Kellen Moore finally got the first preseason win of his Saints head-coaching stint, and he did it in a place that carried a little extra meaning: Dallas. New Orleans pulled out a 27-24 road victory over the Cowboys on Friday night, giving Moore his first exhibition win after opening his preseason run 0-4-1 dating back to last year.
The Saints didn’t just survive the night - they showed a few things worth filing away before the real roster churn begins.
For starters, the discipline was much better. After getting hit with a dozen penalties in their previous preseason game, New Orleans cleaned it up in a big way.
The Saints were flagged only three times for 39 yards, while Dallas finished with six penalties for 45 yards. One of New Orleans’ accepted fouls came on what the source described as a weak call against Danny Stutsman early on.
Still, the overall picture was clear: the Saints played a far more controlled, methodical game after the ugly loss last week.
The ground game also gave them plenty to like. Rookie wide receiver Barion Brown added some pop with jet sweeps, and Audric Estime was especially productive, piling up 46 rushing yards on just four carries.
Even when you strip out his 33-yard burst, he still averaged 4.3 yards per attempt. Kendre Miller and Zamir White both topped four yards per carry, and short-yardage back CJ Donaldson chipped in with some chunk gains as well.
The run game looked sturdy enough to suggest New Orleans may be stronger up front than expected.
And then there was Daniel Carlson, who showed he could knock down a field goal from 50-plus yards. That may be enough for the Saints to feel like they have their kicker.
The warning signs were still there, though. New Orleans let a 24-6 lead get uncomfortable after Sam Howell started connecting on deep throws to rookie wide receiver Jordon Hudson.
Howell hit Hudson for a 52-yard gain to get Dallas into scoring range, then went back to him on a 26-yard strike. That sequence helped slice into the Saints’ cushion and opened the door for the Cowboys to pull even.
The depth at cornerback was tested, and for the most part, it didn’t hold up cleanly.
The pass rush also left something to be desired. New Orleans managed just two sacks on at least 35 dropbacks by the Cowboys quarterbacks, who also scrambled a couple of times.
The Saints still haven’t shown their best pass rushers in a game, and they haven’t gone against an opponent’s top blockers in live action either. That part of the evaluation remains incomplete.
Even so, the broader takeaway from Friday night is hard to ignore. Maybe this Saints team isn’t nearly as shaky as it looked after last week’s shutout loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Maybe it’s closer to the Cowboys team that missed the playoffs last season. Maybe it’s better than that.
For the first time, New Orleans had Kellen Moore calling plays and Brandon Staley running the defense after assistants handled the headsets in earlier weeks. The Saints still haven’t taken the field at full strength with all of their offseason additions in place, but there was enough here to leave with some optimism. If this game said anything, it’s that the season ahead could be pretty fun.
Now comes the part nobody enjoys: roster cuts. Teams have until 5 p.m.
CT on Sunday, Aug. 30 to go from 90 players down to 53, and plenty of careers will be on the line. After that, the Saints will keep working the phones for possible trades or free-agent help while sorting through injuries and figuring out who might return early this season and who needs more time.
It’s going to be a busy stretch.
In Other News...
Saints Backfield Suddenly Has A New Reason For Optimism
Within days of arriving in New Orleans, Zamir White was already part of the conversation in the Saints backfield. The running back came over from the San Francisco 49ers in a player-for-player trade and got on the field quickly enough to make an impression in the Saints final preseason game, a 27-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys. With injuries thinning out the room, the team needed signs that the ground game could still hold together, and White offered one right away.
He needed only his second carry in a Saints uniform to find the end zone, breaking off an 11-yard touchdown that added a little more life to a rushing attack that had been searching for stability. The performance came with contributions from several backs, which is exactly the kind of depth New Orleans has been trying to build while navigating the injury issues around it. For a unit that entered the preseason with questions, Whites fast start gave the Saints a reason to feel better about what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Cutdown Fallout Starts With One Receiver Saints Fans Just Saw
The Cowboys 27-24 preseason loss to the Saints also pushed their roster decisions into sharper focus, and rookie wide receiver Jordan Hudson is one of the first names drawing attention. Hudson had only limited production in exhibition play, and with cutdown time arriving soon, his path to the 53-man roster looks narrow after a summer spent trying to carve out a role.
What comes next for Hudson remains the real question. He could still land on a practice squad, either in Dallas or elsewhere, or choose to take advantage of the transfer option that would allow him to return to college football for another season. For Saints fans who just saw him across the field, he may end up being one of those preseason names worth remembering even after the roster math is done. [Read more 🡒]
Saints End Preseason With Two Roster Questions Suddenly Worth Watching
The Saints closed the preseason with a 27-24 win over the Cowboys, and the result came with the kind of late-August details coaches like to see: multiple rushing touchdowns, two field goals from Daniel Carlson and enough productivity on both sides of the ball to make the final tune-up feel worthwhile. It was the sort of game that offered a glimpse of depth rather than a clean answer, with Zach Wilson and Spencer Rattler both among the notable contributors as New Orleans sorted through its final evaluations.
Now the attention shifts from the scoreboard to the roster, where a couple of position battles have become suddenly more interesting after the way the preseason wrapped. The Saints still have decisions to make before the regular season arrives, and the encouraging part is that several players gave the staff something to think about in a game that mattered more for standing than for style. [Read more 🡒]