Mark Ingram rejoices his touchdown run that was part of the best game of his career.
The New Orleans Saints delivered exactly what everyone needed coming off of a loss to the New York Jets last week. The Dallas Cowboys came in to New Orleans looking for a repeat upset like they had in 2009, ending the Saints perfect season, but that was not the case.
The Cowboys led by three points on two different occasions, with the second being 10-7 after 7 yard touchdown run from DeMarco Murray. Dallas had run the ball right down the field with ease to set up the score. Murray had 67 yards rushing on their 8 play 72 yard drive to take the lead. That score came directly after the Saints took the lead on Marques Colston’s first touchdown reception since Week 1.
The 10-7 lead that Dallas held was the last good thing that they had going for them for the rest of the night. New Orleans responded with 28 straight points to open up a huge lead and turn the game in to a blowout. The game got out of hand right before halftime when the Saints scored three touchdowns in a matter of five minutes to close out the half. The first of those touchdowns was a followup of the touchdown Murray scored to give Dallas the lead. It was a very efficient, wear-down type of drive from the Saints, eating up nearly nine minutes of the clock on a 15 play 80 yard march that ended with a 1 yard touchdown reception from Pierre Thomas to retake the lead at 14-10.
The following sequence went so fast that any fans who decided to get an early start on halftime may have missed it. It started with a quick three and out from Dallas. Starting with great field position at their own 48 yard line, the Saints took advantage and extended their lead on a 3 yard touchdown run from Darren Sproles to stretch the lead to 21-10. Dallas took over with just 1:32 to go at their own 20 yard line and got a little too greedy. Rather than forcing the Saints to use some of their timeouts, they threw the ball three times, with their 2nd and 3rd down passes being incompletions and stopping the clock. A good punt put the Saints back at their own 25 yard line with :53 left to go in the first half. With the help of all three timeouts, New Orleans breezed (pun intended) right down the field in 48 seconds on a 6 play 75 yard drive that ended with a phenomenal 28 yard touchdown reception from Sproles. He caught a short pass, then weaved in and out of defenders on his way to extend the lead to 28-10 at halftime.
Dallas opened the second half with their second longest drive of the half, which was only gained 15 yards, resulting in a punt. On the ensuing drive for New Orleans, Garrett Hartley missed a chip shot 37 yard field goal. That missed field goal, an opening drive punt, and the final drive that ran out the clock were the only drives which did not result in a touchdown.
It became the Mark Ingram show in the second half as the Saints pounded the ball down the Cowboys’ throat on the ground. Ingram scored on a 4 yard touchdown run with just over two minutes left in the 3rd quarter, extending the lead to 35-10. Dallas made their last gasp when they responded with a quick 5 play 89 yard drive that took only 1:31 off of the clock. It wasn’t necessarily that touchdown that gave the Cowboys legitimate hope, but it was the onside kick recovery on the following kick off. Fortunately, Rob Ryan’s defense woke up after just giving up the touchdown and forced a three and out that netted the Cowboys -11 yards on the drive.
Drew Brees then put the nail in the coffin with a 52 yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills, re-extending the lead to 42-17. Pierre Thomas closed out the scoring with 5:44 to play on a 1 yard touchdown run, set up by 58 yards rushing on the drive from Ingram. New Orleans would then force their 6th three and out on defense and run out the clock to win 49-17.
Stats
Saints
Drew Brees – 34-41 / 392 yards / 4 TDs / 0 INTs
Mark Ingram – 14 carries / 145 yards / 1 TD / 2 receptions / 15 yards
Pierre Thomas – 17 carries / 87 yards / 1 TD / 7 receptions / 24 yards / 1 TD
Darren Sproles – 5 carries / 12 yards / 1 TD / 7 receptions / 76 yards / 1 TD
Marques Colston – 7 receptions / 107 yards / 1 TD
Kenny Stills – 3 receptions / 75 yards / 1 TD
Jimmy Graham – 5 receptions / 59 yards
Glenn Foster / Parys Haralson / Tom Johnson – 1 sack each
Cowboys
Tony Romo – 10-24 / 128 yards / 1 TD / 0 INT
DeMarco Murray – 16 carries / 89 yards / 1 TD
Dez Bryant – 1 reception / 44 yards
Terrance Williams – 1 reception / 21 yards / 1 TD
Jason Witten – 2 receptions / 27 yards
Notes
– The Saints had an unbelievable 242 yards rushing, their highest total since 1990.
– They set an NFL record with 40 first downs.
– They set a franchise record with their 625 yards of total offense.
– New Orleans won their 12th straight prime-time game in the Mercedes Benz Superdome.
