The Dallas Cowboys travel to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday night to face the New Orleans Saints in the Week 4 Sunday Night Football game, airing on NBC at 8:20 p.m. EST.
Dallas goes into Sunday’s game with the all-time series lead between the two teams, 17-12. Dallas has also won the last two of three matches. The last time the two teams met was on November 29, 2018, while the last time they played in New Orleans was in 2015 when the Saints won in overtime.
In that 2015 game, now-offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was on the field as a player for the Cowboys. Now, four years later, he is on the sidelines calling the signals.
The Cowboys also enter this week undefeated after defeating the New York Giants in the season opener at home, the Washington Redskins on the road, and the Miami Dolphins last week. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Saints are slightly favored to win the game with a 55% win probability.
As of Thursday, Tyrone Crawford, Antwaun Woods, and Zack Martin are not practicing. Neither is Michael Gallup, who will not play. Tavon Austin, Amari Cooper, Kavon Frazier, Luke Gifford, and Xavier Woods did not practice.
The Dallas offense has been explosive during the first three weeks of the season. Quarterback Dak Prescott has completed 70 of 94 passes for 920 yards, nine touchdowns, and two interceptions. Ezekiel Elliot leads the team with 55 rushes for 298 yards while Amari Cooper has 16 catches for 238 yards. The Cowboys’ defense has also shown strength this season with a trio off commanding wins of at least seven points.
Last week, the Cowboys got off to a slow start but ended up coming out in the second half, not allowing any points to the Dolphins in the final two quarters. Prescott threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns while also recording a rushing touchdown. In his only game versus New Orleans, Prescott threw for a touchdown pass and had a 115.6 rating. On Sunday, Prescott will aim for his third game in a row on the road with three or more touchdowns and a 120.0-plus rating. Prescott has recorded an impressive 35-16 career record with 1,045 pass completions and 76 touchdowns.
Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 125 yards against the Miami Dolphins last week and has recorded 21 games with 100-plus rushing yards since 2016, the most in the NFL. Elliott also leads the NFL since 2016 in rushing yards, with 4,337, and scrimmage yards, with 5,569. In his only career game versus New Orleans, Elliott ran for 75 yards and also had 60 receiving yards plus a touchdown catch. In his last four games on the road, Elliott has 636 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns.
Rookie running back Tony Pollard also rushed for 103 yards in the Week 3 matchup and was credited with a rushing touchdown, his first career game with 100 plus yards and a score.
Also assisting Prescott and Elliott in building one of the strongest offensive lines in the league is wide receiver Amari Cooper, who led the team last week with six receptions, 88 yards, and two touchdowns against the Dolphins. Since joining the Cowboys in Week 9 of 2018, Cooper has ten receiving touchdowns, which is second in the NFL behind Julio Jones (12). Cooper’s history playing New Orleans includes 14 receptions for 213 yards in two games.
Jason Witten comes into the game with 10 receptions and two touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence forced a fumble last week and recorded a sack against the Dolphins. He also recorded a sack in his only game against the Saints in October of 2015.
Robert Quinn has five sacks and two forced fumbles in his career against New Orleans, and he recorded his first sack with Dallas in the game against Miami last week.
Jaylon Smith led the team with 10 tackles and a forced fumble in Week 3, giving him his fifth career forced fumble. Smith is aiming for his third game in a row with 10-plus tackles when he takes the field against New Orleans on Sunday night.
In their first three games of the season, the Cowboys have averaged 32.3 points per game and have only allowed 14.7 points per game. They have allowed 347 yards in the first three weeks: just 257 passing yards and 90 rushing yards.
On the other side of the ball, the offense has 485 total yards on the season, with 306 of them passing and 179 rushing. Dallas looks to extend their undefeated season with a victory over the New Orleans Saints who are missing star quarterback, Drew Brees. The Saints come into their game at home with a 2-1 record, looking to add to the win column.
With week 4 upon us, take a look at what the Saints are bringing to the table Sunday night. #DALvsNO
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) September 25, 2019
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Let’s go… COWBOYS!
Let’s go… COWBOYS!