Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › Dallas vs NO: 13 – 10 > Dallas Wins
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November 29, 2018 at 8:58 pm #94641AgamemnonParticipantNovember 29, 2018 at 9:02 pm #94644znModerator
Robert Mays@robertmays
Every time the Cowboys get inside the 5 and don’t run a read-option play, an angel loses its wings.November 29, 2018 at 9:18 pm #94645InvaderRamModeratori normally would never root for the cowboys….
November 29, 2018 at 9:22 pm #94646znModeratorTurnover on downs.
But just the 1st half.
November 29, 2018 at 10:27 pm #94650znModeratorBut, a stupid roughing the kicker penalty
November 29, 2018 at 11:00 pm #94652znModeratorBut 3-something minutes to go and the Saints balance things with a stupid roughing the passer penalty.
November 29, 2018 at 11:04 pm #94654znModeratorand then prescott fumbles inside the saints 10
November 29, 2018 at 11:06 pm #94655znModeratorthen Dallas picks Brees
November 29, 2018 at 11:09 pm #94657InvaderRamModeratorrandy gregory and sean payton are dumb.
vander esch and the cowboys d can tackle.
November 29, 2018 at 11:17 pm #94658ZooeyModeratorWorked for me, in the end. I will take it.
November 29, 2018 at 11:19 pm #94659znModeratorTo be perfectly frank, I must confess that I receive the news of Dallas prevailing in this contest with a certain degree of genuine, and generally unqualified, satisfaction.
November 29, 2018 at 11:20 pm #94660joemadParticipantRight on
Detroit is no gimme. Patricia has beat some good teams this year..,but they also have gotten creamed by some shit teams.
Rams can’t look past this game.
November 29, 2018 at 11:26 pm #94661ZooeyModeratorSaints still have 2 against Carolina, and one against the Steelers. They could lose another one.
November 30, 2018 at 12:10 am #94665znModeratorWeek 13 #DallasCowboys Game Notes
• Dak Prescott (115.5) has higher passer rating than Drew Brees (71.6)
• Ezekiel Elliott (136) more scrimmage yds than Alvin Kamara & Mark Ingram combined (100)
• Amari Cooper (75) & Michael Gallup (76) more rec yds than Michael Thomas (40)
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) November 30, 2018
November 30, 2018 at 8:28 am #94675znModeratorBooger@ESPNBooger
Last nights game was just as good as Chiefs vs Rams , if u didn’t appreciate the defensive effort from both teams shame on u. Remember when NO one was stopping the Saints ? Let that be a reminder to Rams. Chiefs Patriots Steelers. NO one is unstoppableNovember 30, 2018 at 10:44 am #94676znModeratorIssue last w/ last night! You think Dallas gave you the blueprint but..Do you have 2 young athletic, physical backers who cover backs and ground? Edge rushers that bend the end? Inside rush that push the pocket? 1 of the best press corners in ball? If not. Still in trouble.
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) November 30, 2018
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.@dallascowboys @TankLawrence does any DE in the @NFL play harder than this Bronco? Effort and talent can win a lot of downs in this BIZ. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/D6lQ93Rdcp
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 30, 2018
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Byron Jones has probably been the BEST cornerback in the NFL this season. Good work at the line of scrimmage. Take away the space. Make the receiver work laterally. Strong punch w/inside hand. Wash receiver down the line. Break up pass. He’s consistent with his technique. pic.twitter.com/pXbGRJNLCW
— CrockTIME (@eric_crocker) November 30, 2018
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.@dallascowboys @VanderEsch38 is possessed. Whatever he eats for breakfast I want it: and triple the order please. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/gfO2dGijd4
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 30, 2018
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.@dallascowboys @VanderEsch38 @thejaylonsmith can’t wait to STICK anything that moves . The “Stick Brothers”. Go show this to all your friends and family members. It will bring a smile to their faces. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/zuPpBONVbw
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 30, 2018
November 30, 2018 at 1:16 pm #94684znModeratorRon Clements@Ron_Clements
Is #Saints QB Drew Brees overrated or underrated? Asking for a #Patriots fan reporter, who thinks Brees isn’t a top-10 all-time QB. #NFL #ChargersBenjamin Allbright@AllbrightNFL
Lol. Brees is a top 5 QB all time. He had a bad game last night. Recency bias makes people say things that are insane.Joe Banner@JoeBanner13
Twelve wks into a season dominated by high powered offenses, almost all of whom have the best records in NFL. Now we have ONE game won by a more conservative team with a very good D. My TV was filled this morning with Pundits declaring this is proof that this style works==
.@dallascowboys front 4 got after Brees and got the 🏈 OUT! @TankLawrence and #TyCrawford showing @BroncoSportsFB ❤️❤️❤️. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/a6MIQLbL3t
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 30, 2018
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Defense in the NFL isn’t dead after all, and 4 other takeaways from the Cowboys’ win over the Saints
Geoff Schwartz
Here are five takeaways I have from this game.
