The Dallas Cowboys went a combined 16-1 at home during the 2022 and 2023 NFL regular seasons. They've started 0-1 in Dallas to open the 2024 season.
The Cowboys, despite being more than touchdown favorites going into the game against the visiting Saints, were ripped wire-to-wire and blown out, 44-19 in Week 2 . While New Orleans improves to 2-0, Dallas drops to 1-1 after winning at Cleveland in Week 1 and before hosting Baltimore in Week 3.
Beyond the obvious lopsided final score, here are some awful stats that led to the Cowboys' worst home-opening performance in modern franchise history.
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Dak Prescott had a rare bad home game
Prescott's record QB contract says he can't afford to go 27-for-39 for 293 yards when he throws for only one TD to two interceptions and gets sacked three times. The last time Prescott hit those latter bad marks at home was Week 10 in 2017 against the Eagles and Week 15 in 2017 against the Seahawks. The Cowboys were 9-7 that season, finishing in second place in the NFC East and missing the playoffs.
Prescott, who led the league in TD passes in 2023 with 36, has two after two games in 2024. He also had only 11 turnovers last season (nine interceptions).
The offensive line is in transition and the running game is unreliable. CeeDee Lamb is his only truly trusted wide receiver, and he was without favorite tight end Jake Ferguson on Sunday. That, plus the Saints holding a big lead, put Dak under consistent siege.
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The Cowboys' run defense has gotten worse
Dallas was No. 18 against the run last season, allowing on average 114.1 yards per game. The Cowboys allowed 93 to the Browns in Week 1, but that team was hurting up front and playing from behind for much of the game.
The Saints played from the lead and rocked the weakened Cowboys front for 190 yards at 4.9 yards per carry. Alvin Kamara made his explosive four-TD game look easy with his 118 rushing yards. Dallas took some personnel hits up front while going from Dan Quinn to Mike Zimmer at DC. It's still a defense built to rush the passer and cover, so getting behind is bad news for a snowball effect.
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The Cowboys' rushing offense has gotten worse
The Cowboys were No. 15 in the league rushing the ball last season, averaging 112.9 per game but only 4.1 yards per attempt. That was with Tony Pollard, an often explosive runner who could bump up the average and output with a few big games. They didn't re-sign Pollard and chose to bring back Ezekiel Elliott.
There was a ton on Prescott last season as the team threw more than 59 percent of the time. The Cowboys still threw at 58.3 percent when blowing out the Browns in Week 1. They had only 102 rushing yards in that game before dwindling to 68 vs. the Saints with Rico Dowdle leading the way over Elliott. They'll keep declining from the No. 21 run offense, once again tied to a transitional offensive line that also allowed more sacks for Prescott than usual at home.
The Cowboys are more big-play vulnerable vs. the pass
The Cowboys are weak at safety with Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson. That hurts when they don't have top cornerback DaRon Bland and have more gambling corner Trevon Diggs leading the secondary. The Cowboys are at their best going for turnovers, but they also can get burned when being too aggressive. Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave exposed that in calculated deep shots from Derek Carr playing off the run.
Rookie Caeleon Carson, filling in for Bland, is off to a rough start in allowing five catches. Hooker and Wilson continue to be graded low overall. The Browns didn't have the chance to truly test the back end minus Bland. The Saints were dedicated to attacking the weakness early and it paid off.
The Cowboys have gotten worse on third downs
Dallas converted at only 28.6 percent in the opener against the Browns' tough defense. The Saints' tough defense limited the Cowboys to 46.1, still not up to the standard of last season when they were the No. 2 in the league behind only the Bills, converting at 49.1 percent. The problem is having a tougher time on early downs with the run and not having consistent weapons behind Lamb to move the chains. Jalen Tolbert and Ferguson's backup Luke Schoonmaker provided only limited help, and Brandin Cooks once again went away from the game plan vs. one of his former teams.
The Cowboys' offensive line, backfield, and receiving corps all had pending issues for Prescott. The defensive front seven lost some pieces, and the Quinn departure and Bland injury have been huge.
The Saints' loss was a perfect storm of all these woes coming together and it won't get easier vs. a desperate Ravens team at home in Week 3.
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