Saints edge Cowboys
By Elwyn Henderson
The Dallas Cowboys, 2-0 in preseason play ended their preseason schedule Friday night hosting the 0-2 New Orleans Saints in a 7 PM contest. The Cowboys had not played any of their starters in the first two preseason game and fans were hopeful they would get at least a series or two from the starters in the only preseason game at AT&T Stadium this season. As it turned out, that was not in the cards and not a single starter saw action to begin the contest.
New Orleans won the coin toss and elected to receive to begin the game. Brandon Aubrey kicked off and the ball was caught and the5 and returned to the 33 where Spencer Rattler started at quarterback for the visitors.
The Saints moved down to the Dallas 21 and on a 4th and 6 Daniel Carlson booted a 38-yard field goal with 11:47 left in the first quarter to put New Orleans up 3-0. The drive was 7 plays, 47 yards and took 3:13 off the clock.
Carlson’s kickoff after the field goal went out of the end zone and Dallas began their first possession at their 35. Joe Milton started at quarterback for the Cowboys.
Dallas moved down to the Saints 31 and on a 4th and 6 Brandon Aubrey booted a 49-yard field goal with 7:53 left in the opening frame, tying the score 3-3. The drive was 8 plays, 34 yards and took 3:54.
The next Saints possession resulted in a 7-yard TD run by Barion Brown with 3:06 left in the quarter. The PAT by Carlson was good and New Orleans took a 10-3 lead. The drive was 10 plays, 71 yards and took 4:47 off the first quarter clock.
The next Dallas possession looked promising but after a 12-yard loss on a fumble the ‘Boys had to settle for a 51-yard field goal by Aubrey with exactly 14 minutes left in the first half, moving the score to 10-6 in favor of the visitors. The drive was 10 plays, 38 yards and consumed 4:06 of clock time.
New Orleans was forced to punt on their next possession and Dallas appeared to be set to get another 3 points from Aubrey but a 57-yard field goal fell short and the Saints took over after the missed kick.
On a 4th and 1 from the Dallas 44 a run was good for a first down, keeping the Saints offense on the field for another series. As a result, Rattler ran into the end zone from 8 yards out with 2:01 left in the first half for the second TD for the visitors. Charlie Smyth kicked the point after and the Saints went up 17-6. The drive was 6 plays, 53 yards and took 3:10.
The Cowboys managed a 58-yard Aubrey field goal with just 23 seconds left till halftime, capping a 6-play, 25-yard drive that consumed 1:38, bringing the Dallas deficit down to 17-9.
The Saints final possession of the half netted 4 yards on two runs and the half ended with Dallas set to receive the opening second half kickoff.
Dallas was unable to get a drive going and when the Saints got the ball back they moved 64 yards in 8 plays and took 3:45 off the third quarter clock before getting an 11-yard TD run by Zamir White with 9:41 left in the third stanza. The extra point was good and the visitors extended their lead to 24-7.
The Cowboys got their first TD of the game with 14:53 left in the contest when Sam Howell hit Jordan Hudson on a 26-yard TD pass to cap off a 3-play, 80-yard possession that took just 1:22. The extra point was good and Dallas trailed 24-16.
On their next possession Howell led the offense on a 12-play, 67-yard drive that took 7:04 off the fourth quarter clock and ended when he hit Mitch Von Vooren on a 21-yard TD pass with 6:11 left in the game. Dallas attempted a 2-point conversion to tie the game and Howell did the honors, spinning out of a tackle at the 1 to get into the end zone and the game was tied 24-24.
The Cowboys comeback was short-lived as the Saints moved into field goal range on their ensuing possession and Carlson nailed a 53-yard field goal down the middle with 1:55 left in the game. The drive was 8 plays, 44 yards and took 4:16 off the clock.
Dallas began their next possession at their 26. An incomplete pass on 4th down fell incomplete and New Orleans took over on downs at the Dallas 39 with 38 seconds left. They took a knee out of the victory formation and the game came to a close with the Saints taking the 27-24 win and the 2026 preseason came to a close.
When Coach Brian Schottenheimer held his postgame press conference the Mirror asked him if in all his years of football this was the best group of talent he has ever been part of in preseason.
“It’s hard to compare. I’ve been here five years and I’ll say this, I’m thrilled with this roster. I said it a week or so ago. I’ve maybe said it twice when we were in Oxnard. And I don’t want to look back, but you asked the question, if you put our roster from last year tonight compared to our roster tonight, this year, and it’s significantly different. And not only that, but I do think that the guys that are here that were great players maybe last year now have a stronger voice and the leadership from the locker room. I want this team to be led by the locker room. I’m the head coach and that’s part of the deal, but I hear Kenny Clark all the time now. I hear Quinnen Williams. I hear Dee Winters. I hear Jake Ferguson. And I think that’s one of the things that excites me the most is the way these guys have come together and truly are a special bonded group and the brotherhood of the room.”
The cut down to the final 53-man roster must be completed by this Sunday, August 30th at 5 PM Central Time. The Dallas coaches have some really hard decisions to make in the coming hours to try to make sure they keep the best 53 players for all the positions on the team. It is not an enviable situation to be in but it is part of the job in the NFL.
