The anatomy of Cowboys’ blowout loss to Saints summed up in 4 plays

The Dallas Cowboys entered Sunday with a ton of hope for what the 2024 season could mean to them. They survived a tumultuous offseason that saw their owner, Jerry Jones, gaslight the entire fanbase with an “all-in” comment that didn’t result in huge talent investments. Still, late-summer signings had them arriving at the regular season with franchise quarterback (Dak Prescott) and star receiver (CeeDee Lamb) in tow, ready to face the new campaign.

But the euphoria from their Week 1 demolition of the Cleveland Browns wore off in a hurry on Sunday. In their home opener, the team that had won 16 consecutive regular season games and six-straight Noon contests at AT&T by a 211-91 margin did not show up. Instead, the have-no-answer version that got embarrassed in the Wild-Card round against upstart Green Bay is who faced off against the New Orleans Saints.

And in similar fashion, a blowout ensued. The Saints won, 44-19, and the desecration can be pinpointed in these four plays.

NO-1-10-DAL 44 (11:34) D.Carr pass deep right to C.Olave pushed ob at DAL 5 for 39 yards (T.Diggs).

On the game’s opening drive, the Saints looked to establish their offensive identity and rhythm. Dallas had a chance to force a 3-and-out but the pressure from Micah Parsons was muted by Alvin Kamara, allowing Carr enough time to find Rashid Shaheed on a crossing pattern where he had broken free from rookie CB Caelen Carson for 17 yards.

Three plays later, the big play of the drive took place.

On 1st-and-10 from the Cowboys’ 44-yard line, the Saints lined up in 12 personnel with a tight end inline right before motioning to inline left. The Move tight end, Foster Moreau, followed him from a Z alignment into the backfield as extra protection. The Cowboys were in zone, and LCB Trevon Diggs bailed backwards as Moreau began his motion.

Carr was under center allowing a mild play-action fake to Alvin Kamara and there was no pressure to be found. Chris Olave was aligned on Diggs side of the field and after the defender bailed, crossed inside over the middle with several yards of free space to roam. He got to the right sideline before turning upfield for what would be a 39-yard completion to set up 1st-and-goal from the five yard line.

Kamara would easily get into the end zone on the next play to open the scoring.