The Dallas Cowboys’ impressive 16-game home winning streak has ended after a tough loss to the New Orleans Saints.
During the home opener on Sunday, the Saints dominated, scoring touchdowns on their first six possessions, leading to a 44-19 defeat for the Cowboys. The loud “Who Dat?” chants from the visiting fans grew more frequent as the game progressed.
This loss was particularly disappointing for the Cowboys (1-1), who had high expectations following a strong season opener at Cleveland and Dak Prescott’s first game after signing a $240 million, four-year contract.
The Cowboys fell behind 27-0 in a wild-card loss to Green Bay eight months ago, and they were trailing 35-16 at halftime against the Saints.
“I’m not comparing last year to this year. We’re talking two completely different teams honestly,” Prescott said. “Talking a whole different defensive coordinator. You’re talking new players in different positions, particularly on offense.”
Despite this setback, the season is far from over.
“Got to reset, and we’ve got to respond. … We’re not going undefeated. It hasn’t been done in 50 years, what a surprise,” Prescott added.
“We’ve got so much ahead of us,” said owner Jerry Jones. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a lot of good players that can do the work. I’m confident we’ll get it done. We’ll learn from this.”
Prescott completed 27 of 39 passes for 293 yards and a touchdown but threw two interceptions and was sacked three times.
Dallas is now the only team besides New England since 2000 to have a 16-game home winning streak; the Patriots had four streaks in that time. The Cowboys’ previous regular-season loss at AT&T Stadium was the 2022 opener against Tampa Bay, and they fell short of their franchise-record 18 consecutive home wins from 1979-81.