Beating up on the Carolina Panthers is one thing.
Trouncing the Dallas Cowboys in their own house is another.
The New Orleans Saints did just that on Sunday, pulling off the biggest stunner of the early NFL season with a 44-19 win over the Cowboys in Dallas. A Saints team that was projected to be in play for a premium draft pick is now off to a surprising 2-0 start.
This one was a rout from the opening quarter. The Saints marched 80 yards on their opening drive that ended with a 21-yard touchdown run by Alvin Kamara. Each of their next five possessions ended in the end zone as they blew the game open, 41-19 by the third quarter.
Kamara scored four of those six touchdowns against a Cowboys defense helpless to slow him down. Derek Carr threw two en route to a perfect 158.3 passer rating through three quarters.
Carr maintained that perfect passer rating until throwing a fourth-quarter interception to safety Donovan Wilson. That marked the first Saints drive that didn’t culminate in the end zone. But the Cowboys couldn’t capitalize.
On the very next play, Dak Prescott threw an interception to Tyrann Mathieu on a downfield pass into double coverage.
The interception was the second of the day for Prescott for a Cowboys team that also turned the ball over on downs twice in the fourth quarter.
In the end, there was no semblance of a Dallas rally to be found in front of a frustrated home crowd that last saw their Cowboys getting blown out by the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. By the time the game was done, Saints fans in the stands were heard on the broadcast reveling in a “Who Dat?” chant.
Saints thriving under OC Klint Kubiak
While the Cowboys offense provided plenty of cause for concern, it was a Saints offense that starred on Sunday in New Orleans‘ manhandling of Dallas.
Through two weeks, the Saints are the highest-scoring team in football. They beat the Panthers 47-10 in Week 1 and now have a rout of Dallas on their résumé for a two-week scoring total of 91 points — a franchise record. Dating back to last season’s 48-17 win over the Falcons in Week 17, the Saints have scored 44-plus points in three straight games.
This is a new Saints team with a new offensive coordinator in Klint Kubiak, who is off to a scorching start calling plays for head coach Dennis Allen. Kubiak joined the Saints this offseason after spending 2023 as the passing-game coordinator for the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers under head coach Kyle Shanahan.
The result through two weeks is 11 touchdowns on 21 possessions against the Cowboys and Panthers. The Saints have ended 16 of those possessions by scoring points. They’ve punted three times. They’ve turned the ball over just once.
On Sunday, the Saints did it on the ground and through the air en route to 432 total yards against what’s been touted as a stout Dallas defense. Kamara looked very much like his former Pro Bowl self while tallying 115 rushing yards (5.8 yards per carry) and 65 receiving yards on two catches in addition to his four scores.
Kamara’s 57-yard scamper on a second-quarter screen pass from Carr put the Saints up 21-6 and the Cowboys on notice that they were in for a long day.
Carr, meanwhile, completed 11 of 16 passes for 243 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He added a rushing touchdown on a second-quarter sneak to put New Orleans up 35-13 just before halftime.
He made deep downfield connections with Chris Olave (four catches, 81 yards) and Rashid Shaheed (four catches, 96 yards), who caught a 70-yard touchdown on a pinpoint play-action bomb that put New Orleans up 14-3.
A week after limiting the Panthers to 193 yards and 10 points, the Saints held the Cowboys to 353 yards and 19 points while forcing two Prescott interceptions and sacking him three times. Dallas did most of its damage in the air while playing from behind as Prescott completed 27 of 39 passes for 285 yards. New Orleans limited the Dallas ground game to 68 yards on 3.2 yards per carry.
This is not what was expected from the Saints, who entered the season projected to be middling at best. Instead, they’ve got the most explosive offense in football and a win over a Cowboys team that’s expected to contend. It’s only two weeks, but this is as good as a start gets in the NFL. The Saints will look to keep it up next Sunday in a matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles.