The New Orleans Saints travel to Arlington to play the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football and although they’re on the road team they’re heavily favored to win this game as the oddsmakers in Las Vegas have them as a 7.5-point favorite.
The Saints are playing arguably the best football in the league thanks to their explosive offense and have the No. 1 run defense in the NFL, which is precisely their best weapon to stop a sizzling Ezekiel Elliott, who has scored a rushing touchdown and rushed for at least 121 yards in each of his last three games.
So how can the Cowboys win this game?
First, they need to make sure they execute to perfection and do not turn the ball over because that will be very costly against a team as efficient on offense as the Saints. The Cowboys must make sure they keep penalties to a minimum on both sides of the ball.
It’s crucial for quarterback Dak Prescott to have zero giveaways, just as Ryan Fitzpatrick had zero interceptions and zero fumbles in Week 1 as he led the Bucs to a 48-40 win. The good news is that Prescott has not turned the ball over once in the last three weeks, which’s his longest streak since the 2016 season.
The second key factor for the Cowboys to win this game will be Ezekiel Elliott. It doesn’t matter that the Saints have the top run defense in the league, the Cowboys staff must devise a game plan to make sure Elliott has a monster game.
The Saints thrive on making teams one dimensional as they force teams to abandon their ground attack with their physical defense, but if the Cowboys want to win, they must keep the Saints offense off the field because otherwise the Saints can put a lot of points in a hurry and force the Cowboys to pass to catch up.
The only way the Cowboys will keep the score close is by handing the ball to Elliott to keep possession and control the game clock and for that, the Cowboys offensive line must have its best game of the year. They must open holes and lanes for Elliott to run through and make sure he has at least 25 carries and over 100 yards on the ground.
On defense, the Cowboys need DeMarcus Lawrence to step up and have his best game of the year. He needs to become the man to rattle Drew Brees by harassing him all game long and if possible, getting a couple of sacks against him.
He needs to get in Drew Brees’ face and cause him problems to lead the Cowboys to victory from the defensive side of the ball and stop the Saints explosive offense.
If all this happens you can expect the Cowboys to earn a close win at home against the Saints. Whether bettors feel confident enough to bet on it that’s an entirely different matter so keep an eye on that line.
