2021 Week 13 · Thu, Dec 2, 2021 · Mercedes-Benz Superdome

Dallas CowboysWinner

New Orleans Saints

DAL -6 ✓U 46 ✓DomeCowboys closed -6 and covered, winning by 10.

Dallas Cowboys 27–17. Biggest swing: Q3 4:06, NO +13% win probability on one snap.

The game in one curve — scrub to replay it

Win probability

Q3 · 4:06DAL — NO DAL ball · 2nd & 10DAL 78%

(4:06) 20-T.Pollard left end for 58 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Market-anchored home win probability, play by play. Drag across the curve or use arrow keys to replay the game; gold diamonds mark the biggest momentum swings — tap one to jump there.

Highest-leverage plays

Q3 · 4:06NO +13% win prob(4:06) 20-T.Pollard left end for 58 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 · 13:02NO +10% win prob(13:02) 7-T.Hill pass short left to 84-L.Humphrey for 24 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Pass 15, YAC 9
Q1 · 5:16DAL +8% win prob(5:16) (No Huddle) 4-D.Prescott pass incomplete short middle to 88-C.Lamb.
Q1 · 3:00NO +8% win prob(3:00) (Shotgun) 4-D.Prescott pass deep middle to 19-A.Cooper to NO 36 for 41 yards (26-P.Williams) [96-C.Granderson]. Pass 20, YAC 21

Down-to-down truth

Situational splits

Metric	Cowboys	Saints
Offensive plays	62	69
Total yards	380	405 (edge)
Yards per play	6.1 (edge)	5.9
Expected points added / play	-0.11 (edge)	-0.27
Success rate	31%	39% (edge)
Dropback rate	66%	68%
Dropback efficiency (EPA/play)	-0.20 (edge)	-0.40
Rush efficiency (EPA/play)	0.08 (edge)	0.00
Third downs	2/12	5/14 (edge)
Red-zone trips → TDs	0 → 0	0 → 0
Explosive plays (10+ rush / 20+ pass)	8 (edge)	7
First downs gained on snaps	15	18 (edge)
Sacks taken	1 (edge)	2
Turnovers	1 (edge)	5

Saints outgained Cowboys 405–380 but lost the turnover battle 5–1. That was the game.

Who moved the needle

Top performers

Passing · NO

Taysom HillTE

19/41, 264 yds, 2 TD, 4 INT

-22.1 expected points added · -23.6% completion over expected

Passing · DAL

Dak PrescottQB

26/40, 238 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT

-8.4 expected points added · -2.6% completion over expected

Rushing · NO

Taysom HillTE

11 att, 101 yds, 0 TD

8.4 expected points added on the ground

Rushing · DAL

Tony PollardRB

7 att, 71 yds, 1 TD

2.9 expected points added on the ground

Receiving · NO

Deonte HartyWR

4/8 for 96 yds, 1 TD

20% of team targets · -4.7 expected points added

Receiving · DAL

CeeDee LambWR

7/13 for 89 yds, 0 TD

33% of team targets · -4.9 expected points added

Possession by possession

Drive chart

#	Team	Start	Plays	Scrim yds	Clock	Result
1	NO	NO 25	7	12	3:16	Punt
2	DAL	DAL 23	4	0	1:12	Punt
3	NO	NO 30	7	32	2:41	Turnover on downs
4	DAL	DAL 46	6	20	2:40	Turnover on downs
5	NO	NO 34	4	3	0:56	Punt
6	DAL	DAL 20	7	85	3:16	Touchdown
7	NO	NO 25	9	80	3:05	Touchdown
8	DAL	DAL 25	8	49	3:50	Turnover on downs
9	NO	NO 25	5	2	1:32	Punt
10	DAL	DAL 30	4	-4	1:29	Punt
11	NO	NO 34	8	50	3:44	Interception
12	DAL	DAL 5	12	71	2:19	Turnover on downs
13	DAL	DAL 19	5	1	1:31	Punt
14	NO	NO 21	11	55	5:03	Turnover on downs
15	DAL	DAL 25	5	8	1:36	Punt
16	NO	NO 21	4	6	1:52	Punt
17	DAL	DAL 29	5	71	1:03	Touchdown
18	NO	NO 25	10	38	4:48	Punt
19	DAL	DAL 4	8	52	3:46	Punt
20	NO	NO 13	4	5	1:24	Punt
21	DAL	DAL 32	3	3	0:52	Interception
22	NO	DAL 46	5	19	1:41	Interception
23	DAL	DAL 26	4	5	1:04	Punt
24	NO	NO 24	2	13	0:38	Interception
25	DAL	DAL 41	4	9	0:56	Punt
26	NO	NO 13	4	20	0:54	Defensive touchdown
27	NO	NO 30	4	70	0:20	Touchdown
28	DAL	NO 42	5	10	2:32	End of game

0 of 28 drives ended in points. Longest march: Cowboys gained 85 scrimmage yards over 7 plays for a touchdown.

