Saints gave up 48 points in Week 1 or 37 points in Week 3.“Early in the year Tony Pollard Jersey , they gave up some points and yards and things like that, but you just really look at them in their last I guess three or four ballgames,” Linehan said.The more recent version of New Orleans’ defense hasn’t allowed more than 17 points in any of its past three games.“They’re just really doing a good job of getting stops and creating negative plays for the other team, whether it be sacks or turnovers,” Linehan said. “We’ve got a big challenge.”Indeed, for all the offensive star power in Thursday night’s Saints-Cowboys clash — from New Orleans’ Drew Brees, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara to Dallas’ Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper — it is also about defenses that have played well lately. Or in the Cowboys’ case, most of the season.Dallas has not allowed an opponent to score more than 23 in any of its past three games, has not allowed 30 points in a game all season and ranks third in the NFL in points allowed per game at 19.4.“They’re playing extremely well,” Saints coach Sean Payton said of the Dallas defense. “Their front gets after the quarterback. I think that their back end is really good relative to their scheme. … They’re well-coached and I think that they’re playing with real good passion. It’s one of the better defenses we’ve seen.”Saints quarterback Drew Brees was similarly effusive in his praise.“Defensively, they fly around. They’re very well-coached, disciplined,” Brees said. “They are just doing all the things that the great defenses do — getting pressure on the quarterback Noah Fant Jersey , good against the run. So really in every facet of what you would say is winning football, championship-caliber football, these guys are doing it right now.”Cowboys coach Jason Garrett cited coordinator Rod Marinelli’s work and an infusion of “some good young pieces on all three levels of our defense over the last couple of years” as reasons why Dallas has played well on that side of the ball this season.“The guys have a good understanding of what we want them to do and I think we play hard,” Garrett said. “We’re physical, we run to the ball and take great pride in being a great defensive unit.”Both defenses feature relatively young players in prominent roles, such as defensive end Taco Charlton, linebacker Jaylon Smith and safety Xavier Woods in Dallas, and defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, linebacker Alex Anzalone and cornerback Marshon Lattimore in New Orleans.Meanwhile, each team has a playmaking defensive end in his prime: Cameron Jordan for the Saints and Demarcus Lawrence for the Cowboys. Their linebackers also are led by accomplished veterans in New Orleans’ Demario Davis and Dallas’ Sean Lee.New Orleans ranks No. 1 in the NFL against the run, which creates a compelling matchup against Elliott, the NFL’s leading rusher.Some of the Saints’ success against the run stems from the fact they’ve played with large leads, which leaves opponents little choice but to try to come back through the air.“At the same time, you see the first http://www.broncosauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dalton-risner-jersey , opening, couple drives — three-and-outs — limited success in (opponents’) run game,'” Jordan said. “There’s also been games where we had to play all four quarters, all 60 minutes and even beyond that, and we still come out with the same result.”Dallas is tied for fourth against the run as it prepares to face Kamara and Mark Ingram, and ranks 12th against the pass.The Saints have a less flattering No. 30 ranking against the pass, but have been able to counter that with turnovers, such as three in the red zone against Atlanta last week. And they’ve gotten good pressure on quarterbacks, with 13 sacks in the past three games.“I don’t think quarterbacks are getting comfortable back there,” Saints defensive tackle Tyeler Davison said. “There’s not space for them to step up. You can’t escape on the edges. I feel like when quarterbacks play against us now, they have to have that clock in their head. They know that, ‘If I don’t get this ball out, something’s going to happen to me.’ Especially with our offense doing so well, it allows us to pin our ears back and go attack the quarterback.”AP Football Writer Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this report. NORMAN Drew Lock Jersey , Okla. (AP) — New Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts learned at a basketball game just how much Sooners fans already had embraced him.The week Oklahoma announced that Hurts was transferring from Alabama, he was watching halftime festivities during the Sooners’ game against Vanderbilt. Seemingly out of nowhere, a long line of admirers developed. He smiled, posed for photos and signed autographs, seemingly unfazed by the sudden surge of attention.“I definitely appreciate it,” he said. “I’m in a new place. I’m a new face around here. It’s cool and it’s all love to embrace those guys.”Sooners fans had grown to respect Hurts from afar. The native of suburban Houston won a national title at Alabama and played for another as a starter. Last season, as Tua Tagovailoa’s backup, he led a dramatic rally against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.This has all prepared him for a role that would intimidate most people — following Heisman winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray as Oklahoma’s quarterback.Hurts is unfazed by this, too.“I’m not your average Joe,” he said. “Kind of built for these types of situations. There’s never been really anything that’s been in my way that I couldn’t overcome or see through. I’m here. I’m going to do whatever I can to help this team in whatever way to achieve the things we want to achieve as a team.”Hurts showed he’s becoming comfortable at Oklahoma’s Spring Game on Friday night when he led the Red Team to a touchdown drive on his first possession. He threw a touchdown pass to Kennedy Brooks later in the first half and ran for a score in the second half as his squad beat the White Team 35-14.Redshirt freshman Tanner Mordecai is trying to compete with Hurts, and incoming true freshman Spencer Rattler will jump into the mix in the fall.Hurts is 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds — bigger and stronger than Mayfield and Murray. He relies on moxie to escape trouble, much like Mayfield did, and he’s an effective runner like Murray. He’s an accurate passer, but he hasn’t been forced to use his arm as often as he likely will need to in the Sooners’ system.“The last two guys we’ve had had pretty unique skill sets http://www.broncosauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dre_mont-jones-jersey , too,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. “I like his skill set a lot. I wouldn’t have brought him in if I didn’t feel like it would work. I feel like at any point with a new quarterback, you’re going to get different feels with what they like and what they can do well.”Hurts, who was on the field briefly against the Sooners in last season’s playoff win by Alabama, just wants to be the best possible version of himself.“I don’t want to get into comparisons,” he said. “Baker’s Baker, Kyler’s Kyler and I’m me. I think the objective of all of this is, yeah, everybody wants to achieve their goals, everybody wants to do those things. But right now it’s not about me. I’m stepping back from it. The biggest thing about this thing is achieving what we want as a team, getting what we want accomplished as a team.”Hurts will have plenty of firepower with him. CeeDee Lamb leads the receiving corps after grabbing 65 passes for 1,158 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. Lee Morris is back after hauling in eight scoring passes last season, and Grant Calcaterra returns after tallying six touchdown grabs.The running game should be strong, too. Brooks ran for 1 T.J. Hockenson Jersey ,056 yards and 12 scores as a freshman last season, and Trey Sermon ran for 947 yards and 13 touchdowns.Hurts understands he’s new to Riley’s system, so he wants to progress quickly, yet remain patient. Riley said there are ways to adjust the system to fit a player’s skills, too.“What I think we were decent at with Kyler and Baker is you have to marry your schemes to them and find some common ground to where you’re still running your system, but you’re also tailoring it to what they do well,” Riley said. “We’ll certainly do that for Jalen and our other quarterbacks that will be here as well. I think he has an intriguing skill set that I’m excited to work with.”Hurts knows his past accomplishments alone won’t win the respect of his new teammates.What he does in their presence matters more.“A team, if you have the right leader, if you have the right guy doing what he’s supposed to do, taking care of his business, people let you lead,” he said. “It’s not mandatory of them to do that. But they’ll follow you.”