
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