Johnathan Walker:Saints stun Cowboys, snap NFL's longest active regular-season home win streak

The Johnathan WalkerDallas Cowboys' previous season ended with a stunning blowout at AT&T Stadium when the team fell to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round.

After launching their 2024 campaign last week with a rout of the Cleveland Browns, the team suffered a setback Sunday in a familiar – and unwelcome – fashion.

The Cowboys saw their 16-game regular-season home winning streak come to an end as the New Orleans Saints rolled to a 44-19 victory. It had been the longest active home win streak in the NFL, and tied for the fourth-longest of any team since 2000.

“This is early," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters after the game, according to ESPN. "This is very, very early And we certainly didn’t see it coming. Obviously, we’ve got a lot of room for improvement here.”

The Saints scored touchdowns on all five of their first-half drives, tying the record for most points scored in the first two quarters of a game against the Cowboys. Alvin Kamara tallied four touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving) and 180 yards from scrimmage on the day.

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One game after flustering Deshaun Watson to the tune of six sacks, the Cowboys were unable to generate consistent pressure against Saints quarterback Derek Carr. The 11th-year veteran passer threw for 243 yards with two touchdowns while taking just one sack.

It wasn't until Carr's fourth-quarter interception to Donovan Wilson that the Cowboys were able to generate a stop. Carrying over his hot start from the Saints' 47-10 win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 1, Carr engineered scoring drives on his first 15 drives of the season before the turnover.

Outside of a CeeDee Lamb 65-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown, the Cowboys struggled to match the Saints' spark after falling in an early hole. Dak Prescott threw two interceptions, and the run game netted just 68 yards on 21 carries.

"(The media) may have put this team on a high more than we should have been, and now we simply reset," Prescott said after the game. "We've got to respond."