Dallas Cowboys Open As Road Favorites Against New York Giants

After a tightly contested road win over the Vikings on Thursday, the Cowboys will travel to New York to take on the Giants in a highly anticipated NFC East matchup.

That matchup might have been even more interesting had the Giants not lost in embarrassing fashion against the Steelers yesterday,

With the Cowboys advancing to 11-1 and the Giants dropping to 8-4, it's not a big surprise to see the Cowboys open as 2.5-point favorites over the Giants, even if the game is in New York. Many bookmakers have since moved the line to 3.0, an indication that there is a lot of money pouring in on the Cowboys.

The Giants have a lot riding on this game. Their lead in the wildcard race has shrunk to just one game over the Buccaneers for the No. 5 seed, and even the No. 6 could be in danger if competitors like Washington, Green Bay, or Minnesota continue to gain ground on the Giants in the coming weeks.

But the Cowboys also have a lot riding on this game, as a win would clinch the NFC East division championship for the second time in three years, and a win would maintain their three-game lead for home field advantage with three games left to play.

There's even a chance the Cowboys could have the entire NFC wrapped up by the end of Week 14: A win against the Giants coupled with losses by the Seahawks in Green Bay and by the Lions at home against Chicago and the Cowboys would have clinched homefield advantage.

But first, the Giants await.

In other NFC East action, the Redskins travel to Philadelphia, where they opened as 1-point favorites over the stalling Eagles.

As usual, keep in mind that the lines offered by the oddsmakers don't necessarily reflect the actual chances of either team winning the game, as the lines are usually set to encourage betting and to make sure that the money being bet is spread 50/50 over both teams (the key to remaining a profitable bookmaker).

The 2016 Cowboys are huge betting draws, and the line for the Giants game could easily be set to lure the millions of Cowboys fans in the betting public to get in on the action. While the current odds reflect the bookmakers' best guess as to where the action will remain even on both sides of the bet, the bookmakers could easily adjust the line to reflect the public's betting pattern, especially if the money keeps coming in on the Cowboys.

The Cowboys enter the game with the fourth-ranked scoring offense and the fifth-ranked scoring defense, while the Giants currently have the 23rd-ranked scoring offense and the eighth-ranked scoring defense.

If you were a betting person, would you take the Cowboys as three-point favorites or would you take the Giants?