The 2024 New Orleans Saints have been on fire the first two weeks of the season. They opened the year with a 47-10 drubbing of the Carolina Panthers in the first week of the season. It was easy for some to ignore that showing as a fluke. It was the first week of the season, and the Panthers are arguably the worst team in the league. It could easily be fools’ gold, and Week 2 would present the Saints with a real challenge in the form of the Dallas Cowboys.
Well, the Saints took that to heart and the offense was once again on fire in Week 2, putting up another 40-point performance against the Cowboys on their way to a 2-0 start. The 44-19 victory over the Cowboys gives the Saints’ offense 91 points through the first two games of the season – uncharted territory for the Saints, or many other teams, in the Super Bowl era.
There’s only one team in NFL history since the merger to score more points through the first two weeks of the season than the 2024 Saints. That team? The 2009 version of the Saints who went on to win the Super Bowl.
There’s a lot of season to be played between now and Super Bowl 59 – which conveniently takes place in the Saints’ home stadium. But from the looks of the first two weeks of the season, the Saints could certainly be looking at becoming just the second team in NFL history to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium. Much of the credit for the Saints’ offensive surge in 2024 has to go to new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
Kubiak and his offensive scheme seem to have revitalized not only starting quarterback Derek Carr, but also starting running back Alvin Kamara. Kamara went off on Sunday against the Cowboys, to the tune of 180 total yards and four touchdowns. Carr added 243 yards and two touchdowns of his own, on just 16 attempts.
Kamara’s performance was his second career game with over 150 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns – the other being on Christmas in 2020 where he tied the all-time mark with six touchdowns. Only two running backs in the Super Bowl era have more such games: Chargers running back LaDanian Tomlinson and Colts/Rams running back Marshall Faulk.
For his part in orchestrating the offense, Carr is currently sitting in 12th place in terms of passing yards on the young season with 443, but he’s leading the league in terms of yards per attempt at 11.4, is tied for the lead in passing touchdowns with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield with five, and leads all quarterbacks in passer rating through two games with a rating of 142.4.
It’s a long season, and the next three games on the Saints’ schedule will tell us a lot about where they are as a team, but it may be time to start taking the Saints seriously as one of the best teams in the NFC – if not the entire NFL – in 2024.