He's done it -- Kellen Moore won his first preseason game as New Orleans Saints head coach, and he did it against the team he came up with as an NFL play caller. Moore guided the Saints to a 27-24 win on the road against the Dallas Cowboys on Friday night, finally getting that monkey on his back after going 0-4-1 in his first five exhibition games, dating back to last year. Good for him. But what did we learn about the Saints in their fourth-quarter rally in Dallas?
To put a pin in the preseason, we're asking and answering a couple of key questions after the Saints' win over the Cowboys:
- What went right?
- What went wrong?
- And what's the bottom line?
- So what comes next?
What went right?
Penalties weren't nearly as big of an issue this week. After drawing a dozen flags in their last preseason game, the Saints were fouled half as many times in Dallas,
and only four of those penalties were accepted (one of them being a weak call against Danny Stutsman early in the game). New Orleans actually had fewer penalties for less penalty yardage (three flags for 39 yards) than the Cowboys themselves (six flags for 45 yards). The team rallied back from a lopsided loss and played disciplined, methodical football. Even if it's preseason, that's worth acknowledging.
They also did a great job running the ball. Rookie wide receiver Barion Brown added some juice to the run game on jet sweeps, but Audric Estime tallied 46 rushing yards on just four attempts (and a healthy 4.3 yards per carry even if you take out his 33-yard sprint). Kendre Miller and Zamir White both averaged well over four yards per attempt and short-yardage back CJ Donaldson had some chunk plays, too. The Saints might be better in the trenches than we thought.
And, hey: Daniel Carlson proved he could hit a field goal from 50-plus yards out. New Orleans might have its kicker.
What went wrong?
The Saints nearly choked. They didn't have an answer for Sam Howell's deep shots to rookie wide receiver Jordon Hudson over the top of their defense; Howell got into scoring position with a 52-yarder to Hudson before going his way again on a 26-yard strike. That cut into New Orleans' 24-6 lead and opened the door for Dallas to tie it up. Their depth at cornerback was tested in this game, and for the most part, it was found wanting. But a win is a win.
But it wasn't always pretty. While the run defense did its job, the pass rush came away with just two sacks on at least 35 dropbacks by the Cowboys quarterbacks (who scrambled a couple of time, too). We haven't seen the team's best pass rushers get into a game yet. They also haven't gone up against an opponent's best blockers in a live game. We've got to see it to believe it.
And what's the bottom line?
Maybe this Saints team isn't as bad as we feared after they got shut out by the Los Angeles Rams last week. Maybe they're on the same level as a Dallas Cowboys team that missed the playoffs last year. Maybe they're better. We finally got a look at the team with Kellen Moore calling plays and Brandon Staley running the defense after they handed the headsets to assistants in previous weeks. We still haven't seen the Saints at full strength with all of their offseason upgrades in the lineup, but we've seen enough to feel encouraged about them. If Friday night's game is any indication, this should be a fun season.
So what comes next?
The worst part of pro football is going to dominate the news cycle this weekend: roster cuts. Teams have until 5 p.m. CT on Sunday, Aug. 30 to trim their rosters down from 90 players to 53, meaning dozens of guys are going to be let go, some for the final time. But the work won't stop there. The Saints will be calling around to see if the right opportunity for a trade or a free agent pickup is out there, and they've got numerous injuries to sort through before determining who could return early this season and who may need more time. It's going to be a busy couple of days. Keep up with all of it right here at Saints Wire.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints vs. Cowboys instant analysis: What went right, what went wrong
