Cowboys play visiting Falcons in home debut for McCarthy
ATLANTA (0-1) at DALLAS (0-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, Fox
OPENING LINE — Cowboys by 7 1/2
RECORD VS. SPREAD — Falcons 0-1; Cowboys 0-1
SERIES RECORD — Cowboys lead 17-11
LAST MEETING — Cowboys beat Falcons 22-19 on Nov. 18, 2018, in Atlanta
LAST WEEK — Falcons lost to Seahawks 38-25; Cowboys lost to Rams 20-17
AP PRO32 RANKING — Falcons No. 23; Cowboys No. 13
FALCONS OFFENSE — OVERALL (2), RUSH (29), PASS (1).
FALCONS DEFENSE — OVERALL (24), RUSH (7), PASS (28).
COWBOYS OFFENSE — OVERALL (11), RUSH (11), PASS (13).
COWBOYS DEFENSE — OVERALL (28), RUSH (27), PASS (25).
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Coach Mike McCarthy's home debut with Cowboys will be in same stadium where he won Super Bowl with Green Bay to finish 2010 season. McCarthy's Packers also beat top-seeded Cowboys there in divisional playoffs during 2016 season. ... Cowboys will have fans, with McCarthy saying AT&T Stadium will be filled to 25% of capacity (80,000 permanent seats). ... Since start of 2019, Cowboys and Falcons are only teams with three games of at least 500 yards total offense. Atlanta had 506 in loss to Seattle, most for Falcons in opener since 2014. ... Falcons QB Matt Ryan (450 yards passing against Seahawks) has most 300-yard games in NFL since 2016 with 30. ... RB Todd Gurley needs one TD from scrimmage to tie Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith (72) for third most in first 75 games of career. Hall of Famers Jim Brown, LaDainian Tomlinson tied for most at 79. ... WRs Julio Jones (157 yards), Calvin Ridley (130), Russell Gage (114) became first trio with at least 100 yards receiving in same game in franchise history. They are first trio in NFL history to reach that mark in same game with at least nine catches each. ... DT Grady Jarrett had 1 1/2 sacks last week, his fourth career game with at least that many. ... OLB Takk McKinley led NFL last week with six QB hits on Russell Wilson, most for Atlanta player since 2017. ... Cowboys QB Dak Prescott needs two TD passes to join Jeff Garcia, Cam Newton as only players with at least 100 passing touchdowns, 20 rushing touchdowns in his first five seasons. Prescott's 21 rushing TDs are most among QBs since entering league in 2016. He has a rushing TD in both career games against Falcons. ... RB Ezekiel Elliott leads NFL with 39 games of at least 100 scrimmage yards since entering the league in 2016. Elliott had 127 yards (96 rushing, 21 receiving), both Dallas TDs against Rams. ... WR Amari Cooper has averaged 109 yards receiving with 11 TDs in 13 home games since joining Cowboys. ... First-round pick CeeDee Lamb had five catches, 59 yards in debut. Rookie was tackled 1 yard short of a first down on fourth-and-3 try with Cowboys in range for tying field goal early in fourth quarter. ... DE Aldon Smith tied career high with 12 tackles, had only Dallas sack in first game coming off suspension that sidelined him almost five years. ... DB Brandon Carr was active against LA but didn't play, ending streak of 192 games covering first 12 years in the league. He spent five years with the Cowboys earlier in career. Carr was elevated from the practice squad to play against Rams, but since signed to active roster. Fantasy tip: Gurley has averaged 127 scrimmage yards per game with three touchdowns in two regular-season games against Cowboys. Elliott had 201 scrimmage yards (122 rushing, 79 recreiving with rushing TD in only Atlanta meeting.
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