Cowboys vs Saints: The good, bad, and ugly from the Week 2 disappointment

Just about everything on Sunday was ugly for the Dallas Cowboys.

After dominating the Cleveland Browns in the season opener in all three phases of the game, hopes were high the Dallas Cowboys would carry over that momentum into the Week 2 matchup with the New Orleans Saints. Unfortunately, any hopes of that happening where almost immediately crushed.

From the opening kickoff, the New Orleans Saints dominated this Week 2 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys. New Orleans was clearly the better team Sunday afternoon and easily walked away with the 44-19 victory to ruin the Cowboys 2024 home opener at AT&T Stadium.

The Cowboys Jekyll and Hyde act through the first two weeks of the 2024 season all but confirms we really don’t know exactly what this team is capable of this year. It’s definitely been a mixed bag for them to start the season. Today, we are going to take a look at the good, bad, and ugly from their Week 2 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

THE GOOD – Brandon Aubrey

Shout out to Jalen Tolbert for his tremendous 39-yard catch in the third quarter.

And CeeDee Lamb’s touchdown catch was one of the few positives from Dallas’ home opener, but it was painfully obvious the only really good thing from the Dallas Cowboys Week 2 loss to the New Orleans Saints was Brandon Aubrey. He was once again a perfect four of four on field goal attempts with a long from 53 yards. Right now, he is arguably the most consistent weapon they have on their entire roster through the first two weeks of the 2024 season.

THE BAD – Dak Prescott and the offense

The Cowboys were able to move the ball against the Saints defense Sunday afternoon, finishing with a total of 353 yards (285 passing, 68 rushing). Minus the touchdown catch by CeeDee Lamb, and the acrobatic 39-yard catch by Jalen Tolbert, Dak Prescott and the offense really struggled with big plays, and as a result relied on field goals for the majority of their points. Meanwhile, the Saints were scoring touchdowns. They get props for moving the ball, but they were bad when it came to putting touchdowns on the board.

THE UGLY – Mike Zimmer’s defense

Mike Zimmer received a lot of praise after the Cowboys Week 1 victory over the Browns, but will shoulder a lot of the blame for the way his defense played in Week 2 against the Saints. New Orleans absolutely shredded Dallas’ defense Sunday afternoon. Derek Carr was virtually untouched the entire game and carved them up through the air, but it was Alvin Kamara who did most of the damage rushing for 115 yards on the ground and three touchdowns and also adding 65 yards and a touchdown through the air. It was simply ugly and embarrassing.