New Orleans Saints Big Favorites Over Dallas Cowboys

NFL News - December 15th, 2009 - Written by John

The New Orleans Saints have been brash all year in their quest to achieve perfection, asserting they are certainly going for it and believe they have a relatively good opportunity. As the end of the schedule draws near, they are still undefeated, but will need to turn away a desperate team on primetime television to continue the quest.

On NFL Network, the Saints host the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night, showcasing two of the most explosive offenses in football that each rank in the top three. After drilling the New England Patriots in its previous primetime game, New Orleans is the logical favorite in the NFL Week 15 Betting Odds, and is given a seven-point edge, according to BetUS, with a total of 53 1/2.

The Saints are 13-0, and will know by the start of the game whether they are the lone unbeaten team, or whether they need to keep pace with the Indianapolis Colts. Peyton Manning leads Indianapolis against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday night.

As for the Cowboys, they would probably rather just play this game on a typical Sunday than be spotlighted as they try to avoid another December meltdown. They are 0-2 this month, and 1-5 going back to last year. Another typical slide at the end of this season will leave them out of the playoffs and give several members of the coaching staff early pink slips. Two weeks ago, Dallas led by a game in a vicious division, but now trail the Philadelphia Eagles by one.

Tony Romo has played great in recently, throwing seven touchdowns and no interceptions in the last three games, but it has been the running game that has been sparse. No Cowboys running back has topped 100 yards since the second week of the year, and only one time has a runner topped 60 yards since early October. Dallas ranks seventh in rushing overall because of a balanced backfield with three featured runners, but has only gained 147 yards on the ground over the last two games.

New Orleans' ground game has been ailing as well, but having an MVP year from Drew Brees has more than made up for it. Brees is the league's top-rated passer with 3,832 yards and 32 touchdowns, and he has been sacked only 12 times. He has thrown for over 300 yards seven times and has been just yards short two other times.

Four receivers have at least 500 yards through the air, and Marques Colston leads the group with 908 and nine touchdowns. Robert Meacham has really come on strong recently, and has 601 yards and eight scores. His 18.2 yards per catch leads the team.

Dallas has seen a similar emergence from wideout Miles Austin, who in only nine starts leads the team with 999 yards.