– The Saints sacked Tony Romo three times, while Brees was sacked only once.
– What makes the blowout even more impressive, is that they did it without the help of any turnovers. They drove up and down the field all night for their points and were not given any help.
– Jabari Greer dropped what would have been an easy pick-6 in the second half.
– New Orleans had only three less first downs (40) than Dallas had total plays (43).
Grades
Pass Offense: A+
Things really could not have gone any better on offense. Drew Brees’ 82.9% completion percentage tied his his performance against Chicago in Week 5 for his best this season. His throws were precise, on time, and looked better than they have all year. He threw a short (5-6 yards) out route to Marques Colston on their second drive of the game that was just absolutely beautiful. It was to the right side of the field and Brees threw the pass from the left hash mark. I thought for sure it’d be his best throw of the night, until he threw a 10 yard route to the sideline to Jimmy Graham, while avoiding pressure. Watching from my seat, I literally said, “Wow.” Marques Colston looked like his old self. Despite missing last week’s game and being limited in practice all week, he looked 100%. Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas were big contributors in the passing game, as usual. Jimmy Graham played limited snaps, but made his opportunities count. The number one improvement I see in Graham this season is that he’s learning to either break tackles or drag defenders for extra yards. He continued to do just that on Sunday night.
Saints: Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Darren Sproles, and Pierre Thomas
Sinners: None
Rush Offense: A+
This will very likely be the best performance we see from the rushing attack all year. The offensive line opened up holes that you and I could have run through, but it was what the running backs did after bursting through the hole that was very impressive. Ingram, Thomas, and Sproles all made beautiful cuts to make defenders miss, picking up extra yardage to make their runs that much better. Ingram showed just what New Orleans drafted him for and how capable he is of producing when he’s healthy and getting good blocking. I’m very interested to see how he and the rest of the rushing attack does against some good defenses in the upcoming weeks.
Saints: Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas, and the entire offensive line.
Sinners: None
Pass Defense: A-
The pass defense was excellent yet again. I’d like to see more pressure from the four man rush earlier in games. They got three sacks, but they all came late in the game when the Saints were able to pin their ears back and get after the quarterback. New Orleans double covered Dez Bryant for most of the game and they were nearly perfect in doing so. Bryant finally broke through the defense with his only reception of the game coming on a 44 yard catch, helping set up the Cowboys’ second touchdown. Still, holding a weapon such as Bryant to one reception is a great accomplishment and really threw Romo off all game. Keenan Lewis was on Bryant all night, but he deserves praise for how he was able to lock down the star receiver even when he was in single coverage. Lewis has been one of the best signings the Saints have made on the defensive side of the ball within recent years and will be important in locking down #1 receivers the rest of the way. The one negative that I’d like to point out is Jabari Greer getting beat by Terrance Williams for his 21 yard touchdown reception. Williams ran a double move, where Greer was once again caught looking in to the backfield, allowing the receiver to blow by him for an easy score. Greer did the same thing on New England’s game winning touchdown with seconds left in the game. Although Kembrel Thompkins did not run a double move in that game, Greer was looking back the entire time and let the receiver get behind him. You can bet that coaches will pick that up in film and try to exploit it. That’s two rookies that have now beat Greer to get in to the end zone. You have to be able to trust the veteran to not allow plays such as those.
Saints: Keenan Lewis, Rafael Bush, and Kenny Vaccaro
Sinners: Jabari Greer
Rush Defense: C+
It was the same story for the Saints rushing defense on Sunday night. Dallas was able to gain yardage on the ground, but had to abandon the run to attempt to keep up with New Orleans’ potent offense. DeMarco Murray finished with a 5.6 yards per carry average, but here’s why there’s still room for optimism.
Here’s a breakdown of Murray’s night for you:
Dallas’ 2nd quarter TD drive: Murray – 6 carries / 67 yards / TD / 11.0 yards per carry
All other Dallas drives: Murray – 10 carries / 22 yards / 2.2 yards per carry
Look, it’s obvious that the run defense is the Saints’ achilles heel, but they are giving up the yards on mostly big plays. Over 75% of Chris Ivory’s yards came on four carries last week. Of course, it all counts, but if the Saints can find a way to stop those big runs, the numbers will go way down.
Saints/Sinners: None of note
Next Week
In Week 11, the 7-2 New Orleans Saints will welcome the 6-3 San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco is coming off of a tough loss at home to the Carolina Panthers in a game which their offense could not do much of anything. The 49ers are 3-1 on the road, but come to New Orleans with some injury questions. We’ll get in to all of that later this week, but for now, prepare for another big match-up as the Saints get in to the stretch run for the post season.
Who Dat?!
