Boy, oh boy, are we in for a treat with Sunday Night Football this week. The undefeated Dallas Cowboys travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints in what is sure to be a better game than last Sunday night’s duel between the Rams and Browns.
Last week, Dallas picked apart the Dolphins (surprise, surprise) in a 31-6 blowout. Dak Prescott threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns, while Ezekiel Elliott did a lot of the heavy lifting. Elliott had 19 carries for 125 yards plus two catches for another 14 yards. Amari Cooper led the receiving group with six catches for 88 yards and two scores.
Meanwhile, the Saints held off a late fourth-quarter push from the Seahawks to take a 33-27 victory. Teddy Bridgewater threw for 177 yards and two scores in his first start after taking over for Drew Brees. Alvin Kamara ran for 69 yards and a touchdown and caught nine balls for another 92 yards and a second touchdown.
Can Dak Keep Up His Pace?
Dak Prescott and his contract demands both came pretty public over the offseason. Amidst all the Elliott holdout stuff, Prescott turned down an offer from the Cowboys in hopes to be one of only a few QBs to make $40 million a year. So far, it seems like a smart gamble for Dak. Through three games, Prescott has completed almost three-quarters of his passes, racked up almost 1,000 yards passing and has nine touchdowns compared to only two interceptions.
If he keeps up the pace, he will go over 4,000 yards passing in a season for the first time in his career. He’s also on pace for an absurd 48 passing touchdowns. While that almost certainly will not happen, he is certainly on a good track to break his career-high of only 23. He also is on pace to go over 400 yards rushing for the first time in his career, solidifying that he is one of the best dual-threat QBs in the game.
Teddy Needs To Continue His Good Effort
Bridgewater will make his second start for the injured Brees in this game. Bridgewater has racked up 57 passing attempts already this season, which is the most he has had since his last year as a starter with the Vikings in 2015. Bridgewater has proven to be one of the more capable backups in football so far this year.
In Week 2, he did the best he could coming off the bench cold against a good Rams team. In Week 3, he did enough for them to win the game. In Week 4, he needs to take a step forward in Sean Payton’s offense. Getting Jared Cook, who has only five catches this season, more involved may be a good start.
Game Facts
No NFC East team has won in New Orleans since Week 1 of 2012. Last year’s Dallas-New Orleans game was the first time since 2014 where the Saints were held under 200 yards of offense. This is the first time Dallas has had 450 yards of offense in three straight weeks. The Saints have allowed a 100-yard rusher in all three games this season, after doing that only four times all of last year.
Free Pick: Dallas -2.5/ Over 47.5
