The Preseason finale is upon us. The Saints will look to notch their first win against the Cowboys which could have some carryover frustration from how their joint practice went last week. Usually the preseason finale does not have much significance as the starters do not typically play and there are only a select few roster spots still up for the taking. This year the preseason finale will be a little bit more than that. 

The Saints do not have a clear answer at backup quarterback coming into this game and it would be hard to imagine one single game could be enough to sway this opinion in a positive direction. The running back battle behind Etienne and Kamara appears to be ending in an unexciting fashion with Kendre Miller appearing as the favorite barring something unforseen happening. But if either of those two want to stand out in the game they will be relying on the offensive line to make some holes for them in the run game which they struggled to do against the Rams. So the offensive line will look to have a bounce back game to spearhead the offense to score some points this week. The one other position I will be curious about is tight end with the recent injuries to Delp and Matavao. There could be an opportunity there for someone to land a spot on the roster or role on the team this season given the health at the position currently. 

Moving on to the kicker battle where unfortunately for Smyth and Brown they both lost as the Saints signed Tucker Carlson to solidify the position. Smyth and Brown will now try to aim to be given an opportunity to kick for another team this season. However the special teams play during the game could be the deciding factor for a few players with the last few roster spots up for grabs fighting for the remaining roster and practice squad spots. 

On defense the Saints will look to have a bounce back type of performance where they struggled to stop the Rams in any shape or form last week. Performing better on defense will start up front with the defensive line who will be tasked with doing a better job of controlling the line of scrimmage. After them I will be looking at the secondary who performed well against the Jaguars but took a step back after their performance against the Rams. This week will hopefully show whether the depth in the secondary will be capable or not moving forward. Linebacker appears to be in a great position where the Saints felt good enough to trade from to help address the running back depth. Linebacker is the one spot on the team which has felt strong for a long time and this year proves to be no different even with the departure of Demario Davis.

Overall I would say the preseason has been about as expected for the Saints. You would like to win these games for the sake of winning but ultimately winning or losing in the preseason does not matter. The starters have not played much this preseason so you cannot read much into how they look in these games compared to how they will look in Week 1. But after this game against the Cowboys, meaningful football games will be played and judged. We are almost there folks, enjoy this last appetizer against the Cowboys.