Cowboys vs. Jets

* Cowboys Vs. Jets Betting Lines

The Dallas Cowboys are on the road to play the New York Jets in week 1 of the 2011 – 2012 NFL season. It will be the return of Tony Romo after an injury took him out of 10 games last year.

Jets head coach Rex Ryan has guaranteed a Super Bowl Championship this season, so a win at home against the Cowboys will be an important step if they’re going to accomplish that. Ok, it’s just funny and we don’t take it seriously either, but…the Jets do look like a contender. Sanchez keeps getting better, and he’ll have a couple of new targets for 2011 – 2012.

Latest Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets Betting Odds

The odds in the chart above are current, but the article below was written a few days ago. We’re leaving the old odds up so bettors can see how the lines have been moving.

The NY Jets are favored by 4.5 points at Sportsinteraction.com right now, and -200 on the money line. We’re picking the Jets to cover the spread in this game. We’re also taking the under, expecting the Jets to put a lot of pressure on a rusty Tony Romo.

Visit our NFL betting lines page for all of the latest week 1 odds.

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys went 6-10 last season, with a 2-6 home record, and 4-4 on the road. They were 3-3 in their division, and 4-8 in the NFC.

Injury limited QB Tony Romo to just 6 starts in the 2010 – 2011 NFL season, but he’s back and healthy for 2011 – 2012. Jon Kitna filled in for Romo, and although his performance wasn’t up to par with Romo, Kitna received more than his fair-share of blame for the 2010 season. The Cowboys offense wasn’t the reason for the 6-10 record, it was the defense. For 2011 – 2012, the Cowboys defense will need to take a big step up if they want to challenge the Eagles and Giants in the NFC East.

I don’t see the ‘Boys having the season that many ESPN and other NFL analysts are predicting. I keep hearing the ‘experts’ say that the 2011 – 2012 Dallas Cowboys are a playoff team, but I disagree. 9-7 would be a decent year for the Cowboys, and that won’t be good enough to get a Wild Card birth. 10-6 probably won’t be good enough either, so how do the Cowboys get in?

Did the Cowboys make enough significant roster changes in the off-season to get them to 11-5? We’ll have to wait and see, but I don’t think they did.

New York Jets

The New York Jets had a 2010 – 2011 record of 11-5, going 5-3 at home and 6-2 on the road. They went 4-2 in their division and 9-3 in the AFC. Their 11-5 record was good for second in the AFC East behind the New England Patriots (14-2), and a Wild Card birth. The Jets went on to beat the Indianapolis Colts 17-16 in the Wild Card game, leading them to a matchup against the Patriots in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

The underdog Jets pulled out a 28-21 win over the Patriots, and Mark Sanchez proved he was ready to play with the big boys. Sanchez threw for 3 TD’s and the Jets defense recorded 5 sacks.

The NY Jets faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Conference Championship game, losing 24-19. Sanchez outplayed Ben Roethlisberger, going 20/33 for 233 yds and 2 TD’s with 0 INT’s. Roethlisberger went a measly 10/19 for 133 yds, with 0 TD’s and 2 INT’s. However, The Jets couldn’t establish their ground game, accruing just 70 net yards. They had trouble converting third downs, and only converted 2 first downs via the run.

To take the next step in the 2011 – 2012 season, the Jets will need RB Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson to take some pressure off of Sanchez and create less predictability within the offense.

Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Jets 2011 Week 1 Prediction

I’m looking at a win of 6+ points for the Jets in this game, so Jets -4.5 -110 is looking good to me. I suspect we’ll see closer to a 5 to 5.5 point spread before game time, so I’ve already got my bet in.

If you prefer the Dallas Cowboys, it would be smart to watch the lines move as the game gets closer. I think the Cowboys will get another 1 to 1.5 points, but we’ll have to wait and see.

So, my prediction is, Jets by 6+.