November was cruel to the Dallas Cowboys. It was crueler to the New Orleans Saints.
The NFC East leaders seemingly bowed out of the race for the conference’s top seed thanks to a 1-3 slide that featured losses to three different AFC West opponents sandwiched around a blowout win over the Falcons. That, coupled with a sudden Titans-esque rise from the Washington Football Team, has created some friction in a division Dallas appeared to have wrapped up on Halloween.
They need a get-right game badly, but not as much as the team standing across the field from them. The Saints went winless last month, turning a 5-2 record with wins over the Packers, Patriots, and Buccaneers into a 5-6 record and a spot outside the current Wild Card incarnation. Losing Jameis Winston and Alvin Kamara proved extremely damaging. Neither one will play in Week 13, and the elevation of Taysom Hill to starting quarterback suggests we’ll see a very different Saints team Thursday than we’d watched earlier in the season.
So here we have two depleted rosters in dire need of a win to get their playoff hopes back in order. Will the Cowboys’ potent passing offense be able to crack the Saints’ top five defense? Will the switch from Trevor Siemian to Hill spark meaningful change for New Orleans?
Let’s talk about it. All odds via Tipico.