The Dallas Cowboys (2-1) are going for their third win in a row and their first at home when they host the New Orleans Saints (1-2) at AT&T Stadium on Sunday Night Football. The Cowboys lost their opener to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1 at Jerry World, but have bounced back with two straight road wins against the Tennessee Titans and St. Louis Rams.
Saints vs. Cowboys 2014: Drew Brees, Tony Romo take center stage on SNF
The Saints look for their first road win of the season against the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sport
It has been a long time coming for a three-game win streak for the Cowboys. It last happened during a stretch near the end of the 2012 season.
The Cowboys fell behind early against the Rams last week. Trailing 21-0 in the second quarter, they outscored the Rams 34-10 the rest of the game for a three-point win. The 21-point comeback matched the largest in franchise history, and was the biggest rally by any team this season. The Cowboys will need to get off to a better start on Sunday night against a Saints team that regularly features one of the league’s most explosive and efficient offenses.
Meanwhile, New Orleans lost its first two games of the season despite holding a lead in the final minute of regulation in each. It was never in danger of falling to 0-3 thanks to an easy 20-9 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3, however. Drew Brees executed the short passing game to perfection in picking apart Minnesota's secondary, going 16-of-16 on balls thrown within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage.
Digits
Both of these teams have playoff aspirations, and a win this week is crucial to their chances of playing in January. The Saints are 1-2, and another loss would bury them in the NFC South race. Since 1990, only 15 percent of teams to start 1-3 have made the playoffs, though the Carolina Panthers pulled it off last year. For the Cowboys, a win would make them 3-1 and give them strong odds to make the postseason. Under the current playoff format, 63 percent of teams to start 3-1 have made the playoffs. The Cowboys' last 3-1 start was 2008 -- a season that ended without a postseason berth.
The Saints are in the midst of one of the more difficult opening stretches of any team this season, with three of their first four games on the road. While the team owns the second-best home record in the league since 2011 and has won 18 straight games at the Superdome under coach Sean Payton, it has struggled away from New Orleans. The Saints have lost five straight road games and are just 6-12 away from home over the last three seasons. One place where they have had success is in Dallas, where they have won four straight games. The only team with a longer road win streak against the Cowboys since the merger is the Vikings, which won six in a row from 1974-2000.
Who to watch
DeMarco Murray -- Murray is the most productive running back in the league this season, ranking first in rushing yards (385) and attempts (75). He is a powerful runner -- 269 of his 385 yards have come after contact, according to Pro Football Focus -- and his ability to wear down the Saints defensive front will be key in helping the Cowboys pick up their third win.
Brandin Cooks -- The rookie from Oregon State has been one of the most impressive first-year players this year with 18 catches and 168 receiving yards in three games. He gives drew Brees yet another weapon in the passing game, and his elusiveness in the open field makes the Saints offense even more explosive.
Tony Romo -- For all of his ill-timed interceptions and late-game mistakes, Romo is actually one of the more clutch quarterbacks in the league. After the Cowboys' latest come-from-behind win in Week 3, he now has has 21 fourth-quarter comebacks in his career, the most by any quarterback since his first full season as a starter in 2006. We only seem to remember the games in which he chokes away a fourth-quarter lead, but a third straight win Sunday would go a long way toward proving he has the consistency to be considered an elite quarterback.
How to watch
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
When: 8:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth
Online Streaming: NBCSports.com
The venue
AT&T Stadium is one of the most famous stadiums in the world. Built back in 2009, it seats a league-high 105,000 when including standing room. The stadium is also famous for its video board, which is suspended above the field and ranges 60 yards from one 20-yard line to the other. AT&T Stadium has a retractable roof and has hosted many non-NFL events, including the Final Four, boxing matches and an NBA All-Star Game.
Odds
The Saints are favored by three points on the road against the Cowboys, and the over/under is set at 53.5, according to OddsShark. The betting trends are mixed for this matchup. The Cowboys are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games when playing New Orleans, but the Saints are 0-6 ATS in their last six games as road favorites.
Preliminary judgment
Over at CBS Sports, all eight experts are siding with the Saints to pick up the road win over the Cowboys. Only Josh Katzowitz and John Breech believe Dallas will cover the 3.5-point spread. Of the 13 ESPN analysts, only three picked the Cowboys, including Mike Ditka and Keyshawn Johnson.
Our guys at SB Nation are not in complete agreement about this contest, as evidenced below. You can see SB Nation’s picks for every game here.
| Week 4 | Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | PFT Commenter | Matt Ufford |
| NO vs. DAL | NO | NO | NO | DAL | NO | DAL | NO |
Further reading
For more on the Saints, please be sure to check out Canal Street Chronicles.
To catch up on everything Cowboys, head over to Blogging The Boys.
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