Both the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals have motivational factors working in their favor for Sunday’s NFL Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. But only the Bengals who are 3 point favorites according to the current NFL betting odds will have their edge playing for them on the football field in the form of former Dallas WR Terrell Owens and CB Adam “Pacman” Jones. Of course Owens and Jones may not play long in the preseason opener, but you can bet they will be extra pumped to prove themselves in front of their former team.
The Cowboys will have a different type of advantage heading into this game after the NFL honors arguably their greatest player ever on Saturday. The league’s all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith will be inducted into the Hall of Fame after totaling 18,355 yards on the ground and scoring 164 touchdowns in 15 seasons, including 13 with Dallas.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones even went out of his way to make sure his team would play in the Hall of Fame Game this year – their last appearance was 1999 – so they could dedicate the performance to Smith. It’s debatable though whether Dallas or Cincinnati will have more fans there because the Bengals also will be playing less than 250 miles away from home.
It is worth noting the Cowboys and Bengals are the only teams in the NFL that will be playing five preseason games this year, so we can expect a little more than a scrimmage and a little less than a regular exhibition game due to health concerns for each. Neither team wants to see any more injuries during the preseason than have already taken place in practice so far.
Dallas has already lost dazzling rookie WR Dez Bryant to a high-ankle sprain and saw starting DE Marcus Spears go down with a sprained left knee on Thursday, which will cause him to miss the next 4-6 weeks. Starting QB Tony Romo is also nursing a sore arm for the Cowboys and TE Martellus Bennett is not expected to play due to an ankle injury. Dallas just completed a string of 21 practices in 14 days on the hard turf field of the Alamodome and will be on grass in 17 of the next 18 when training camp moves to Southern California following this game.
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Cincinnati is a lot healthier at this point with WR Antonio Bryant (knee), OT Andre Smith (foot) and CB Leon Hall (back) the only significant players who will be missing from the lineup. Ironically, Bryant’s injury opens the door for Owens and rookie Jordan Shipley to see more playing time while Jones has taken extended snaps with the first team in practice with Hall out.
Another key factor for the Bengals is that they will be using a three-quarterback rotation led by starter Carson Palmer and followed by J.T. O’Sullivan and Carson’s younger brother Jordan. The Cowboys will be looking at a lot of their younger players, including second-year QB Stephen McGee and rookie free agent Matt Nichols.
Starting QBs Palmer and Romo do not figure to play more than a series or two, which means you can expect both teams to run the ball more after they leave the game. One player to keep an eye on for Dallas is RB Tashard Choice, who was the healthiest of the team’s backs last season and could be looking to make Smith proud while proving he deserves more playing time this year.
The last four Hall of Fame Games have averaged nearly 35 points, which is slightly higher than where the current total stands (32.5). The Cowboys have never won a Hall of Fame Game in three attempts while the Bengals are 1-1 with their last appearance coming in 1988.
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