Dallas Cowboys vs New Orleans Saints: A battle of poor defensive form

The Dallas Cowboys are playing against the New Orleans Saints this weekend. This is the first of many good teams the Cowboys will face this season, however, both teams have been underachieving on the defensive end. How will that affect the game this weekend?

Coming into the season, it was hard not to expect the Cowboys would be 3-0 heading into the matchup with the Saints. The annual week one meeting with the Giants was expected to be a domination, the Washington win was more convincing than Josh Norman said it would be, and the Cowboys covered the 20 point spread against the dumpster fire Miami Dolphins.

None of these teams are as good as the teams… Or so we think. There’s no denying the skill of Alvin Kamara or Michael Thomas but is a Drew Brees-less offense really that potent? The defense has Cameron Jordan but the front seven is dealing with injuries and the pass defense has been atrocious.

The 2017 defensive rookie of the year, Marshon Lattimore, has not played like it. This season he’s been targeted 27 times, however, the worst thing about that is he’s allowed the second most receptions, 20. While he leads all cornerbacks with 21 tackles, tackles from members of the secondary are a discouraging sign especially if the secondary is allowing so many yards.

Similarly, slot cornerback PJ Williams has been targeted 15 times and allowed 10 receptions. The number doesn’t compare with Lattimore’s, but the catch percentage of 66% doesn’t send the message of a lockdown cornerback. Oddly it’s been cornerback Eli Apple that has played the best for the Saints. His 4 receptions out of 8 targets is the lowest among starters in percentage and targets.

While this looks good for Dallas, the Dallas defense was having a similar issue in the secondary. Cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and Anthony Brown each have been targeted 14 times and have each allowed 8 receptions. (Quite the coincidence) At this point, it begs the question why Jourdan Lewis has yet to see major minutes on the field.

The defensive line has been trying to make its presence felt, and while they did a good job against the Dolphins, they’ve only seen 5 sacks in 3 games. A big reason for that is because DeMarcus Lawrence is being double teamed a league high 35%. This should’ve helped other’s get to the quarterback, but losing key players Antwaun Woods and Tyrone Crawford can make it hard.

The addition of Robert Quinn really helped the Cowboys pass rush last week. Unfortunately, the Cowboys pass rush will be going up against a really good Saints offensive line with tackles Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk.