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New Orleans Saints offense has same swagger as early-'90s Dallas Cowboys: First-and-10

FIRST ...

I spoke this week with NFL on FOX analyst Daryl "Moose" Johnston, who will be doing the color commentary during Sunday's game between the New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins - and whom I think is one of the most underrated analysts on TV. I wanted to pick his brain about Redskins rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III for my Sunday column, but I also had to ask him if he thinks the Saints' record-breaking offense is even better than the dominant Dallas Cowboys offense he played for in the 1990s, led by Hall of Famers Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin.

Naturally, Johnston stuck with his 'Boys.

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"No. No," Johnston said. "The one thing I don't think the Saints get enough credit for is that when they have to run the football they can run the football. But we were built completely different, and the 2011-2012 Saints are really built to take advantage of all the rule changes that have taken place in recent years (which benefit passing offenses).
"We would've been a different team under today's rules. But I love the fact that whatever you decided to do against us, to commit to against us, we were gonna take advantage of that. Put eight in the box to stop Emmitt, we had Michael Irvin and Alvin Harper and those guys. ...

"One similarity I see with the Saints is that we had complete confidence in what we were doing. We believed in ourselves and we challenged you to try and stop us. We weren't worried about what you were going to try to do to us. We had complete confidence."

I absolutely agree with that last part. The Saints' offensive swagger is very reminiscent of that Cowboys offense, which routinely made defenses look overmatched. And maybe some of that comes from the fact that Saints quarterback Drew Brees grew up watching those Cowboys teams in Austin, Texas. Brees routinely mentions them when asked about how the Saints measure up with other NFL teams through history.

As for who's better, it's impossible to say. The Saints just set a NFL record with a staggering 7,474 yards of offense last year, including 2,127 rushing yards. The Cowboys never gained more than 5,824 yards in the 1990s and never ranked higher than fourth in the NFL in that category.

But the Cowboys did have more balance, with a power run game and a dynamic passing attack. And they won three Super Bowls in four years with that nucleus.

As Johnston said, both offenses were the best of their respective eras, designed to do the most damage by taking advantage of the rules of the day. And both have earned their place on a very short list of the best in NFL history.

It's a matchup we'd love to see on a neutral field and in a neutral era.

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