Cowboys vs. Saints Thursday NFL injury report, odds: Taysom Hill back to try and save New Orleans' season but Alvin Kamara out; bettors backing Dallas on spread

Perhaps the Thursday night game this week between the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints from the Caesars Superdome won't be rather sloppy as most Thursday games are with players on very short weeks and still beaten up from the previous Sunday. Both the Cowboys and Saints also played last Thursday (and lost), so they are on normal rest. New Orleans will start Taysom Hill at QB but again will be without Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara. Bettors are all over the visiting Cowboys at -4.5 points. Click here for model picks. 

As of this writing, 71 percent of all wagers are on the Cowboys against the spread and 58 percent of the money. On the total of 47.5, there's a slight double-lean on the Over.

New Orleans enters on a four-game losing streak – it has never lost five in a row in a single season under Sean Payton -- and at 5-6 sits 10th in the NFC, in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016. To make the postseason, the Saints are +225 with no at -300. Other than a Week 15 trip to Tampa Bay, the remaining schedule is pretty easy.

It's no coincidence the Saints have lost all four games since Jameis Winston suffered a season-ending injury in a Week 8 win over the Bucs. Trevor Siemian is simply not an NFL-level starting quarterback and apparently Hill is healthy enough – he has been dealing with a foot injury and also earlier a concussion – to start tonight.  He is 7-for-8 passing in spot duty this year for 56 yards and a pick while rushing 20 times for 104 yards and three scores. Hill is given Over/Under totals of 210.5 passing yards and 37.5 rushing yards and is +130 to be an anytime TD scorer.

Hill was 3-1 as the Saints' starter last season as an injury replacement for Drew Brees before losing a starting battle to Winston this summer. This final stretch of the season probably is Hill's last chance to prove he's an NFL starting QB. Russell Wilson to New Orleans this offseason, perhaps?

Kamara has missed the past three games with a knee injury and fellow tailback Mark Ingram missed last Thursday's loss to Buffalo. Ingram is playing here, while Kamara did get in limited practices this week. However, he was ruled out this morning. Starting offensive tackles Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk are listed as questionable with knee injuries but also expected to sit.

While the Cowboys haven't won in New Orleans since 2009, they are 5-0 straight up and ATS this season vs. teams below .500. Dak Prescott will have both Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb in the lineup. Cooper missed the past two in COVID protocols and Lamb missed last Thursday's loss to the Raiders in the concussion protocol. This will be only the third game in which Cooper, Lamb and Michael Gallup will all play as Gallup missed several games earlier.

Dallas will be without head coach Mike McCarthy and a few of his assistants due to COVID. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, the former Falcons head coach, is the interim coach. 

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