Week 12 of the NFL regular season has arrived. Where has the time gone in 2021?

We return to football normalcy this week after an American Thanksgiving triple-header last Thursday.

And to the NFL’s credit, they’ve avoided scheduling any team having to play on a short week and we get two of those Thanksgiving teams right back in action on Thursday Night Football on TSN.

Thankful is one word I assume both the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints would not use to describe their experiences on the field last week as both teams failed to find the win column.

For Dallas, the team’s inability to stop the Las Vegas Raiders offence cost them as they fell 36-33 in overtime.

Meanwhile, it was a game to forget for the Saints in a 31-6 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Both teams badly need a win this week.

For Dallas, the NFC East is slowly slipping away, while the Saints are just looking to stay in the hunt for an NFC wild-card spot.

Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints

Line: Cowboys -5

Total: 47.5

Dallas Cowboys

How ‘bout them Cowboys?

After getting off to a flying 6-1 start to the season, Dallas enters this game losers of three of their last four games.

Quarterback Dak Prescott was one of the top quarterbacks in the league before getting hurt and missed Week 8, and has been just a tad underwhelming since his return to the lineup.

Prior to being hurt, Prescott averaged 302.2 yards per game, with a 16-4 touchdown to interception ratio.

In his four games back from injury, his yards per game have fallen by 20 yards and he’s thrown for just six touchdowns with three interceptions.

Now, Prescott is set to take on a Saints defence that hasn’t allowed a passer to throw for more than 250 yards in three consecutive games and just twice since Week 5.

On top of all this, with Taysom Hill set to start at quarterback for the Saints, I expect New Orleans to run the ball a lot and dominate time of possession.

In Hill’s four starts last season, the defence allowed passing totals of 196, 12 (remember when all of the Denver Broncos quarterbacks couldn’t play and they had to start a wideout at quarterback?), 262 and 167.

If you just take into account the three games the defence faced real NFL quarterbacks, the average per game against is still just 208.3.

Prescott enters this game with an over / under of 280.5 yards. I’ll be taking that under.

New Orleans Saints

We’ve already taken a look at how Taysom Hill can impact the other team’s offence, but what about his own?

Starting with the quarterback himself.

In the four games Hill started last year, he rushed for 209 yards on 39 attempts for 5.3 yards per carry.

He ran for 33, 44, 49 and 83 yards in his four games and faces a Dallas Cowboys team that is allowing 4.38 yards per carry this season.

On top of that, Derek Carr ran for 21 yards last week, Patrick Mahomes had 11 the week prior, and other mobile quarterbacks have enjoyed success against this Cowboys defence.

Hill enters Thursday with an over / under of 36.5 yards. I’ll be taking the over.

Shifting away from Hill, running back Alvin Kamara could return to the lineup for the first time in three weeks.

Last year, he carried the ball 137 times in 11 games not started by Hill.

In those games he ran for 695 yards (63.18 per game), averaging 5.07 yards per carry.

In the four games with Hill at QB, those numbers dropped to 59.3 yards a game, and 4.74 per carry.

At the time of writing this article, Kamara is still questionable to play and doesn't have any props listed. But I’ll have a close eye on the under for his props if he suits up, and you should too.

The Line

The Cowboys opened as a touchdown favourite, but that number has dropped to four-and-a-half points.

Dallas, after covering in seven straight games to open the season, have failed to do so in three of their last four games.

Meanwhile, New Orleans is just 1-3 at home this season ATS.

Since 2006, under head coach Sean Payton, the Saints have been an underdog at home just 16 times. They have covered in 10 of those games.

The under has hit in four of Dallas’ last five games, and cashed in three of Hill’s four starts last season.

Picks: Prescott Under 280.5 passing yards, Taysom Hill O 36.5 rushing yards, Under 47.5 points