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Back in May, 2014, CG Technologies in Las Vegas (formerly known as Cantor Gaming), released point-spreads for the first 16 weeks of the 2014 NFL regular season.
At the time, the Cowboys were 4.5-point favorites at home over the Redskins. Today, the Cowboys are 10-point favorites over the Redskins, a reflection of their new-found status as one of the leading contenders in the NFC. The Vegas lines reflect a tumultuous journey for the Cowboys, as David Purdum from ESPN explains:
After its upset of defending champion Seattle, Dallas is now 12-1 to win the Super Bowl at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. Only the Seahawks and Green Bay Packers have better odds in the NFC.
For the sports books, it's a great year for a perennial public favorite like the Cowboys to make a run. Betting was so light on Dallas in the offseason that its odds to win the Super Bowl fell significantly. In late January, the SuperBook opened the Cowboys at 30-1 to win it all. By September, after an offseason full of ridicule, Dallas had fallen all the way back to 75-1. Only five teams -- Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Oakland and Jacksonville -- had longer odds to start the season.
"An offseason full of ridicule" is exactly what many Cowboys fans had to suffer through this year, which makes the Cowboys' performance so far this year so much more satisfying for Cowboys fans, and which is why our panel of front-page writers is unanimous in picking the Cowboys this week - we don't want this feeling to ever end.
Our panel of Pick 256 participants feels the same way: by early this morning, only one out of the 303 submitted entries for the Week 8 games has the Redskins over the Cowboys.
And without further ado, here are our picks for Week 8, 2014.
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| Dave | Dawn | Gary | Joey | Keg- bearer | Neithan | OCC | rabble | Tom | BTB Users | Con- sensus | |
| 2014 Record |
69-37 | 65-41 | 67-39 | 69-37 | 71-35 | 65-41 | 71-35 | 67-39 | 67-39 | 71-35 |
72-34 |
| 2014 Percentage | .651 | .613 | .632 | .651 | .670 | .613 | .670 | .632 | .632 | .670 | .679 |
| Record Week 7 |
11-4 | 9-6 | 10-5 | 8-7 | 10-5 | 11-4 | 10-5 | 8-7 | 10-5 | 10-5 | 10-5 |
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| SD @ DEN (-8) |  |
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DEN: 84% | |
| DET (-3.5) @ ATL |  |
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DET: 86% | |
| MIN @ TB (-3) |  |
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MIN: 51% | |
| CHI @ NE (-6) |  |
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NE: 90% | |
| STL @KC (-7) |  |
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KC: 84% | |
| SEA (-5) @ CAR |  |
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SEA: 87% | |
| BUF @ NYJ (-3) |  |
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BUF: 54% | |
| MIA (-6) @ JAC |  |
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MIA: 93% | |
| HOU (-2) @ TEN |  |
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HOU: 84% | |
| BAL @ CIN (-1) |  |
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BAL: 66% | |
| PHI @ ARI (-2.5) |  |
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ARI: 84% | |
| IND (-3) @ PIT |  |
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IND: 92% |
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| OAK @ CLE (-7) |  |
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CLE: 85% | |
| GB @ NO (-1.5) |  |
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GB: 75% | |
| WAS @ DAL (-10) |  |
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DAL: 99% |
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Don't forget to submit your picks for the BTB Pick 256 Challenge
Pick 256 is a season-long contest in which BTB members and readers get to pick the straight-up winners for all games each week.
You have until kickoff tonight at 8:25 pm ET to submit your picks, but why wait until the last minute? If you haven't yet submitted your picks, now would be a good time. Here's the link to the entry form.
If the link above doesn't work for whatever reason, use the following alternative, which does not autopopulate your BTB user name into the entry form.
Alternative Pick 256 Entry Form
Good luck.