METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert sounded jubilant during a postgame radio show as he reviewed everything he thought New Orleans did well in its lopsided, Week 2 road victory over the favored Dallas Cowboys.
It was a long list of successes in areas that included the running game, passing game, pass rush and pass defense — and it took him more than 10 minutes to get through it.
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New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (22) and wide receiver Chris Olave (12) react after Olave made a catch against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) celebrates his first quarter touchdown run with teammate center Erik McCoy (78) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr looks to pass against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) breaks away with Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (90) in tow while running for a long touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara reacts after scoring a long touchdown run against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen looks on during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr reacts after scoring on a keeper against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Saints are gaining credibility as NFC contenders after their rout of the Cowboys
Saints are gaining credibility as NFC contenders after their rout of the Cowboys
“This is almost too good to be true!” Hebert exclaimed on the WWL broadcast. “Considering the expectations, this is so satisfying!"
The Saints have been a middling, non-playoff team for the past three seasons. They looked different in a 47-10 rout of Carolina in the Superdome in Week 1. But because of how the Panthers have struggled lately, it was difficult to discern how much better New Orleans might be this season.
A 44-19 victory over a Cowboys squad that hadn't lost a regular-season game at home in about two years offered more clarity.
“That’s a really good football team that we just played," third-year Saints coach Dennis Allen said. "So, hopefully our team will gain some confidence with that.”
An offensive line with three new starters — including relatively inexperienced left and right tackles — has coalesced effectively in the opening weeks and appears to be thriving in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's system, which allows linemen to spend more plays attacking defensive players as run blockers than backing up in pass protection.
The Saints have rushed for 370 yards in two games, and that has allowed quarterback Derek Carr to operate comfortably on pass plays that often start with play-action fakes to running backs.
“When you’re able to run the ball and you’re able to put yourself in manageable situations, you’re not having to get into a drop back passing mode where they can just unleash their pass rush,” said Allen, a career defensive coach. “Klint and the guys had a good plan for how they wanted to protect in the passing game, and I think our offensive line did a good job executing.”
The Saints rank 21st in covering kickoffs under new rules that special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi helped draft. New Orleans is allowing 25.8 yards per return. Two games is a small sample size and kickoff coverage has not kept the Saints from soundly defeating their first couple of opponents. But this is one area where New Orleans currently ranks in the bottom third of the NFL, even as it's been at or near the top of the league in just about everything else.
Alvin Kamara continues to look robust, highly productive and committed to his Saints teammates, despite not yet getting the contract extension he has sought since the offseason. Through two games, the versatile running back has 290 yards and five TDs from scrimmage.
“We’re utilizing him in a way that allows him to be effective,” Allen said. “He’s still one of those guys that if you create some space, and he’s able to operate in space, I think he’s pretty good.”
Critics of the Saints' decision to retain Allen after the club went 16-18 combined during the coach's first two seasons. It's still early in Year 3, but it appears general manager Mickey Loomis' patience with his hand-picked successor to Sean Payton is bearing fruit.
Cornerback Marshon Lattimore has remained out with hip and hamstring issues since leaving the Saints' Week 1 victory over the Panthers. Tight end Taysom Hill left the game in Dallas in the second half with a chest injury.
Latimore “wanted to play,” Allen said. “That was really my decision, and it really boiled down to — I didn’t want to risk what we think might be potentially a one-week deal, and him going out there and all of a sudden we turn one week into four weeks.”
Hill was taken to a hospital “for some extra evaluations,” Allen said. “I think it’s more precautionary, but we’ll see.”
3 — The number of consecutive games in which the Saints' offense, with Carr at QB, has produced 44 or more points, starting with their 48-17 victory over Atlanta to close out the 2023 regular season. The Saints did not have any defensive or special teams' scoring plays in those three games.
The Saints play host on Sunday to the Philadelphia Eagles and a QB in Jalen Hurts who has given their defense a lot of trouble in the past.
