Steelers -2 Total 31.5
ASA is looking forward to starting their 25th season as a company this football season! There are not many handicappers in this industry that can boast that long of a tenure and we are proud to be serving you again this year.
Below is a short preview of tonight’s preseason NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.
Head coaches: Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is 9-3 SU last 12 preseason games and 31-23 SU overall in the exhibition season. Dallas second year man Mike McCarthy has a lifetime record of 28-23 SU (Green Bay) in the preseason, but he benefitted from having two veteran QB’s named Favre and Rodgers getting snaps, even in a limited setting. EDGE: STEELERS
QB’s: Neither starting quarterbacks (Roethlisberger or Prescott) will see action tonight so it all falls on the backups. In the preseason the quarterback position is magnified and can have a much bigger impact on the outcome. In this matchup we feel the Steelers have an advantage under center with Mason Rudolph starting over the Cowboys with Garrett Gilbert who has played in seven career games. Following Gilbert will be Ben DeNucci who is basically on the Cowboys roster because he has ties with McCarthy. Pittsburgh made a commitment to Rudolph as Big Ben’s future replacement which tells us how they feel about him. Rudolph started 10 games in 2019 and was respectable with 13 TD’s to 9 INT’s and a QB rating of 82. Behind Rudolph is Dwayne Haskins (from Washington) who will benefit from Mike Tomlin and could resurrect his young career. EDGE: STEELERS
Offenses: Offensively these two teams were near even but of course the Boys were without their QB Dak Prescott for most of the season. Pittsburgh averaged 26.6PPG on the year, Dallas scored 24.7PPG. The Steelers averaged just 13-Yards per Point (7th in NFL) while the Cowboys averaged 15.1YPPT which ranked 19th. Pittsburgh was 24th on the league averaging 5.2-Yards per Play while the Cowboys were slightly better at 5.3YPPL. The Steelers have long been known for their pound-and-ground rushing attack but last season they were last in the NFL at just 82.5RYPG. Dallas was slightly below league average at 111.8RYPG. Pittsburgh rated slightly better in the passing game with 264.9PYPG while the Cowboys averaged 260.1PYPG. EDGE: NONE
Defenses: This is where the Steelers have a glaring advantage over the Cowboys. Last season the Steelers gave up just 21.2PPG (5th) while the Cowboys allowed 29.6PPG which was 28th in the NFL. Pittsburgh was 18th in Yards-per-Point defense at 14.7YPPT allowed, whereas the Cowboys ranked 28th at 13.1YPPT defensively. Dallas was second-to-last in the league in stopping the run at 158.5RYPG allowed while Pittsburgh ranked 13th at 112.4RYPG given up. Dallas was respectable in stopping the pass as they finished the season 11th in passing yards allowed per game but Pittsburgh gave up less than 200-passing yards per game which was 2nd best in the league. Pittsburgh had the #1 ranked DVOA defense per FootballOutsiders while the Cowboys ranked 23rd. EDGE: STEELERS
We can’t wait for the regular season to get here when the games matter and players/coaches are giving maximum effort. Knowing that makes our job much easier and creates a much stronger baseline for successfully handicapping.
It’s going to be a GREAT year and we couldn’t be more prepared heading into the season than we are in year 25 as ASAwins.
We have packages available for all levels of bettors so be sure to check out ASAwins.com today!
