After Week 1, it was hard to argue that both Baltimore and Dallas would once again win at least 12 games in 2024.
The Ravens opened this season with a loss, but only after falling just short in a 27-20 nail-biter in Kansas City, while Dallas controlled its Week 1 matchup in Cleveland, winning 33-17.
But both of these teams’ performances in Week 2 raised red flags.
Baltimore coughed up a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in a home loss to the Raiders, while Dallas was embarrassed at home by the Saints, who jumped the Cowboys with a 35-point first-half outburst in a game that was never competitive.
As one of three NFC East teams tied in first place at 1-1, Dallas could be back atop its division by Sunday evening, but the 0-2 Ravens have almost no room for error in the loaded AFC North.
Ravens-Cowboys kicks off at 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX, with the Ravens listed as slight road favorites.
Ravens vs. Cowboys Betting Odds
Below are the odds for Sunday afternoon’s game in three markets: the spread, moneyline and total.
| DraftKings | FanDuel | ESPN BET | bet365 | |
| BAL spread | -1 (-110) | -1.5 (-102) | -1 (-110) | -1 (-110) |
| DAL spread | +1 (-110) | +1.5 (-120) | +1 (-110) | +1 (-110) |
| BAL ML | -115 | -112 | -115 | -115 |
| DAL ML | -105 | -106 | -105 | -105 |
| Total | 47.5 (o-110; u-110) | 47.5 (o-105; u-115) | 47.5 (o-115; u-105) | 47.5 (o-110; u-110) |
$250 BONUS BETS
DRAFTKINGS SPORTSBOOK
$1,000 FIRST BET RESET (MUST USE CODE NEWSWEEK)
ESPN BET
UP TO $1,000 BONUS BETS
FANATICS SPORTSBOOK
$1,500 FIRST-BET OFFER
BETMGM
$200 BONUS OR $1,000 FIRST-BET SAFETY NET
BET365
$1,000 FIRST BET
CAESARS SPORTSBOOK
$200 BONUS BETS
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK
Ravens vs. Cowboys Betting Preview
Baltimore Ravens Betting News, Analysis
It’s not time to panic in Baltimore just yet, but another loss would officially put the Ravens in real danger of missing the playoffs.
For just over three quarters of its Week 2 clash with Las Vegas, Baltimore looked on track for a bounce-back win after its close loss in Kansas City in Week 1. But the Ravens allowed Vegas QB Gardner Minshew to catch fire in the fourth quarter, as the Raiders scored 13 unanswered points down the stretch in one of the biggest upsets of Week 2.
Baltimore’s offensive line and defense both had questions to answer entering this season after the O-line lost three starters and the defense lost several key coaches and players this offseason.
So far this year, those concerns have proven justified: the secondary struggled to contain Raiders WR Davante Adams (9 catches, 110 yards, 1 TD) and TE Brock Bowers (9 catches, 98 yards) last week, and the O-line has rarely given Lamar Jackson time to push the ball down the field.
Despite the issues plaguing this team right now, the combo of Jackson and Derrick Henry should be able to run the ball right at Dallas after the Cowboys gave up 190 yards on the ground to New Orleans.
Dallas Cowboys Betting News, Analysis
Dallas no longer has the luxury of one of the league’s best offensive lines, as key starters Tyron Smith and Tyler Biadasz both left in free agency last spring. And while Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb form as good a QB-WR duo as there is in the league, the lack of complementary targets besides Lamb looms as a tough hurdle for this offense in 2024.
Defensively, it’s hard to reconcile what we saw from Dallas in Week 1 with its showing in Week 2. The Cowboys D followed up an impressive effort in a road win over Cleveland in Week 1 by allowing New Orleans to put up 35 first-half points last weekend.
Last week, a major issue for Dallas, which couldn’t stop the run in last year’s NFC Wild Card loss to Green Bay, was how poorly it defended RB Alvin Kamara (115 yards rushing on 20 carries), especially early.
The threat of the Kamara-led ground game also helped QB Derek Carr and the Saints beat the Cowboys deep with play-action several times, including on WR Rashid Shaheed’s 70-yard TD grab in the first quarter.
Ravens vs. Cowboys Prediction, Best Bets
This is one of the toughest games of Week 3 to predict. Both the Ravens and Cowboys’ rosters have some significant holes, but they are solid enough at QB that they’ve solidified themselves as two of the best regular-season teams in the league.
Sunday’s game should come down to the wire, but there’s too much talent on the Ravens roster for me to bet on them falling to 3-0.
Let’s go with Baltimore to win an ugly, low-scoring game featuring a ton of Henry, who we expect to play a much more prominent role after he had a total of 31 carries in Weeks 1 and 2.
Ravens vs. Cowboys Best Bets
- Ravens moneyline (-112 at FanDuel)
- Under 47.5 (-105 at ESPN BET)
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