Cowboys vs. New Orleans Saints: What Experts Are Saying About Dallas' Chances

The Dallas Cowboys take on the New Orleans Saints this week in the prime-time game on Sunday night.  Both teams have playoff intentions and this matchup could end up meaning a whole lot come December.

Dallas improved to 2-1 with a monster comeback win in St. Louis last week.  After falling behind by what seemed like an insurmountable deficit, the Cowboys battled back for the win.

New Orleans also had a big Week 3.  The Saints earned their first W of the year by taking down the Minnesota Vikings, 20-9.

Let’s take a look at what the experts are talking about leading up to Sunday’s big matchup.

Tim McMahon: Jerry Says Morris Claiborne Still Has the Talent

Scott Kane/Associated Press

Claiborne gets beat much too often.

According to ESPNDallas.com’s Tim McMahon, Jerry Jones still has confidence in much-maligned cornerback Morris Claiborne:

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He's shown serious competitiveness...You've got to have an attitude, in my mind, if you're out there at corner. He's got—and he knows as well as we do—he's got what it takes to be a starter. But you've got to show me. You've got to show the team. You've got to show the coaches, and you do that by what shows up on that tape. He's got to put it on tape in practice. He's got to put it on tape when he gets in the game.

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Attitude is one thing, but talent is another. When the Cowboys traded up to draft Morris Claiborne No. 6 overall they thought they were grabbing a stud. Unfortunately to this point, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Claiborne stormed out of Cowboys facilities this week when he learned he would no longer be the starter. Lucky for him, Orlando Scandrick was suspended at the beginning of the year or else he would have never started.

The former LSU Tiger still has the opportunity to succeed in the NFL, but probably not at the level many thought. Perhaps this situation will inspire him to perform better on the field.

Mike Triplett: The Cowboys Have Suddenly Become a Run-First Team

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

Murray leads the league in rushing.

The Cowboys are changing their identity on offense, a transformation not lost on ESPN.com’s Mike Triplett:

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The Dallas Cowboys have suddenly become a run-first team, leaning more than ever on fourth-year pro DeMarco Murray—even when they were down 21-0 last week before coming back to beat the St. Louis Rams. That fact has not been lost on the New Orleans Saints, who have talked this week about Murray being a top priority.

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It’s incredible what three weeks can do. The Cowboys were never regarded as a running football team and now DeMarco Murray is clearly the man for whom defenses must game-plan.

With Tony Romo still banged up, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan has used Murray early and often in games. Despite some frustrating fumbles, the running back has been fantastic. He leads the NFL in rushing with 385 yards.

Dallas will lean on him again in Week 4. If the run is successful early in the game, look for Romo to take some chances over the top to Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams. Both receivers are extremely dangerous downfield but have had only a few opportunities for explosive plays thus far.

Jean-Jacques Taylor: Cornerback Scandrick Is a Sack Master

Tim Sharp/Associated Press

Scandrick has grown into a leader.

The Dallas defense, according to ESPNDallas.com’s Jean-Jacques Taylor, has been getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks from an unlikely source:

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Cornerback Orlando Scandrick has 8.5 career sacks, which is more than any linebacker on the Cowboys’ roster. Don’t be shocked if Scandrick retains his sack lead at the end of the season. Rod Marinelli doesn’t blitz much in the Cowboys scheme because it creates opportunities for the opposition to get big plays, something he loathes. But when he does blitz, he’s going to keep using Scandrick from the slot. 

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Orlando Scandrick has grown into an impact player over the last few years. Early in his career he was just another corner on the roster, but recently he’s been someone the Cowboys depend on in the secondary.

Brandon Carr has been good this season. However, it’s still possible that Scandrick has emerged as the Cowboys' best cornerback. He’s become much more physical in recent seasons, and it shows both in coverage and on blitzes.

Fortunately for Dallas, the defense has looked decent through three weeks of the 2014 season. It will need Scandrick and many others to play well Sunday to beat New Orleans.

Tim Cowlishaw: Cowboys Have a Chance to Prove All of Us Wrong on Sunday

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

A 3-1 start is rare for the Cowboys in recent years.

As Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News writes, a Week 4 win over New Orleans will cement Dallas' status as one the biggest early-season surprises of the 2014 NFL campaign:

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If the Cowboys beat the Saints, it won't matter if anyone writing or on TV or radio says they are a top 15 team. They will be 3-1. That's a heck of a lot better than any of us thought they would be coming out of September, especially after the Lawrence injury and the Scandrick four-game suspension were factored in.

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There’s obviously a lot of work to be done, but imagine if this Cowboys team can beat the Saints to start 3-1?

Many people, including Jerry Jones, were skeptical of how this season would go, but a win this week would create a lot of optimists. New Orleans is still regarded as one of the better teams in the NFL, although the opponent is fairly irrelevant at this point.

If you can win three out of four in today’s NFL, you’re doing something right. Dallas will most likely have to play its best brand of football to pull out a win over New Orleans, but its definitely capable of doing so.

Todd Archer: Cowboys Win Streak Ends

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

The game against New Orleans should be a tight one.

ESPNDallas.com’s Todd Archer notes some reasons as to why he's not optimistic of Dallas' chances of upending New Orleans and moving to 3-1:

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The best way for the Cowboys to win this game will be to rely on DeMarco Murray and the running game. Murray has to stop his fumbling. Tony Romo can’t turn the ball over. The Cowboys have to be efficient with their drives. That is not something they have been able to do yet. 

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It’s true the Cowboys haven’t played their best football yet, however, the same can be said for New Orleans. The Saints have struggled so far, defeating only the Minnesota Vikings in a relatively close contest.

Romo and the offense haven’t been incredibly efficient, yet they’ve been effective enough. Dallas ranks eighth in the NFL in scoring offense at 25.7 points per game. After being in a hole early in Week 3 in St. Louis, the offense played a huge role in the team's big rally by exploding in the second and third quarters.

The defense of Dallas coordinator Rob Ryan drew praise last season. This hasn’t been the case in 2014. The unit ranks 22nd in total defense and is tied for 20th in points allowed.

This seems like one of those matchups in which the team with the final possession will take home the win.