The Cowboys head to Atlanta for the first time since 2018, facing a Falcons team that is 5-3 and carried by Kirk Cousins, who signed with the team this past offseason.
The Cowboys are 3-4 this year, with all of their wins on the road.
Here are the 10 big storylines for the week, with five for the Falcons and five for the Cowboys.
Falcons
- The Falcons just completed a season sweep of NFC South rival Tampa Bay, improving to 5-3 and a first-place spot in the division. The Falcons are already two wins away from equaling last year's win total and a 7-10 finish. The turnaround can be credited to many things, such as better running game and an opportunistic defense but most of the praise falls on the addition of veteran Kirk Cousins.
- There was plenty of scrutiny on the Falcons' quarterback position back in the spring when they not only added Cousins, but then drafted Michael Penix with the No. 8 overall pick. Cousins isn't looking over his shoulder – he's too busy carving up defenses. Just last week, Cousins again torched the Bucs, throwing for three TDs in a road win. He became the first player in NFL history to pass for eight touchdowns against a single team in one season.
- Bijan Robinson ranks ninth in the NFL with 546 rushing yards and two of his top three performances have occurred in the last three weeks, including a 103-yard performance in Seattle.
- The Falcons are not considered a heavy pass-rush team as they rank last in the league in sacks with just six this year, despite acquiring Matthew Judon in a trade with the Patriots. Judon, who has 68 career sacks, has just 1.5 sacks this season.
- Tight end Kyle Pitts has come on strong lately, including last week's game in which he caught two touchdowns against the Bucs. Pitts had just eight catches in his first four games of the season but has 21 receptions in the last four, showcasing the talents that made him such a lucrative draft commodity when he was picked No. 4 overall back in 2021.
Cowboys
- The Cowboys are certainly not where they expected to be after seven games. At 3-4, things are getting chippy for the Cowboys as tensions are high after yet another demoralizing loss to the 49ers, who have now won four straight games in this series. The Cowboys started the third quarter with the lead, but were outscored 21-0 and it was too big of a deficit to recover from.
- Injuries have been a major issue for the Cowboys, especially on defense. The loss of Micah Parsons now for three games, and perhaps another this week in Atlanta, has been felt throughout the entire defense. Parsons has just one sack this year and has been out since a high-ankle sprain against the Giants (Sept. 26). DeMarcus Lawrence has been on IR with a foot injury after that game and DaRon Bland (foot) has missed all of the season so far. All three players were in the Pro Bowl last year.
- Dak Prescott has thrown two interceptions in each of the last three games, the first time in his career for that type of stretch. Prescott had two costly picks – including one in the third quarter that led to a 49ers touchdown. In seven games this year, Prescott has eight interceptions after throwing just nine in 17 games last year.
- Whatever the Cowboys have tried at running back, nothing has worked so far. This last week, they elevated Dalvin Cook from the practice squad and he rushed for 12 yards on six carries. Whether it's Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle or even Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke, the Cowboys haven't found anywhere to run. They not only rank last in rushing for 74.1 yards per game. They only have eight running plays of 10 yards or more with Rico Dowdle's 13-yard run being the longest.
- What the Cowboys are missing in running the ball, they're not making up for in stopping the run. The team ranks 31st in the league, allowing 154.6 yards per game, including 223 to the 49ers, who were missing Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason left the game injured. But it didn't matter as the 49ers were able to run out the clock when they needed to in the final minutes.
