Cowboys open as slight favorites over Steelers in Hall of Fame Game with tiny total

The 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game is still scheduled to be played Thursday, Aug. 6, at 8 p.m. ET from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, although obviously the coronavirus could change things. This year's matchup features the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Dallas Cowboys, and William Hill sportsbook has opened Dallas as a 2.5-point favorite on the NFL odds with a miniscule total of 34.5.

Because the Steelers and Cowboys are each playing a fifth exhibition game, they will be allowed to report to training camp earlier than the other 30 teams – again, assuming there are training camps. All teams will hold their camps at team facilities because of concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will be the first time ever that the Cowboys will hold training camp in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Shoot, it's only the fourth time the Cowboys will have camp in the state of Texas. Of course, this will be the first camp as Dallas coach for Mike McCarthy.

The Cowboys were just 14-23 straight up in the preseason under former coach Jason Garrett. Pittsburgh is 31-23 under Mike Tomlin in exhibition games. Most straight up and against the spread preseason coaching records are very similar because the spreads are so small.

That Over-Under total of 34.5 would not be seen in a regular-season game as those usually aren't lower than 37ish these days. The Hall of Fame Game is annually very low scoring as teams are a bit rusty/sloppy and few if any starters take the field. There hasn't been a HOF Game that saw at least 40 combined points scored since 2013 when the Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins 24-20.

Both the Cowboys and Steelers are 3-3 all-time in this game. No other clubs have played in it more than five times. Dallas hosts Pittsburgh in Week 9 of the regular season so the game plans on Aug. 6 will be even more vanilla than usual. 

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