The NFL is back for the 2024/25 season and this week we’ll see two teams mixed starts to the season go head-to-head as the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Dallas Cowboys in week 5.
The Steelers started the season with three wins and a defeat from their opening three games so far, while the Cowboys have gone 2-2 as they look to push forward and improve on last season’s elimination at the wild card round.
We’ll take a look at the two teams and provide you with our best free NFL betting picks to try and earn you some extra cash while you enjoy the action on the field.
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Pre-season is usually a decent indicator of where a team is heading into the new NFL season, but that hasn’t been the case for the Steelers.
Defeats to the Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions had plenty of fans in Pittsburgh fearing the worst, but the team have started very well in the regular season. They opened up with an excellent 18-10 win on the road against the Atlanta Falcons, keeping their opponents scoreless in the entire second half.
Next up was a home game against the Denver Broncos as they claimed a 13-6 victory in another low-scoring affair, as they stopped Denver from scoring in the first three quarters of the game to show where the strengths of this team lie.
They then claimed a big 20-10 win on the road to the Los Angeles Chargers, coming from behind in the second half and once again keeping them scoreless before their good form came to an end last time out in a 27-24 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts.
Dallas’ pre-season was a little bit better as the went 1-2, with a win over the Las Vegas Raiders sandwiched between defeats to the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers.
But they started their season well with a 33-17 win on the road to the Cleveland Browns, as Dak Prescott turned in an impressive performance despite being sacked three times.
They followed that up with two defeats however, as the New Orleans Saints taught them a lesson with a huge 44-19 scoreline where they gave up three touchdowns in the second quarter. They then were beaten by the Baltimore Ravens in their next game in a close 25-28 encounter, before returning to winning ways with a 20-15 win over the New York Giants last time out despite being less than impressive with their performance.
This is a closer game than it looks on paper, but the Steelers are rightly the favorites heading into it and should be the team to come away with a victory barring any surprises.
Pittsburgh posted 404 total yards (282 passing) and 23 first downs against the Colts, but a slow start and a couple of lost fumbles meant that they gave themselves a massive mountain to climb that they just couldn’t achieve.
As for Dallas, they didn’t dominate against the Giants despite the victory and another performance like that will see them struggle again against much better opposition, which the Steelers are.
The Cowboys had 293 total yards (80 rushing), 14 first downs and a whopping 11 penalties for 89 yards in that game, but it was the defense that got them the victor -, giving up just 26 rush yards, 16 first downs and 5-of-16 on third-down conversions.
This one’s got the makings of a lower-scoring affair if patterns continue in this game from the season so far, but Pittsburgh’s stronger offense mean they’re the team to take on the moneyline.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
So far this season, everything points towards this game not getting anywhere close to this points total.
While Dallas have seen the total surpassed in three of their four games this season, the vast majority of points have been scored by opposing teams who took advantage of a big hole in their defense. But Pittsburgh don’t have that in their locker and both teams have been prioritising defense so far this season.
So far this season the Cowboys have averaged 24.2 points per game scored, while the b in their four games.
Defensively Pittsburgh have only conceded 13.2 points per game and they will be the team expected to have the advantage in this game, so it’s likely that they keep Dallas’ attack to a minimum.
Expect a low-scoring game again, so back the Unders at -105 to take advantage of what could be quite a dull game.
Check out our review for Bovada sports betting here.
About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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