Saints QB Derek Carr sends urgent message after ‘cool’ start to season

There are many ways to describe the New Orleans Saints’ 2-0 start to the 2024 NFL season. Some would say “surprising,” others would say “incredible.” Derek Carr? Well, the Saints quarterback thinks it’s all very “cool.”

In the first two games of the season, New Orleans has outscored every opponent. In Week 1, Carr and the Saints outscored their NFC South rival, the Carolina Panthers, 47-10. A wide margin, to be sure, but a victory over Carolina was widely expected. But New Orleans’ performance against the Dallas Cowboys was surprising in how badly it was defeated.

Carr completed just 11 passes Sunday in Arlington, Texas, but that was all he needed. The QB completed 11 of 16 passes and threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns en route to a 44-19 blowout win over Dallas. The Saints, in particular, dominated on the ground — while the Cowboys managed just 68 yards rushing, the Saints managed 190 yards and four touchdowns, most of them thanks to running back Alvin Kamara.

Carr, in his second season in New Orleans, wisely understands that his team’s early offensive explosion and 2-0 start to the season mean little in the games ahead.

“It’s tough to score that many times in this league,” Carr said, via John DeShazier. “Obviously, you want to keep doing that. You want to keep putting pressure on defenses and things like that.
“You see the stats, you see the numbers of the whole offense and where it fits in history and all that kind of stuff, and that’s cool. But at the same time, it doesn’t mean anything this week.”

Derek Carr and the Saints host the Eagles this weekend

The New Orleans Saints will next face the Philadelphia Eagles. On Monday Night Football, the Eagles blew a late lead, allowing the Atlanta Falcons, another NFC South rival of the Saints, to steal a game from Philadelphia.

Through the first two games of the year, the Eagles rank third in the NFL in yards allowed, sixth in scoring defense, fifth in passing yards and touchdowns allowed, eighth in rushing yards allowed, and last in rushing yards allowed per attempt.

Conversely, the Saints unsurprisingly rank at or near the top in many offensive statistical categories: New Orleans is among the top five in the league in points scored, yards gained, passing touchdowns, net passing yards per attempt, rushing attempts, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.

The Saints and Eagles kick off at 12 p.m. CT Sunday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.