Cowboys need to do three things and three things well. Otherwise….
Coming into Thursday night’s battle, the Cowboys and Saints are riding consecutive winning streaks. Dallas has knocked off three in a row to propel themselves into first place in the NFC East.
The wins came against the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles and the mediocre Falcons, both on the road. Then, on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys came alive in the second half at “Jerry World” by beating the Redskins and taking over the division lead.
Brees recently passed the 500 passing TD mark (photo, Canal St. Chronicles)
The consensus best team in football resides in New Orleans. I won’t argue. I picked the Saints to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl with my pre-season NFL predictions. They currently have the longest winning streak in the league, racking up ten victories in a row after their Week 1 defeat at the hands of Fitzmagic and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Drew Brees is on pace to earn his first league MVP award.
Let’s look into the matchup and see if the (6-5) Cowboys have a chance against the (10-1) Saints on Thursday. Sean Payton and Drew Brees are the architects of the #1 offense in the NFL. As a result, they lead the NFL in points per game and are in the top seven in passing and rushing.
The combination of Kamara and Ingram are too much for any defense to handle. The Cowboys have been stout against the run this season, ranking 4th in the league against the rush. Nevertheless, the Boys’ better be aware of the most accurate quarterback in football as he hits Michael Thomas or one of the other 12 receivers whose name you don’t even know.
The Cowboys defense is much improved, especially with the addition of the rookie first-round draft pick Leighton Vander Esch. Add in a powerhouse like pro-bowler Demarcus Lawrence and complimentary players like Jaylon Smith. Those two make an impact every game. As of Week 12, the Cowboys have the 3rd overall defense in football.
The one weak spot (however improving) is the Cowboys secondary. And Drew Brees will be salivating once he checks out the numbers on the uniforms of Dallas’ defensive backs.
Expect the Saints to do what they always do–run the ball with the two-headed monster and use play-action to get receivers wide open down the field. As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, the New Orleans Saints offense has been nearly flawless, so unless the Cowboys D is blowing up plays in the backfield and contending passes, I’d expect them to run their usual scheme and put some points on the board.
The game will come down to three things.
–Can the Cowboys convert on 3rd down?
–Can they protect the football?
–Will they stay committed to giving Ezekiel Elliott the football?
All of these things are designed to keep Drew Brees and his comedy of athletes on the sideline, while Dallas eats up clock keeping New Orleans out of their flow. If they don’t feed Zeek, then they have no chance. Absolutely and positively no way, and no how, can Dallas beat the Saints without Zeke unless the world flipped upside down or the Saints play the worst game of their life, Zeek needs the ball in his hands whether he’s running through and around tackles or catching the ball out of the backfield, which is a skill he continues to develop.
Feeding Ezekiel Elliott the ball is the right thing to do. He is the Cowboys best player on offense by far. However, N.O. leads the NFL in rushing defense. Part of that is because the Saints take early leads and the opposition has to pass the ball more often. So the data may be skewed but, if you watch the tape, then you know that the Saints are disciplined and swarm to the ball on defense.
If the Saints over-commit to Elliott then Jason Garrett will need to prove he’s a head coach/offensive coordinator and make some adjustments. Dallas now has a legitimate threat at wide receiver with Amari Cooper, which helps open up windows for his fellow wide-outs, like Beasley and Gallup. That’s not a great WR trio, but the way Dallas runs the short game offense helps those receivers and produces high percentage passes to keep the clock moving and keep Drew Brees on the sideline.
I’m not calling this s trap game. But I think Dallas can pull this off if they follow my three rules as mentioned above.
The Saints will challenge Dak Prescott early to see if he’s on his game. If he is playing well, then I would not be at all shocked to see the Cowboys nail a fourth consecutive victory.
