NFL Blogs Saints vs. Cowboys preview By Todd Archer and Mike Triplett | September 26, 2014 8:00:27 AM PDT The last time the New Orleans Saints played the Dallas Cowboys, the Cowboys were embarrassed. In a 49-17 loss, the Cowboys allowed a franchise-record 625 yards and an NFL-record 40 first downs during that long night inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The rematch is Sunday at AT&T Stadium with the Cowboys coming into the game with a 2-1 mark and the Saints a disappointing 1-2 record. ESPN NFL Nation reporters Mike Triplett and Todd Archer offer up this weeks game preview: Todd Archer: Simple question to start, Mike: Why the slow start for the Saints? Mike Triplett: The easy answer would be to pin the first two losses on defensive breakdowns. The Saints missed a ton of tackles that led to big plays in a 37-34 overtime loss at Atlanta, then they had a handful of blown coverage assignments in a last-second 26-24 loss at Cleveland. But they cleaned up most of those issues with a really impressive defensive performance in a 20-9 win over Minnesota this past week. Obviously the offense deserves its share of the blame, too, for not being able to close out leads in both losses. And they’ve had some lulls in all three games. But for the most part, they look as good as usual. Saints at Cowboys: Stats of the Week The Saints are 8-1 on Sunday Night Football since 2006, though six of those wins have come at home. The victory that started that streak was a 42-17 rout at Dallas during Sean Paytons first year as head coach against his mentor, Bill Parcells. Tony Romo has thrown a touchdown pass in 31 straight games, which is the sixth longest streak in NFL history and the second-longest active streak. Only Peyton Manning has a longer current streak at 42 straight games. Drew Brees owns the NFL record at 54 straight games. ESPN Stats & Information rates New Orleans as the NFL’s most efficient offense. Drew Brees has been really sharp, with tight end Jimmy Graham as his go-to guy and rookie receiverBrandin Cooks adding another dynamic element. And the run game has been excellent, even with Mark Ingram sidelined by a broken hand. The Cowboys know firsthand how potent this offense can be after last years 49-17 rout in the Superdome. Has Dallas defense improved enough to slow them down this time? Archer: Since you started off with the simple answer, I’ll start off with a simpler answer: No. Well, I say that because the Cowboys haven’t faced a challenging passing game yet. They opened with the San Francisco 49ers and Colin Kaepernick is many things, but hes not a gifted thrower. And the score got so out of whack, that I believe the Niners sort of shut it down in the second half. In Week 2, they faced Jake Locker of theTennessee Titans. Let’s just say he’s not the answer there. And last week they had Austin Davis, the St. Louis Rams third-string quarterback, and he threw for 327 yards and wasn’t sacked. I don’t know how the Cowboys slow down Brees, Graham,Marques Colston, Cooks or whoever runs the ball. They have yet to stop a tight end. They have allowed big plays. The run defense has been OK. The best bet is for the offense to play keep away as much as possible. Lets move away from the offense for a second. Is the bloom off the Rob Ryan rose after such great improvement defensively last year? Triplett: Not yet. It’ll take more than two bad games for this town’s love affair with Ryan to die down after he was embraced so much last year for fitting in both on and off the field. But we did see a familiar theme emerge last week when the Saints decided they had to simplify their schemes and the amount of on-field checks they were doing. I know that was a big topic in Dallas, as well as some of Ryan’s previous defenses that were criticized for being too complicated. I still think Ryan’s versatility and creativity rank among his strengths. Players have loved playing for him because of those things. And he really found a way to take their young, talented players and put them in positions where they could thrive last year. So I’m still very high on their potential, but Ryan clearly has to find the right balance. What do the Saints have to worry about with Dallas offense? I would have thought Dez Bryant, first and foremost. But have they turned into a run-first team. Archer: These are the ground-and-pound Cowboys. At least they want to be. Murray leads the NFL in rushing with 385 yards. He has three straight 100-yard games. The last time a Dallas runner opened the year with four straight was Emmitt Smith in 1995. So that’s pretty good company. The Cowboys have invested in their offensive line with first-round picks Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin. They simply couldn’t run as much as they overhauled their line following the 2010 season. Now they have better players and can run the ball. It’s a good group. But the running game can only take you so far. They’ve neededTony Romo to be more situational with his big plays, and that’s a good thing for the quarterback. We’ll touch on that in a bit. With the Cowboys showing the ability to run it, how have the Saints done against the run so far? Triplett: The Saints have been pretty solid against the run this year, especially last week. But they haven’t been tested by anyone of Murray’s caliber yet. I think the two biggest goals for New Orleans’ defense will be to make the Cowboys “walk” down the field instead of breaking big gains with guys like Bryant, Terrance Williams and Murray. And they must find a way to make some big plays of their own. The Saints have only forced one turnover this year (in the first quarter of Week 1). And they’ve forced only five turnovers in their past 14 games. So far, quarterbacks have stayed out of trouble with shorter, quicker passes to avoid the Saints’ pass rush instead of standing back and challenging them down the field. Will Dallas give the Saints opportunities for those takeaways? I see that Romo is tied for the league lead with four interceptions right now. Archer: Hey, don’t just get on Romo for those turnovers. Murray has fumbled in three straight games. Well, four in a row if you want to factor in the final game of the 2013 season. Romo was picked off three times in the season opener against the Niners and the Cowboys could not overcome it. He had a pick-six last week against the Rams to fall behind 21-0 in the second quarter, but they were able to come back. The defense just isn’t good enough for the offense to not only give away possessions but give away points. They can’t do that this week against the Saints. Romo has only a 1-3 record against the Saints as a starter but he’s been picked off only twice.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 13:43:17 +0000