Full stat lines

Box score

Dallas Cowboys

Passing

Player	C/Att	Yds	TD	INT	Sacked	EPA
Dak Prescott	26/40	238	1	1	1	-8.4

Rushing

Player	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	EPA
Tony Pollard	7	71	10.1	1	2.9
Ezekiel Elliott	13	45	3.5	0	-4.6
CeeDee Lamb	1	33	33.0	0	3.4
Dak Prescott	3	-3	-1.0	0	-2.2

Receiving

Player	Rec	Tgt	Yds	TD	Tgt share	EPA
CeeDee Lamb	7	13	89	0	33%	-4.9
Dalton Schultz	5	5	43	0	13%	2.0
Amari Cooper	2	2	41	0	5%	3.6
Michael Gallup	5	9	36	1	23%	-2.4
Noah Brown	2	3	14	0	8%	-0.5
Malik Turner	1	1	10	0	3%	1.1
Tony Pollard	2	4	3	0	10%	-4.1
Ezekiel Elliott	2	3	2	0	8%	-1.2

Defense (top contributors)

Player	Solo	Ast	Sacks	INT	PD
Anthony Brown	8	1	0.0	0	2
Jayron Kearse	5	1	0.0	1	1
Micah Parsons	2	3	1.0	0	0
Keanu Neal	3	2	1.0	0	0
Jourdan Lewis	3	1	0.0	0	1
Trevon Diggs	4	0	0.0	1	1
Tarell Basham	1	2	0.0	0	0
Dorance Armstrong	2	1	0.0	0	0
Carlos Watkins	1	1	0.0	1	1
Osa Odighizuwa	2	0	0.0	0	0

New Orleans Saints

Passing

Player	C/Att	Yds	TD	INT	Sacked	EPA
Taysom Hill	19/41	264	2	4	2	-22.1

Rushing

Player	Att	Yds	Avg	EPA
Taysom Hill	11	101	9.2	8.4
Mark Ingram	10	28	2.8	-4.3
Ty Montgomery	4	21	5.3	-0.1
Deonte Harty	1	3	3.0	-0.4

Receiving

Player	Rec	Tgt	Yds	TD	Tgt share	EPA
Deonte Harty	4	8	96	1	20%	-4.7
Lil'Jordan Humphrey	2	2	49	1	5%	5.1
Nick Vannett	3	4	48	0	10%	2.5
Juwan Johnson	1	1	27	0	2%	2.1
Tre'Quan Smith	2	7	15	0	17%	-6.5
Marquez Callaway	1	4	13	0	10%	-2.5
Ty Montgomery	4	7	9	0	17%	-5.4
Garrett Griffin	1	1	9	0	2%	0.7
Kenny Stills	0	5	0	0	12%	-7.1
Mark Ingram	1	2	-2	0	5%	-1.6

Defense (top contributors)

Player	Solo	Ast	Sacks	INT	PD
Marshon Lattimore	5	3	0.0	1	3
P.J. Williams	8	0	1.0	0	0
Kwon Alexander	6	2	0.0	0	0
David Onyemata	1	3	0.0	0	0
Malcolm Jenkins	3	1	0.0	0	0
Demario Davis	3	1	0.0	0	0
Marcus Williams	3	0	0.0	0	1
Jalyn Holmes	0	3	0.0	0	1
Pete Werner	1	2	0.0	0	0
J.T. Gray	2	0	0.0	0	0

Closing number vs result

Betting context

Closing spread: DAL -6
Closing total: 46
DAL moneyline: -254
NO moneyline: +222

Cowboys closed -6 and covered, winning by 10.

Total closed 46; the game landed 44 — under by 2.0.

Conditions and crew

Game environment

Venue: Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Roof / surface: dome · sportturf
Kickoff weather: Indoors — weather neutralized
Referee: Brad Rogers
Rest: DAL 7 days · NO 7 days
Coaches: Mike McCarthy vs Sean Payton