Defense won an important game in 2018
Defense and running the football is a winning formula when everything is clicking, like it was Thursday night — a night when the Saints played their worst game of the season and lost by 3. But, let’s give the Cowboys defense their due.
The Cowboys defense is built for 2018. They play fast. They play physical. They lay the wood. They can rush the passer and their linebackers can match with running backs in space. Their secondary can challenge routes to make things difficult for wide receivers. There are no free releases against the Cowboys.
All this was on display early in the game as Brees started 0-4, which was his worst start in any game of his career. The Cowboys continued to harass Brees and put the clamp on the run game for the rest of the night.
On offense, the Cowboys did just enough to keep the Saints off balance
They ended with 308 yards of total offense, good for 4.7 yards a play. Not outstanding but good enough in a game like Thursday night. The best stat of the night for the Cowboys was 36:53 — time of possession. They controlled the ball and limited the amount of drives for the Saints offense.
While Dak Prescott was 24 of 28 for 248 yards, he wasn’t particularly crisp. Prescott often didn’t look to push the ball downfield and when he did, he missed an open receiver by two yards. He took seven sacks, some of which were Prescott not moving well in the pocket. He turned the ball over in a critical spot with poor ball security, fumbling the ball with less than three minutes to go.
But here’s the issue with doing “just enough to win” on offense: the margin of error is so small. So while this win was outstanding for the Cowboys, their offense still proved to be bland, boring, and not explosive. They attempted one pass that would resemble a deep throw. They barely attempted any play-action passes, which again is mind-blowing considering how they allow for easier throws and huge windows for Prescott. How about a zone read every not and then?
Just nothing creative at all. Their best offensive play continues to be the same screen they run multiple times a game. These are all issue that will hurt them going forward and especially in the playoffs when they run into the Saints again, or the Rams, or whomever. But for one night, the formula worked.
The Cowboys’ goal-line stand of the Saints might be the turning point of the season for them
The Saints were down 10-0. They hadn’t done much on offense for all of the first half. After a challenge overturned an incomplete pass, they got the ball on the 7-yard line. An incomplete pass on first down was followed by a 3-yard rush to the 4-yard line. On third down, Brees completed a 3-yard pass, so they faced fourth-and-goal at the 1. The Saints tried running the football and the Cowboys stuffed them.
This play won the game for the Cowboys and it might propel them into the playoffs and beyond. The confidence of the defense, and the team, is now through the roof in these situations. That feeling goes a long way. In 2007, the New York Giants had a similar situation. They stuffed Washington at the goal line in Week 3 to avoid dropping to 0-3. We know how that season eventually ended, and the players often credit that play as the turning point in their season.
This win was awful for the future of the Cowboys
This win, plus the way the Cowboys will probably end the season, will save Jason Garrett’s job. He’s a .500 coach at best and they need a change. It’s laughable that people deflect the blame for the average offense from Garrett to offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. Garrett is a former quarterback. He’s an offensive coach. The offense that’s being run is being designed with input from Garrett and installed at his wishes. Garrett isn’t sitting in the defensive install meetings. He’s with the offense, as he should be.
So winning these games, while awesome for the team and fan base, just means the Cowboys will have the same issues next season if Garrett stays.
With Garrett staying in Dallas, we (and the Cowboys front office) waste another year in evaluating Dak Prescott. I want to see him in an offense that uses his talents wisely. He attempted that one deep pass on the stutter go route. When you only attempt a single pass like that all game I can understand why it’s off the mark. They probably don’t even practice it much either. Are all these check downs because of the play calling? Or is Prescott scared to let it fly? We might never have answers for those questions until we get a new play caller in Dallas.
The Saints will be fine
They might have lost home-field advantage, which is rough for them, but remember where they’d be playing the Rams, if it ends up with that matchup? In sunny Los Angeles. Last season the Falcons, a dome team, went into LA and beat the Rams. I’m not worried about the Saints playing in Los Angeles.
The Saints defense is playing some awesome football. They sacked Prescott seven times, forced two turnovers, and only allowed 13 points. Throw out the Rams game where they allowed 35, and they haven’t allowed over 23 points since Week 3. Their secondary has continued to improve, and their run defense is one of the best in the NFL. We all know about Cam Jordan, but rookie Marcus Davenport has been a boost to the pass rush. Sheldon Rankins has been a beast in the middle of this defense, too.
This one loss shouldn’t set the Saints back.
November 30, 2018 at 3:21 pm #94686JackPMillerParticipantI believe the Saints lose one more game. They have the Panthers twice remaining. Something tells me they will lose one of those two.
November 30, 2018 at 6:59 pm #94692znModerator#DallasCowboys again negating a typical strength of the #Saints last night w/ Jaylon Smith's speed erasing what would normally be a TD for Kamara
The Saints passing attack depends heavily on this type of play working – typically it does due to Kamara being such a mismatch pic.twitter.com/oxTymad9eS
— Context Matters (@dwainmcfarland) November 30, 2018
November 30, 2018 at 11:56 pm #94717znModeratorMMQB: With Win Over Saints, Cowboys Prove Their Defense Can Compete With NFL’s Offensive Juggernauts
As we all penciled in conference title games among the few elite teams in the NFL and dreamt of another offensive spectacular in the Super Bowl, the Dallas Cowboys decided to make a statement on Thursday night.
