NFL Week 6: An early look at Eagles-Cowboys odds

Philadelphia Eagles. Dallas Cowboys. Sunday Night Football. First place in the NFC East on the line. Not much more a football fan could ask for, right?

After sort of coasting to a 4-0 start, the Eagles faced a somewhat difficult road test Sunday in Arizona and escaped the southwest with a 20-17 win and remain the last unbeaten team in the NFL at 5-0. Dallas, meanwhile, has been playing pretty good football with Cooper Rush forced into quarterbacking duties after Dak Prescott’s injury. Rush and the offense got some help from a defense that forced three Matthew Stafford turnovers during a 22-10 road win vs. the Rams in Los Angeles.

What looked to be a pretty easy home win for the Eagles a few weeks ago now has a little bit of a different feel. Here’s a look at the early Week 6 Eagles-Cowboys lines over at FanDuel. (Note: Lines/odds are subject to change.)

Point spread: Eagles (-5.5) vs. Cardinals (+5.5)

Moneyline: Eagles (-240) vs. Cardinals (+198)

Total: 43.5 points

The Eagles are 5.5-point favorites for the second consecutive week. They opened Week 5 at FanDuel at that number and closed there, too. They did not cover in Arizona.

Dak Prescott Watch is officially on for Week 6. The quarterback says he’s day-to-day and will be reevaluated again this week. The Cowboys, with Rush under center, have been just fine without him. That’s largely because Dallas’ defense has been outstanding. The Cowboys, in four straight wins after a Week 1 loss, have averaged 13.25 points against per game. Only the Bills and 49ers have allowed fewer points so far in 2022. And only San Francisco has more sacks (21) than Dallas (20).

The Cowboys are the toughest defense the Eagles have faced so far in 2022, and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has not beaten Dallas yet in his young career as the Eagles’ starter.

This Eagles team, of course, is a lot better than the Eagles teams Hurts played on in 2020 and 2021, and Hurts a lot closer to a complete player now than he was then.

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It will be interesting to track potential movement on this number as bettors start to make plays, and the injury situation around Prescott becomes a little more clear. The Cowboys shouldn’t feel the need to rush him back with Rush’s steady play and a defense that has shown it can slow down the best of them – and the Eagles certainly represent an offense that, at times, can be among the best of them.

The Eagles are 3-2 against the spread while the Cowboys are 4-1.

A rematch of a wild AFC Divisional Round matchup is on tap for Sunday, when the Buffalo Bills head to Kansas City to meet the Chiefs. The Bills, 38-3 winners over Pittsburgh in Week 5, opened as 1.5-point favorites.

The largest opening spread of Week 6 is the Rams as 10-point favorites vs. the visiting Carolina Panthers.

Week 6 of the 2022 NFL season kicks off Thursday in Chicago. You think that Broncos-Colts game was a blast? Get yourself ready for Commanders-Bears in prime time. The Bears opened as 1-point favorites.

The third prime time game of Week 6, the Monday Night Football matchup that sees Denver visiting the Los Angeles Chargers, has the Chargers as 6-point favorites over the Broncos.

» READ MORE: Full sports betting coverage from The Philadelphia Inquirer

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