Game Time:  4:15 PM ET, Sunday, January 16th, 2022

Venue: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

Where to Watch:  CBS, NICK, Amazon

 

FanDuel: point spread: NL

DraftKings: Cowboys -3; O/U 51

BetMGM: Cowboys -3; O/U 51.5

Caesars: Cowboys -3; O/U 50.5

 

49ers: 10-7, (NFC West)

Cowboys: 12-5, (NFC East)

An NFC wild-card playoff matchup of epic significance.  The Cowboys and the 49ers don’t want to just get to the next round, they also want to beat their longtime rivals.  The Cowboys and the 49ers spent the entire 90’s going back and forth with each other… Each team knocking the other out, and each team winning multiple Super Bowls.  The Cowboys famously poached Deon Sanders from the 49ers the offseason after the 49ers eliminated the Cowboys from the conference Championship that led to a 49ers Super bowl… The following season the Cowboys eliminated the 49ers in the Conference Championship game and won their 3rd Super Bowl in 4 seasons.  The battles were fierce and the rivalry was cemented.  Cut to present day and neither team has won a Super Bowl since those glory days of the 90’s. It is fitting that this playoffs would open with this rivalry as neither team even made the playoffs last season and have had a spotty record of postseasons in recent years.

The 49ers are an enigma.  They are either better than their record implies because and have struggled to keep an injury prone quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on the field… or they are worse than their record implies, just lucky to have made it this far, and it’s high time they moved on from Jimmy Garoppolo to rookie QB Trey Lance waiting in the wings.   The reason the 49ers are even in the playoffs is they won 4 of their last 5 games.  The biggest win of the year was of course the last game, the new magical 17th game of the season.  The 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams 27-24… a win that came with a big second half comeback.  After going down 17-0 in the first half… the obvious expectation of everyone in Sofi Stadium was that the Rams were going to cruise to an easy win and Garoppolo would spend the summer packing his bags for a new city. Then the turnaround happened as Jimmy G ended up completing 23 of 32 passes for 316 yards, a touchdown, and 2 interceptions.  The passing game got an extra lift from 49ers star wide receiver who Deebo Samuel who threw a 24-yard touchdown pass, he also had 8 carries for 45 yards and 4 catches for 95 yards.  The game was sealed for the 49ers in overtime when Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford was picked off (yet AGAIN) by defensive back Ambry Thomas.

The Dallas Cowboys finished their season against the Philadelphia Eagles.  It is an understatement to say the Cowboys offense is clicking… and yeah, maybe the Eagles defense wasn’t up for the task but… Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott could not be stopped!  Dak threw  five touchdown passes as he passed Tony Romo in the Cowboys single season touchdown record.  Dak finished the season with 37 touchdown passes to Tony’s 36.  Yes, this season had a 17th game, but then Tony Romo only held the record because some great Cowboy’s quarterbacks of the past only had 14 games to work with.  Many will point to the fact that Philadelphia had secured a wild-card spot with no opportunity to move up… so they rested QB Jalen Hurts and several key starters… Still the Cowboys lit up the field.  The Cowboys are winners of five of their last six games of the season.  The Cowboys defense did give up 24 points to an Eagles offense led by their back-up Dr. Feelgood QB Gardner Minshew. It is important to remember that the Cowboys were missing rookie LB Micah Parsons who is their best player on the defense, the best rookie in the league, and possibly the best defensive player in the league.  He was out with Covid-19.  According to the Covid protocols in the league he is sure to be back in time for this matchup against the 49ers.  The player to watch is star rookie CB Trevon Diggs… he tested positive for Covid Sunday morning and will have to be able to test negative by Saturday evening in order to be back in the lineup for Sunday’s game.

