The Loop

Cowboys vs. Dolphins could wind up being the biggest point spread in NFL history

September 16, 2019
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Mark Brown

Things are not supposed to be this lopsided in—to borrow a line from New York sports radio king character Mike Francesa—"In the league where they play ... for pay." PARITY has been the NFL's battle cry for a couple decades to make everyone feel like their teams have a chance to succeed while obscuring the fact the Patriots basically win the Super Bowl every year. But because of Bill Belichick's bunch of players who are not on the commissioner's exempt list (for now) and the Miami Dolphins in particular, we are seeing some historic point spreads this season.

The two teams faced off this past weekend in Miami, and the Patriots crushed the Dolphins, 43-0, apparently burying New England sports books who took a lot of money on New England as 18-point favorites. And with the Dolphins taking on "America's Team" next, oddsmakers are treading carefully.

The Cowboys get their crack at the NFL's piñata in Dallas and they are currently favored by 21 points. Yep, that's three touchdowns. With the extra points. We say currently because there's already been a lot of MOVEMENT (gambling term) after the line opened at 16.5.

At this rate, the game could break the record for biggest point spread in NFL history during the Super Bowl Era. That honor goes to the San Francisco 49ers when they took on the Atlanta Falcons during the strike year of 1987 as a 23-point favorite. The Falcons still had a roster filled with replacement players, but managed to scrap their way to a 25-17 defeat. We're not expecting the Dolphins to put up a similar fight after a historically bad first two games of the season in which they've been outscored 102-10. Brutal. (By the way, the Patriots are favored by 17 in their Week 3 matchup against the Jets ... parity!)

And yes, as much as it pains this Giants fan to say it, the Cowboys have looked pretty good with easy wins against the Giants and Redskins. Then again, they played the Giants and Redskins. Hmm ... Three touchdowns seems like a lot ...