Battle of the No. 4s: Derek Carr vs. Dak Prescott

Dak Prescott (74) & Derek Carr (73) both rank top three in wins among QBs to wear No. 4

Only Brett Favre (186 wins) has won more games wearing No. 4 since 1950

Carr (vs CAR) and Prescott (at CLE) both won in Week 1 by 16+ points despite neither having more than 200 pass yards

Derek Carr (vs. CAR) Dak Prescott (at CLE)

Comp-Att 19-23 19-32

Pass Yds 200 179

Pass TD-INT 3-0 1-0

Passer Rating 142.5 85.3

Game Result W, 47-10 W, 33-17

Carr & Prescott are 2 of 4 QBs to have 3+ games with 3+ pass TD & 0 INT since 2023

All three of Carr’s games have come since Week 15, 2023 (most such games in span)

Most Games with 3+ Pass TD and 0 INT Since 2023

Jordan Love (GB) 5

Brock Purdy (SF) 5

Derek Carr (NO) 3

Dak Prescott (DAL) 3

Carr and Prescott are 1-1 in head-to-head career matchups

Prescott & Cowboys defeated Carr & Raiders in Week 15, 2017 (won 20-17)

Carr & Raiders defeated Prescott & Cowboys in Week 12, 2021 (won 36-33)

Carr: 3 pass TD, 0 INT; Prescott: 2 pass TD, 2 INT in such matchups

Prescott had a 59.5 passer rating in his win vs. Carr (2nd-lowest passer rating of his career in a win)

How will the Saints defense deal with Dak Prescott & CeeDee Lamb?

Dak Prescott has won 14 straight home games (14-1 at home since 2022)

Loss was Wk 1, 2022 vs TB (Prescott: 47.2 passer rtg; second worst in home career)

The Cowboys have averaged 34.9 PPG at home with Prescott as starting QB

Dak Prescott at Home Since 2022

QB Rank*

Team PPG 34.9 1st

QB W-L 14-1 1st

Comp Pct 71.00% 1st

Pass TD/Game 2.3 2nd

Passer Rating 108.8 2nd

* Among 25 QBs with 10+ home starts since 2022

Prescott and the Saints pass defense both rank top 5 in comp pct, pass TD-INT ratio and passer rating in their respective categories since 2023.

Dak Prescott & Saints Pass Defense Since 2023 (NFL Ranks)

Prescott Saints Defense

Team PPG 1st 6th

Comp Pct 4th 2nd

Pass TD-INT 2nd 4th

Passer Rating 2nd 4th

The Saints have allowed 13.7 PPG since Week 14, 2023 (last 6 games)

The Saints have allowed 17 or fewer points in five of the six games

The Saints allowed just 10 points and 193 total yards in Week 1, 2024 vs CAR

Saints Defense Since Week 14, 2023

NFL Rank

PPG Allowed 13.7 1st

Opp 3rd Down Pct 27.30% 1st

Opp Red Zone TD Pct 38.50% 3rd

Defensive Sacks 19 T-3rd

The Saints are 9-1 since 2023 when they allow fewer than 20 points in a game

NO: 1-7 since 2023 when they allow 20+ points in a game

DAL has not scored fewer than 20 points at home since Week 1, 2022 vs TB (Prescott’s last loss at home, DAL lost 19-3)

CeeDee Lamb led the Cowboys with five receptions and 61 yards at CLE

Lamb avg 119.4 rec YPG & had eight rec TD (most) at home in 2023 (both 2nd in NFL)

Lamb has 1,742 rec yards from the slot since 2022 (most in NFL by over 300 yards)

NO defense: 1,549 slot rec yds allowed since 2023 (6th-most in NFL, NGS)

Brandin Cooks played three seasons for NO & was its 20th overall pick in the 2014 Draft

Cooks had 215 rec, 2,861 rec yards, 20 rec TD from 2014-16 with NO

Cooks: 100+ rec yds or 1+ rec TD in each of last 3 games vs NO (incl playoffs)

Cooks had the lone rec TD for DAL in Week 1 (fourth consecutive game with a rec TD)

Longest active streak in the NFL with GB Christian Watson

Marshon Lattimore suffered a “minor” hamstring injury in Wk 1 & his Wk 2 status is TBD

Lattimore has missed 17 of 35 regular season games since 2022

Saints CB Alontae Taylor had a career-high 3.0 sacks in Week 1, 2024 vs CAR

Jordan Howden (1st in career) & Will Harris both had an INT in Saints in Week 1

Matchup of veteran running backs: Alvin Kamara vs Ezekiel Elliott

Alvin Kamara & Ezekiel Elliott are two of five players with 10,000+ scrim yds since 2016

Elliott (11,602 yds; leads NFL) entered NFL in 2016 Draft (1st rd, 4th overall)

Kamara (10,158 yds) entered NFL in 2017 Draft (3rd rd, 67th overall)

Most Scrimmage Yards Since 2016 Yards

Ezekiel Elliott (DAL) 11,602

Tyreek Hill (MIA) 11,035

Derrick Henry (BAL) 11,006

Christian McCaffrey (SF) 10,505

Alvin Kamara (NO) 10,158

Kamara led NO with 15 carries, 83 rush yds, 1 rush TD (tied) & 5 rec (27 yds) in Week 1

Week 1 was Kamara’s 50th game with 100+ scrimmage yds (most in NO history)

Kamara: one of two active players with 100+ scrimmage yds in 50+ games (C. McCaffrey)

Most Games with 100+ Scrimmage Yards (Active Players)

