NFL Odds: How Dak Prescott Status Impacted ‘Sunday Night Football’ Lines

To play or not to play was the question all week for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott entering a Week 8 clash on “Sunday Night Football” against the Minnesota Vikings.

We now have our answer.

Prescott, after going through a full pregame warmup and causing anxiety among fantasy football owners who left him in their lineup, is inactive, as first reported by ESPN’s Chris Mortensen at 6:44 p.m. ET.

Cooper Rush will start his first career game with Will Grier serving as the backup quarterback.

Prescott had been dealing with a calf injury dating back to the Cowboys’ overtime win against the New England Patriots in Week 6. Dallas was on a bye week in Week 7.

Oddsmakers tried to cover themselves as best they could entering the contest. There were a very limited number of Cowboys-related propositional bets — most revolving around Ezekiel Elliott — while wideouts like CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper did not have receiving or receiving yards props listed on DraftKings Sportsbook. That, undoubtedly, was a Prescott effect.

In regards to the spread, the Cowboys were a +3 road underdog against the Vikings before Prescott’s status was made official. The total was set at over/under 51 with the Cowboys +140 on the moneyline and home-favorite Vikings -160. Dallas was +2 for the first-half spread and +1 for the first-quarter spread, as well.

The primetime game was quickly taken off the board around 6:46 p.m. ET as oddsmakers figured out their next move, and they came back with Prescott swinging the line by one point in favor of the 3-3 Vikings.

Minnesota now is a four-point favorite with the total dropping slightly to 49. The Cowboys are +165 on the moneyline with the Vikings moving to -195. DraftKings Sportsbook added prop bets for both Lamb (over/under 63.5) and Cooper (over/under 57.5) while the Cowboys moved to +3 for the first-half spread.