Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Rams Preview (10/9/2022): Betting Odds, Prediction, Depth Chart

By Noah Rosenstein | Oct 05, 2022, 9:48am

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The Dallas Cowboys (3-1) have gone 3-0 without Dak Prescott since the star quarterback was injured in week 1 against the Bucs, and Prescott reportedly has a chance to return when the Cowboys visit the Los Angeles Rams (2-2) on Sunday, October 9 at SoFi Stadium. The Rams are playing on a short week having lost to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football in week 4. Let’s take a look at the odds, injuries and depth charts for this Cowboys vs. Rams matchup and see my picks and predictions for the game.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Rams Betting Odds

The Rams opened as 4-point favorites at home with moneyline odds between -200 and -295 at various sportsbooks. The over/under opened at 44. Those numbers have moved slightly early in the week to Rams -4.5 and 43.5 on the total. These lines seem to be giving quite a bit of respect to the defending Super Bowl champs against a 3-1 team with the seventh ranked defense in the league. Early action indicates the bettors agree, as about 80% of the money is being bet on the Cowboys against the spread and 60% on the moneyline, while 90% is on the under.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Rams Prediction

The Rams have not looked like the same team that won Super Bowl LVI. The offensive line can’t protect Matthew Stafford, which isn’t helping the quarterback dealing with an elbow injury. Only Carson Wentz has been sacked more than Stafford this season, and now he has a meeting with a defense that has generated the second-most sacks and the second-highest pressure rate in the NFL this season. I don’t like that combination one bit for the Rams. Cooper Rush has played well enough in his 3-0 stretch to warrant more respect than the 4.5-point spread is giving him. I’ll join the public in taking the Cowboys with the points in this game, and I like the plus-money odds on the Cowboys to win this game outright.

My predictions: Cowboys win 23-20, Cowboys cover, under 43.5 points

Betting Trends

Cowboys are 5-0 ATS in their last five road games and 5-0 in their last five games in October
The Rams are 1-5 ATS in their last six games overall
Rams are 1-4 ATS in their last five home games vs. a team with a winning record
Under is 9-1-1 in Cowboys last 11 games following a straight up win or an ATS win
Under is 5-1-1 in Cowboys last seven road games
Under is 5-1 in Rams last six games overall

Key Injuries

Dallas Cowboys Injuries: QB Dak Prescott (Q – thumb), WR Noah Brown (Q – neck), DT Quinton Bohanna (Q – shoulder), S Jayron Kearse (Q – knee), CB Jourdan Lewis (Q – groin)

Los Angeles Rams Injuries: G David Edwards (Q – illness), DB David Long Jr. (Q – groin), DB Cobie Durant (Q – hamstring), C Brian Allen (Q – knee)

Key Matchups

Check out the key matchups and mismatches for Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Rams below.

Cowboys OLB Micah Parsons vs. Rams Offensive Line

As mentioned above, the offensive line has been a problem for the Rams all season. In week 4 against the 49ers, Nick Bosa racked up 14 (!) pressures on Matthew Stafford. After a game like that, it’s no surprise that Bosa leads the league with 30 pressures, but Micah Parsons is second with 22. Parsons’ own teammates are frustrated with how he has dominated all the sack opportunities:

https://twitter.com/dallascowboys/status/1577359844905992197?s=20&t=Jik74MmeRD9eUXWQwy91EA

Parsons is going to wreak havoc on Stafford all day. He is the type of talent to single-handedly dominate a game on defense, and he will have more impact than any other single player in this game.

Rams WR Cooper Kupp vs Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs

Diggs has earned a reputation as one of the top ball-hawking cornerbacks in the NFL after his breakout sophomore season where he led the league with 11 interceptions en route to first-team All-Pro honors. At the same time, the aggressiveness he plays with that leads to those takeaways can also lead to giving up big plays, and that will be dangerous against the league’s best wide receiver in Cooper Kupp. Coming off a down week, expect Kupp to break off a few big plays in this game.

Dallas Cowboys Depth Chart

QB1: Dak Prescott
QB2: Cooper Rush
RB1: Ezekiel Elliott
RB2: Tony Pollard
LWR: CeeDee Lamb
RWR: Michael Gallup
SWR: Noah Brown
TE1: Dalton Schultz

Dallas Cowboys Team Pages

Los Angeles Rams Depth Chart

QB: Matthew Stafford
RB1: Duke Johnson
RB2: Darrell Henderson Jr.
LWR: Cooper Kupp
RWR: Allen Robinson II
SWR: Ben Skowronek
TE1: Tyler Higbee

Los Angeles Rams Team Pages

Noah Rosenstein

Noah hails from Philadelphia and is a diehard Philly sports fan. He graduated from Penn where he was a sports writer and editor for the student newspaper and also spent a summer covering the Baltimore Orioles for MLB.com. He has been playing fantasy sports since before live stats were a thing, and he has enjoyed learning the nuances of DFS in recent years. As a current resident of Florida, he is hoping the wave of sports betting legalization will eventually reach his home state.