Cowboys vs. Saints: Week 2 matchups to watch for the Dallas Cowboys
Both the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints are coming off of pretty dominating victories in the 2024 season opener heading into this Week 2 matchup with one another. It’s going to be really interesting to see which team can carry the momentum into this head-to-head matchup and which one may stumble under the pressure.
For the Dallas Cowboys to start the season 2-0 they probably just need to repeat the way they played against the Cleveland Browns last week in all three phases the game. If they do that they should easily walk away with the “W”. If not though, they may need to win a few individual matchups to help sway the game in their favor. Let’s take a look at which ones.
DE Micah Parsons vs. LT Taliese Fuaga
Micah Parsons is coming off a fantastic Week 1 performance where he accumulated nine QB pressures, one sack, and a pass deflection that resulted in an INT. But, Saints rookie LT Taliese Fuaga was pretty good in Week 1 himself. He played 100% of the offensive snaps and finished the game with a total of 26 pass snaps with zero pressures and a 94% win rate. It’ll be really interesting to see how Mike Zimmer chooses to deploy Micah Parsons in this Week 2 matchup. Will they try to test the rookie LT or find more favorable matchups to exploit? Against Cleveland, Parsons lined up at every position along the line.
WR CeeDee Lamb vs. CB Alontae Taylor
The New Orleans Saints blitz packages in the season opener absolutely destroyed the Carolina Panthers last week. One of the biggest beneficiaries of those blitzes was Saints nickel CB Alontae Taylor, who ended the night with three QB sacks. In this Week 2 matchup, he will have to try to contain Dallas’ best WR CeeDee Lamb, who does his best work out of the slot. This head-to-head matchup is one that heavily favors the Cowboys and could help sway the game in their favor in their home debut.
TE Luke Schoonmaker vs. New Orleans Saints defense
Jake Ferguson may have avoided a serious season-ending injury in the season opener, but he will still likely miss some time while he gets back to 100% healthy. That means Luke Schoonmaker will likely replace him as Dallas’ starting tight end. Schoonmaker hasn’t done much since being drafted by the Cowboys last year in the second round. He now has some large shoes to fill and will need to step up his game as both a blocker and receiver in the passing game. The Saints defense probably knows this and could test him early and often.