Hurts remains favorite; Prescott rises again

A Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys showdown looms in Week 14 of the NFL season.

The Sunday Night Football contest on Dec. 10 also could play a role in the race for NFL MVP.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts remains the MVP betting favorite at +190. 

Moving up the odds list is Cowboys QB Dak Prescott.

Prescott and the Cowboys have won six of their past seven games and, at 9-3, are two games behind the Eagles in the NFC East division standings.

[Related: Week 13 best bets by Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica]

Here are the odds for the top six favorites for NFL MVP *.

Jalen Hurts, Eagles: +190 (bet $10 to win $29 total)
Dak Prescott, Cowboys: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs: +470 (bet $10 to win $57 total)
Lamar Jackson, Ravens: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)
Brock Purdy, 49ers: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)

* odds as of 12/2/2023

Dave Helman reacts to Dak Prescott, Cowboys beating Seahawks

Prescott moved ahead of Mahomes on the MVP odds list. Mahomes is at +470 after being at +350 last week.

Prescott’s odds went from +600 to +380 after Dallas won its fourth in a row Thursday, beating the Seattle Seahawks, 41-35. Prescott was at +4000 in early November.

Prescott was 29 for 41 passing for 299 yards and three touchdowns.

“If you’ve been paying attention for the last month, Dak [has] been playing at this level for quite a while, essentially since they got beat down by San Francisco,” FOX Sports Cowboys Insider David Helman said. “Dak Prescott has been on a heater, but to do it in a national-window game, a stand-alone game against the 6-5 team, that was the criticism we’ve talked about for weeks on end — do it against somebody with a pulse. Well, Seattle had a winning record prior to [Thursday] night. They entered Week 13 in playoff position, they’re a wild-card team.”

FOX Sports’ “Speak” crew — Emmanuel Acho, James Jones, Joy Taylor and LeSean McCoy — discussed Prescott’s MVP chances.

“If I’m looking at my updated MVP ballot as it stands now after looking at even more film, I still like Jalen Hurts at No. 1 based upon his record and his most recent performance — five touchdowns vs. the [Buffalo] Bills,” Acho said. “But Dak Prescott, he has ascended to the No. 2 spot. He finally beat a team with a winning record in convincing fashion.”

“The Dallas Cowboys won that game because of Dak Prescott,” Jones added. “Dak Prescott played a phenomenal football game. He absolutely moved up in the MVP standings. … This streak that Dak Prescott is on is some of the best football that he’s ever played in his career.”

Did Dak Prescott take a step closer to winning MVP?

“Dak Prescott was the best player on the field [Thursday] night,” Taylor said. “He was the reason that they won. … It was their first win over a team with a winning record since Week 2, so we had those questions that got answered. … He [has] definitely taken a step closer and now we have a very interesting stretch of games coming up where he’ll get to add to that résumé.”

McCoy said his thoughts on MVP haven’t changed much, though he believes Prescott is “playing phenomenal right now.” McCoy would like to see Prescott play more consistently on the road against tough opponents.

“When I watched Dak for all these years, I feel like he’s the best when everything is cool and collected,” McCoy said. “When everything’s going good, everything’s going well for the offense, he’s confident. … He’s making plays, he starts flexing, he’s a different kind of dude when things are going right.

“It’s when things are going bad, it’s when you’re maybe on the road, it’s when you’re playing the Niners at home, we need that same Dak Prescott from [Thursday] night against those type of teams. And when things go bad, you start seeing the head dropping. I love the way Dak Prescott is playing right now. I just gotta see the same type of behavior, same type of swagger, same type of plays being made when things are not perfect.”

Despite the hot streak, Dallas’ odds to win the Super Bowl fell to +950 from +900, though the Cowboys remained as the sixth betting favorite. 

The Cowboys are at +500 to win the NFC after being at +460 last week. Ahead of them are the Eagles (+190) and the San Francisco 49ers (+195). To win the NFC East, the Cowboys are +600 behind favorite Philly (-900).

Stay tuned to FOX Sports as the Cowboys’ season unfolds.

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