The New Orleans Saints have a big challenge ahead when they face the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2 at AT&T Stadium.
It's possible the Saints go into the action undermanned on the offensive line and in the secondary, so how they can they pull out the result? WWL Radio's Deuce McAllister broke it down alongside Mike Hoss on Friday.
“Win the line of scrimmage, run the football and then be a bully on defense," McAllister said.
Simple enough, right?
Listen to the full, exclusive breakdown from Deuce McAllister in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here .
“If you execute, you give yourself a chance. … The Saints have to run the football," McAllister said. "I don't think the Saints will be successful if they do not run the football. So whether that’s first down, third down, whatever that may be, the Saints have to run the football.”
That was one of the keys to a dominant offensive effort in a Week 1 win over the Panthers, with the Saints rolling up 180 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground. That isn't just an element of your offense, McAllister explained, that's the identity of your offense. In a game against a Cowboys defensive front that might be the best in football -- particularly when you're looking at a Saints OL group battling injury -- that becomes all the more important.
New Saints OC Klint Kubiak will be familiar with the scheme he's facing, a group led by his former boss with the Minnesota Vikings in Mike Zimmer, who took over after Dan Quinn departed to become the head coach in Washington. That cuts both ways, though, with Zimmer also possessing a strong familiarity with his former OC and play-caller back in the 2021 season.
"I’m not worried about getting behind. They can fall down, you know, 10 points, 14 points, you still have to be able to run the football," Deuce continues. "I mean, I don’t think that you’re going to be very successful against this team having to drop back pass 40 times. You’re just not going to be successful. Your offense is just not built that way. You have to be able to run the football even if it’s some tough sledding so to speak as far as yards wise. I’m fine having to punt. I’m fine having to put defense out there and let them play the game. What you can’t do is give up on the run because you’re not having a lot of success early and now you allow this team just to say oh, we can just rush the quarterback. We don’t have to worry about them running the ball.”
On the defensive side? Even if Marshon Lattimore is unable to go this time around, Dennis Allen's Saints defense should feel comfortable about what they can do vs QB Dak Prescott and Mike McCarthy's scheme. In the last two meetings (2019 and 2021) Prescott has completed just 62.3% of his passes (48-77) and thrown 1 touchdown against a pair of interceptions. Interestingly those games both came against backups, one a 12-10 loss with Teddy Bridgewater starting for New Orleans, and the other a 27-17 win against a Taysom Hill-led Saints squad.
Shutting down the run and keeping the pressure on Dak will be another key in this game.
“Go be a bully. That’s what the Saints have to do on defense," McAllister said. "You’ve got to go and be a bully, because they want to play fast. They want to get it to the toys. … You’ve got to hit the quarterback. You’ve got to affect the quarterback and if I have to send pressure then that means I’ve got to leave somebody on an island. I don’t want to get beat over the top, but I want to contest at the catch point, but you have to — you can’t allow that team just to play fast. You can’t allow Dak to feel comfortable in the pocket. You’ve got to make him move a little bit. Dak has the ability to run. I don’t know if Dak really wants to run. He will, but you know, you can’t allow Dak to just break containment, but you’ve got to hit him as well.”
The Saints and Cowboys kick off at noon (central) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy, with pregame coverage starting at 8 a.m. and running until well after the final whistle blows.
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