Dallas Cowboys vs. New Orleans Saints Thursday Night Football Preview

The New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys were both expected to contend for postseason spots heading into this season. And while the Cowboys have lived up to their end of the bargain, the Saints’ season has been derailed by injuries. This week, the Cowboys enter their matchup with New Orleans as four-point favorites, as the Saints are prepared to have the eyes of the league on them as they make a notable change at quarterback.

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Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys lost their second straight game and their third in four tries on Thanksgiving against the Las Vegas Raiders. At home on the holiday, the Cowboys could not slow down the Raiders offense, committing a litany of pass interference penalties to keep Raider drives alive. This week, the Cowboys will look for better performance, as they expect to have several key pieces back on the field.

This week, the Cowboys expect to have pass rusher, DeMarcus Lawrence, back on the field after he had been battling a foot injury. They should also have their dynamic duo of Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb at wide receiver, which will make things a lot easier on quarterback Dak Prescott. But it will once again be the defense that is the focus for the Cowboys, as they look to stop the Saints and their unconventional quarterback choice.

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints dropped their fourth straight game last week, losing 31-6 at home on Thanksgiving night against the Buffalo Bills. That loss was the fourth in four starts for Saints quarterback Trevor Siemian, whose only win since taking over for Jameis Winston came against the Buccaneers in the game Winston was injured. As a result, the Saints are making a change at quarterback, looking to Taysom Hill to start this week at home.

Hill has not received significant playing time in the past, being used mostly in run packages and as a decoy at skill position spots. He did sign a lucrative contract extension recently and will look to live up to it starting with this game against the Cowboys. Just how much Hill can provide in the passing game remains to be seen, however.

Keys To The Game

For the Cowboys, the biggest key to this game is going to be not giving away first downs via penalties. Against an inexperienced NFL quarterback in Taysom Hill, the Cowboys could have an easy day defensively if they avoid giving away penalties that lead to extended drives. Dallas will hope that they got those kinds of infractions out of their system last week against the Raiders.

On the New Orleans side, the top key to this game is going to be whether or not the Saints can put Taysom Hill in positions to win from start to finish. That means blocking adequately for him to allow routes to develop and getting enough stops defensively so that Hill doesn’t have to chase a huge number on the scoreboard. Those are not easy tasks against the Cowboys but may be a requirement given the Saints’ quarterback situation.