| The Cowboys are going to lose Sunday. It’s
as simple as that, really. Just look at the pointspread. The Raiders are favored by a
whopping 19 points — that’s two touchdowns with the PATS, a field goal and a
safety. 19 points for gosh-darn sakes!
Apparently, the Cowboys are whining about it down in Dallas. They feel disrespected,
they say. They ought to feel disrespected, I say. They are joining very rare company. Not
many teams are considered so bad by the oddsmakers that they are made 19-point underdogs.
It doesn’t happen very often.
How do I know? I did a little research.
In the past 10 years — going back to the 1991 season — there have only
been seven games in which a team was so bad that it was getting 19 or more points.
The most recent lopsided matchup involved Cleveland and St. Louis. The Browns were
spotted 19 points when they visited the Rams in 1999. The final result? Rams 34, Browns 3.
In 1998, the Eagles were 19-point underdogs when they visited the Packers. Green Bay
won that game 24-16.
Back in 1993, the Bengals must have really sucked, as they were 23-point underdogs when
they visited the 49ers. The 49ers won that matchup 21-8.
1992 was the season of lopsided spreads, with three games featuring at 19- and 20-point
underdogs. The Colts were given 19 points when they traveled to Buffalo. The Bills blanked
the Colts 38-0. New England was a 19-point underdog at Buffalo. The Bills managed to win
16-7. And the Buccaneers were 20-point underdogs at San Francisco. The 49ers narrowly
avoided humiliation, beating the Bucs 21-14.
Finally, the Colts were 20-point underdogs in 1991 when the visited Buffalo. The Bills
hammered the Colts 42-6.
See a pattern in the above games? Every single underdog lost. When a team is favored by
19 or more points in the past 10 years, it is 7-0 straight up. That doesn’t bode well
for Dallas. Against the spread, though, the Cowboys have a glimmer of hope. In the
above-mentioned seven games, four did manage to cover.
I did a little more research, looking at all of the games in the past 10 years that
involved spreads of at least 16 points. Of the 32 matchups that fit the profile, only
three resulted in upsets. That means that the favorite won 29 out of 32 times! However,
against the spread, the underdogs fared well, posting a record of 19-12-1.
So, what does all of this mean? What does it have to do with this week’s
Cowboys-Raiders game?
Like I said in the beginning — the Cowboys are going to lose Sunday. |
