NFL
The Saints Travel To Big D To Battle The Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys will host the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night in a huge primetime matchup. The Saints are riding a 10-game winning streak, while the Cowboys are looking for their fourth win in a row. New Orleans is looking like a Super Bowl favorite at right now, and Dallas is just hoping to hold onto its very slim lead in the NFC East. While a loss wouldn’t hurt the Cowboys, a win would definitely raise some eyebrows heading into the postseason.
Week 12 Recap
New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees and company had a very strong outing against the Falcons, winning 31-17. Even though Brees managed just 171 yards passing, he also threw 4 touchdowns. The team had 150 yards rushing on 31 carries. The defense was absolutely tenacious. They recovered 3 fumbles and forced 5 total. Three of which were by Matt Ryan. The Saints’ secondary even recorded an interception. New Orleans wanted to make a statement at home against their division rivals, and that’s exactly what they did.
Dallas Cowboys
Dallas did exactly what it had to do last week against the Redskins. They had to take advantage of Washington losing Alex Smith for the season, and they picked up a much-needed victory at home. Though quarterback Dak Prescott was sacked 4 times, he made sure not to turn the ball over. Maintaining possession and holding onto leads both play huge parts in Dallas’s winning going forward. Prescott recorded 289 yards through the air and 2 touchdowns. He also had a passer rating of 121.6. Wide receiver Amari Cooper had his best game of the season, with 8 catches, 180 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Ezekiel Elliott also had 121 yards on 26 carries with one touchdown.
Thursday Night’s Matchup
The Saints Are Marching
New Orleans is averaging a total of 37.2 points per game this season, along with 290.8 yards passing and 133.1 yards on the ground. Drew Brees is having an MVP-type season with 3,135 yards passing, 29 TDs, and just 2 interceptions. The most impressive statistic is his 76.4 completion percentage. That is simply remarkable in today’s league, where every team throws the ball at an alarming rate. Running back Alvin Kamara is having a stellar year as well, with 706 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns. He also has 57 catches for 519 yards and 4 TDs. Wide receiver Michael Thomas has 86 catches for 1,080 yards and 8 touchdowns. This offense is running like a well-oiled machine right now.
The Saints defense has been stellar against the run this season. They’re allowing just 73.2 yards per game on the ground. While that is impressive, they’re also giving up 302.9 yards passing per game. This means that teams are capable of driving down the field and making big plays against the Saints defense through the air.
Dallas Can’t Settle For Field Goals
Anyone who watches Cowboys games on a regular basis knows that they often settle for the field goal once inside the red zone. This is something they cannot afford to do against an offense as explosive as the Saints. If they get into a goal-to-go situation, they need to run the ball with Elliott. Even if they plan on passing, they should run play-action. Throw the defense off guard. New Orleans is too good, and no team can allow Drew Brees to get the ball back after only scoring three points. Chances are that he will march right down the field and into the end zone.
It’s All About Defense
Dallas’ defense has already proven that it can handle an explosive offense. They held the Atlanta Falcons to just 19 points two weeks ago in Atlanta. However, the Saints seem to be operating on another level at the moment. Dallas is giving up just 19.4 points and 355.1 total yards per game. The Saints are averaging 423.9 yards of total offense per game. This means that the Cowboys are going to have to force some key turnovers during the course of the game. That is certainly no easy task.
Prediction
The Cowboys are capable of taming Drew Brees, but the question is going to be about Dallas’ ability to score touchdowns in the red zone. It will be an entertaining game, but Dallas just won’t be able to capitalize when they need to in order to hang with the Saints. New Orleans should win a very entertaining game.
Fantasy Implications
It really comes down to a matter of preference in this game. Elliott or Amari Cooper could have huge games for Dallas. Any one of the weapons for New Orleans will certainly have a big game as well, with good guarantees figured from Brees, Kamara, and Thomas at least.
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