Dallas Cowboys: Studs and duds vs. Saints in Week 4
By Randy Gurzi
The Dallas Cowboys lost their first game of the season as they were defeated 12-10 by the New Orleans Saints. Here are the studs and duds from the loss.
The Dallas Cowboys headed to Louisiana to put their undefeated record on the line against the New Orleans Saints. They were unable to get the job done even without Drew Brees under center and now head back to Texas with a record of 3-1.
It’s not the end of the world, but it’s also not what this team was expecting as they faced the Teddy Bridgewater-led Saints.
For the Cowboys, the most discouraging part had to be the way they were beaten in just about every facet of the game. The players on the field were out-performed and the coaching staff was out-coached by Super Bowl winner Sean Payton and his crew.
It was a tough loss and there were plenty of players who stood out both in good and bad ways. Let’s take a look back and select the studs and duds from the Week 4 loss.
Notable omissions
Leighton Vander Esch played arguably his best game as a rookie against the Saints last season. He was all over the field during that November game and finished with 10 tackles and a half-sack. He followed that up with another strong performance here, netting 11 tackles for Dallas.
They didn’t get the win, but LVE and his teammates made star players such as Alvin Kamara work for every yard. The sophomore linebacker has a very promising future in Big D.
As for a dud who just misses out, Amari Cooper was nowhere to be found for the majority of this game. He’s been nothing short of spectacular so far this season but in a game where Dallas could have pulled out a win with just one splash play, Cooper was unable to deliver.
He was blanketed by Marshon Lattimore all night and couldn’t get any separation. He was even flagged twice for offensive pass interference, which added insult to injury.
Also unable to step up was Dak Prescott. The quarterback wasn’t fully at fault as receivers struggled to get open and the line wasn’t at their best, but he made his fair share of mistakes.
His biggest came on their final drive when he tried to run backward when being pressured on the first play of that series and ended up being sacked for an 11-yard loss. That cost them nearly 30 seconds and even led to Tyron Smith being injured as he was rolled up on.