The New Orleans Saints’ defense in Week 4 completely shutting down what had been a hot Dallas Cowboys offense was one of the biggest surprises that week. New Orleans surprisingly won the Sunday night game 12-10, holding Dallas to their fewest points of the season.
So how did New Orleans do it? According to some information shared by NFL Network’s Steve Wyche, they picked the hand signals of offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
“I was just with the Saints. Players told me when they played the Cowboys two weeks ago, they went back to look at Boise State tape when Kellen Moore played quarterback there. And they saw some of the hand gestures and some of the things he liked to do at Boise that he has incorporated into Dallas’ offense, and they were able to pick up some tendencies from that.”
This would make so much sense. Without this nugget, there would be very little explanation for why the Cowboys went from being so hot to nothing against New Orleans.
As for why they looked bad in the following week against Green Bay, maybe the Packers studied the Saints to see what they did that worked so well and replicated it. The injury to Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith also is a big factor in Dak Prescott not being at his best against Green Bay.
The bottom line in the NFL is that it comes down to talent and execution, because before long, teams and coaching staffs are so smart, they will search everything possible to find out your holes. Recall, the Jets obliterated the Lions last year after doing the same thing with Matt Stafford.
