How did the 2019 Cowboys team, players stack up against preseason odds?

Preseason odds for NFL teams is a good way to look back to see expectations for the season and start to understand where things went wrong or right. Below, we will take a look at DraftKings Sportsbook’s preseason odds for win totals, division titles, player props and more while we discuss what led to their triumphs or disappointments.

Team Futures

Super Bowl: +2200 (negative)
NFC East: +165 (finished 2nd)
Win Total Over/Under: 9 (actual record 8-8)

Player Props

Dak Prescott: Total passing yards, 3,875.5 (actual passing yards, 4,902)
Dak Prescott: Total passing touchdowns, 25.5 (actual passing touchdowns, 30)
Ezekiel Elliott: Total rushing yards, 1,375.5 (actual rushing yards, 1,357)
Ezekiel Elliott: Total rushing touchdowns, 10.5 (actual rushing touchdowns, 12)
Ezekiel Elliott: Total receiving yards, 550.5 (actual receiving yards, 420)
Ezekiel Elliott: Total rushing & receiving yards, 1925.5, (actual rec/rush yards, 1,777)
Amari Cooper: Total receiving yards, 1,100.5 (actual receiving yards, 1,189)
Amari Cooper: Total receiving touchdowns, 7.5 (actual receiving touchdowns, 8)

Dallas came into 2019 with a solid offense and expectations for a winning record. In reality, they ended up with one of the best offenses in the league, surpassing expectations, but still ended up at .500.

When you look at the player props, Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper exceeded expectations while Ezekiel Elliott’s yardage did not. That shows us that the passing game was on point for much of the season while Elliott, who did beat his rushing touchdown prop, was slightly scaled back in his workload.

On the season, the Cowboys ranked sixth in scoring, fifth in total touchdowns, second in passing yards and first in yards per pass attempt. And yet, they still went 8-8 and didn’t make the playoffs. They’re defense wasn’t as good as their offense, but they still managed to hold opponent’s to the ninth-fewest points.

If they had played above their ability, maybe 8-8 would be okay, but they were easily the best team to miss the playoffs, and that’s squarely on Jason Garrett’s shoulders. Jerry Jones has finally gotten rid of him and brought in former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Thankfully for McCarthy, he inherits a good team that didn’t come close to expectations. It won’t take much to get them into the playoffs next season and appear to have turned things around.

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