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The Dallas Cowboys travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints and two of their former assistant coaches this evening. Rob Ryan who has been credited with the resurgence of the Saints defense after spending his two years in Dallas in which his defenses were ranked 14th and 19th. He has since arriving in New Orleans, helped resurrect a defense that was ranked last in the NFL in 2012 but now sits ranked 9th. Saints head coach Sean Payton was an assistant head coach with the Cowboys for three seasons from 2003 until 2005 when he was instrumental in the signing of Cowboys starting quarterback Tony Romo as an un-drafted free agent, Both men are alumni of Eastern Illinois.
Romo is having another strong season stats wise and sits one position behind Saints starting quarterback Drew Brees with a 100.0 rating. Brees is currently in third place in the NFL with a 104.5 qb rating which places him only behind Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers on the season. The Saints are ranked fifth in the NFL against the pass but have yet to face a quarterback as highly ranked as Romo this season. In their previous meeting, last December 23rd, Romo threw for 416 yards and 4 touchdowns in an overtime loss. Where Dallas has struggled this season offensively is with their rushing attack. They are ranked near the bottom of the NFL in total rushing at 27th with just under 76 yards per game. The Cowboys will look to get back on track running the ball against the Saints who are ranked 25th against the run.
The Saints are having the same issue offensively as the Cowboys this season. While Bree's is having yet another great season their rushing attack has struggled culminating with them only attempting 13 rushes last week in their loss to the hated Jets. The Saints have dropped 2 of their last 3 games after beginning the season strong and going 5 and 0. The Saints have bested the Cowboys in seven of their last eight contest and hope for that trend to continue this evening.
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