Jim Feist had another big week in the NFL. After a 10-2 Week 16 & 17, he started with a loss on Saturday and then released 11 plays on Sunday where he went 9-4-1 on Sunday, making him 19-7-1 over the last three weeks. Sunday, Jim has found one game where he seems a blowout brewing. This is one team that should come up big and destroy the line the oddsmakers have posted. Join a Vegas betting icon who has been beating the books for nearly 50-years and WIN with JIM on Sunday in the NFL playoffs. Get Jim Feist’s picks!!....  They are available right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers.

RECENT FORM

The 49ers are 10-7 on the season, but 9-8 ATS.  They have logged 8 Overs and 9 Unders.  They are 6-3 in road games.

 

The Cowboys are 12-5 on the season, but 13-4 ATS.  They have botched 8 Overs and 9 Unders.  They are 5-3 in home games. Jerry’s world should be the loudest crowd San Francisco has faced in years given the capacity of the stadium and size of the rivalry.

 

 

The 49ers are 13th in points with 25.1 per game, 7th in yards with 375.7 per game.  They break down to 12th in passing yards and 7th in rushing yards.  They are well-balanced.

The Cowboys are 1st in points with 31.2 per game, 1st in yards with 407.0 per game.  That breaks down to 3rd in passing and 9th in rushing.  They aren’t as well balanced as the 49ers, but the Dallas pass game is overwhelmingly stronger.  Something to watch is Dallas RB Tony Pollard will be listed as Questionable after missing the last game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a foot injury… If Tony can’t go it will be an overly heavy day for RB Ezekiel Elliot.

The 49ers defense is stout.  They rank 3rd in defense while allowing only 310 ypg and 10th in defense of points while only allowing 21.5 per game… They are equally good against the pass and run… ranking 6th and 7th respectively.

The Cowboys are ranked 19th on defense while allowing 351.0 yards per game… that breaks down to 20th in passing defense and 16th in rushing defense.  These marks are why the Cowboys always seem to be in a shootout… they have to be.  The encouraging stat is that they do man-up in the red zone and have earned a rank of 7th against points while only allowing 21.1 ppg.

Our prediction for Sunday, January 16th is… Cowboys 34 - 49ers 27

The prediction for this NFC wild-card game is Cowboys to win with an Over. WR Cedric Wilson filled in nicely with two touchdown catches for the Cowboys who lost 3rd option WR Michael Gallup to an ACL tear.  Still even without Gallup the combination of Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb makes this squad maybe the most explosive tandem of receivers in the playoffs.

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The 49ers are 11-5 ATS as an underdog over the last 3 seasons.

The 49ers are 5-0 ATS in January Games over the last 3 seasons.

The Cowboys are 10-3 ATS in home games this season.

The Cowboys are 11-1 ATS versus conference opponents this season.

 

49ers: T Trent Williams (knee) Quest ** LB Marcell Harris (Achilles) Out ** 

Cowboys: RB Tony Pollard Quest ** CB Trey Diggs (covid) Quest ** S Jayron Kearse (hamstring) Out ** 

49ers: QB Jimmy Garoppolo, RB Elijah Mitchell, FB Kyle Juszczyk, WR Brandon Aiyuk, WR Deebo Samuel, TE George Kittle, LT Colton McKivitz, LG Laken Tomlinson, C Alex Mack, RG Daniel Brunskill, RT Tom Compton

Cowboys: QB Dak Prescott, RB Ezekiel Elliot, FB Connor McGovern, WR Amari Cooper, WR CeDee Lamb, TE Jeremy Sprinkle, LT Terence Steele, LG Connor Williams, C Tyler Biadasz, RG Zack Martin, RT La’el Collins

49ers

Touchdowns: Deebo Samuel 8

Rushing Yards: Elijah Mitchell 963

Passing Yards: Jimmy Garoppolo 3,810

Sacks: Nick Bosa 15.5

Interceptions: Jimmie Ward 2

Cowboys

Touchdowns: Ezekiel Elliot 10

Rushing Yards: Ezekiel Elliot 1002

Passing Yards: Dak Prescott 4,449

Receiving Yards: CeeDee Lamb 1,102

Sacks: Micah Parsons 13

Interceptions: Trevon Diggs 11