Dallas Cowboys: Home Field Disadvantage

Till this moment of NFL season and NFL Power Rankings - Week 11, the Dallas Cowboys are 3-0 ATS at home since Week Three but with success comes a price.

Now as Dallas (-12.5) prepares for Washington handicappers are left to ponder: home field advantage, or being taken advantage of?

Several NFL teams have built new “homes” in the past few years and along with exciting their fan base and boosting revenues, the goal was to help the team win.

It seems that the Dallas has nailed a winner in all three areas but as Dallas prepares for its Week 11 match up vs. Washington, handicappers need to consider if the standard home value is now more of a disadvantage.

Ever since a Week Two loss to the New York Giants, the Cowboys have played three games on home turf. A 20-point win over Carolina in Week Three, the 16-point triumph against the then 4-1 Atlanta Falcons in Week Seven, and most recently a convincing 38-17 walk-away victory vs. the Seattle Seahawks.

Dallas was favored in all three contests, but even after subtracting the point spread from the margin of victory, bettors are left with an additional 11.3 points per game. For this week’s game vs. the Redskins sports books were asking for at least 12 points on a Cowboy wager and it has already began the hike towards 13.

Is it overpriced, or has the success at new Cowboys Stadium demanded the double-digit deal? We looked at the two NFL teams that have opened the gates to a new field in the past two seasons.

Indianapolis Colts eam Page">Indianapolis Colts – Lucas Oil Stadium, 2008: Indy officially opened play in its new stadium in Week One and looked out of sync right from the get-go. The visiting Chicago Bears controlled the clock, scored on a turnover and took advantage of the situation, handing a Colts team that had won five-straight season openers a 29-13 defeat.

Indy lost its second game, too, before finally notching a straight-up win against Baltimore in Week Six that led to a winning streak which is still intact to this day – 11 games later! Indy is 4-7 ATS in that span.

Arizona Cardinals – University of Phoenix Stadium, 2007: Arizona took a little longer than Indy or Dallas getting cozy in the new confines but once they did the Cards put together a string of performances that took them within four points of a Super Bowl. Beginning with a 27-21 SU/ATS win vs. Cleveland in Week 13, 2007 the Cards went on a 9-2 SU tear right through the 2008 season. Arizona was 7-4 ATS for that stretch but in 2009 are just 2-3 ATS at home.

Dallas hosts Washington, Oakland and San Diego in its next three home games and will likely be favored by more than a touchdown in all three. The Cowboys were 4-4 ATS in 2008 at home and are already just one away from matching that win total.

If you haven’t cashed on the current three-game ATS run of victories it may not be too late but don’t think for a second that bookmakers aren’t wise to these trends as well. As much as Dallas likes winning big, head coach Wade Phillips knows he only needs to win by one.

The Redskins are 4-1 ATS in their last five meetings vs. Dallas and the underdog is 20-7 ATS in the past 27 games between these two overall.

For a complete betting report on this and every Week 11 NFL match up take a look at the "Betting Stats" drop down under "NFL" along the BetRepublic toolbar. Trends, power rating plays, injury reports, and ATS records to cover every angle.