Washington and Dallas Renew NFC East Rivalry on Monday Night

Week 8 of the NFL season closes out with a classic NFC East rivalry matchup on Monday Night Football as Washington visits AT&T Stadium to square off against the red-hot Dallas Cowboys. Bovada has listed the Cowboys as 10-point home favorites with the NFL betting odds for the total set at 50.

Washington – at 2-5 on the season – snapped a four-game straight-up losing streak with a tight 19-17 victory against Tennessee at home last Sunday. They failed to cover as 6.5-point favorites to fall to 0-4 against the spread in their last four games and 2-5 ATS on the year. The total stayed UNDER the Bovada 46-point line after going OVER in four of their previous five games.

Dallas has gone in the complete opposite direction since an opening day loss to San Francisco with a six-game winning streak SU and a 5-1 run against the spread. Last Sunday the Cowboys streaked past the Giants 31-21 in another big division matchup as 4.5-point home favorites. The total went OVER the 46.5-point closing line and it has gone OVER in four of their last five games.

The big news in Washington is that Robert Griffin III is close to returning to the starting lineup after suffering an early season ankle injury. Griffin has not been completely ruled out for Monday night, but it looks like Colt McCoy is set to get the start at quarterback. Kirk Cousins wore out his welcome as RGIII’s backup with four interceptions in his last two games, which raised his total to nine on the year.

The big story in Big D this season has been a potent running game led by DeMarco Murray that is tearing up the NFL with an average of 159.7 yards a game. Murray set a new NFL record by gaining 100 yards or more in seven straight games to start a season. He leads the league with 913 yards on 187 carries.

Washington has gone just 1-3 ATS in its last four division road games and it is 2-7 ATS in its last nine games as underdogs on the road. The total has stayed UNDER in seven of its last 10 road games against the NFC East.

The Cowboys are 4-0 ATS in their last four home games against the division, but just 1-4 ATS in their last five home games as favorites. The total has gone OVER in five of their last seven home games against a division opponent.

Head-to-head in this classic rivalry, Washington has lost eight of the last 11 meetings SU, but it holds a 7-1 edge ATS in the last eight games. The total has stayed UNDER in eight of their last 11 meetings.