METAIRIE, La. — It hasn’t happened very often since Sean Payton took over as coach back in 2006, and especially not since the Saints won the Super Bowl after the 2009 season, but New Orleans was anything but competitive Sunday night in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Saints (1-3) trailed 24-0 at halftime and 31-3 midway through the third quarter before fighting back a little in a 38-17 setback in Arlington, Texas. New Orleans drubbed Dallas 49-17 last season in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

There were worse losses on the scoreboard, but numbers alone don’t tell how bad the Saints were after going into AT&T Stadium off their first win of the season, a 20-9 decision over the Minnesota Vikings.

The good New Orleans did in that game was undone early by the Cowboys, who dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage and never let up.

While the Payton era includes a few stinkers, few looked and smelled like what happened against the Cowboys, who piled up 445 yards of total offense — including 190 yards on the ground.

The Saints’ offense, meanwhile, had its problems for the third consecutive week. The special teams weren’t much better, as New Orleans missed a 41-yard field goal by Shayne Graham in the first half and botched a fake punt attempt in the final quarter, sapping what little momentum the Saints managed to gather.

“We struggled offensively, defensively, kicking game, coaching,” he said before heading to the airport for a long plane ride home. “There’s not going to be much good to see on this (game) tape. We’re 1-3 right now, and that’s about how well we are playing.”

REPORT CARD VS. COWBOYS

PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus — The final numbers didn’t look all that bad when you consider Drew Brees was 32 of 44 for 340 yards with two touchdown passes, one interception and a 100.6 passer rating. However, the first half was bad, as the Saints managed only 84 passing yards with Brees hitting on 10 of 13 pass attempts. His first-quarter interception helped drop the Saints into a 24-0 hole at halftime. The second half was more productive with Brees completing 22 of 31 attempts for 256 yards with two scores. TE Jimmy Graham had eight catches for 86 yards and a 13-yard touchdown, while RB Travaris Cadet gained 59 yards on six receptions. TE Josh Hill scored a touchdown for the second consecutive game.

RUSHING OFFENSE: B-minus — The good news is that the Saints averaged 8.0 yards per carry. The bad: They had only 13 attempts because they had to all but abandon the run when they came out for the second half staring at a 24-point deficit. Other than RB Khiry Robinson’s 62-yard burst in the fourth quarter, the Saints managed only 42 yards on 12 carries (3.5-yard average).

PASS DEFENSE: D — QB Tony Romo came out and connected on his first nine attempts to kick-start a satisfying evening. He wound up completing 22 of 29 pass attempts for 262 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Romo was sacked just once and had a 137.4 passer rating. The Saints were intent on taking WR Dez Bryant out of the game with CB Keenan Lewis shadowing him on every play, leaving WR Terrance Williams to catch six passes for 77 yards with touchdowns of 6 and 23 yards. As usual, TE Jason Witten was a prominent target with five grabs for 61 yards, while Bryant still managed three receptions for 44 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown late in the game.

RUSH DEFENSE: F — The Saints went into the season hoping to see an improvement against the run, but it didn’t happen Sunday night. The Cowboys found the going tough early with RB DeMarco Murray being held to gains of 1, 1 and 2 yards on Dallas’ first drive. After that, he crushed the Saints with 145 yards on his next 21 carries and finished with 149 yards and a 6.2 average on 24 attempts. He found little resistance on his touchdown runs of 15 and 28 yards, the latter giving the Cowboys a commanding 31-3 lead midway through the third quarter. As a team, Dallas rocked the Saints for 190 yards on 35 attempts, an average of 5.4 yards per attempt. In addition to Murray’s 15- and 28-yard jaunts, the Cowboys got a 21-yarder from Romo and a 14-yard blast from RB Joseph Randle in relief of Murray.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C — PK Shayne Graham missed a 41-yard field goal after having a low-trajectory extra-point attempt partially blocked in the previous game, which could put him on shaky ground with coach Sean Payton. Thomas Morstead averaged 41.5 yards on two punts, but he was tackled for a sack when the Saints ran a fake on fourth-and-9 from their own 41 in the fourth quarter. The Saints allowed no punt returns and only one kickoff return for 30 yards, but they had no return yardage on seven kickoffs and averaged 7.5 yards on two punt returns.

COACHING: D — Payton was naturally upset after the first two losses of the season, and his team struggled again in its only win, Week 3 against the Minnesota Vikings. However, after losing twice on late field goals, the Saints were lethargic on offense and defense against the Cowboys, and none of the buttons pushed by Payton worked. It was evident from the start, and they trailed 24-0 at halftime and 31-3 midway through the third quarter. For one of the few times in Payton’s eight-year stint with the team, the Saints weren’t competitive.