By: Greg Rector
Dallas Cowboys (7-4) vs New Orleans Saints (5-6) Thursday, December 2nd, 8:20 PM
Well, the quarter-century of snatching failure from the jaws of success continues for the Dallas Cowboys. After another long line of good starts to a season, the Cowboys have now lost 3 of their last four games, all of the losses to AFC teams, sorry Chargers fans you had the misfortune of playing us too early in the year. Yet again when the opportunity presents itself the Cowboys manage to fail. It was another ugly performance, something that is becoming all too routine on Thanksgiving Day. Said it on Twitter, it's time to set aside the "Tradition," of Dallas and Detroit playing on Thanksgiving Day. Let other teams have the annual misery of the short week every November. Baltimore and Seattle, have fun. The Lions and Cowboys annually fail to entertain. As so many have observed football fans universally not just Cowboys fans were livid with the officiating crew. 14 penalties against each team, many calls that were somewhat bizarre against both teams, also took away much of the entertainment value.
I have written often about the Cowboys team-building process, to me, it's also time for Jerry, Stephen, and company to re-think the way they do things. The loyalty factor has to go. Keeping an oft-injured but talented left tackle at a high price is hurting the team. The same goes for keeping the flaky but good friend of the QB right tackle who has played in less than five games the last three years. If you read my preview for the Raiders game you know how I feel about the twenty million dollars wide receiver already. The reliance on having stars over having 53 guys who defend the star has to be changed. 25 years of this is simply too much to take. Every part of this team has regressed from the team that we saw in weeks two through eight. There are exceptions on the roster, they have guys who do give their best efforts week in week out, but they are too few. Some will say Dak is to blame, well if you played behind the Cowboys' offensive line this last month even if your name was Rodgers, Jackson, or Mahomes, you wouldn't be succeeding either. If you were one of those elite QB's you wouldn't be too pleased with the dropped passes as well. Let's not forget that another part of the game is special teams, specifically the kicker, Greg Zuerlein has missed a total of 11 points in the two 1 possession games, that have been lost by a total of 5 points. Again there's more to football wins and losses than just the performance of the quarterback. Anything and everything is going wrong for the Cowboys, and it's simply PAINFUL. Now for good measure, the Cowboys play three straight road games. Let's look ahead to the first road game in New Orleans.
Saints Offense vs Cowboys Defense
The Cowboys have been exposed through the air consistently, and unless they force turnovers it's made for some terrible results. Can a Saints team currently decimated by injuries be the cure for what has ailed the Cowboys lately? Remains to be seen, however, the Saint's'' offense has been destroyed by the injury bug. If you weren't in a turkey coma Thanksgiving night, you might have seen the Saint's offense that struggled mightily against the Bills. This is a far cry from a team that was once 5-2. Losing their starting quarterback was devastating as it is for most teams and the slide has been just as painful for Who Dat Nation as the current funk of the Cowboys has been. The Cowboys' defense has been on the field way too much lately, even in games where they have caused turnovers. I'll get to that later on, they simply need to end the opponent's drives a lot quicker instead of relying upon getting a turnover. The tackling has been horrendous as of late and that must change. Against the Raiders the defense spent 40 minutes on the field. That's a recipe for disaster and losses. Three and outs simply need to occur a whole lot more. More of what was seen against the Chiefs and much less of the struggles we've seen against the Broncos and Raiders are needed. Now the Cowboys might have Demarcus Lawrence return after missing most of the season with a broken foot. That would instantly upgrade this defense as Lawrence is very good on the edge especially against the run. It would also allow them on passing downs to move him inside so Parsons can continue attacking the quarterback off the edge. That element has been sorely missed. I saw plenty of fans going off on Anthony Brown after the 4 pass interference calls, you might want to chalk most of that up to the officiating crew folks. Overall the biggest key will be not allowing big plays, the Saints don't have much going for them and it's unlikely that Alvin Kamara plays so the dual-threat that he poses won't be involved. Advantages here should favor Dallas in a big way.
Saints Defense vs Cowboys Offense
Here's to you Kellen Moore, Cowboys Nation turns its critical eyes to you. Yes, I stole that from Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs.Robinson. The reason is simple, this offense that was hitting on all cylinders from week two through week 8 (Shhh even with Cooper Rush at QB) has suddenly lost its way. There was a formula that was working, establish Elliott and Pollard on the ground, force teams into using the extra man in the box, and turn Prescott loose on one on one coverages with his receivers. That's suddenly been lost in the last few games. There's plenty of reasons for the changes and it starts with the offensive coordinator. When you use the same plays and don't mix things up guess what happens? Upcoming opponents watch the film too, and they know what's coming. The run plays haven't seen any variety, there are no different blocking schemes being used, it's repetitive and becomes predictable. So for all the praise heaped upon Moore, time to make adjustments. Show teams different looks as you were doing earlier when you were using Connor McGovern as a fullback. That element must not be abandoned. The biggest reason is that it keeps the clock moving and means the defense doesn't need to be on the field. Now Dak went 32/47 for over 300 yards and had 2 TD passes, for mathematically challenged that's a 68% completion rate, which is pretty good. So let's not jump on this is all Dak's fault train. Certainly, some passes haven't been on target, neither are plenty of Mahomes, Rodgers, and even Brady's passes. The number that matters is the 47 attempts, that's way too many throws. During the winning streak, DAK seldom had 30 passes in those wins. The strength of the Saints is their front seven, but just like the Cowboys' struggles of late they've been on the field way too much, the Cowboys must continue that trend. Now whoever came up with the bright idea of rotating not just one but two positions on the line against the Raiders, that person needs to have their head examined. That would be you Mike McCarthy since O-line coach Joe Philbin was not there against Las Vegas, thanks to a positive result on a Covid test. Clearly, the return of Tyron Smith wasn't as successful as the Cowboys hoped it would be, nor was rotating McGovern and Williams at left guard and at the same time rotating Terence Steele and La'el Collins at RT. The one group that requires consistency is the offensive line. Experiments during a play series are what you do in the pre-season, not in week 12 okay? Against a very solid group of Saints defenders up front establishing dominance on the ground, the game is vital. Pick 5 guys and let that happen. Get back to what works. If Smith struggles with his ankle this becomes really simple, put Steele at LT and leave him there. Choose one of the two LG's and leave them there. Most importantly establish the running game. It was clear that changing the personnel also affected the pass blocking, Dak was under pressure and once again EVERY quarterback in the league will struggle when facing pressure, just ask Aaron Rodgers if he was having fun against the pressure the Vikings brought.
Intangibles and Predictions
Dear Dak and Ezekiel the post-game comments about the fans turning on you, sorry it comes with the territory. Now some of the critiques are out of line I agree, but you guys talking about it doesn't do any good. Suck it up and ignore it. That's a dangerous game to get involved with and there are no winners. Time for you guys to have that players-only session, air your grievances privately, and move on. The next meeting needs to be between the head coach and his offensive coaches. Get that group back to basics. Commit to not changing the game plan too early, commit to smashmouth run blocking and exert your will on the opponent. Above all do not think for one moment that because the Saints are injury-riddled that they can't hurt you. Given the shape the Saints are in this should be the game to get back on track. Cowboys 31 Saints 10 is my prediction. Get past this game then you have ten days before the final push to a playoff spot.
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
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