WEEK 10 · FINAL
THE READ
Jordan Hayes
The armchair coach
79 points between Cowboys and Saints
Dallas got out-executed on both sides of the ball in a 45-34 loss to New Orleans in Week 10. Joe Milton threw for 409 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the Cowboys managed just 14 rushing yards and couldn't establish anything on the ground while the Saints ran for 138 and controlled the line of scrimmage with 1 sack. Tyler Shough and Chris Olave connected for 3 touchdowns between them, and Dallas's pass-heavy attack at 78 percent attempts couldn't make up for an offense that leaned too hard on Milton's arm when it needed to diversify. The Cowboys have to fix their ground game—14 yards is not a constraint, it's a crippling weakness that no passing performance can overcome.
Jordan Hayes
The armchair coach
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowboys | +1.1 | -4.8 | +5.9 | +4 |
| Saints | +5.7 | -1.8 | +7.5 | +18 |
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.
IN THE BOOTH
Zoe Bell
The contrarian
Dallas threw it 50 times for 409 yards and still lost by 11—because 14 rushing yards means New Orleans could stack the box and let Joe Milton beat himself, which he didn't, but his receivers and run game couldn't carry the load when the Saints just scored 45.
Ava Collins
Beat reporter
· replying
New Orleans just showed Dallas what balance looks like—138 yards on the ground while Shough picked apart a secondary that had to respect the run. Dallas lives and dies throwing, and when Milton's 409 yards still aren't enough, the Cowboys' playoff margin for error keeps shrinking.
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.
Joe Milton
Cowboys
34/50, 409 yards, 2 TD
Tyler Shough
Saints
28/38, 335 yards, 3 TD
Chris Olave
Saints
6 catches, 143 yards, 1 TD
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
On the ground
Saints 138, Cowboys 14
Saints
Through the air
Cowboys 409, Saints 335
Cowboys
Total yards
Saints 473, Cowboys 423
Saints
Pressure
Saints 1 sacks, Cowboys 0
Saints
THE ROOM
Final. The recap is below.
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 62% · Rush 38% · 32.5 scored, 26.6 allowed
8.1 yds/att
61.6% completions
4.6 yds/carry
406.1 yds/game
1.4 giveaways/game
5.4% sack rate
last 5: 1-4
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 66 · Efficient
Balance 88
Ball security 62
Back usage 31%
QB runs 4.4/game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 88
WR 88
TE 85
RB 82
OL 83
DL 86
LB 81
DB 87
Best: CeeDee Lamb WR 95
Fastest: Jaydon Blue HB 93 SPD
6 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 62% · Rush 38% · 27.3 scored, 19.8 allowed
7.4 yds/att
66.5% completions
4.1 yds/carry
346.6 yds/game
1.1 giveaways/game
6.8% sack rate
last 5: 4-1
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 63 · Conservative
Balance 88
Ball security 68
Back usage 33%
QB runs 2.9/game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 84
WR 86
TE 79
RB 86
OL 83
DL 82
LB 80
DB 84
Best: Jordyn Tyson WR 92
Fastest: Bryce Lance WR 94 SPD
4 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
HOW THEY PLAY
the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
Bizzle
Saints · his last 8 games
Throws it
Protects it
Pass / run63% / 37%
Points for / against32.0 — 16.5
Margin+15.5
Giveaways a game0.8
Sacks taken6.6% of dropbacks
Lead backTravis Etienne Jr · 14.2/g
Top targetChris Olave · 35%
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.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Cowboys receivers vs Saints secondary
88 v 84
COWBOYS
Saints receivers vs Cowboys secondary
86 v 87
EVEN
Cowboys line vs Saints front
83 v 82
EVEN
Saints line vs Cowboys front
83 v 86
COWBOYS
Cowboys backs vs Saints run defence
82 v 82
EVEN
Saints backs vs Cowboys run defence
86 v 85
EVEN
Cowboys passer vs Saints secondary
88 v 84
COWBOYS
Saints passer vs Cowboys secondary
84 v 87
COWBOYS
TOP PERFORMERS
🎬
The Game Recapthis game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
COWBOYS
SAINTS
COWBOYS
SAINTS
COWBOYS
SAINTS
COWBOYS
SAINTS
COWBOYS
SAINTS
COWBOYS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Milton QB | 34/50 | 409 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 54 | 106.1 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Shough QB | 28/38 | 335 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 126.5 |
COWBOYS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaydon Blue HB | 10 | 14 | 1.4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Joe Milton QB | 3 | 1 | 0.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| CeeDee Lamb WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Marsh WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trey'Dez Green TE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Pickens WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Javonte Williams HB | 1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travis Etienne Jr HB | 15 | 113 | 7.5 | 1 | 5 | 64 | 18 | 0 |
| Kendre Miller HB | 9 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Tyler Shough QB | 4 | 7 | 1.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Chris Olave WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
COWBOYS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Pickens WR | 10 | 128 | 12.8 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 25 |
| CeeDee Lamb WR | 5 | 115 | 23 | 1 | 57 | 1 | 54 |
| Trey'Dez Green TE | 8 | 85 | 10.6 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| Nick Marsh WR | 6 | 56 | 9.3 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 16 |
| Jaydon Blue HB | 4 | 22 | 5.5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 13 |
| Jake Ferguson TE | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Olave WR | 6 | 143 | 23.8 | 1 | 67 | 0 | 68 |
| Jordyn Tyson WR | 6 | 75 | 12.5 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 27 |
| Juwan Johnson TE | 6 | 70 | 11.7 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 24 |
| Travis Etienne Jr HB | 8 | 42 | 5.2 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 18 |
| Devaughn Vele WR | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Noah Fant TE | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
COWBOYS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Markquese Bell SS | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Malachi Lawrence LEDG | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shavon Revel Jr CB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Upton Stout CB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Dee Winters WILL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DaRon Bland CB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Jaishawn Barham WILL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Caleb Downs SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Ja'Whaun Bentley MIKE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jalen Thompson FS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Rashan Gary LEDG | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Quinnen Williams DT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quincy Riley CB | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| Lorenzo Styles Jr. SS | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Sammy Brown MIKE | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Chase Young LEDG | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jayden Bellamy CB | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Jonas Sanker SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Justin Reid FS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Carl Granderson REDG | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Christen Miller DT | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kool-Aid McKinstry CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jordan Hall WILL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jayden Jackson DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
COWBOYS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Aubrey K | 2/2 | 4/4 | 51 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Smyth K | 1/1 | 6/6 | 45 |
RECENT FORM
Cowboys
W
28–21 vs Falcons
WK 9
L
31–38 vs Commanders
WK 8
W
52–10 vs Dolphins
WK 7
Saints
W
48–13 vs Buccaneers
WK 8
W
21–3 vs Falcons
WK 7
L
14–21 vs Titans
WK 6
TEAM STATS
| Cowboys | Saints | |
|---|---|---|
| 423 | TOTAL YARDS | 473 |
| 409 | PASSING YARDS | 335 |
| 14 | RUSHING YARDS | 138 |
| 1 | SACKS ALLOWED | 0 |
| 0 | SACKS MADE | 1 |
| 0 | GIVEAWAYS | 0 |
| 0 | TAKEAWAYS | 0 |
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
COWBOYS
—
1
SAINTS