Week 4 Preview: Saints Defense vs. Cowboys Offense

Not only was Week 3 a “get right” game for the New Orleans Saints as a team, but it was arguably more important particularly for the defense. Despite some miscues in the first two weeks of the season, the offense hadn’t played bad. The defense, on the other hand, looked nothing like the top-5 unit from a year ago. Little pass rush, lack of takeaways, and failing to step up at crucial times was the story for Rob Ryan’s defense in the two opening losses to the season. Just as they did as a team, the unit righted the ship against an under-manned opponent in Week 3. Facing a Minnesota Vikings squad who was missing Adrian Peterson, then lost starting quarterback Matt Cassel in the 2nd quarter, the defense was able to get on track. Still, their play was not as good as a year ago, though. They did record two sacks and hold Minnesota to three crucial field goals, but for the second straight game they failed to force a turnover. Despite playing very well last year, that was the number one thing that Coach Sean Payton and Rob Ryan wanted to improve upon and they’ve yet to do it. The one takeaway they have came in Week 1 from the 56 million dollar man that was brought in for that particular reason. Last week’s performance helped the Saints improve from second to last in the league in total defense to 24th this week, giving up an average of 379.7 yards per game. They are tied for 20th in scoring defense with opponents putting up 24.0 points per contest.

The Dallas Cowboy offense gives their team a chance to play with anyone when they are clicking. Yes, Tony Romo has a knack for crucial turnovers, but he’s a talented quarterback in a good system with good playmakers. A supporting cast of DeMarco Murray, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, and Terrance Williams can help any quarterback succeed. They’ve had this type of talent for the past few years, but the problem for them has mostly been on the other side of the ball. With the defense playing pretty well in 2014, it appears as if the two units are playing more complimentary football, which has been absent for this squad in years past. The Cowboys offense comes in to this week ranked 12th overall in total offense, gaining 363.3 yards per game. They are even higher in scoring offense, ranking 8th in the NFL with 25.7 points per game. 

Pass Defense

This particular piece of the New Orleans Saints team has been the most disappointing so far this year. Whether it’s the weak pass rush, zero interceptions, or poor coverage, they haven’t been very good. Let’s start up front.  After combining for 24.5 sacks in 2013, Cam Jordan and Junior Galette have just three between the two of them this year. That’s 75% of the total for the entire defense, too. Jordan has just one of those sacks, while also batting down three passes at the line of scrimmage. Not only are the Saints not getting opposing quarterbacks on the ground, but they aren’t even producing much pressure to affect them. Despite playing primarily man defense, Rob Ryan has called a good bit of zone so far this year, which has been a bad combination along with the lack of pressure. Any starting quarterback in the NFL can find an open receiver against the zone defense when he has all day to throw. That, of course, has led to opposing quarterbacks to not have to throw the ball in to coverage, hence why the Saints have yet to intercept a pass. It all connects, folks. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best pass coverage is a good pass rush. These struggles have led New Orleans to the 4th worst passing defense this year, giving up 278.3 yards per game through the air.

The Cowboys are playing their first season under Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan, who brings his high octane offense over from the pass happy Detroit Lions that we’ve seen over the past few years. That, of course, led many to believe that Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, and the others in the passing game could be in for a big year, but that hasn’t been the case so far. Thanks to a very good running game, the Cowboys haven’t really had to air it out much. Even being down 21-0 last week in St. Louis, the Cowboys did not abandon the run and it paid off. The one time they have been forced to put the ball in the air a lot came in Week 1, when trailing the San Francisco 49ers by a wide margin in the first half, which resulted in three Romo interceptions in just the first two quarters. Dallas ranks 24th in passing offense, putting up 206.7 yards per game though the air. Romo has thrown 4 touchdowns to go along with 4 interceptions and a 67.4% completion percentage. Bryant is un-surprisingly the team’s leading receiver with 20 receptions for 247 yards and 2 touchdowns through three games. Terrance Williams has the other 2 touchdown receptions to go along with 8 receptions and 102 yards. Tight-end Jason Witten is off to a slow start by his standards, catching just 10 balls for 95 yards. Romo has been sacked seven times through the first three games this year.