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New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (22) and wide receiver Chris Olave (12) react after Olave made a catch against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) celebrates his first quarter touchdown run with teammate center Erik McCoy (78) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr looks to pass against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) breaks away with Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (90) in tow while running for a long touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara reacts after scoring a long touchdown run against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen looks on during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr reacts after scoring on a keeper against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Saints are gaining credibility as NFC contenders after their rout of the Cowboys
Saints are gaining credibility as NFC contenders after their rout of the Cowboys
CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovans cast votes in a decisive presidential runoff Sunday that pits pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu against a Russia-friendly opponent, as ongoing claims of voter fraud, electoral interference, and intimidation threaten democracy in the European Union candidate country.
In the first round held Oct. 20, Sandu obtained 42% of the ballot but failed to win an outright majority. She faces Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor general, who outperformed polls in the first round with almost 26% of the vote.
Polling stations will close at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT). By 5 p.m., more than 1.4 million people — almost 47% of eligible voters — had cast ballots, according to the Central Electoral Commission.
A poll released by research company iData indicates a tight race that leans toward a narrow Sandu victory, an outcome that might rely on Moldova’s large diaspora. The presidential role carries significant powers in areas such as foreign policy and national security and has a four-year term.
Moldova's diaspora played a key role in a nationwide referendum also held on Oct. 20, when a narrow majority of 50.35% voted to secure Moldova's path toward EU membership. But the results of the ballots including Sunday's vote have been overshadowed by allegations of a major vote-buying scheme and voter intimidation.
Instead of winning the overwhelming support that Sandu had hoped, the results in both races exposed Moldova’s judiciary as unable to adequately protect the democratic process.
On Sunday, Moldovan police said they have “reasonable evidence” of organized transportation of voters — illegal under the country's electoral code — to polling stations from within the country and from overseas, and are “investigating and registering evidence in connection with air transport activities from Russia to Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey.”
“Such measures are taken to protect the integrity of the electoral process and to ensure that every citizen’s vote is cast freely without undue pressure or influence,” police said.
Stanislav Secrieru, the president’s national security adviser, wrote on X: "We are seeing massive interference by Russia in our electoral process,” which he warned had a “high potential to distort the outcome” of the vote.
Moldova’s Prime Minister Dorin Recean said that people throughout the country had received “anonymous death threats via phone calls” in what he called “an extreme attack” to scare voters in the former Soviet republic, which has a population of about 2.5 million people.
“These acts of intimidation have only one purpose: to create panic and fear,” Recean said in a statement. “I assure you that state institutions will ensure order and protect citizens."
After casting her ballot in Chisinau, Sandu said “today, more than ever, we must be united, keep our peace, keep our vote, keep our independence".
“Thieves want to buy our vote, thieves want to buy our country, but the power of the people is infinitely greater,” she told reporters.
Outside a polling station in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, 20-year-old medical student Silviana Zestrea said the runoff would be a “definitive step” toward Moldova’s future.
“People need to understand that we have to choose a true candidate that will fulfill our expectations,” she said. “Because I think even if we are a diaspora now, none of us actually wanted to leave.”
In the wake of the two October votes, Moldovan law enforcement said that a vote-buying scheme was orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled oligarch who lives in Russia and was convicted in absentia last year of fraud and money laundering. Shor denies any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors say $39 million was paid to more than 130,000 recipients through an internationally sanctioned Russian bank to voters between September and October. Anti-corruption authorities have conducted hundreds of searches and seized over $2.7 million (2.5 million euros) in cash as they attempt to crack down.
In one case in Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova where only 5% voted in favor of the EU, a physician was detained after allegedly coercing 25 residents of a home for older adults to vote for a candidate they did not choose. Police said they obtained “conclusive evidence,” including financial transfers from the same Russian bank.
On Saturday at a church in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, Father Vasilii told The Associated Press that he's urged people to go and vote because it's a “civic obligation” and that they do not name any candidates.
“We use the goods the country offers us — light, gas,” he said. “Whether we like what the government does or not, we must go and vote. ... The church always prays for peace.”
On Thursday, prosecutors raided a political party headquarters and said 12 people were suspected of paying voters to select a candidate in the presidential race. A criminal case was also opened in which 40 state agency employees were suspected of taking electoral bribes.
