ARLINGTON Gary Jennings Jr. Jersey , Texas (AP) — that should seem familiar to Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. If it happens, New Orleans might even have the NFC South title already in hand by the end of the week.The record-setting quarterback will go for an 11th straight win after a season-opening loss in a visit to the Cowboys on Thursday night. That’s exactly what Dallas did when Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott were rookie sensations in 2016.It won’t be a franchise record the way it was for Dallas. The Cowboys might remember when New Orleans started 13-0 on the way to a Super Bowl title nine years ago, because they won on the road to start the Saints’ season-ending three-game skid.The Saints can’t afford a similar slump if they want the NFC’s top seed, which Dallas had with 13 wins two years ago. The Los Angeles Rams enter the week with the same 10-1 record. But New Orleans can wrap up the division title with four games remaining with a win and a Carolina loss at Tampa Bay on Sunday.“You don’t begin to count, but then you start beginning to do the things that are necessary to win,” said Saints coach Sean Payton, architect of the two longest winning streaks in franchise history. “Generally, if you are going to have a decent team, you are going to win some games in a row. It is going to be hard not to if you aspire to get into the postseason.”The Cowboys (6-5) have a modest three-game run, capped by a Thanksgiving win over Washington that vaulted them to a tie for the NFC East lead with the Redskins. Questions about the future of coach Jason Garrett have been replaced by talk of a second division title in three years.“We have all the confidence in ourselves,” said Prescott Phil Haynes Jersey , coming off a season-high 289 yards passing. “They put on their pants the same way we do. They’ve won 10, and I guess we’ve won three (in a row). As I’ve said, we’re going to take it one game at a time. That’s all that matters.”OLD AND YOUNGBrees, less than two months shy of his 40th birthday, leads the NFL in completion percentage and passer rating. The 23-year-old Elliott feels like a rookie again, with a chance to match his career-best run of four straight 100-yard games from 2016, when he won the rushing title.With three consecutive games of at least 120 yards rushing, Elliott has overtaken Todd Gurley for the league rushing lead.“I feel like I’m in a good place right now,” said Elliott, who has 1,074 yards to 1 Ugo Amadi Jersey ,043 for Gurley. “Coaches have been doing a great job of putting me in runs where I’m comfortable and just getting me going early and letting me get that momentum and being able to carry it through the game.”STATE PRIDEBrees, an Austin native, cherishes his Texas roots and wasn’t about to downplay his latest chance to visit the Cowboys. “I can’t say it’s no big deal,” said Brees, who was in high school during the Dallas Super Bowl dynasty of the 1990s. “I remember waking up every Sunday morning and watching the Cowboys after church. That was a big deal growing up. I played a state championship game in the old Texas Stadium.”The NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards has some memorable road victories against the Cowboys, starting with a blowout in prime time his first year with New Orleans in 2006. There was also a dramatic Thanksgiving comeback in 2010. Now he’s having one of his best seasons. “I feel like we’ve had some really good teams when we played them,” he said. “I feel like there’s always been a lot at stake.”PRESCOTT TO COOPERDallas’ trade for new No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper is paying immediate dividends. Not only is the offensive efficiency much better, but Cooper is among the NFL’s first-down conversion rate leaders for receivers since coming over from Oakland for the Cowboys’ 2019 first-round pick.Cooper’s 180 yards against Washington were a team Thanksgiving record, and the 90-yard touchdown tied for the third-longest catch in club history. “When you are a great player like him and you get separation and run routes, it makes my job easy,” Prescott said. “So when you have that Dwayne Haskins Jersey , give credit to him.”DON’T FORGET DEFENSEThe Cowboys have the fourth-best scoring defense in the NFL at 19.3 points per game. But the Saints have outperformed Dallas in that category the past three weeks, winning by an average score of 43-13, capped by a 31-17 Thanksgiving win over Atlanta . The Cowboys have allowed an average of 21 points during their winning streak.“Their defense is definitely playing really well right now, so we have to do a good job of possessing the ball, running the ball, try to give our defense some breaks because we know what they have on the other side,” Cowboys right guard Zack Martin said. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — This much is clear about the Patriots‘ latest run to the AFC championship game: it’s come with a lot of introspection and reinvention on offense.Gone are the days in which New England can just bank on Tom Brady piling up four-touchdown games on a weekly basis or can simply toss the ball in Rob Gronkowski’s orbit in crunch time and expect great things to happen.Brady, while not showing accelerated signs of decline at age 41, did look more human during his 19th NFL season with only one four-touchdown game and 11 interceptions — his most picks since 2013.Gronk isn’t as old as Brady, but he’s certainly more beaten up and playing with a body that after multiple injuries and surgeries had him seriously thinking about retirement after last season’s Super Bowl loss.Following a regular season that saw New England lose five games — its most losses since 2009— Bill Belichick recognized the need for this team to lean even more on its collective offensive strength.The result has been a team that has rediscovered its ability to run the football and wear teams down. New England did it successfully in Sunday’s 41-28 divisional-round win over the Los Angeles Chargers . It will be needed again for New England to upend a youth-led Kansas City Chiefs team in the AFC title game.“You can’t get one-dimensional in these types of games D.K. Metcalf Jersey ,” Brady said. “It’s too tough against too many good teams. You get to this point and there’s very little margin of error and you’re going to have to be good in all phases. Running it, throwing it, kicking it, playing defense, everything. We’ll have to do it again.”Sony Michel scored three touchdowns and rushed for 129 yards against the Chargers. The three scores were the most ever by a Patriots rookie in a playoff game.Michel’s backfield mates were equally active. Rex Burkhead added a 6-yard TD run and James White’s 15 catches tied Darren Sproles for the most receptions in a single game in NFL playoff history.They had a season-best four rushing touchdowns. The 155 rushing yards also marked the Patriots’ fifth time with 130 or more yards since their bye week. New England has not lost a game this season when rushing for 100 or more yards as a team.“It’s all about trust and patience,” Michel said. “We’ve got faith that coach is going to call the best play possible for us to succeed and guys are going to take pride in executing the play — the offensive line, the receivers, everybody is going to do their job, and it’s our job to do our job.”Like the Patriots, Kansas City has a steadying presence setting the tone in veteran coach Andy Reid, but the Chiefs also have a second-year quarterback in Patrick Mahomes who has been mostly unflappable throughout a season in which he’s a favorite to win MVP as a first-time http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-cody-barton-jersey , full-time starter.After trailing big during their Week 6 matchup with the Patriots, Mahomes brought the Chiefs back and tied the game late. It took a field goal by Stephen Gostkowski as time expired for New England to pull out a 43-40 win in Foxborough.While Brady threw for 340 yards and a touchdown in that game, he hasn’t fared well on the road against the Chiefs. He has just a 1-2 record with three touchdown passes and six interceptions in three games at Arrowhead Stadium.This will be Brady’s first playoff game in Kansas City.White said their task this week is not to overthink how to translate their success on the road.“Just execute for four quarters, start fast, just play Patriot football,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what we did during the regular season. This is going to be a battle of what we do on next Sunday. We’ve just got to put our best foot forward and play Patriot football. That’s all we have to do.”