NFL Week 3 Picks: St. Louis Rams vs. Dallas Cowboys

St. Louis Rams vs. Dallas Cowboys
Sunday, 9/22/13, 1:00 PM EST
Opening Point Spread: Dallas -3
Current Betting Line: Dallas -3
Opening Total: 46.5
Current Total: 47
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker

The Dallas Cowboys should feature RB DeMarco Murray against the St. Louis Rams

St. Louis will seek its first road victory of the season, as it looks to bounce back from a 31-24 defeat to the Atlanta Falcons as four-point underdogs in Week 2, with the OVER cashing in a second consecutive contest. The Rams have compiled an even 11-11 record against the Cowboys in regular season play—something that can’t be ignored when making your NFL betting picks Sunday. Offensively, quarterback Sam Bradford is the player to watch in the fourth quarter, as nine of his 21 touchdown passes a season ago came in that situation. St. Louis is 0-4 SU and 1-3 ATS as a road underdog of 3.5 to 7 points.

The Rams will go as far as Bradford will take them this year—passing for 651 yards and five touchdowns. St. Louis is the only team in the NFL that has yet to allow a sack this season, which is a drastic improvement from allowing 35 sacks in 2012 and 55 in 2011. Rookie wide receiver Tavon Austin has demonstrated early on why the franchise chose him in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft, as he’s grabbed 12 passes through two games.

Dallas has split its first two games, but has managed to cover the spread in both of those efforts, including a 17-16 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs as three-point underdogs last week. The Cowboys have one of the better passing games in all of football, with quarterback Tony Romo completing 30 of 42 passes for 298 yards against the Chiefs, while connecting with wide receiver Dez Bryant nine times for 141 yards. Dallas is 10-7 SU and 4-13 ATS at home over the last two-plus seasons, which can’t be ignored when looking over the pro football odds page.

The Cowboys should feature running back DeMarco Murray, as he set the franchise’s single-game rushing record of 253 yards on 25 carries against the Rams in 2011. During the past two 8-8 seasons, Dallas has never lost more than two games in a row, but it lost two in a row on six different occasions.