Brett's Cowboys Corner

The New Orleans Saints are coming off a dominant win, 47-10, against the Carolina Panthers. Now the Cowboys will be taking on the Saints at AT&T Stadium at noon, and this should not be an opponent you overlook. Many initial reactions will say, “Yeah of course they beat Carolina.” While it is true the Panthers are a struggling team, that does not mean the Saints lucked into scoring 47 points. Offensively the Saints showed off what they are good at, moving the ball efficiently, and for the defense, they attacked the young quarterback Bryce Young and made him nervous in the pocket.

For the Cowboys, they will not get blown out like Carolina but the Saints can keep it a close game. Some of the ways New Orleans rushed will not work against Dak, but Joe Woods will likely change up his scheme. As for the offense and main concern, Klint Kubiak is bringing a new scheme that resembles the likes of the 49ers and Rams, which have given this team nightmares.

OFFENSE

Klint Kubiak: Joining the Saint’s staff in February immediately following him leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl, he had San Francisco as the top passing offense last season and prior work in Minnesota keeping them around the top 10 passing offense. He is the son of Super Bowl-winning Head Coach Gary Kubiak. Learning from his dad and working under Kyle Shanahan, Kubiak loves to create space with motion pre-snap and during the snap, also will often move his playmakers around and line them up all over to confuse the defense. We will dive into those numbers next, one last thing about Kubiak’s first game, Carolina did not force much pressure on his offense. This will be different in the matchup with Mike Zimmer, Carolina allowed the Saints to play a more safe offense because there was no defensive threat, that will be different come Sunday.

Prepare For The Motion

New Orleans loves to create confusion before the snap, it is a staple of these new offenses. How about this stat…Of 62 plays, 49 of them involved some type of motion. That is 79% that is among a league-high, motion before the snap is common but usually, teams like to motion, get set, and go. Last week the Saints kept the movement by having the motion continue through the snap, 35 of the 49 times.

This week prepare to see Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill lining up in one position, like the backfield, then motioning out to a receiver or tight end position to completely change the formation and the play starts before the defense can mentally process. They will do this to create space for easy passes to their playmakers or they will utilize it as a distraction and go somewhere else with the ball.

Quarterback Play

Derek Carr is going into his 2nd year in New Orleans and with his stars back and a fresh offense, it seems he is feeling comfortable. The last time the Cowboys saw Derek Carr…it wasn’t pretty. Thanksgiving Day 2021, everyone’s enjoying their turkey and the Carr drops 373 yards on the Dallas defense. Though there were some garbage penalties, but lets not get into that.

Carr lined up under center at a league-high on 61% of snaps, which is best to keep Alvin Kamara a threat, which is why 36% of those involved a play action to him. The Saints played with two running back sets 37% of the game, which included calling their utility weapon, Taysom Hill a running back at times.

I think the Saints believe in Carr’s ability to throw the deep ball, but against Carolina it was not needed, he only had 5 attempted passes that traveled over 20+ yards in air, and Carr only hit one of those, three minutes into the game Carr hits Rashid Shaheed on a 59-yard touchdown, which was also on one of the five plays where Carolina had created a QB pressure. The other four pressures resulted in high completion percentage passes into the flats.

It is vital for the Cowboys to not allow Carr to be comfortable in the pocket because he has no problem having a 14-play touchdown drive picking up five yards at a time.

Notable Players

Alvin Kamara: The star of their offense, 15 carries for 83 yards and a TD. Kamara has a huge role in misdirection for the Saints, watch for him to be on the move. He also had five catches from Carr checking down on the play, Kamara creates the big yards after that. Jamaal Williams is his backup and the Saints have no problem making him Kamara 2.0, they will line up together on the field or take turns.

Taysom Hill: A Swiss army knife, he will line up everywhere for the Saints including at QB where they will have some designed runs, they have no problem letting him throw it either. He provides a role on special teams, he will also be a tight end/full back hybrid as a blocker and pass catcher, he will line up as a wide receiver and motion around. Last week the Saints primarily used him in the backfield, 12 of his 21 snaps there.

Chris Olave: A non-factor in week one, 2 catches for 11 yards. This is unlike him, I think they will incorporate him more this week and he could be someone to watch out for in the slot and outside.

