FRISCO, Texas -- The 1-0 Dallas Cowboys welcome the 1-0 New Orleans Saints to AT&T Stadium for their home opener after both teams kicked off the 2024 season in style, each winning by at least two touchdowns.
New Orleans smoked the Carolina Panthers 47-10 for its most points scored in Week 1 in franchise history. Saints quarterback Derek Carr compiled an efficient outing with 200 yards and three passing touchdowns on 19 of 23 passing while running back Alvin Kamara cruised to 110 scrimmage yards (83 rushing on 15 carries and 27 receiving yards on five catches) and a rushing touchdown on 20 touches.
However, they will have to contend with a Cowboys defense that led the league in Week 1 with six sacks and 24 quarterbacks pressures. Three-time All-Pro Micah Parsons led the way with co-league-leading 11 pressures to go along with a sack, thanks to the newfound "free will" new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer's scheme has provided him. New Orleans could be short-handed in dealing with that pressure as 2024 first-round pick rookie left tackle Taliese Fuaga is questionable with a back injury.
The Saints will be facing the NFL's best home team in the regular season on Sunday with Dallas taking a 16-game regular season home winning streak into Week 2. Yes, the Cowboys are aware the last time they played at AT&T Stadium was a 48-32 NFC wild-card round loss versus the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers.
"It's always important," Cowboys All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said on Thursday when asked about playing and winning at home. "We had a streak that we ruined. Obviously we are very aware of that, and we're looking to put that thing back on."
Expect AT&T Stadium, a venue that averaged an NFL-best 93,594 fans a home game last season, to be rocking.
"The fans. Camaraderie. Energy in the building. Obviously, we love it," Lamb said. "We feed off it. I mean it helps us play better. It's good to know that we are making Cowboy nation proud."
Cowboys' home/road splits (2023 regular season)
| HOME | ROAD | |
|---|---|---|
W-L | 8-0* | 4-5 |
PPG | 37.4* (best in NFL) | 23.3 |
PPG Allowed | 15.9* (third best) | 20.9 |
Point Differential | +172* (best in NFL) | +22 |
Turnover Margin | +10* (best in NFL) | 0 |
Third-Down Percentage | 53.2%* (best in NFL) | 43.7% |
| Penalties/Game | 6.5 | 7.0 |
| Penalty Yards/Game | 45.4 | 57.9 |
Time of Possession | 34:28* (best in NFL) | 29:25 |
*Top three in NFL
Let's break Sunday's matchup down and project a victor.
All NFL odds are via SportsLine Consensus.
How to watch Saints at Cowboys
Date: Sunday, Sept. 15 | Time: 1 p.m. ET
Location: AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
Channel: Fox Stream: fubo
Follow: CBS Sports App
Odds: Cowboys -6; O/U 46.5
When the Saints have the ball
The New Orleans Saints have a brand new offensive playbook under offensive coordinator Klink Kubiak, who came over to the team after working as the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers passing game coordinator under head coach Kyle Shanahan in 2023. The Shanahan offensive principles ooze from this Saints team.
The Saints lined up under center more than any other offense in the league in Week 1, on 61.3% of their plays to be exact, and they used play-action on over a third of their dropbacks (39%) for the first time since signing Derek Carr in the 2023 offseason, according to NFL Pro Insights. The Saints also utilized two-back formations at an NFL-high rate of 37%, and they sent a player in motion on 74.2% of their snaps, the fifth-highest rate in the league. As a result, New Orleans scored on its first nine drives in the 47-10 Week 1 win against the Panthers.
"It's a lot different," Cowboys Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs said on Wednesday. "He's a very good offensive coordinator. I got to be in the right place because he can trick you and make you see something that you think you want to see and then something's going behind you. They put up a lot of points last week [47], so it's going to be a good challenge for us. Especially with all the shifts and motions."
Carr has found his footing in New Orleans after a rocky start.
Derek Carr Saints career
| FIRST 13 GAMES | LAST 5 GAMES | |
|---|---|---|
W-L | 5-7 | 4-1 |
Comp Pct | 66% | 76% |
TD-INT | 13-7 | 15-1 |
| Passer Rating | 89.4 | 129.0* |
* Best in NFL since Week 15 of 2023 season
However, according to Micah Parsons, Dallas' top focus is shutting down Kamara and the Saints running game.
