SERIES RECORD: Regular Season: Dallas leads 9-6; Post Season: Dallas leads 2-0
LAST TIME MET: Atlanta defeated the Cowboys in the Georgia Dome 27-14 on November 21, 1993.
LAST GAME: Dallas, leading the NFC East by 2 games, is coming off of their bye week after defeating the Chargers 23-9. Atlanta defeated the Buccaneers 24-21 last week to move into a tie for the lead in the NFC West.
COWBOYS OFFENSE (RUSH: #2, PASS: #11, OVERALL: #1)
The Big 3 of the Dallas Cowboys are making their presences felt: QB Troy Aikman leads the NFC with a QB rating of 102.5 and a 67.2 completion percentage. RB Emmitt Smith leads the NFL in TDs scored with 13 and yards gained with 812. WR Michael Irvin dropped to 2nd place in receiving yards because of the bye week, but has 773 yards and 4 TDs thus far.
FALCONS OFFENSE (RUSH: #22, PASS: #7, OVERALL: #10)
QB Jeff George has a QB rating of 83.7 with 9 TDs and 7 INTs. WR Eric Metcalf leads the NFC with 52 receptions, while Bert Emmanuel has 521 yards and 4 TDs this season. RB Craig Heyward has 483 yards rushing and 2 TDs thus far.
COWBOYS DEFENSE (RUSH: #10, PASS: #11, OVERALL: #8)
The suffering pass defense got back into it with 6 sacks and 2 INTs in the Chargers game. DEs Charles Haley and Shante Carver had 2 sacks in that game, and Haley leads the team with 6½ total. S Brock Marion has 3 INTs , tied for the team league with CB Larry Brown.
FALCONS DEFENSE (RUSH: #12, PASS: #29, OVERALL: #25)
The pass defense is allowing teams to throw at will, givin up 4 300+ yard passing games to opponents this season. The pass rush is anemic as well, but DE Chris Doleman leads the team with 6½ sacks.
SPECIAL TEAM
Cowboys K Chris Boniol missed his only FG at San Diego and has scored 51 points. Falcons K Morten Anderson has also missed a FG, and has 58 points scored.
STREAKS, STATS & NOTES
Cowboys QB Troy Aikman is 22-1 in the last 23 regular season games where he completes at least 70% of his passes, inluding 22 straight wins. ...WR Michael Irvin set a club record with 31 100-yard receiving games. ...RB Emmitt Smith holds the team TD record at 88, previously held by Tony Dorsett. ...CB Deion Sanders makes his debut as a Cowboy in the stadium where, last year, he returned a 93-yard INT for a TD and got into a slapping altercation with then-Falcon WR Andre Rison. ...Falcons QB Jeff George topped the 15,000 yard passing mark vs. Tampa Bay last week. ...The Falcons have won 13-straight games where they've held the opponents under 20 points ...DE Chris Doleman is tied with DE Charles Haley and Eagles' Andy Harmon for 3rd place in the NFC with 6½ sacks. ...WR Eric Metcalf's 11.2 Punt Return average ranks 3rd in the NFC.
Dallas (6-1) at Atlanta (5-2)
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