Cedric Wilson: The former Dallas Cowboy receiver! That’s about it…watch out for the revenge game though.

Rashid Shaheed: This is a boom-or-bust player for the Saints, he is their deep ball threat and a speedy guy, if you can keep him under control then that really eliminates your risk of big plays beating you Sunday. He will also serve as the team’s punt returner.

Area of Weakness

The Saint’s offensive line is having some injury problems. The rookie Left Tackle Taliese Fuaga has been limited in practice. The Right Tackle Trevor Penning has not been living up to his expectations. But the main area of attack is the right side with Penning and Right Guard Cesar Ruiz, the few pressures from Carolina came from that side being confused in gap exchanges, so having a DLaw and Parsons combo on that side can create a lot of confusion for them and make Derek Carr panic.

DEFENSE

Dennis Allen: The defensive-minded head coach has been with New Orleans since 2015 moving up from defensive assistant to coordinator and being promoted to head coach in 2022. Last season he brought in Joe Woods who served as Cleveland’s defensive coordinator the year prior, the two coached together in Denver.

Coverage

One thing that stood out in the film Saints vs. Panthers was how much New Orleans blitzed. They created a lot of pressure on the Panthers which led to the lopsided score, 8 pressures on 14 all-out blitzes. One thing that stood out was the creativity of the pressure, it wasn’t just the edges. 12 different, non-defensive linemen, were sent on a blitz at one point or another during the game. The Saints have no problem blitzing cornerbacks or safeties. In the film, a majority of their blitzes came on third down. Alonte Taylor, their slot corner recorded 3 sacks on 4 rushes last week, all of which came within 2.5 seconds of the snap.

Now the Cowboys are a different opponent, Carolina has a young quarterback that has had trouble dealing with the blitz, especially in creative situations where the linebacker would drop in coverage and the blitz comes from the defensive back. Dak has a history of playing well against the blitz, especially if you send a corner at him, he will get a quick pass over their head. It is unlikely we see as much pressure, but the ability to bring pressure is something New Orleans knows they have success in, so we will likely see that Sunday.

The Saints like to play in press-man coverage, they do so as one of the top rates in the NFL and have kept that trend over the past few seasons. In 45% of their defensive snaps, they line up with their outside corners pressing receivers. Last year the Saints led the league in interceptions in non-pressure situations and allowed a league-low of 63% completion percentage.

The Saints only allowed 5 completions on 14 attempts with 10+ air yards last week, as well as only allowing 8 yards after contact for receivers.

Lattimore’s Availability

Marshon Lattimore is dealing with a hamstring injury he got during the 3rd quarter last week, he has not practiced all week. Lattimore is one of the better shutdown corners in the league, he gave Ceedee Lamb a lot of trouble in 2021 the last time the Cowboys and Saints matched up. If Lattimore can’t go, it will be rookie Kool-Aid McKinstry who will get a starting role. McKinstry only allowed 1 reception for 5 yards on 3 targets, after stepping in for Lattimore in the 3rd quarter.

Welcome Back Chase Young

Drafted by Washington 2nd overall back in 2020, Young used to be a divisional matchup twice a year, but he dealt with a lot of injuries, eventually left, and now is making an impact with the Saints. Young created 6 pressures on the day at a 23.1% rate. He mainly lined up against Ikem Ekwonu on the right side.

Chase Young will be lining up against rookie Tyler Guyton, who had his hands full with Myles Garrett last week. Welcome to the NFL, always going up against a good edge rusher it seems. Guyton held Garrett to 2 pressures last week, this will be a matchup to watch out for on Sunday.

Area of Weakness

Ironically, the main focus of the defense that I hyped up can be their biggest weakness because of the difference of opponent. The Cowboys have better pass blocking than what the Saints saw last week, some of the pressures won’t work. More importantly, they are facing a much more poise and just overall better quarterback. If the Saint’s biggest strength is their ability to create pressure, well they are facing the best QB against pressure. Last season Dak led the league in yards per attempt and was 2nd in completion percentage over expected when facing pressure. Last week Dak was pressured 11 times, in passing he went 5 of 8 for 50 yards and a touchdown, though the other three pressures ended in sacks. With Ceedee Lamb playing a role in the slot, it is likely Dallas will have quick pass plans for Lamb when the blitz comes, allowing for CD to do what he does best, make big plays after the catch.