The Dallas Cowboys play opening night of the 2021 NFL season against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bucs are one of the most complete teams in the NFL and brought back every single contributor from their championship roster.
Tampa Bay is in a great position to continue its success, which means it may be a tough week for Dallas.
Here are two betting props I like for the Cowboys given the matchup.
Amari Cooper UNDER 68.5 Receiving Yards
The Dallas passing attack is going to be their shining unit all season, but I think they’re in for a rough opening week against this strong Tampa Bay secondary.
The basis for this pick is the feeling that Cooper has been usurped as the top receiver on this team by CeeDee Lamb.
BetPrep projects Cooper to finish with just 43.27 yards, significantly lower than his prop total. There are also a few negative trends supporting the under bet here.
The most pertinent trend regards targets in his last game; Cooper had 9 in Week 17. Caught for 69+ receiving yards in 2 of his last 8 (25%) games when he had at least 5 targets last game.
The odds aren’t quite in his favor, and again, this Buccaneers’ secondary is a strength.
Dak Prescott OVER 21.5 Pass Completions
One prop that seems to have a lot of positive momentum on BetPrep is Dak Prescott’s over for completions.
You’re likely not going to find Prescott’s line this low after Week 1, bogged down by his long layoff and minor injury this summer.
Prescott is expected to start, and in a game where they’re likely to be trailing, the Cowboys may be forced to throw the ball more than they may like.
In Dak’s four complete games last season, he averaged 34.25 completions per game, significantly higher than his total for this Week 1 contest.
Positive trends are all over Prescott’s page for this line, this is my favorite prop of the game.
- Recorded 22+ completions in 8 of his last 10 (80%) games when he threw at least 10 times last game.
- Recorded 22+ completions in 8 of his last 10 (80%) games when he completed at least 10 passes last game.
- Recorded 22+ completions in 9 of his last 11 (81.82%) games when he completed at least 0.6% of his passes last game.
- Recorded 22+ completions in 8 of his last 10 (80%) games when he threw for at least 100 pass yards last game.
Yes, his ‘last game’ was quite a long time ago, but he hit all the benchmarks listed above, suggesting this line has over an 80% likelihood of hitting.
Bet this over confidently, and enjoy the first game of the NFL season!
