The 10-1 New Orleans Saints embark on a three-game road trip that begins tonight in Arlington, Texas as the team faces the 6-5 Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football.
5 reasons we’re watching the Saints vs. Cowboys battle of first place teams on ‘Thursday Night Football’
The Saints can clinch a playoff berth with a win while the Cowboys have some trash talking to back up in a big Thursday Night Football showdown in the NFC.
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Both the Saints and Cowboys played on Thanksgiving, and they’re back to face each other in another big Thursday matchup. Unlike last Thursday when they only had a few short days to prepare coming off Sunday games, these teams have had a week to get ready, which makes this unlike any other Thursday night game this season.
Why are we tuning in to tonight’s matchup? Here are five reasons and what to watch for in this NFC showdown on Thursday Night Football (Fox/NFL Network, 8:20 p.m. ET).
Big-time playoff implications
The Saints are currently holding down the No. 1 seed in the NFC thanks to their 10-1 record, which includes a win over the also 10-1 Rams. That means as of now, the road to the Super Bowl goes through New Orleans in the NFC.
The Cowboys are currently in first place in the NFC East with just a tiebreak giving them the edge over Washington and one game separating them from the Eagles. A Cowboys win tonight would move the Rams into the No. 1 seed (at least temporarily) and give Dallas some separation in the battle for the NFC East. The Saints can clinch the NFC South this week with a win and Panthers loss and would become the first team to clinch a playoff berth.
Who said quarterbacks slow down as they age?
Drew Brees leads the NFL with a 127.3 passer rating and a 76.4 completion percentage – 4.4 percent higher than the current single-season league record of 72.0 set by Brees in 2017. He also leads the NFC with 29 touchdown passes, has thrown only two interceptions and has been sacked the least amount of times of any quarterback who has started three or more games.
With a touchdown pass on Thursday at Dallas (you can count on that happening) Brees will become the first player in NFL history to record at least 30 touchdown passes in 10 NFL seasons. Brees has thrown at least two touchdowns in all but two games this year and has thrown four touchdown passes in three of his last four games.
Feed Zeke
Running back Ezekiel Elliott leads the league with 1,074 rushing yards this season and has rushed for at least 120 yards and a score in each of his past three games. He’s one of three NFL running backs on pace to break the 2,000 scrimmage yard mark this season. Rams running back Todd Gurley leads the way with 1,484 scrimmage yards, Elliott is next with 1,437 and Giants rookie Saquon Barkley rounds out the group with 1,410 yards.
The Saints field the NFL’s best run defense, so it’ll be interesting to see how Elliott does against an impressive run stuffing unit. But no matter how good the Saints defense is, the Cowboys are best served when feeding Zeke. Elliott has averaged 16.6 attempts in Cowboys losses this season and 25.16 attempts in wins. The Cowboys’ winning formula is clear and it’s feeding the NFL’s rushing leader.
Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence says he wants to “choke their a** out”
When asked this week about if he was scared of the Saints, Lawrence had quite the answer.
“They’re going to have to match our intensity,” Lawrence said, via ESPN. “S---, for 60 minutes straight. If you hit a mother 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 a** out.”
Lawrence had a half sack and his first career interception last week against Washington. He has 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception in his past two Thursday games. And, had sack the last time the Cowboys played the Saints. This season, he has 47 tackles, 8.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one interception, and one pass defensed. He’ll need a big game to back up his talk from earlier this week. That’s going to be a tall task against No. 5 overall offense and No. 1 scoring offense in the league.
Both fanbases are confident heading into the game.
Saints fans polled in SB Nation’s FanPulse survey are expecting a big win from their team in Week 13, but Cowboys fans are predicting a win, too. And while 100 percent of Saints fans are confident in the direction of their team, only 42 percent of Cowboys fans surveyed said the same. That’s a two percent increase from last week following Dallas’ win against Washington. 100 percent of Saints fans have had confidence in the team since Week 9 and the results show more than 92 percent confidence levels since Week 5.
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Blogging the Boys FanPulse: Cowboys by 6
Canal Street Chronicles FanPulse: Saints by 13
Odds: Saints -8
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