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Who Dat chants have erupted at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The New Orleans Saints waltzed into AT&T Stadium for the Dallas Cowboys' home opener and punched them in the mouth and ended the dominant home team's regular-season win streak in Dallas at 16.
Their first six drives went for touchdowns, which powered the visiting Saints to a 41-19 lead in a game they won 44-19. Five of those touchdowns came in the first half as the Cowboys' 35 points allowed is tied for their most allowed in the first half of a game in franchise history.
Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's run scheme gave the Cowboys defense fits early, reminiscent of Dallas' 48-32 NFC Wild Card round playoff defeat against the Green Bay Packers in January. Kubiak, the San Francisco 49ers passing game coordinator for the 2023 NFC champions last season, broke the Dallas' secondary down. New Orleans' first drive had two big-player crossing routes to Rashid Shaheed (17 yards) and Chris Olave (39 yards) before five-time Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara waltzed in for a five-yard touchdown run.
The next two touchdowns were big plays on throws from Carr to Shaheed (70 yards) and Kamara (57 yards). The throw to Shaheed traveled almost entirely through the air while Kamara's 57-yarder came off a play-action screen pass in which his legs did the heavy lifting. Carr's 222 passing yards in the first half were more (200) than he had in the Saints' 47-10 Week 1 win against the Carolina Panthers. Cowboys three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons called Kamara "the main focus" during the week, and the running back lived up to the praise with 180 scrimmage yards (115 rushing, 65 receiving) and four touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving. His four scrimmage touchdowns are the most in a road game in Saints history. The Cowboys finally stopped the bleeding with safety Donovan Wilson intercepting Carr on ball that was tipped off Olave's hands.
Dallas began the game with two field goals from All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey (52 yards and 38 yards) before All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb shook all the rust off from his holdout with a 65-yard catch-and-run touchdown midway through the second quarter. Lamb finished the game 90 yards and a touchdown on four catches while Prescott threw for 293 yards and a touchdown and two interceptions on 27 of 39 passing. The turnover came on a play in which wide receiver Jalen Brooks fell down on a slant route, leading to the football landing in the hands of Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo. Prescott's second interception came early in the fourth quarter when he threw to Lamb in double coverage, which allowed Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu to grab an interception. Aubrey finished with four made field goals on as many kicks and is now eight for eight this season.
Why the Saints won
Their offense was unstoppable. New Orleans became the first team since the 2021 Buffalo Bills to score on their first six drives of a game. The Saints are only the fifth team to accomplish this feat in the 21st Century, joining the following teams: the 2007 Patriots at the Bills, the 2008 Saints at the Lions, the 2019 Ravens at the Rams and the aforementioned 2021 Bills against the Patriots in the opening round of the postseason.
Pretty great company. New Orleans watched the film of the Cowboys' postseason defeat against the Packers, and they had Kamara playing the Aaron Jones role with Carr playing the Jordan Love role.
Why the Cowboys lost
Despite Mike Zimmer now operating as the Cowboys' defensive coordinator instead of Dan Quinn, the results against a Shanahan tree offense were the same. When your defense allows touchdowns on the first six drives, it's hard for an offense to play its normal game script. Prescott was far from perfect today, but he and the offense were put in a bad spot.
Turning point
Adebo's interception of Prescott with 1:20 left in the first half after receiver Jalen Brooks fell down running a slant route. The Saints cornerback's return of 47 yards to the Cowboys' 20 led to Carr quarterback-sneaking his way into the end zone to put New Orleans up 35-13. Game over.
Play of the game
Carr's 70-yard bomb of a touchdown pass to Shaheed. The play-action sucked the Cowboys' defense in, and the Saints capitalized.
What's next
New Orleans, now 2-0, returns home to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3. Dallas will be back at AT&T Stadium next week to host 2023 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
