Saints @ Cowboys · Week 5

WEEK 5 · FINAL

THE READ

Cowboys run away with it, 41-20

Cowboys 41, Saints 20, and it was not that close. Tyler Shough did the damage for Saints — 14/25, 266 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT — in a losing effort. Jordyn Tyson did the catching for Saints — 4 catches, 122 yards, 1 TD. A season best for Jordyn Tyson. Through the air: Saints 266, Cowboys 133.

The Wire · league beat

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Saints	-10.0	+1.0	-11.0	-2
Cowboys	-3.9	-1.3	-2.6	+5

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Cowboys — in the hunt · 4-5 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Nicole Santos Beat reporter

New Orleans couldn't run the ball and couldn't protect it either—0 rushing yards and 4 turnovers is a formula that loses by 21 every time. Tyler Shough threw 4 interceptions and the Saints' 76% pass rate left them no way out.

Riley Parker The chaos merchant · replying

Jordyn Tyson caught 4 balls for 122 yards and a touchdown on a day when New Orleans couldn't move the ball anywhere else—he was the only weapon that worked, and that should terrify the Saints because it means they're betting everything on one guy when they can't protect their quarterback.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Tyler Shough

Saints

14/25, 266 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT

Jordyn Tyson

Saints

4 catches, 122 yards, 1 TD

George Pickens

Cowboys

2 catches, 69 yards, 1 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

⭐ Jordyn Tyson has not had a better afternoon this season.

📈 Jaydon Blue is in form: 88 rushing yards a game over his last three, against a season average of 65.

📉 Dak Prescott is still searching for it: 58 passing yards a game across his last three, against an average of 129.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Through the air Saints 266, Cowboys 133 Saints

Total yards Saints 266, Cowboys 158 Saints

On the ground Cowboys 25, Saints 0 Cowboys

Giveaways Cowboys 2, Saints 4 Cowboys

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 5 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Pass-heavy Pass 67% · Rush 33% · 18.6 scored, 29.6 allowed

7.6 yds/att 60.0% completions 6.5 yds/carry 304.6 yds/game 2.0 giveaways/game 8.5% sack rate last 5: 1-4

Primary weapon: Wyatt Young WR — 24% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY MODERATE

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 44 · Aggressive Balance 83 Ball security 44 Back usage 27% QB runs 2.5/game

Most exposed: pressure -- sacked on 8.5% of dropbacks

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 83 WR 78 TE 79 RB 80 OL 79 DL 80 LB 77 DB 85

Best: Denzel Ward CB 93 Fastest: Bryce Lance WR 94 SPD 2 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

tomahawkj911

Cowboys · his last 8 games

Throws it One back

Pass / run67% / 33% Points for / against27.2 — 29.8 Margin-2.5 Giveaways a game1.6 Sacks taken5.3% of dropbacks Lead backJaydon Blue · 10.9/g Top targetGeorge Pickens · 35% QB carries1.0 a game

Juice

Saints · his last 8 games

Throws it Gives it away One back Takes sacks

Pass / run68% / 32% Points for / against15.4 — 31.8 Margin-16.4 Giveaways a game2.0 Sacks taken9.0% of dropbacks Lead backTravis Etienne Jr · 10.8/g Top targetWyatt Young · 27% QB carries2.2 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES Juice against tomahawkj911 — the men, not the teams

tomahawkj911 leads it 1-0. tomahawkj911 won the last one.

1 meeting avg 20.0 — 41.0 biggest: 21 pts to tomahawkj911

S2 · week 5 Juice 20 — 41 tomahawkj911 TOMAHAWKJ911

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Saints receivers vs Cowboys secondary 78 v 83 COWBOYS

Cowboys receivers vs Saints secondary 80 v 85 SAINTS

Saints line vs Cowboys front 79 v 82 COWBOYS

Cowboys line vs Saints front 80 v 80 EVEN

Saints backs vs Cowboys run defence 80 v 80 EVEN

Cowboys backs vs Saints run defence 82 v 79 COWBOYS

Saints passer vs Cowboys secondary 83 v 83 EVEN

Cowboys passer vs Saints secondary 89 v 85 COWBOYS

TOP PERFORMERS

Tyler Shough QB Saints 266 pass yds

Dak Prescott QB Cowboys 133 pass yds

Jordyn Tyson WR Saints 122 rec yds

Bryce Lance WR Saints 84 rec yds

George Pickens WR Cowboys 69 rec yds

Dee Winters WILL Cowboys 2 INTs

Kool-Aid McKinstry CB Saints 1 INTs

Markquese Bell SS Cowboys 1 INTs

Caleb Downs SS Cowboys 1 INTs

Danny Stutsman MIKE Saints 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

SAINTS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Tyler Shough QB	14/25	266	1	4	1	43	66.8

COWBOYS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Dak Prescott QB	6/10	133	2	2	0	47	104.1

SAINTS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
Tyler Shough QB	1	1	1	0	0	1	1
Wyatt Young WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Bryce Lance WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Travis Etienne Jr HB	7	-1	-0.1	1	0	7	8

COWBOYS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Jaydon Blue HB	6	25	4.2	0	0	6	11	0

SAINTS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Jordyn Tyson WR	4	122	30.5	1	58	42
Bryce Lance WR	3	84	28	0	45	43
Travis Etienne Jr HB	4	29	7.2	0	30	17
Wyatt Young WR	2	25	12.5	0	17	20
Juwan Johnson TE	1	6	6	0	0	6

COWBOYS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
George Pickens WR	2	69	34.5	1	13	47
Jake Ferguson TE	2	33	16.5	1	9	18
Tyler Harrell WR	2	31	15.5	0	20	22

SAINTS

PLAYER	TKL	INT	PD
Lorenzo Styles Jr. SS	1	0	0
Jonas Sanker SS	1	0	1
Darren Kirkpatrick FS	1	0	0
Kaden Elliss WILL	1	0	0
Christen Miller DT	1	0	0
Kool-Aid McKinstry CB	0	1	0
Danny Stutsman MIKE	0	1	0

COWBOYS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	TD
Caleb Downs SS	3	0	1	0	1
DaRon Bland CB	2	0	0	2	0
Akeem Davis-Gaither WILL	2	0	0	0	0
Zabien Brown CB	1	0	0	2	0
Shavon Revel Jr CB	1	0	0	0	0
Donovan Ezeiruaku REDG	1	1	0	0	0
Dee Winters WILL	1	0	2	0	2
Zah Frazier CB	1	0	0	0	0
Quinnen Williams DT	1	0	0	1	0
Jalen Thompson FS	1	0	0	1	0
Malachi Lawrence LEDG	1	0	0	0	0
Quentin Walters FS	0	0	0	1	0
Markquese Bell SS	0	0	1	0	1

SAINTS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Charlie Smyth K	2/2	2/2	37

COWBOYS

nothing recorded

RECENT FORM

Saints

L 10–28 vs Falcons WK 4

L 17–27 vs Colts WK 3

L 7–21 vs Buccaneers WK 2

Cowboys

W 27–21 vs Commanders WK 4

L 28–51 vs Falcons WK 3

L 21–38 vs Panthers WK 2

TEAM STATS

Saints		Cowboys
266	TOTAL YARDS	158
266	PASSING YARDS	133
0	RUSHING YARDS	25
1	SACKS ALLOWED	0
0	SACKS MADE	1
4	GIVEAWAYS	2
2	TAKEAWAYS	4

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

0 SAINTS — 1 COWBOYS

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