Dallas’ defense too much for vaunted New Orleans offense

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DALLAS -- For the second time in the New Orleans Saints/Dallas Cowboys football history, Dallas has ended a long New Orleans winning streak, as they stymied New Orleans in a 13-10 win here Thursday night.
Back in 2009, the Saints were rolling along at 13-0 until the Cowboys rode into town and doused the fire with a 24-17 win.
Fast forward nine years later and Dallas has done it again. This time it was a New Orleans 10 game winning streak that was busted, but this time felt so different because of the way the Cowboys shut down one of the most prolific offenses in Saint’s history.
Not only did Dallas hold the New Orleans scoreless in the first half (the first time since 2014), but they also held future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Drew Brees to 127 yards and one touchdown passing on an 18 for 28 night.
On top of that, the Cowboys also held the dynamic duo of Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram to only 63 yards rushing, even stopping Kamara on a fourth and goal situation at the two-yard line.
The Saint offense put together its worst first-half performance of the Payton-Brees era. New Orleans collected just 59 yards in the first half, the team’s fewest since the 2001 season. They also only had just three first downs through the first two quarters, the fewest since 2004.
Conversely, the New Orleans defense did their job controlling Ezekial Elliot, one of the top rushers in the NFL, and holding the Dallas offense to 13 total points. Elliot wound up with only 76 yards of rushing, but he did score the only touchdown of the night for the Cowboys on a 16 yard screen play.
Despite the low yardage total, Elliot managed to help Dallas in another important way; controlling the clock. With his 39 yards on 14 carries in the first half, the Cowboys were able to hold an astounding 21:49-8:11 advantage in time of possession.
In the game, the Cowboys held the ball nearly 15 minutes longer than the Saints. For Dallas, that was the plan coming into the game all along.
“You have to tip your hat to Dallas, they deserved to win the game,” stated New Orleans head coach Sean Payton after the game. “We struggled with consistency on offense. We just did not have the balance on offense we have had in prior games. We just did not do enough things and that starts with us as coaches.”
With the loss New Orleans drops to 10-2 on the season and will travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers in a week from today. Tampa Bay beat the Saints 48-40 in week one of the season.
The loss also puts New Orleans’ No. 1 seed in the NFC in jeopardy, depending on the outcome of the Los Angeles Rams’ game with the Detroit Lions today. A win by the Rams gives them the upper hand for home field advantage come playoff time.
So, the question becomes: Is it panic time for the Saints?
The answer is: NO!
Yes, Dallas exposed some flaws in the up to now flawless Saint offense. The Cowboys showed that using their big defensive backs to jam and grab and disrupt the timing of the New Orleans passing game, a team can get pressure on Brees and cause him frustration.
But, knowing Payton and Brees, the Saints will be back on track in the blink of an eye.
Besides the last time Dallas ended a Saint streak, a Super Bowl champion was born!!!