Sports betting

Panthers vs. Cowboys: Monday Night Football

by Chad Rogers | September 28 2009

Everything's bigger in Texas, even the pointspreads for football games! Online sportsbooks have the Cowboys listed as 8-point favourites in tonight's big Monday Night matchup; here's how the game sets up.

In this week's edition of Monday Night Football a Carolina-Dallas Cowboys matchup rounds out what has been a definitive week for the sports betting public so far in this young season of NFL betting.

The Detroit Lions ended one of the longest losing streaks in the modern football era, the St. Louis Rams look ready to give that streak a run for its money and Washington Redskins boss Jim Zorn solidified his spot atop the list of soon to be fired coaches.

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Carolina opened as an underdog of up to nine points and betting has been fairly even on both sides. The Panthers recovered somewhat last Sunday from an embarrassing opening week performance by simply losing in Atlanta, not gift-wrapping the game and handing it over one interception at a time. Against a Cowboys team that came close but got no cigar in its inaugural game at the new Jones Mahal, Carolina will need to elevate its game once again if it hopes to keep pace.

Dallas did well last week to stay in a contest where the only thing keeping it close was the New York Giants' inefficiency in the red zone. New York was 0-for-5 on touchdowns inside the 20, settling instead for four field goals on five attempts. The Cowboys also turned the ball over four times, including three interceptions thrown by Tony Romo, leading to 24 points for the Giants.

Expect better things from a Cowboys offense this week out to prove it is better than it looked last Sunday. Overall, Tony Romo still has the best QB rating in the league since 2008 (114.7) and the Cowboys run-game was good for 251 rushing yards against New York—the most ever in a Cowboys loss. Bettors should check the status of RB Marion Barber, who strained his quadriceps on a run against New York. He is listed as questionable and sat out Sunday's pre-game walkthrough, indicating that the Cowboys are game planning to be without him.

Expect Felix Jones to start against Carolina and play in a rotation with Tashard Choice; Jones getting most of the goal-line work. Barber isn't seriously injured and figures to return for Week 4 at Denver.

Dallas will put extra men in the box to try and defend the two-pronged ground attack from Carolina but with deep-threat Steve Smith lined up on the outside, Cowboys safeties cannot be over anxious. The Panthers have just a 4-4 ATS record in eight appearances on Monday Night Football but will not look forward to returning home from this road trip empty handed. As a home favorite Dallas has a record of 5-11 ATS on Monday Nights.

Online Sports betting: The online sports betting community has weighed in with their bets and they've been favoring the underdog Carolina Panthers in this one so far. Carolina is 1-4 SU/ATS as an underdog of any number in its past five tries.

Enjoy the big game and you can check all the NFL Lines at SPORTSBETTING.COM