Sam Panayotovich
FOX Sports Betting Analyst
The NFL’s NFC East division is arguably the best soap opera in professional sports. Characters are larger than life, the fan bases border on bonkers and you never know what you’re going to get in a given season.
Last repeat champion, you ask?
Try the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004.
I consume more offseason football content than I’m willing to admit and most predictions for the upcoming year have either the world champion Eagles or Washington Commanders winning the divisional crown.
The Dallas Cowboys are mostly an afterthought.
Last year’s bunch was decimated by injuries on both sides of the ball, highlighted by quarterback Dak Prescott making only eight starts before tearing his hamstring muscle against the Atlanta Falcons.
The disrespect is so real on Jerry’s team that most sportsbooks across America are dealing Dallas at 6-to-1 or higher to be Beasts of the East. Caesars Sportsbook is sitting at +675 while Circa Sports in Las Vegas is at +740 and the Westgate SuperBook is all the way out to +825.
“Seems extremely high,” one professional bettor told me.
“It’s a tough division and schedule, but that’s a big number. I’m considering a bet on anything north of seven dollars. Dallas should have a price like Pittsburgh. They’re both third wheels in their divisions with lots of upside.
“If Dak’s healthy, they can get there. That’s the NFL. You can win if you’re healthy and everybody else around you is leaking water.”
It’s difficult to deliver truer words.
When Prescott is healthy, they’re dangerous. When he’s not, they’re not. The Cowboys rattled off 12 victories in three straight seasons (2021 to 2023) with their quarterback in tow. When Dak’s not on the field, forget about it.
Does paying Micah Parsons get the Cowboys closer or further from a Super Bowl?
Dallas sputtered to a measly six wins when Prescott fractured his ankle back in 2020 and finished with seven victories last year.
The Cowboys go as he goes.
If America’s Team exceeds expectations, they’ll have earned every bit of success considering how strong the NFC East is shaping up to be, not to mention their incredibly difficult schedule down the home stretch.
After playing Las Vegas on the road in Week 11, Dallas faces Philadelphia and Kansas City in Dallas, Detroit at Ford Field, then Minnesota and the L.A. Chargers back home before a road tilt against the Commanders.
Sheesh.
It’s still dollars and cents at the end of the day, and I’m not interested in laying a price of -150 or so on the Eagles to win the NFC East.
Yes, they’re the champs and yes, their roster makes general managers around the league jealous. But too many strange things have happened in this division over the last 20 years to act like anything is a sure thing.
Even the pro bettor agrees.
“Keep Dak upright and see what happens.”
Sam Panayotovich is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and the BetMGM Network. He previously worked for WGN Radio, NBC Sports and VSiN. Follow him on Twitter @spshoot.
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