DeMarcus Lawrence had said it earlier in the week, but who took him seriously? The Saints, winners of 10 straight and owners of the best record in football with the likely MVP under center, entered AT&T Stadium averaging 37.2 points per game.
Dallas didn’t care. With the fourth-best red-zone defense, third-best scoring defense and certainly the best young linebacking duo in football, the Cowboys choked out the Saints on national TV 13-10 just as Lawrence had earlier promised.
“They’re going to have to match our intensity,” Lawrence told reporters earlier in the week. “S—, for 60 minutes straight. If you hit a m—–f—– in the mouth and then they ain’t doing what they’re regularly doing, putting up 50 points, they start to get a little distressed. Now you got them where you want them at, and then you f—ing choke their ass out.”
The Saints managed just 176 yards of total offense against the Cowboys. Not only was it a season low, but also a low in the Sean Payton-Drew Brees era. The Saints hadn’t finished with fewer than 170 yards of offense in a game since 2002, when Aaron Brooks lost to the 49ers and Brees was a Charger.
Brees started the game 0-for-4 passing, something he’s never before done. The Saints, who started the night with just 14 three-and-outs all season, began the game with consecutive three-and-outs. By the end of the night, Brees would throw a game-sealing interception to Jourdan Lewis—just his third of the season—and head back to New Orleans with a 10-2 record.
Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith ran to the ball as well as they have all season long, and they’ve been running to the ball spectacularly all season. Vander Esch had 10 tackles, Smith had nine and, by the end of the night, Troy Aikman was wondering where—if?—Sean Lee will fit in when he returns from injury. It’s possible the two young linebackers will be the best duo at the second level in football by 2019.
In its most impressive outing of the season, there were still two glaring errors by the Dallas defense. And they both came from the same player.
The Cowboys took a chance and held on to Randy Gregory because of what he would do on the field. Sure, the multiple suspensions for violating the league’s substance abuse policy are headaches, but the thought went that he made your team better and he was worth it.
Well…
The embattled defensive end roughed punter Thomas Morstead late in the third quarter at midfield. It was to be Morstead’s fourth punt of the night, which would have tied his season high. Instead, Gregory’s penalty took the ball away from the Cowboys and gave it back to Brees. Three plays later, Keith Kirkwood had a 30-yard touchdown catch and the Saints trailed 13-10.
The next time Dallas’s defense took the field, the unit was nearly off it in four plays. Lawrence strip-sacked Brees and Tyrone Crawford recovered it at the New Orleans 32-yard line. But Gregory was lined up just offside and the play was negated. The Saints would go on to punt and eventually—obviously—lose, making Friday morning not as terrible for Gregory.
While the defense did its part to hold the Saints to just 49 offensive plays, the Cowboys’ offense maximized its 66 plays. Dallas owned time of possession all night, almost tripling the Saints in the first half and finishing with a nearly 14-minute edge on the clock.
Payton decided a dubious Michael Thomas catch and an incorrectly called Dan Arnold incompletion were worth using his two challenges on in the first 18 minutes of the game. While Payton was correct that Arnold did make a football move, fumbled and had it recovered by Michael Thomas, there was a cost associated with proving how right you are.
The Saints were left without a challenge for the rest of the game. New Orleans got a first-and-goal inside the 10 by virtue of winning the challenge, but would have had second-and-10 from the 22 without the challenge. The Saints failed to punch it in on fourth down with Alvin Kamara and the Cowboys took over. Was the challenge worth it?
With five minutes left in the game, Cole Beasley would be more than a yard short of the line to gain on third down on a P.J. Williams tackle. But the officials missed Beasley’s knee touching the ground and only saw him lunge for the first down. Beasley was gifted the first down and Payton would be handcuffed to his fate as Dallas extended the drive and bled more of the clock.
Going into Thursday, the thinking went that the Cowboys would lose this game and move to 6-6. Then 5-6 Philadelphia would face 6-5 Washington on Monday night and beat Colt McCoy. That would send the NFC East into a three-way, first-place tie at the season’s quarter-pole. Instead the 7-5 Cowboys are in total control and riding a four-game winning streak just one month after it seemed like Jerry Jones was waiting until New Year’s to find a new head coach.
The loss for New Orleans is more of a setback than anything. The Saints are still an offensive juggernaut and should win the NFC South and get a first-round bye.
The win for Dallas says much more. The offense has been clicking for weeks since the Amari Cooper trade, and now it’s proven that the Cowboys have a defense that can not only play with, but beat, the best of them.
December 1, 2018 at 2:37 am #94724znModeratorBrian Baldinger@BaldyNFL
@dallascowboys shut down the @Saints #1 ranked offense in a way most thought unimaginable HOW? I explore next in #BaldysBreakdowns==
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 1, 2018
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