What those numbers say to me is the Cowboys could struggle if you make them one dimensional. Frankly, any team can struggle when becoming one dimensional, but particularly Dallas. Just like in years past, Romo is most prone to throw interceptions when defenses are expecting him to throw the ball, which was apparent in their Week 1 loss to San Francisco. Seeing that he’s also been sacked seven times so far, this looks like a good matchup for the Saints to turn up the heat and truly get back to what they were so good at last season. It would not shock me one bit to not only see New Orleans record two or three sacks in this one, but also get their hands on their first interception of the year.

Rush Defense

In a total 180 from last season, the defense has played much better against the run than the pass. The Saints are giving up 110.3 yards per game on the ground, 10th in the NFL. Curtis Lofton is no stranger to sitting atop the team in tackles as he now, leading the way with 24. Fellow inside linebacker David Hawthorne is second on the team with 17 tackles, despite missing last week with ankle and knee injuries. It appears to be a strong possibility that he’ll miss this week, as well, after being held out of practice so far this week. Ramon Humber started in his place last week, recording 3 of his 4 total tackles this year. Corey White has been active in the run from his cornerback position with 16 tackles, though most of those came from the nickel position in the first two weeks of the year. White was promoted to #2 cornerback in front of the struggling Patrick Robinson last week, so his tackling numbers understandably dropped playing on the outside. The safeties continue to play a key role against the run, as both Jairus Byrd and Kenny Vaccaro have 15 tackles for the season. Junior Galette has quietly taken a big step in the right direction to improve his run defense, also sitting with 15 tackles of his own as a stand up pass rusher.

In what was expected to be a heavy passing offense, the rushing attack for the Cowboys has carried them to their two wins. DeMarco Murray has played great through the first three games, leading his team to the 3rd best running offense with 156.7 yards per game on the ground. Murray leads the league in rushing with 123.3 yards per game, while also scoring 3 touchdowns. I mentioned it earlier, but it appears as if the success in this department is the most critical role in keeping Tony Romo’s turnovers to a minimum. It also appears as if this success has helped the defense, keeping them off the field for longer periods of time, while the Dallas offense controls the clock.

The biggest matchup of this game will be Murray vs. the Saints run defense. If Murray has success pounding away at Curtis Lofton and company, New Orleans will tire out. The two key factors in this game will be the turnover battle and time of possession. Dallas’ ability to run the ball will greatly affect both. If Murray finds holes and keeps up with what he’s done so far this season, the Cowboys can control the ball, keep Drew Brees off of the field, and will have a great chance to win this game. If the Saints can step up and slow Murray down, Tony Romo will have to throw the ball more than he’d like and his chances of making a mistake dramatically increase.

Players to Watch

Akiem Hicks

Man, where has this guy been? He has just eight tackles this season and has been a ghost on the field. Not only has not done much against the run, but his pass rush that got him 4.5 sacks last year has been non-existent. Hicks (and the entire defensive line, for what it’s worth), will have to step up to help slow Murray down. This could be a good opportunity for him to show up for the first time this year.

Corey White

White was inserted in to the starting lineup in place of struggling Patrick Robinson last week and played pretty well. With that being said, the Vikings pass attack is less than threatening, especially once rookie Teddy Bridgewater took over for his first snaps in the NFL. White will face a bigger test this week against two very talented receivers in Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams. He’s typically been a much better nickel cornerback playing with his face to the quarterback, so it’ll be interesting to see if his struggles when having to turn his back to the passer and run continues. It can’t get any worse than what we saw from Robinson, though. Right?

Jairus Byrd

If there was ever a game or opposing quarterback for Byrd to get his first interception in black and gold, this is the one. Even before this game reaches the 4th quarter and/or Tony Romo is forced to throw more, Byrd’s ball skills will put him in great positions to pick off the interception-happy quarterback. I think this is the game we finally see it happen.

Prediction

Saints – 33

Cowboys – 27

Who Dat?!

Follow David Billiot Jr on Twitter @DCBilliotJr6