Cristian Cantir, a Moldovan associate professor of international relations at Oakland University, told the AP that whatever the outcome of the second round, it “will not deflate” geopolitical tensions. “On the contrary, I expect geopolitical polarization to be amplified by the campaign for the 2025 legislative elections.”
Moldovan law enforcement needs more resources and better-trained staff working at a faster pace to tackle voter fraud, he added, to “create an environment in which anyone tempted to either buy or sell votes knows there will be clear and fast consequences."
Savlina Adasan, a 21-year-old economics student in Bucharest, says she voted for Sandu and cited concerns about corruption and voters uninformed about the two candidates.
“We want a European future for our country,” she said, adding that it offers “many opportunities, development for our country … and I feel like if the other candidate wins, then it means that we are going ten steps back as a country.”
A pro-Western government has been in power in Moldova since 2021, and a parliamentary election will be held in 2025. Moldova watchers warn that next year’s vote could be Moscow’s main target.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moldova applied to join the EU. It was granted candidate status in June of that year, and in summer 2024, Brussels agreed to start membership negotiations. The sharp Westward shift irked Moscow and significantly soured relations with Chisinau.
Since then, Moldovan authorities have repeatedly accused Russia of waging a vast “hybrid war,” from sprawling disinformation campaigns to protests by pro-Russia parties to vote-buying schemes that undermine countrywide elections. Russia has denied it is meddling.
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Stephen McGrath reported from Bucharest, Romania. Associated Press writer Nicolae Dumitrache in Comrat, Moldova, contributed to this report.
Alexandr Stoianoglo, presidential candidate of the Socialists' Party of Moldova (PSRM), leaves a voting station after casting his vote, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, during a presidential election runoff. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Alexandr Stoianoglo, from left, presidential candidate of the Socialists' Party of Moldova (PSRM), watches his daughters Cristina and Corina cast their votes during a presidential election runoff, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A woman prepares to cast her vote during a presidential election runoff, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Moldova's President Maia Sandu speaks to the media after casting her vote during a presidential election runoff, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Moldova's President Maia Sandu prepares to cast her vote during a presidential election runoff, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Moldova's President Maia Sandu smiles after casting her vote during a presidential election runoff, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Moldova's President Maia Sandu speaks to the media after casting her vote during a presidential election runoff, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Moldova's President Maia Sandu arrives to cast her vote during a presidential election runoff, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Moldova's President Maia Sandu prepares to cast her vote during a presidential election runoff, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Alexandr Stoianoglo, presidential candidate of the Socialists' Party of Moldova (PSRM) gestures after casting his vote, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, during a presidential election runoff. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Alexandr Stoianoglo, presidential candidate of the Socialists' Party of Moldova (PSRM) and his wife Tvetana Curdova prepare to cast their votes, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, during a presidential election runoff. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A man backdropped by a statue of Lenin, checks his phone in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, ahead of a presidential election runoff taking place on Nov. 3. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A woman pushes a baby stroller backdropped by moldovan and gagauz flags in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, ahead of a presidential election runoff taking place on Nov. 3. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Women attend a religious service inside the Saint John the Baptist cathedral in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, ahead of a presidential election runoff taking place on Nov. 3. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A view of the statue of Lenin next to Moldovan and Gagauz flags, in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, ahead of a presidential election runoff taking place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Security guards talk near the entrance of GagauziyaLand amusement park, in the village of Congraz, Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, ahead of a presidential election runoff taking place on Nov. 3. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Women attend a religious service inside the Saint John the Baptist cathedral in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, ahead of a presidential election runoff taking place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A cleric carries loafs of bread offered in memory of the departed at the end of a religious service inside the Saint John the Baptist cathedral in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, ahead of a presidential election runoff taking place on Nov. 3. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A man cycles backdropped by Moldovan and Gagauz flags in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, ahead of a presidential election runoff taking place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Father Vasilii speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at the Saint John the Baptist cathedral in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, ahead of a presidential election runoff taking place on Nov. 3. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A boy plays next to a statue of Lenin, with the words "Board of Honor" written in Cyrillic in Romanian and Russian in Chisinau, Moldova, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)