The Dallas Cowboys were so close to greatness. Dak Prescott had quarterbacked his way into a 16-game win streak at home in the regular season, and one of the last passers to outduel him — Tom Brady, whose Tampa Bay Buccaneers won a too-close 2021 season opener in Dallas — was in the FOX Sports broadcast booth. All the Cowboys needed was two more wins at home to tie their franchise record.
So it’s fitting that the New Orleans Saints cut them off at 16. And they didn’t waste much time doing it. A methodical opening touchdown drive was followed up with another strike, and then more, and more, and more. Before they knew what had happened the Cowboys had fallen into a sunken place and could only look up at themselves sitting on their bench, projected on a 160-foot video screen. It was a miserable cycle.
But not for the Saints. Gone are the days where the Saints are seen as a team that can’t win outside New Orleans. They’ve beaten opponents on the road like the Cowboys in Dallas and the Cleveland Browns in frozen-solid Ohio. And on Sunday they reveled in their victory and celebrated it in the streets and all the way back to New Orleans.
Whether you agreed that the Cowboys were Super Bowl contenders or not, they were a quality opponent, and this was a quality win for the Saints. So take some time and enjoy it before the next challenge appears next Sunday.
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