"He's the main focus," Parsons said of Kamara in Week 2. "They were dominant last week against the Panthers and I think this is a great system. Their OC [Klint Kubiak] came from San Fran, so it gives us a glimpse of what we could potentially see later on down the road. Kamara is Kamara, man. What he put up, another 100 last week? He didn't really have any drop off. It's going to be a great challenge. He's still one of the best backs in this league. He dealt with injuries over the last couple of years, but so does everyone, but so far we saw he looks healthy and I'm excited for the first time to go against the guy."
The Shanahan tree offenses have been the Cowboys' Achilles heel in the playoffs with losses to Shanahan's 49ers in 2021 and 2022 and to Matt LaFleur's Packers in 2023.
"Yeah, those offenses are annoying," Diggs said.
When the Cowboys have the ball
Through one week of the 2023 regular season, the New Orleans Saints (10% third down conversion rate allowed) and McCarthy's Cowboys (13.3% third down conversion rate allowed) are the two stingiest third-down defenses. One week of data doesn't really matter to McCarthy, though. New Orleans head coach Dennis Allen's unit being a top-10 scoring defense in 2023 (19.2 PPG allowed, eighth-fewest in the NFL) plus ranking fourth in third-down conversion rate allowed (34.5%) and takeaways (29) does catch Dallas' offensive play-caller's attention.
"I don't do the comparables, frankly, with the team or even in our situational breakdowns and in the game plan part of it because I think once you get past four weeks patterns are developed," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said Wednesday when asked about New Orleans' third down defense in Week 1. The quote could be extended to the whole team. "Frankly, when I talk about the Saints, I talked more about what they did last year, their profile, their team and their strengths and how all those things carried into. If you look at the way they play last, right? I thought they were a playoff-caliber football team just based off what they put on film. The personnel I have been very impressed with the personnel and if you look at the production comparables last year. So there's a lot there to be impressed with."
Last season, quarterback Dak Prescott, who led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes, and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who led the NFL with 135 catches, impressed. That's why both Prescott (four years, $240 million) and Lamb (four years, $136 million) got PAID this offseason. However, Lamb needed to hold out to get his money, which slightly affected the duo's timing in Week 1 in Cleveland. Prescott linked up with Lamb on only half of their targets five catches on 10 targets, an abnormally low rate for them.
"There's a few things, I think CeeDee would say the same," Prescott said Thursday. "But some things that were probably understood were going to come up when we haven't had the time that we had [in previous years]. Maybe it's me just not trusting a little bit at the top of my throw, whatever it is. Maybe bleeding a little on a route. Some of those things just happen naturally."
"Week 1 was obviously very different for me wearing pads for the first time," Lamb said. ... "It wasn't much of a drop off, but obviously there's room for improvement. We got better this week and [that] should be on display this Sunday ... "I'm back. I'm back into the thing."
The more rust Lamb knocks off, the better Dallas will be on third down. They converted just four of 14 third-down attempts (28.6%) in Week 1, a far cry from their 48.3% conversion rate last year, the second best in the NFL. Lamb may also not have to worry about Saints four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore since he didn't practice all week with a hip and hamstring injury. New Orleans lists him as questionable. Even if he does play, going up against Trevon Diggs every day in practice has Lamb feeling equipped for the challenge.
I'm already going against a [No.] 1, so there's no surprise if i see another one," Lamb said. "Obviously, Tre has the better ball skills [his 16 interceptions since 2021 are the most in the NFL], he has a knack for the ball, so I feel like Tre has more of an advantage because when we see each other, he knows my tendencies and vice versa. It's a pleasurable moment. I cherish it. and I embrace it every opportunity I get, and so does he.
Prediction
New Orleans could struggle to protect up front with a limited version of Fuaga or without him at all, which should have Parsons and four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence licking their chops. On the other side of the ball, Lattimore clearly not being 100% and trying to defend the Prescott-Lamb connection at AT&T Stadium could spell trouble for the Saints.
Mike Zimmer's sophisticated defense full of disguises and pre-snap movement combined with the Cowboys' defensive talent and potent offense has Dallas being SportsLine's new favorite to win the NFC East with their total wins projection increasing from 10.3 wins to 11.5 wins and their division win percentage climbing from 40.3% to 56.7%. The Cowboys get another win this week to get a step closer to being the NFC East's first repeat champion since Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb's Philadelphia Eagles did so from 2001-2004.
Prediction: Cowboys 31, Saints 20