1. Home
  3. Sport

Four takeaways from Saints-Cowboys: Derek Carr's torrid start, Dallas' defensive issues and more

16 September 2024Last Update :
Four takeaways from Saints-Cowboys: Derek Carr's torrid start, Dallas' defensive issues and more

By Larry Holder, Saad Yousuf and Jon Machota

NFL Week 2 scores and live updates: Schedule, injuries, news, predictions, and analysis

The New Orleans Saints scored touchdowns on six straight possessions to begin a 44-19 blowout victory over the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, improving to 2-0 behind an offense that has scored 91 points in two games.

New Orleans posted its second consecutive 40-point game of the season behind another efficient performance from quarterback Derek Carr (125 passer rating) and four touchdowns from running back Alvin Kamara. Kamara added 115 yards rushing and 65 receiving yards for New Orleans, which has quickly seen the impact of new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.

Dallas (1-1), meanwhile, now has new questions to answer on defense, one week after looking dominant against the Cleveland Browns.

Saints offense channels the glory days

Having covered the Saints during the entire Sean Payton-Drew Brees run, the offensive output the past two weeks under the fresh vision of Kubiak legitimately reminds me of that prolific era. It’s the accuracy at quarterback with Carr, despite one “C” throw (in Tom Brady’s words on the broadcast) on a fourth-quarter interception for the Cowboys. It’s the complementary attack with Kamara and his four combined touchdowns. It’s the big-play ability of receivers Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave. It’s Taysom Hill in general. It’s the creative play calling and design by Kubiak. And the offensive line, which was feared to be awful, has held up very well, especially against Micah Parsons and the supposedly vaunted Cowboys defense.

You can’t expect 40-plus points every week, but the sum of the parts in the past two games shows head coach Dennis Allen made the right call in hiring Kubiak. — Larry Holder, NFL senior writer

New Orleans’ defense impressive, too

Yes, the Saints’ defense surrendered a couple of big plays against the Cowboys. But the unit is still holding up the end of its bargain and playing expectedly well.

Slowing down the Panthers in Week 1 was one thing. The Saints have been fundamentally sound across the board and amassed a combined seven sacks and five takeaways against Dallas and Carolina. And then there was another complementary aspect on Sunday. Carr threw an interception, and then Tyrann Mathieu made it better by picking off Dak Prescott on the immediate next play. — Holder

What went wrong for Dallas?

When an embarrassment takes place as it did on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, there are no innocent parties (except kicker Brandon Aubrey, who was great again).

The Cowboys’ defense set the tone, though, so the blame starts there. It’s one thing to get scored on constantly, but it’s another thing for it to come as easily as it did for the Saints. After a seven-play scoring drive to open the game, the Saints’ next two drives got them touchdowns in one and four plays, respectively.

The Cowboys’ offense did little to respond, but the defense was the catalyst. The defensive front didn’t get any pressure on Carr, who picked apart the Cowboys’ secondary. The biggest culprit, arguably, was the shoddy Cowboys’ rush defense. That was the main task Mike Zimmer had taking over the defense from Dan Quinn and against a healthy, respectable offense, the results were as bad as they’ve been in recent memory — Saad Yousuf, Cowboys beat writer

Dallas’ home-field advantage nonexistent

There was a time not long ago when the Cowboys were good at home. In the 2022 and 2023 seasons, they won 16 consecutive games at AT&T Stadium. Then there was the disaster in the wild-card round against the Green Bay Packers in January. And now this inexcusable performance in their home opener.

In both games, it looked like Dallas might have the NFL’s worst defense. And the offense wasn’t much better. It was stunning to see how a defense that hit Deshaun Watson 17 times and sacked him six times was not able to get any real pressure on Carr. Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Eric Kendricks and DeMarvion Overshown all looked like stars last week. You almost never heard their names called on Sunday. No one stepped up on that side of the ball. At times, Carr and Kamara looked like they were playing against 11 random people that were pulled out of the stands. How can a defense look that outmatched? The most concerning part is probably the poor run defense that has been an issue far too often. It’ll be interesting to see how this one is explained in the locker room and by the coaching staff. — Jon Machota, Cowboys beat writer

Required reading

  • Dak Prescott says the Cowboys offense ‘left some meat on the bone’ in Week 1
  • ‘Tantalizing’ and ‘depressing’: NFC East writers pick 1 word to describe QBs they cover
  • NFL picks against the spread, Week 2: Cut Daniel Jones some slack, Giants will bounce back
  • NFL Power Rankings Week 2: Let’s overreact! Chargers, Bucs up; Bengals, Falcons down

(Photo: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)

Recent