Division Leaders Clash In Big ‘D’
The New Orleans Saints are rolling, and they’ll go marching into Dallas to face a team that has recently found a groove in the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Thursday night.
Sean Payton’s New Orleans Saints are winners of 10 straight and lead the NFL in scoring, averaging 37.2 PPG. Drew Brees is having arguably the best season of his NFL career, throwing for 3,135 passing yards with 29 touchdowns to two interceptions, leading the NFL with a 127.3 Passer Rating, which is on pace to be an NFL record.
The Dallas Cowboys hope their current three-game winning streak, which has resurrected their season after a disappointing loss to the Tennessee Titans coming off a bye week, is the start of a push to a NFC East title.
Before a battle of the NFC division leaders, we’ll take a look at the headlines going into the battle in a potential playoff preview.
Let’s get started!
Saints ‘O’ vs Cowboys ‘D’: Strength Against Strength
When the Dallas Cowboys host the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night, it’ll be the No. 1 scoring offense in the NFL vs the No. 3 scoring defense in the NFL.
The Cowboys front seven may be the best the Saints have faced this season, with ferocious pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence ready to wreck havoc against the Saints o-line, who went on record saying he hopes his Cowboys “choke out” the visiting Saints offensive line.
That’s a good place to start when looking at this matchup. A determining factor will be if Dallas can get consistent pressure on Drew Brees, preferably using a number of exotic looks to get there.
Drew Brees won’t be fooled by coverages, but getting through that offensive line, which is anchored by center Max Unger, will be the reason Dallas wins this game or has a chance to.
The Cowboys linebackers and secondary is solid, and they’ll be tasked with dealing with not just Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara, but three other Saints that include Austin Carr, who just last week caught touchdown passes from Brees.
If New Orleans’ strong offensive line takes care of DeMarcus Lawrence, look for players like Jaylon Smith and Tyrone Crawford to be called on to bring the heat on Drew Brees.
The Cowboys Triplets, Pt. 2?
The Cowboys last run of dominance in the NFL came when Emmit Smith, Troy Aikman, and Michael Irvin formed the Cowboys’ All-Pro and Hall of Fame trio.
It may be too early to say that’s what we’re soon to see in Dallas with the trio of Ezekiel Elliot, Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, but Dallas’ 31-23 victory over the Washington Redskins sure did feel like we were watching a game from 1993 instead of 2018.
All three of those Dallas Cowboys players had their fingerprints all over that huge divisional win to vault into first place, as Prescott finished with 289 passing yards three total touchdowns, Elliot with 121 rushing yards and score, and Cooper with 180 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
There’s no question that when Dallas traded a first-round pick for Amari Cooper last month that their intentions were to not only give Prescott an actual go-to target at wide receiver, but to form an offensive trio like they had during their three consecutive Super Bowls in 90s.
Not long ago Dak Prescott was a household name in Dallas, having led the team to a 13-3 regular-season in his rookie year and also winning Offensive Rookie of the Year. But after a disheartening 28-14 loss at home to the Tennessee Titans earlier this month to fall to 3-5, it appeared that the wheels were coming off and that no one’s job, not even Prescott’s, was safe moving forward.
After a resilient performance and win in Philly, a last second win in Atlanta and a complete offensive performance vs. the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving, all appears well in Dallas.
The Saints Defensive Resurgence
From getting carved up by Ryan Fitzpatrick to looking like one of the NFL’s best units since late September, it’s been quite a turnaround for Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s unit.
Next to dead last in almost every statistical category which included points, total yards and passing yards through the first three weeks, the Saints flipped the script by allowing less than 20 points in five out of their past eight games.
Cameron Jordan, Sheldon Rankins and others are bringing the boom up front while Marcus Lattimore and the Saints back end have gotten back to the type of team we saw over the course of the last half of last season.
When they’re playing at home, specifically, you can see just how much of an impact the crowd noise has for their defensive line.
Dennis Allen isn’t afraid to dial up the blitz either, and we can expect to see that on Thursday night against Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott as he’s struggled against five or more rushers this season.
What are your thoughts on the New Orleans Saints-Dallas Cowboys Week 13 matchup? Leave your comments below!