Cowboys, Saints Let It Fly in Superdome Showdown II

Who Dat?

It’s a bird. . . It’s a plane. . . No, it’s the football being thrown across the Cowboys and Saints secondary.

In the first Superdome Showdown with the Patriots traveling to New Orleans, the Saints held their end of the bargain scoring 38 points off of 480 total yards while the Pats had a tough time scoring losing 38-17.

This time around, the Superdome Showdown between the Cowboys and Saints will provide us with two-banged-up secondaries and two-hot quarterbacks resulting in a high-flying affair.

Recently, New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees and Dallas quarterback Tony Romo have lit up secondaries.

In the past four games, Brees has thrown for 1,276 yards, 13 touchdowns and only one interception.

The Saints are best at home averaging 36 points per and are first in the league in scoring (35.8 pts/gm) and yards (426.1 yds/gm).

On the other side, Tony Romo’s December statistic woes have taken a back seat throwing for 641 yards and five touchdowns in the past two weeks.

Romo, who has not thrown a pick in his last 112 pass attempts, looks to dice up the Saints secondary who recently had Atlanta’s back-up quarterback Chris Redman throw for 303 yards and Jason Campbell throw for 367 yards.

I noticed both the games against the Falcons and Redskins were on the road for the Saints, but one thing I also noticed was how badly the absence of corners Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter has affected the Saints secondary.

With recent injuries and losing corner Leigh Torrance at the beginning of the season, the lack of depth in the Saints secondary would be mentioned more if Brees and the Saints didn’t lead the league in scoring.

In the past two games, the Saints secondary has looked out of shape thus creating fatigue and the inability to do their job aka playing the right coverage.

Romo and the Cowboys passing attack is much better than both the Falcons and Redskins and is much faster than both.

In six games on turf, other than the victory at home over the Redskins 7-6, the Cowboys have averaged 407 yards and 28 points.

Those are impressive numbers on turf, but none match the turf numbers of the “Best Show on Turf,” from the New Orleans Saints.

In seven games played on turf, the Saints have averaged 451 yards and 35 points gaining over 400 yards in six out of the seven games (391 yards last game against the Falcons).

One major obstacle the Cowboys will have to overcome in the Superdome is penalties. Penalties have killed the Cowboys, No. 2 in the league, and playing in the crazy-loud atmosphere of the Superdome will not make their penalty problems any easier.

Something has to give for the Cowboys. They are 3-7 in their past 10 December games and they haven’t beaten the Saints in their past 15 tries. 

However, the Saints are undefeated for a reason. On top of their offensive onslaught is their league leading defensive scoring and their ability to run the ball effectively in the red zone and with the lead.

It will be interesting to see how the Cowboys and Saints each rely on the running game and when, if at all, they plan on sticking with it.

The Saints, like the Cowboys, average more than 125 yards per game on the ground, but completing a 50-yard touchdown pass is much easier and faster than a 50-yard touchdown run for both teams.

The way the scoring should be occurring, it seems passing the ball will take favor over running it.

The Cowboys are better than the Saints defending the run (8th in NFL compared to18th in NFL), but neither team is good at getting pressure on the quarterback, which will make it easier for each team’s offensive line.

The Saints contain the league’s third best offensive line allowing 15 sacks and the Cowboys give up about 3 sacks per game. Either team that can get pressure on the quarterback will have the upper hand. I just don’t see this being a factor.

Another reason this game is favored to be high scoring is because the Saints and Cowboys haven’t faced each other since 2007 when the Saints demolished Dallas at home 42-17.

In that game, Drew Brees threw for 384 yards and five touchdowns. Reggie Bush had 125 yards receiving and a touchdown and expect him to make an impact as well this game. 

With both Ken Hamlin and Greg Sensabaugh questionable for the Cowboys, expect the middle of the field to get exploited with big plays to Robert Meachem, Jeremy Shockey and/or Marques Colston.

Tony Romo didn’t have his best outing in 2007 against the Saints completing 16-of-33 passes for 249 passing yards and a touchdown with a pick.

The player in the Saints secondary that could keep Romo in check this time around is safety Darren Sharper, who leads the league in defensive touchdowns with 3 and interceptions with 8.

With two corners and two starting linebackers questionable for the Saints, expect Miles Austin and the Cowboys receiving/tight end core to have a good day. Also expect the speedy back from Dallas, Felix Jones, to create big plays against the Saints like Bush did in 2007.

Sharper will have to shut down the middle of the field for the Saints, so it will be advised for Romo to stay away from Sharper and pick on the less experienced corners.

These are all ingredients to set up the perfect recipe for a high-flying, high-scoring game.

Good protection + no pass rush + hot QBs + ailing secondaries + banged-up defenses + top backfields + unfamiliar foe = 38-35 Cowboy win.

The Cowboys can make it a December to remember. They have the opportunity to put all December woes behind them if they can beat the Saints and end their undefeated regular season. Tony Romo and Head Coach Wade Phillips can silence critics and owners with one win in the Superdome.

It might be a mistake to go against the Saints at home where they have won their last nine out of 10 games, but there is more at stake for the Cowboys and this will be the game that brings the Saints back down to earth (reality) and push them for a Super Bowl run.