Falcons vs Cowboys Week 10: History, players to watch, gut prediction

The Dallas Cowboys come into Week 10 following one of their worst outings across the board that we have seen in a long while. The Cowboys are licking their wounds following a loss to the Broncos in which they were handled in every single way. That game put the Cowboys into place and pumped the brakes on the hype train.

The Cowboys host the Atlanta Falcons, who currently sit at 4-4 when they roll in AT&T Stadium Sunday afternoon. The Falcons are coming off of a nice win against the Saints to get their record to 4-4. Led by quarterback Matt Ryan, the Falcons are always a frisky team that usually finds a way to at least make things interesting.

The Cowboys look to get back on track while the Falcons try to give Matt Ryan one last miracle attempt at a playoff run. Time to get into the history of this matchup, some thoughts on AT&T Stadium, some players I think could influence the outcome, and a little gut prediction that can hopefully get us back on track.

Atlanta Falcons vs Dallas Cowboys History

All-Time Record: 18-11 in favor of the Cowboys (2-0 postseason record in favor of the Cowboys)

Most Recent Result: Dallas Cowboys 40, Atlanta Falcons 39 on September 20, 2020

In a series the Cowboys have mostly been in control of since it began, the Falcons have the slight edge on the Cowboys with a 5-4 advantage since the turn of the century. This week marks the fifth matchup in the last seven years, making them a bit of a more familiar foe.

One common thread amongst these two teams is Deion Sanders. The cornerback called Atlanta home from 1989-93 followed by a stint with the Cowboys from 1995-99. Deion is a Hall of Famer, rightfully so, and showed out for both of these teams. If you really want to see something fun, take a look at him currently leading Jackson State to an 8-1 record as their head coach.

More recently, none of us can forget the game that went down in 2020. The game saw the Cowboys facing a 29-10 deficit at halftime and had them completely dead in the water. What followed was a second-half that is nearly impossible to replicate as hard as teams may try.

The Cowboys rattled off 30 points in the second half and capped off an epic comeback pushed across the finish line by Greg Zuerlein’s “Watermelon Kick” that confused the entire Falcons hands-team unit. The onside attempt resulted in a Cowboys recovery with under two minutes left.

The Cowboys went on to get into field goal range and steal a game, with a last-second kick, that saw the Falcons win probability reach 99.9% at one point.

I can’t imagine we see a repeat of last year’s matchup when things kick off on Sunday. I expect this game to follow a bit more of a standard script. That said, the Falcons are an interesting team to me. They aren’t necessarily great anywhere, but they have found ways to win games.

The Cowboys cannot afford another slow start if they want to right the ship. They need to get back to what provided them success early on in the season and ensure that they don’t let last week’s bad game snowball into a losing streak.