After a dominating Week 1 victory over the Cleveland Browns, the Dallas Cowboys got taken to the woodshed by the New Orleans Saints. In particular, the Cowboys defense was crushed by Alvin Kamara and company.
The contrast from Week 1 could not have been more stark. Dallas was behind the 8-ball from the second this game began.
As I said, the defense was the story in this one; they were gashed for all four quarters.
However, the offense was no machine either. They failed in the redzone throughout the game.
Now, let’s get into the recap of this one, even if it’s tough to stomach.
First Half Malaise
You would think after such a great Week 1 win, the Cowboys would come out firing in the first half of their home opener.
That could not have been more incorrect.
The first half was a nightmare for Dallas, and it started with a 7-play, 80 yard touchdown drive that would hand Kamara the first of his four touchdowns on the day.
After a long drive that resulted in a field goal, the Saints responded with a one-play, 70 yard touchdown drive. Dallas never recovered from that point on.
In total, the Saints had five offensive drives, and they came away with five touchdowns for 35 points. The Cowboys defense forced just three 3rd downs in 26 first half offensive plays.
There were two bright spots in the first half for Dallas, and those were CeeDee Lamb and Brandon Aubrey.
The superstar wide receiver came down with an impressive 65-yard touchdown catch.
On special teams, Aubrey picked up the offenses slack, going 3/3 in the half on field goals, including a 52-yarder.
Second Half Continuation
3rd Quarter
Make no mistake, the Cowboys had a chance to make a comeback in the second half.
With the Saints in cruise control, Dallas could have been on the gas storming back. Instead, they were stuck in neutral, or perhaps reverse.
It started with a chance to double-score coming out of the half, as the Cowboys ended the first with a field goal. On a ten-play drive that included a fantastic flip pass by Dak Prescott to Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas was killed by a penalty and a fumble.
They had to settle for a field goal that barely made a dent in the score. They kicked it off to the Saints down 35-19.
Now, stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Cowboys defense then got absolutely smoked by the Saints offense. In their first second half opportunity, Mike Zimmer’s unit gave up 70 yards on 13 plays on a nearly eight-minute long drive.
That, my friends, was more or less all she wrote. On that drive, the Saints fed Kamara all the way down the field, as he raked up yards in both the run and pass game.
It was also the last touchdown drive of the game, as the Cowboys offense crashed and burned on the next drive with a turnover on downs.
4th Quarter
The first two drives of the fourth quarter ended in interceptions for both teams, in a rare positive defensive moment for Dallas.
Safety Donovan Wilson, who otherwise had a very poor game, intercepted Derek Carr to give the Cowboys their only turnover of the day.
It was all for nod, however, as Prescott then threw his second interception of the day.
Following Tyrann Mathieu’s 34th career INT, the Saints’ offense was shut down, though they still picked up a first down.
They punted it back to Dallas, which was their first and only punt of the day.
For some reason, Mike McCarthy decided against subbing his starters out, and Prescott failed to pick up a first down on that next drive. He was sacked by pass rushers Carl Granderson and Chase Young on 2nd down, and that effectively killed the drive.
After a field goal drive by the Saints, the score grew to 44-19, which was the final for the day.
Dallas got the ball back and with Cooper Rush under center, they failed to get a first down.
New Orleans took knees after a Bryan Anger punt to finish this one off.
It was a game to forget for Dallas, to say the least, and they now face a hard test against Baltimore next week.