The Saints not only opened the 2024 NFL season on Sunday.

They blew it up.

Their 47-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers was so overwhelming, so dizzying and confident, that it exceeded all expectations, even those of the blindest optimists at Who Dat.

There is no such thing as a perfect football game, but in the first 50 minutes of this game the Saints came close to creating one.

Growing pains?

kinks?

Transition period?

The Saints experienced none of that. They scored on an incredible nine consecutive possessions to start the game. No, that’s not a misprint. And yes, Derek Carr was the quarterback on all nine series, many of which were set up by a dominant defense that forced three turnovers and sacked quarterback Bryce Young four more times.

“I’ve been here a while and I know what it’s supposed to feel like, and today it felt good,” running back Alvin Kamara said. “It’s definitely exciting.”

It’s been a while since Saints fans celebrated like they did here in the Superdome. Less than a year ago, many of them were in the same building booing the Saints and Carr off the field.

On Sunday there was nothing but jubilation. And the party started early.

The Saints scored their first touchdown in less than three minutes.

Fourteen seconds later they had their first takeaway.

Two minutes later they scored another field goal.

Nine minutes later another touchdown.

The Saints scored as many points (20) in the first 23 minutes as they did in each of their first four games last season. By halftime, they had scored on all six of their first-half possessions, and the only mystery that remained was the magnitude of the victory margin. The Panthers, meanwhile, seemed poised to head to MSY and grab an early home standby against Charlotte.

All in all, it was the most redeeming home game in years.

“We’re going to enjoy this,” said Saints coach Dennis Allen. “It’s hard to get something like this.”

The last time the Saints had such a euphoric start to a season was in 2021, when they crushed the Green Bay Packers 38-3. But that game was played in Jacksonville, Florida, and was essentially an away game.

The last time they opened a season with a loss like that in the Superdome was in 2009, when they crushed Detroit 45-27. We all know what happened that year.

It’s way too early to compare this Saints team to the Super Bowl winners, but for four quarters against the Panthers, they looked pretty decent.

New offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak seemed to be a genius at play calling. He was aggressive and creative, and everything he set up in his new scheme seemed to work.

Kamara looked like the 2018 version of himself. He ran for 83 yards and added 27 more through the air, averaging 5.4 yards per touch.

Carr looked like a guy who had been given the keys to a new Lamborghini. His 19-of-23 (82.6%), three touchdowns, and 200 yards performance was, if I may say so, as efficient as Brees.

Alontae Taylor looked like a future Pro Bowler and became the first Saints defensive back ever to record three sacks in a game.

And Tyrann Mathieu looked like, well, the holy honey badger himself as he forced and recovered a crucial fumble like only he can.

“Of course, this is one of those victories that you just have to enjoy, just because of the significance,” said Mathieu. “For us, it was a big thing to come home and play in front of our fans, to deliver this performance.”

Who knows where this will lead?

The Panthers are objectively bad. They were the worst team in the league last year, and nothing they did on Sunday makes anyone think it will be any different this season.

And historically, opening games have had little significance in defining a season.

A year ago, the Saints started the season 2-0, but a few weeks later things weren’t going so well.

In 2021, the Packers rebounded from their disastrous opening performance, winning their next seven games and finally making it to the NFC Championship game. The Saints missed the playoffs entirely.

What I’m saying is that there’s still a lot of football left to play, and the Panthers were so awfully bad that it’s difficult to give a true assessment of what we saw. We’ll get a better gauge next week in Dallas, when the Saints face the star-studded Cowboys and their newly enriched quarterback, Dak Prescott.

Nevertheless, you don’t complain about 47:10 defeats. Not in home openers. And not in this league.

“I prayed for those days,” Carr said. “It was great.”

It is definitely better than the alternative.

For one day at least, Allen’s team looked like a real force to be reckoned with, and for the first time in a long time, the Saints’ football game was fun again.