Games

Christian McCaffrey (SF) 55

Alvin Kamara (NO) 50

Ezekiel Elliott (DAL) 49

Derrick Henry (BAL) 49

Elliott led the Cowboys with 10 carries, 40 rush yards and 1 rush TD in Week 1

Elliott’s first rush TD with the Cowboys since Week 17, 2022 at TEN

Elliott had a career-low three rush TD in 2023 with the Patriots

Elliott: top two in carries (2,075), rush yds (8,944) & rush TD (72) among active players

Elliott can become the 40th player in NFL history with 9,000+ rush yds

Micah Parsons and the Cowboys defense vs. Derek Carr and the Saints offense

Derek Carr has had his top-2 passer rating games in career over last two games played

142.5 passer rating vs CAR in Week 1; 145.5 passer rtg vs ATL in Wk 18, 2023

Carr can become fourth QB since 1970 merger to have three straight games w/ 140+ passer rtg

Others: Aaron Rodgers (2011), HOF Kurt Warner (1999), HOF Roger Staubach (1971)

Carr can became second Saints player to have back-to-back games with a 140+ passer rating in a single season (Drew Brees in 2018)

Longest Streaks with 140+ Passer Rating (QBs Since 1970 Merger)

Season Games

Aaron Rodgers (GB) 2011 3

Kurt Warner (HOF) 1999 3

Roger Staubach (HOF) 1971 3

Derek Carr: 2 straight games w/ 140+ passer rtg (Wk 18, 2023 & Wk 1, 2024)

Carr leads all QBs with 15 pass TD & a 129.0 passer rating since Week 15, 2023

Carr has nine pass TD and 0 INT in his last three games (Week 17, 2023 – Week 1)

Derek Carr (Since Week 15, 2023)

* NFL Rank

Comp Pct 76.2 1st

Pass TD 15 1st

Passer Rating 129 1st

* Among 38 QBs with 50+ pass att since Week 15, 2023

Carr has a 95.8 passer rating in road games since 2023 (3rd-best in NFL, min. 200 att)

Carr: 75+ pass rtg in eight straight road games (longest active streak in the NFL)

All three of Carr’s pass TD in Week 1 came on downfield passes, per NGS (10+ air yards)

Carr: fourth game since 2016 with 3+ TD & 0 INT on downfield throws

Cowboys defense held Deshaun Watson to 3-14, 57 yds on downfield throws in Week 1

Rashid Shaheed led the Saints with 73 rec yds and one rec TD (tied) in Week 1

Shaheed had a 59-yd rec TD vs CAR in Week 1 (fourth rec TD of 50+ yds)

Only Tyreek Hill (7) has more 50+ yd rec TD than Shaheed since 2022

The Saints have won five of their last six games since Week 14, 2023

Only team with a better record since Week 14, 2023 is the Bills (6-0)

Saints lead the league with 32.0 PPG since Week 14, 2023

Saints Offense (Since Week 14, 2023)

NFL Rank

W-L 5-1 T-2nd

PPG 32 1st

3rd Down Pct 43.2 9th

Red Zone TD Pct 75 3rd

TO/Game 0.5 T-1st

The Saints have scored 47+ pts in back-to-back games (scored 48 pts in Wk 18 vs ATL)

Saints are the only team to score 47+ pointsin2+ games since 2023

Only two teams in NFL history have scored 47+ points in three straight games – 1941 Bears (Weeks 5-7) and 2007 Patriots (Weeks 6-8)

The last team to score 45+ pts in back-to-back games in a single season were 2018 Saints

Each of the last four teams to score 45+ pts in back-to-back games in a single season reached at least the NFC Championship game

The Cowboys allowed 15.9 PPG at home in 2023 regular season (3rd-fewest in NFL)

DAL allowed a season-high 48 points in 2023 Wild Card loss at home vs GB

Saints scored 22.3 PPG on the road in 2023 (12th in NFL)

The Cowboys led the NFL with 6 sacks, 25 QB pressures & 2 INT (tied) in Week 1 at CLE

DAL had seven more QB pressures than any other team in Week 1 (per Next Gen Stats)

The Cowboys have a 42.7 QB pressure pct since 2023, per NGS (1st in NFL)

Carr was pressured on 16 pct of dropbacks in Week 1 (lowest among qualified QBs)

Carr: 3-3, 77 yds, 1 TD, 158.3 passer rating on att under pressure in Wk 1 vs CAR

Micah Parsons had 1.0 sack, five QB hits and nine QB pressures (NGS) in Week 1

Parsons: Most QB hits and pressures by any player in Week 1

Parsons leads the NFL with 108 QB pressures since 2023 (NGS)

DeMarcus Lawrence had 2.0 sacks, 3 TFL, 4 QB hits, 1FF&8 QB pressures (NGS) in Week 1

Was Lawrence’s second game with 2+ sacks in the last five seasons (seventh career game)

NGS: second-most QB pressures by any player in Week 1 (teammate Parsons had nine)

Eric Kendricks had 2.0 sacks and an INT in Week 1 at CLE (3rd career game w/ 2+ sacks)

Kendricks is the third DAL player since 1982 to have two+ sacks and an INT in a game

He joins Tommy Haynes (Week 4, 1987) & Jim Jeffcoat (Week 15, 1985)

Trevon Diggs had an INT in Week 1 in his first game since Week 2, 2023

Diggs tore his ACL in practice leading up to Week 3 (missed rest of 2023 season)

Diggs leads the NFL with 16 INT since 2021 despite playing just 2 games in 2023