Cowboys Country

3 winners & 5 losers from Cowboys brutal loss to Saints in Week 2

It was hard to find too many positives as the Dallas Cowboys were run out of the building by the New Orleans Saints.

Randy Gurzi

Dallas Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson
Dallas Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
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Thankfully, this only counts as one loss for Dallas Cowboys.

Dallas hosted the New Orleans Saints in Week 2 and it was a tough one to watch. From the kick off, the Saints were the better team. They were more disciplined, more explosive, and simply the smarter team.

MORE: 4 takeaways from Cowboys' abysmal loss vs. Saints in Week 2

The final score was 44-19 but that's misleading since the Saints took their foot off the gas in the second half.

With such a lopsided game, it's hard to find too many positives which is why the winners and losers from Week 2 is heavy in the "L" column.

Loser: Jalen Brooks, WR

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Brooks
New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo (29) intercepts a ball intended for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Brooks (83) / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Trailing 28-13, the Cowboys could have pulled within a score heading into the half. That could have been huge since they were set to get the second-half kick off. Unfortunately, they couldn't capatilize as Jalen Brooks slipped while running a route, allowing Paulson Adebo to pick off a pass from Dak Prescott.

Adebo returned it 47 yards, setting up the Sains at the Dallas. 20. Derek Carr punched it in from one-yard out, giving the road team a 35-13 lead. Brooks ended the game with one reception for 10 yards.

Winner: Jalen Tolbert, WR

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Tolbert
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Tolbert (1) catches a pass against New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo (29) / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

As Jalen Brooks struggled, Jalen Tolbert might have finally broken out.

Tolbert had an impressive stat line, hauling in 82 yards on six receptions. One of those was a 39-yarder, and really wasn't a great pass. Tolbert was covered up by Paulson Adebo but still made a great adjustment and held onto the ball as he hit the turf.

He was also wide open for another huge gain but Dak Prescott floated the pass and Tyrann Mathieu was able to catch up and deliver the hit stick on Tolbert to break up the play.

Tolbert even made a play to save points when he recovered the ball following a Prescott fumble. It appeared New Orleans would wind up with the ball but Tolbert's hustle play allowed Brandon Aubrey to knock in a kick from 40 yards out.

Loser: Cowboys pass coverage

Dallas Cowboys vs Saints
Dallas Cowboys vs Saints / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Derek Carr had no issues carving through the secondary on the opening drive, gong 3-of-3 for 35 yards. His long was a 39-yarder to Chris Olave which set up the touchdown. Olave beat Trevon Diggs while Rashid Shaheed caught two passes for 26 yards, beating Caelen Carson and Damone Clark.

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That didn't change throughout the day as Carr and the Saints went into the half with a massive 35-16 lead thanks in large part to Carr going for 222 yards on 9-of-11 passing. He completed just two more passes in the second half but had 243 yards on just 16 attempts. That's not good and it was the entire defense that struggled.

Winner: CeeDee Lamb, WR

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Dallas finally got a spark on offense in the second quarter that kept them in the game — at least momentarily. With New Orleans up 21-6, Dak Prescott hit CeeDee Lamb for a completion and he was able to avoid being taking down by two defenders. He turned it upfield and ran it in for a 65-yard touchdown.

Lamb nearly had another touchdown earlier in the first half but he and Prescott weren't on the same page. He finished with 90 yards on four receptions, which feels low, but he was still the only player on this team to see the end zone on Sunday.

Loser: Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson, S

Dallas Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson
Dallas Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Already trailing 7-3, the Cowboys defense needed to find a spark on the second drive. That's not what happened as they allowed a touchdown on the first snap of the series.

This time, Carr fired it deep for Shaheed who had no problem going right past safety Malik Hooker. The other starting safety, Donovan Wilson, was unable to give any help as they both had to watch the third-year wideout walk in for a 70-yard touchdown.

Wilson was also flagged for a defensive hold on a third-down play, which was declined since Olave secured a first-down grab. But Wilson would have given the Saints a fresh set of downs even if they could have held up.

Winner: Brandon Aubrey, K

Dallas Cowboys Brandon Aubrey
Dallas Cowboys Brandon Aubrey / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Cowboys offense had some positives to take out of their loss in Week 2 but there was also one glaring issue — they couldn't close out drives by getting in the end zone.

This was an issue all throughout 2023 and remains the case this year. Against Cleveland, they turned to Brandon Aubrey four times and he knocked in every attempt. That didn't change in Week 2 as he was again 4-of-4, including a 53-yarder.

Loser: Mike Zimmer, Defensive Coordinator

Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer / Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

Mike Zimmer was being praised for his work in Week 1. His defense made life miserable for Deshaun Watson and the Cowboys needed him to step it up against the Saints, who were electric on offense in Week 1.

From the first drive, it was easy to see Zimmer had no answers for Klint Kubiak's offense. Not only did Derek Carr throw for 243 yards and two touchdowns but New Orleans also had 190 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. They had one sack and one interception but outside of those two, every other play was an absolute disaster.

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Randy Gurzi

RANDY GURZI

Arizona State grad

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