NFL Thursday Preview: New Orleans Saints vs Dallas Cowboys
Thursday afternoon the defending world champions, New Orleans Saints, will face off against Dallas Cowboys. Cowboys have been a long standing Thanksgiving Day fixture. The tradition was set over 40 years ago on thanksgiving when Cowboys defeated Cleveland
Browns on 24th November, 1996.
Since then, every year they have hosted a Thanksgiving Day game. Their record stands at 27-14-1 but this year their opponents would be a tough challenge. Dallas Cowboys gave the aura of playoff contenders before the season started but their performance so
far has been far from playoff worthy. Though they are turning over a new leaf and are coming off a 35-19 win over Detroit Lions. Not the best team in the franchise but a win is a win. Cowboys were the first team to fire their coach this season. They let go
Wade Phillips and replaced him with Jason Garret.
The move appeared to be a good decision for Dallas because Garret debuted as a winning coach. Cowboys first beat the New York Giants 33-20 and then Detroit Lions 35-19 under Garret. Now, he is going to make his Thanksgiving debut. Cowboys were a visibly
better team under Garret but the improvements might not be enough to defeat the Saints. New Orleans rank second in the NFC South behind Atlanta Falcons. Saints have won 7 games and lost just three whereas Cowboys have won just 3 and lost 7. They are clearly
the favourites for the game and are in good shape. If Cowboys are going to really turn around their season, this is their chance.
Saints have been plagued by injuries but nothing too serious. They have shown great depth this season and are prepared to play the Cowboys. Their season started off slow but they have been catching up and catching up well. “The time you want to be playing
your best is now,” Saints' quarterback Drew Brees said. He added that Saints had been playing better each week. In their last game, Saints covered a phenomenal 494 yards to beat Seattle Seahawks. Brees was on fire and threw 382 yards in the game. Chris Ivory
pushed the Saints another 99 yards. New Orleans have been more of a passing offense this season. Their Rush ranks 26th in the league with an average of 95.5 yards. Their passing, however, more than makes up for the lack of production on the ground.
That wouldn’t be a problem for the Saints this Thursday anyway. Cowboys' pass rush if not terrible, is at least not good enough to hinder Drew Brees and his receivers. Brees is averaging over 300 yards per game and would be the ultimate test for the improved
Dallas' defence.
Cowboys have also been performing better offensively. Quarterback Joe Kitna has started to develop chemistry with his teammates following Tony Romo’s injury. In his past two games, Kitna has thrown six touchdown passes and gave up only one interception.
New Orleans' defence is no pushover but Kitna won’t just give up either. Saints rank 4th overall in defence and are the second best team in the league against the pass. In the season so far, New Orleans have accumulated 19 sacks with Sedrick Ellis
providing four of them. They don’t give up the ball and have a knack for forcing turnovers.
Kitna has one thing going for him. The Saints aren’t a strong side when it comes to defending the ball on the ground and lately, the Cowboys have been upping their running game. That has taken pressure off Kitna and helped him improve his own game. “When
they're playing like that, the quarterback position becomes easy,” Kitna said. No matter how much the Cowboys improve their run, Saints are not going to let it be ‘easy’ for Kitna. Against Saints, Dallas would count on their running backs to pull them out
of tough situations.
Cowboys have a real shot at continuing their winning streak into week 12 but Saints are still the favourites for the game.
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