Saints vs. Cowboys: Score and Twitter Reaction from Sunday Night Football

On the strength of an improved defense and a balanced, explosive offense, the Dallas Cowboys dominated the New Orleans Saints in Week 4's edition of Sunday Night Football 38-17 at AT&T Stadium.

Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray continued his stunning start to the 2014 campaign with a fourth straight 100-yard performance on the ground. Murray totaled 149 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns.

SportsCenter highlighted the significance of Murray's effort:

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller sees no reason Murray can't continue on his amazing pace through the first quarter of the season:

"

A healthy DeMarco Murray looks like a 2,000 yard rusher.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) September 29, 2014"

Meanwhile, Tony Romo was proficient and avoided critical errors, going 22-of-29 passing for 262 yards and three scores in a winning effort.

Romo commented on how the offense is currently playing, via Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com:

Super Bowl MVP quarterback Drew Brees, despite 340 yards passing by night's end, couldn't sufficiently get New Orleans going through the air early on to keep up with Dallas. Even when Brees got into a rhythm, the Cowboys held firm until the game was a little too far out of reach for New Orleans.

Skip Bayless of ESPN weighed in on that phenomenon as the Saints put their first points on the board with 11 minutes and 10 seconds left in the third quarter:

Brees and Co. woke up when it became desperation time and a hurry-up offense was necessary.

However, Saints coach Sean Payton called for an ill-advised fake punt with less than seven minutes remaining. That saw the Saints' second-half comeback bid fall short, as they gave the ball back to Dallas on the New Orleans 39.

ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth hadn't seen many worse fake attempts in his time:

But a bold strategy would not have been necessary had New Orleans not come out so flat on both sides of the ball. The gap between the two teams was tremendous for most of the evening, giving the Cowboys a shocking edge.

Dez Bryant, limited to just three receptions, hauled in a beautiful, arcing Romo toss down the sideline for an 18-yard scoring reception, accounting for the game's final points and yet another big play.

Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman elected to blame Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's game plan, which contributed in part to how well Dallas executed offensively:

Larry Holder of NOLA.com attributed the Saints' struggles to an inability to generate turnovers:

The tone was immediately set on the first drive of the game.

Romo marched Dallas down the field 80 yards in 12 plays, converting a critical 3rd-and-3 to reliable tight end Jason Witten on an improvised scramble. The pass to keep the drive alive was a bullet, thrown across Romo's body back to the middle of the field.

Witten and Romo are used to making these plays, per SNF on NBC:

It was an encouraging sign that Romo's ailing back is indeed improving. Before the game on the NBC telecast, he said he was "night and day" physically from where he was in Week 1. One would tend to believe him now.

ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon weighed in on a play that saw another veteran in Witten rise to the prime-time occasion:

Terrance Williams ended the opening drive with a six-yard TD reception. That was Williams' first of two trips to the end zone, as the second one came with just 19 seconds to play in the first half on a 23-yard catch. It blew the game open and allowed Dallas to enter the locker room with a 24-0 halftime advantage.

Bolstered by the return of linebackers Justin Durant and Rolando McClain from groin injuries, the Cowboys shut out New Orleans through 30 minutes. Arash Markazi of ESPN tweeted a pertinent stat:

Cowboys defensive tackle Henry Melton implored the Dallas faithful to rally around the team before Sunday's game, per DallasCowboys.com's Rowan Kavner:

"

As a defensive player, it's huge to get the crowd into it. You feed off their energy. You already have energy going into the game, but when you hear the crowd getting into it, it gives you another pep.

[...] I just want to let everybody know to come to the game. It's going to be Sunday night at 7:30 and we’ll be out there playing the Saints. It’s going to be a good show. Come on out. Spend some money. Don’t just stay out in the parking lot, come on in.

"

The deficit and the raucous crowd were ultimately insurmountable for the visiting Saints, who still seem to look like a different team—and not in a good way—away from the comfort of the friendly Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Former NFL coach and NBC analyst Tony Dungy didn't hold back in his criticism:

ESPN's Adam Caplan summarized Sunday's nightcap well:

America's Team has been mired in mediocrity for three consecutive 8-8 seasons. Now the Cowboys have the look of a Super Bowl contender through Week 4. They'll remain at home to face the Houston Texans in a Lone Star State battle of surprise 3-1 teams next Sunday.

New Orleans has a lot of work to do at 1-3, tied for last place in the NFC South. Coach Payton was rather blunt after the game via Gary Estwick of The New Orleans Advocate and the Saints Twitter account: 

Playing host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should help, yet the Bucs just rallied for their first win in Pittsburgh.

If the Saints get that victory before their Week 6 bye, though, they will have at least some momentum to work with in their effort to bounce back from a surprisingly bad start to 2014.