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New Orleans at Dallas: Five Things to Know

Last week the Saints trounced the Vikings, 20-9, for their first win of the season and the (2-1) Cowboys made a dramatic comeback in St. Louis; mobilizing from a 21-0 deficit to a 34-31 victory.

But this is Sunday Night Football, folks, in Dallas' AT&T Stadium--the third largest in the NFL in terms of seating capacity at 80,000. So, you might be asking, what should I know prior to watching this game? Great question! Here are five tidbits of pregame information for you, I mean, y'all.

1. There have been 26 meetings between these two teams with Dallas having a 15-11 advantage. However, in the past nine meetings, New Orleans is 8-1. The Saints' last loss was against the Cowboys on 12/19/2009 which blemished New Orleans' 13-0 season record at the time. The Saints did have the last laugh though, winning the Super Bowl and attracting all the highfalutin attention that comes along with that feat.

2. In regular season primetime since 2006, New Orleans is an impressive 21-9. Specifically, on Sunday Night Football versus the Cowboys, the Saints are 3-1. The last time these two teams battled, New Orleans emerged decidedly victorious by a score of 49-17 and setting the NFL record for first downs with 40. During that game, Brees completed 34-of-41 passes for 392 yards and four touchdowns; the team set a franchise record with 625 total yards; the Saints accumulated 242 yards in rushing offense, with RB Mark Ingram responsible for 145 of them (and a touchdown); and this game marked New Orleans' 12th straight primetime victory in the Superdome.

3. In the past two meetings against the Cowboys, QB Drew Brees has amassed a monumental 838 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. In Brees' last start in Dallas on 12/23/2012, he completed 37-of-53 for 446 yards and three touchdowns to beat the Cowboys 34-31. Additionally, RB Pierre Thomas has scored three touchdowns in his last two frolics against Dallas and WR Marques Colston has enjoyed three consecutive games with 100 or more yards against the Cowboys.

4. But let's not forget QB Tony Romo (or I will never hear the end of it at work), who, in his last home start versus New Orleans, has passed for 416 yards with four touchdowns and (surprisingly) no interceptions. This season, however, Romo has flung four interceptions--all in the first half. He has also hurled four touchdowns--all in the second half.

5. The Cowboys have been relying heavily on the ground game as evidenced by RB DeMarco Murray's success this season. Murray has rushed for over 100 yards in all three games thus far. He currently leads the league with 385 yards, three touchdowns, and a 128.3 yards-per-game-average. Murray is the third player in franchise history to start a season with three 100-yard games; the other two being Tony Dorsett in 1981 and Emmitt Smith in 1995. In 1995, Smith set the record with four consecutive 100+ yard games, so I'm sure that Murray has his eyes on that record. However, Murray has also fumbled--and lost a fumble--in all three games thus far; and all in the first quarter.

New Orleans at Dallas: Five Things to Know